I am moving to NOVA hurray! (Alexandria area) (Mount Vernon, Fairfax: apartment complexes, crime)

[shadowjunkie]

I as seems many people have received a job offer to work in Alexandria. What should I be concerned about. I plan to live close to the Huntingtion Metro and the Fairax Connector 121. Any good apartments in that area? I plan to pay 900 to 1300 total. Sounds like from what I been reading public trans in a must. Does the metro a good deal? I've been some T here in Boston and they are very dirty.

I look forward to your responds.

Cya

Shadowjunkie

[Kalysta]

I'm afraid I haven't been around the area long enough to adequately address the characteristics of the Huntington area, so I will leave that to those with more experience and knowledge. (I can say, however, that the one time I was over there the area looked somewhat shady to me....)

In terms of public transit, however, yes, the Metro is a great form of transportation. Yes, like any public transit system it has it's occasional issues--delays due to broken trains stuck at a station, etc. However, one can have that kind of problem with their car, as well. And yes, the Metro can get pretty crowded, especially during rush hour....But the roads are just as insane, in most areas. The beauty of a commute to work using the Metro, really, is that you save on gas, avoid the stress of the roads, and (assuming you can find a seat) can even read the news on the way to work. A great place to start learning about the Metro is Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority website. Hope this helps, and that someone else can provide you with good info on the Huntington area.

[csread]

I lived in Boston for a year but it was back in the early 80s. I had no problem with the "T" back then. I think the Metro system here is great. I live out in Fairfax, but frequently take the Metro into the city, and recently to Reagan National Airport to catch a flight to Georgia.

I love the Alexandria area. Old Town is wonderful - full of young professionals and young families, the waterfront, great restaurants, shops - it's great! But there are places on the fringes that might be more economical and still accessible to public transportation. This is an expensive area, so you have to be realistic and make up your mind ahead of time to get to know the neighbors no matter where they are located!

You can check Craigslist and look for a situation where you are sharing a place, which might work out well in your situation. Best of luck.

[dullnboring]

You should have no problem finding a suitable one-bedroom apartment within your price range near Huntington. I'm not so familiar with Huntington to be able to direct you to specific apartment complexes, but there are indeed a good number of nice ones. I knew a guy who lived in one of the big towers, called River-something (Riverside? Riverview? Riverbend?) and his apartment was gorgeous and the buildings as a whole looked very nice. There are also some shady complexes. As a general rule of thumb, the further the distance from Route 1, the better.

Metro is indeed great, for those people who live closer in towards the city, and in turn, close to the stations. It doesn't quite reach as many areas as it should, but living in the Alexandria area, that's of no concern to you. The trains are very clean, the trains and stations are nicer than your average subway system (i.e. padded seats, carpeted trains, stench-free stations, etc.) and the system is a pretty safe system as well.

[shadowjunkie]

I think your talking about riverside apartment. I have heard terrible reviews about that apartment. I am only will be making like 55k for the job. So I have to look for an apartment with utilties somewhat paid for. I saw a place called Belle Haven Towers. Studio is 455 Sqft which isn't so bad. Does anyone know if the Metro has montly passes?


Thank you guys for your great advice.

[adhiren]

Keep in mind that you'll be living in Fairfax County technically as opposed to the City of Alexandria. In any case, you will have Fairfax County as your local authority as well as everything else as opposed to the city of Alexandria

DC is a bit behind the rest of the world in that they actually don't have monthly passes. The best way to get around it in terms of budgeting is you can get a smartrip card (for a deposit of like 3 dollars) and then its rechargeable and electronic and u can load as much money onto it as u want at any point in time utizlizing any fare machine at metro stations or on busses throughout Northern VA, DC, as well as Southern MD and its good on all busses and metro rail in Northern VA, DC as well as Southern MD. And if you loose it, all u need to do is call the customer service number and then they will cancel your original card and for a processing fee of $5 they will issue u a new card preloaded with the amount of money u had on your old card when u lost it. Check out smartrip.com

[LMS7689]

You can also get a 7-day Rail Short Trip pass. It's around $26 a week, and maybe a good option if your metro trips during peak hours will be less than $2.65 each way. In non peak hours, you get unlimited usage. Here's a link: Metro - Fares - Online Fare Purchases

This pass can be a good deal, but it depends on how you would use the metro. For example, if your one way fare is $1.80 and you wouldn't use the metro other than for commuting to work, you'd be better off buying the fare card. On the other hand, if your commute fare is $2.60 each way, you'd break even buying the short rail pass, and have the benefit of unlimited non-peak rides.

Downside is that its a paper pass, so you cannot use the express gates in the metro stations.

EDIT - I just realized the original post was from 2007. Oops.

[Alicia Bradley]

My comments from another recent thread on the Huntington area of Alexandria:

"If you're a cyclist, you would HATE, I mean absolutely HATE, Huntington. I'm a cyclist who's had to put up with the area for the past two years. There are absolutely no businesses you can bike to around here that aren't icky places you wouldn't want to go to anyway - and almost no normal businesses in general (I mean, even if you felt like driving down Rte. 1, where the crime actually gets worse).

There's a strip mall with a 7-11 where people have gotten mugged quite a few times in the recent past. The only other business of note in the mall is a Salvadoran restaurant that looks like a front for a drug dealership (it has no windows, for one thing). Across the street is another strip mall with a 'paydal loan' place, a dirty-looking laundromat, and a place to get your nails done. It's a very rundown area, thefts are pretty common, and there's absolutely NO community feel, from what I've been able to discern. The lawns of many of the homes (rundown duplexes) are filled with trash. It's really a depressing area - living there feels like living on a desert island. You're sort of hemmed in from any "normal" areas (e.g., Old Town Alexandria) by monstrously busy roads (like the Beltway, Rte. 1, etc.).

Yes, the Mount Vernon Trail is nearby, but YOU CANNOT GET THERE ON YOUR BIKE. There's an obnoxious miles-long golf course (to understand why a golf course would be so near such a sketchy area is a subject I'd be more than happy to go into in another thread.. but in short, it has to do with various weirdnesses of the D.C. area) blocking access to the trail. You have to go on a three-mile ride around the golf course (where traffic is, needless to say, beyond horrendous) to get to the trail. Oh, and then you have to sprint madly across the George Washington Parkway, and there's absolutely no crosswalk/overpass/etc.

So, I implore you, if you value your sanity, DO NOT MOVE TO HUNTINGTON.

Sorry if I offended anyone with this post. I'm just speaking from my own personal experience. "

[athousandlogins]

Metro is much, much cleaner than the T.