where should i live? 26yo single male, near metro, <1500? (apartment, rent)

[boyd888]

There are Wildwood Park/Tower buildings on South Jefferson St, 5500 columbia pike, and the village at shirlington all in the columbia pike area that are nice places and should be around 1500.

[Deeman804]

Crystal City might get you something (not luxury but still good) in the 1500 range. I know that archstone has some apartments and I'm sure if you are willing to rent from a condo owner you can find stuff in that range. luxury...well, its possible for a studio but definitely not probable.

[chariega]

if I remember correctly, Fillmore Gardens is relatively affordable. It's off Columbia Pike near the Cinema n Drafthouse. It's not luxury, but it's pretty well maintained and the apartments are of a decent size. It's also walkable to some of the restaurants and bars down there.

As another poster mentioned, Wildwood Towers is a good bet too, they were offering all utilities and w/d in apts a few years back when I was looking at apts. It's not walkable to any necessarily "cool spots," but there are some restaurants and shopping within walking distance (and the babylon cafe which is cool spot for watching soccer games!)

[satirical7]

Try Alexandria, you'll just have to commute to party. Ridgeleigh at Van Dorn is near a metro and less than $1500

[stp_fan]

how about the city of falls church?

i found this pretty cool recently converted building on broad street. i think it was called the reading building or 450 w broad, near the pnc bank and the mad fox restaurant/ looked nice from the outside, relatively quiet, in an area between the mess in tysons corner and the 7 corners of hell, easy access to 66 and either west falls and east falls church.

anyone recommend falls church?

[user8]

26 yo single male?

clarendon or it's immediate surroundings would be perfect for you. you might have to tone down the "luxury" requirements a bit but the location is 100% worth it.

falls church's broad street corridor is crowded and boring. oakton is a snorefest.

[stp_fan]

Man I'm having such a hard time finding a place.

It's amazing how many places are 1600 for a 1br and they aren't even that nice, and then they charge 50 a month for parking. ugh. maybe i should live further out. my work ours are going to be 7am-330pm anyways. i make 70k, should i be spending more than 1600 for a 1br? the parking is killing me, i just want to come home and park anywhere and have my friends come over and have room to park and not have to get a freaking pass.

Looked at this one place in Arlington for 1680, some tiny parking lot in a dingy looking area, pawn shop across the street.

then i looked at this other place called archstone out in fairfax near a wegmans, looked nice, but too much money, maybe i can find an older apartment complex a little closer. hmm.

[FindingZen]

Originally Posted by stp_fan

Man I'm having such a hard time finding a place.

It's amazing how many places are 1600 for a 1br and they aren't even that nice, and then they charge 50 a month for parking. ugh. maybe i should live further out. my work ours are going to be 7am-330pm anyways. i make 70k, should i be spending more than 1600 for a 1br? the parking is killing me, i just want to come home and park anywhere and have my friends come over and have room to park and not have to get a freaking pass.

Looked at this one place in Arlington for 1680, some tiny parking lot in a dingy looking area, pawn shop across the street.

then i looked at this other place called archstone out in fairfax near a wegmans, looked nice, but too much money, maybe i can find an older apartment complex a little closer. hmm.

If you're talking places that are convenient to the Metro and/or moderately popular then $1500-1600 sounds about right, as staggering as that amount might seem. If you have no significant debt beyond your car note, then you should do alright with that (or even a little more) on your salary.

Assuming you want to be close to hotspots like Clarendon as well as various DC neighborhoods, moving further out could be a decision you regret when it comes to finding convenient watering holes after hours. Living in/near Reston Town Center has been suggested in the past; although some consider that area to be too "prefabricated", the biggest advantage for you would be a relatively short commute to Tysons Corner.

[VTHokieFan]

Originally Posted by stp_fan

Man I'm having such a hard time finding a place.

It's amazing how many places are 1600 for a 1br and they aren't even that nice, and then they charge 50 a month for parking. ugh. maybe i should live further out. my work ours are going to be 7am-330pm anyways. i make 70k, should i be spending more than 1600 for a 1br? the parking is killing me, i just want to come home and park anywhere and have my friends come over and have room to park and not have to get a freaking pass.

Looked at this one place in Arlington for 1680, some tiny parking lot in a dingy looking area, pawn shop across the street.

then i looked at this other place called archstone out in fairfax near a wegmans, looked nice, but too much money, maybe i can find an older apartment complex a little closer. hmm.

Why don't you get a roommate? Seriously I did the Craigslist route twice here. Once when I initially moved up for 3 months and lived with a guy in my class at VT which worked out great. My current roommate I'm actually pretty decent friends with now. It's honestly not considered weird to have roommate here, even up until your early 30s. It seems you're willing to shell out a decent amount of cash for a place already: find a place with another person and do dual master bedrooms or something.

[ACWhite]

I was in Merrifield recently and there are a lot of nice new apartments being built there (Mosaic project). Prices may dictate having roommates but it might be a good location for you.