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Old 03-25-2012, 09:25 AM
 
5 posts, read 15,393 times
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I have just been offered a job in the Arlington area and am looking for an area with easy access to the Pentagon. I am looking for a 1 bed/1 bath apartment that allows large dogs. I would love to find a place under 1800.00 a month where the parking/pet rent isn't above 100.00 more. To give a little background, I am retiring from the military and my family will be staying at their current location for the next two years (2 1/2 hours away) till my son graduates High School then my wife will relocate to the area. I am looking mainly for a Geo-bachelor pad type place as I will be heading home most weekends however need a place big enough for when they do come visit on long weekends. The one thing I am looking for is a place where I can get to the metro easy or the apartment/condo has a shuttle to the Pentagon Metro, Pentagon City Metro or Crystal City Metro. I have looked on-line at a number of apartments but when looking at the reviews most are bad so thought I would try this forum and see if there was better luck. Any help would greatly be appreciated.
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Old 03-25-2012, 09:49 AM
 
38 posts, read 94,363 times
Reputation: 72
I have a friend that lives at RiverHouse apartments in Arlington, let me call and see what she is paying now in rent. Riverhouse is an easy 5-10 minute walk (or 3 minute sprint trying to catch the last train home that was me LOL) to Pentagon City metro in a highrise. It is one of the cheapest right there at Pentagon City Metro.

Oh and the reviews on apartmentratings and such- take those with a grain of salt. Most people who would even think of writing a review is writing to COMPLAIN. Those happy with their place rarely write. I'd pay the places a visit (during the workday, on a friday night late to see the noise levels, and to see how parking is late at night) and form my own opinion.
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Old 03-25-2012, 10:05 AM
 
5 posts, read 15,393 times
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Default Thanks for the information!

I have looked at River House on line and the pricing seemed right for me, however after reading the reviews I was like no way LOL...I do plan on heading up there for a weekend to look at a few different places I have wrote down, just would like a nice place that is good for the family when they come visit the area. Since I will be there only during the week, not to worried about the weekend noises. Any additional information would greatly be appreciated. I am also currently looking at; North Tract Loft, Camden Potomac Yard, Concord, Paramount, Halstands and River House. Not sure about location on all those but they seemed close to the Pentagon as that is where I will be working. Any other suggestions is also greatly appreciated.
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Old 03-25-2012, 09:50 PM
 
1,304 posts, read 2,426,603 times
Reputation: 1215
When reading reviews for places only bother with the ones that have both pros and cons listed. A purely negative review is written by someone out of spite (out of thousands of people that live in buildings some are bound to have negative experiences), while glowingly positive reviews are written by shills.

Archstone owns a bunch of properties in the Pentagon City area. I'm not sure if they are within your budget, but you won't have any issues with them.
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Old 03-26-2012, 12:43 AM
 
2,635 posts, read 3,511,513 times
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I lived in in Crystal Towers for 10 years and highly recommend it. They are pet friendly (not sure what they charge). When I worked at the Pentagon I would walk or bike 4 block, or when I felt lazy I'd take the metro (across the street) two stops. There is either free, unassigned, parking on the surface lot or assigned parking in the underground garage (~$110/month when we lived there).

The only issue is $1800/month may be on the low side for Crystal/Pentagon City. You may want to look at Abingdon House. They're in Aurora Hills and have 1BRs just below your price range.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:04 AM
 
8,982 posts, read 21,169,137 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mitchell00 View Post
I have looked at River House on line and the pricing seemed right for me, however after reading the reviews I was like no way LOL...I do plan on heading up there for a weekend to look at a few different places I have wrote down, just would like a nice place that is good for the family when they come visit the area. Since I will be there only during the week, not to worried about the weekend noises. Any additional information would greatly be appreciated. I am also currently looking at; North Tract Loft, Camden Potomac Yard, Concord, Paramount, Halstands and River House. Not sure about location on all those but they seemed close to the Pentagon as that is where I will be working. Any other suggestions is also greatly appreciated.
I can speak a bit about Camden Potomac Yard as I pass by there often. It's a newish apartment building that's part of a large community of condos and townhomes still being built. Immediately to the north is a shopping center with your usual conveniences (e.g. Shoppers supermarket, Target, Starbucks). You might have to walk a bit to find grass for your dog to run around in.

Traffic can jam up on there on Route 1 if you choose to drive to work. There is at least one bus route that would take you in about ten minutes to the Crystal City Metro station; from there, it would be another ten minutes to the Pentagon Metro stop.


The one "con" may be that I believe there is a fire station built into the same building. Then again...if an accident happens, it'll be put out in "seconds".

When your family visits, they may like checking out nearby Del Ray to the west and Old Town Alexandria to the south. You may like them too if you decide to get out of your apartment every so often.

Overall, I think it would be a fine location for you to stay and your family to visit. Just remember that you're in a small city so it will have a different feel than a suburb.
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Old 03-26-2012, 08:19 AM
 
37 posts, read 112,588 times
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I lived in RiverHouse years ago and it was quite a gem back then -- Spacious apartments, excellent location, free parking, a gym and pool. I left around the time new management started to take over who laid off most of the wonderful staff, raised the rents and began to nickel and dime residents for everything. I would look elsewhere.
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Old 03-26-2012, 10:43 AM
 
2,635 posts, read 3,511,513 times
Reputation: 1686
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tone509 View Post
I can speak a bit about Camden Potomac Yard as I pass by there often. It's a newish apartment building that's part of a large community of condos and townhomes still being built. Immediately to the north is a shopping center with your usual conveniences (e.g. Shoppers supermarket, Target, Starbucks). You might have to walk a bit to find grass for your dog to run around in.

Traffic can jam up on there on Route 1 if you choose to drive to work. There is at least one bus route that would take you in about ten minutes to the Crystal City Metro station; from there, it would be another ten minutes to the Pentagon Metro stop.


The one "con" may be that I believe there is a fire station built into the same building. Then again...if an accident happens, it'll be put out in "seconds".

When your family visits, they may like checking out nearby Del Ray to the west and Old Town Alexandria to the south. You may like them too if you decide to get out of your apartment every so often.

Overall, I think it would be a fine location for you to stay and your family to visit. Just remember that you're in a small city so it will have a different feel than a suburb.
Regarding the Potomac Yard area, there is a lot of new housing and storefronts going up. Within the next 5 - 10 years we'll see the convergence of South Crystal City through North Alexandria.

Right now, the best transportation option in this area will be taking the bus (the 9S to Crystal City metro). There is a plan to create a new metro stop to service the Potomac Yard area (south of the Target, in the new Pulte subdivision), but that's probably years off.
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Old 03-26-2012, 10:50 AM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,562,134 times
Reputation: 2604
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smoke_Jaguar4 View Post
Regarding the Potomac Yard area, there is a lot of new housing and storefronts going up. Within the next 5 - 10 years we'll see the convergence of South Crystal City through North Alexandria.

Right now, the best transportation option in this area will be taking the bus (the 9S to Crystal City metro). There is a plan to create a new metro stop to service the Potomac Yard area (south of the Target, in the new Pulte subdivision), but that's probably years off.
For the infill metro station, they are still examining alternative station locations/layouts Potomac Yard Metrorail Implementation Work Group | Potomac Yard Development | City of Alexandria, VA but I think as of a year ago City of Alex was hoping for completion by end of 2016.

The Crystal City Transitway, a BRT route based on (largely) bus exclusive lanes, is going to happen much sooner.
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Old 03-26-2012, 11:27 AM
 
Location: YOU are NOT a Washingtonian. YOU are a GENTRIFIER from the CVS, Whole Foods, Starbucks & Condos era.
367 posts, read 642,357 times
Reputation: 148
Quote:
Originally Posted by IcedChai View Post
I lived in RiverHouse years ago and it was quite a gem back then -- Spacious apartments, excellent location, free parking, a gym and pool. I left around the time new management started to take over who laid off most of the wonderful staff, raised the rents and began to nickel and dime residents for everything. I would look elsewhere.
When you say years ago, do you mean 1980s or 1990s?
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