Working in Vienna, VA, please advise me on where to live ? (Arlington: apartment complex, rent)

[Adam444]

Hi everyone, I'm moving in a few months to Vienna, VA and I'm looking for a place to live.

I'm single 33 year old male "young professional", no roots in VA and I just know a couple of people there. I'm not a party animal but I like being around people, and living in a place where there's a higher chance of dating and having friends.

Do you think Arlington, VA is worth the commute ? My job starts at 9-10 and ends 5-7 ( depends on the day) so is that a good time to avoid traffic ?

Thank you all in advance. If know of specific location / apartment complex that's worth checking out, please advise.

[LynchburgLover]

Our daughter and son-in-law lived in the Mosaic District for a few years. It is a slightly older crowd with a lot of amenities/restaurants. It is a very convenient location to Vienna/Tysons, Arlington and into DC. I’m not sure about how the rent compares but it was a nice place with three pools, community room, exercise area etc.

Best of luck.

[xsellent]

You might want to look in Reston. Lots of opportunities there and the young people I know who live there, aren't the party type. Arlington is great but I'm not sure the commute and costs will warrant living there for you.

[EmiSky]

I agree with both of the above suggestions. Mosaic District in Merrifield is popular, although I personally don't like it as everything is so close together and on top of each other. I live in Reston and I love it here. Since you're not a party animal Reston may really work for you as it's not a party town but there are numerous meetup groups and they're very active so it would be easy for you to meet new people. And Reston has a sense of community vs Arlington where you may not know your neighbors. Although, Arlington is a pretty "young" town so you it may be better for your age group. Commute may be bit of an issue, but that depends exactly where you work and where exactly you would live in Arlington. I commute by bus from Reston to Crystal City so I see the traffic going the opposite way. So even though you would be doing a reverse commute you would still be sitting in traffic if you traveled on RT66. Also, you should get familiar with RT 66 as if you needed to travel on 66 by yourself, you would be paying lots of $$. On average day for solo drivers I see $20, that's one way. And that's after they dropped the ares recently. But most likely you would be taking side roads, which would be stop and go. Price wise, you could probably get more for your money in Reston as there are at least five brand new apartment buildings so you could probably get a good deal now.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by EmiSky

I agree with both of the above suggestions. Mosaic District in Merrifield is popular, although I personally don't like it as everything is so close together and on top of each other. I live in Reston and I love it here. Since you're not a party animal Reston may really work for you as it's not a party town but there are numerous meetup groups and they're very active so it would be easy for you to meet new people. And Reston has a sense of community vs Arlington where you may not know your neighbors. Although, Arlington is a pretty "young" town so you it may be better for your age group. Commute may be bit of an issue, but that depends exactly where you work and where exactly you would live in Arlington. I commute by bus from Reston to Crystal City so I see the traffic going the opposite way. So even though you would be doing a reverse commute you would still be sitting in traffic if you traveled on RT66. Also, you should get familiar with RT 66 as if you needed to travel on 66 by yourself, you would be paying lots of $$. On average day for solo drivers I see $20, that's one way. And that's after they dropped the ares recently. But most likely you would be taking side roads, which would be stop and go. Price wise, you could probably get more for your money in Reston as there are at least five brand new apartment buildings so you could probably get a good deal now.

If the OP is working in Vienna, they would not be paying tolls on 66.

[Old Guard]

Really depends on your budget. Mosaic is the closest area that would have anything going on for a 33 yer old and has the benefit of having a metro station (and possibly buses) that can get you to Arlington and downtown rather swiftly and maybe back depending on if you can leave before the last train.



If you have a lot of money for a housing budget Vienna is a really nice area but I am not sure it skews younger singles, it seems to be more family and does that well.


Reston is OK but getting to where the real action is (DC, Arlington and the sports venues) would be a bit more difficult.

[brooklynborndad]

Originally Posted by Adam444

Hi everyone, I'm moving in a few months to Vienna, VA and I'm looking for a place to live.

I'm single 33 year old male "young professional", no roots in VA and I just know a couple of people there. I'm not a party animal but I like being around people, and living in a place where there's a higher chance of dating and having friends.

Do you think Arlington, VA is worth the commute ? My job starts at 9-10 and ends 5-7 ( depends on the day) so is that a good time to avoid traffic ?

Thank you all in advance. If know of specific location / apartment complex that's worth checking out, please advise.

If I were in your shoes, I would live in either Reston or Falls Church, get a bike and commute via the W&OD trail. Its less than 40 minutes from either. No hassling with traffic, and as you get involved with the local biking community, you will have a mellower way to make friends (this assumes you have suitable faclities at work to make this easy)

[kidyankee764]

If you like a bit of nightlife but still want to be relatively close to Vienna, I think Arlington is your best bet. It’s pricey, but will offer an alright commute to Vienna while being one step away from plenty of activities. Your commute should be less than 20 minutes.

[slowlane3]

Is your job in Tysons (Corner)? If so, here is information about that extremely busy neighborhood, home to an estimated 110,000 employees

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tysons,_Virginia