No tolerance for commutes, bad schools, or crime. Help Needed. (Alexandria: 2015, apartments)

[thrlskr]

I've secured a job near the King Street Metro Station, but I need to sign a lease sight unseen. I live on the West Coast and will only be able to research my new home online.

I have a few requirements.
1. Commute Via Metro
2. Good Elementary School
3. Safe (No Tolerance for personal/property crime)
4. 2bR 2Bath <$2000 month.

What neighborhoods would you suggest I look at first? What areas should be avoided?

Thank you for your time.

[dkf747]

You can live near any Metro Station if you can tolerate that. Doesn't the VRE train stop at King St? If so, then that opens it up to even more locations. That makes it easier to find places that meets your other requirements.

[akorosdc]

Regarding the commute, I'd aim for places along the blue or yellow lines for the metro. You can go to the orange, but it'll take longer, since you'll basically have to make a big upside-down U. And yes, the VRE goes directly to King Street (both Fredericksburg and Manassas).

The further south you go (aka the further from DC) the cheaper rents will be. I don't think it would be too hard to find places for $2000 near the end-of-the-line stations for Metro or somewhere along the VRE line.

VRE website
Metro (WMATA)

Also, do you have to commute by Metro or is it your choice? Are you going to have a car in the area? I'm mainly asking because outside of the more urban suburbs, it's very difficult to live without a car, and I'm not sure if you're looking to completely rely on the Metro. Also, if you can drive to work, prices drop a lot once you get beyond walking distance from a Metro station. You could live in the general area around work and drive without too many traffic issues.

[global_dev]

Originally Posted by dkf747

You can live near any Metro Station if you can tolerate that. Doesn't the VRE train stop at King St? If so, then that opens it up to even more locations. That makes it easier to find places that meets your other requirements.

2BR/2Bath in a safe neighborhood for under $2K near king st metro? I was searching for that in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 without the school req't. Lets say I was less than successful.

I found that I was needing to a housing budget around $2500. However there are ton of new condos in that area between Eisenhower and King that may need residents. They were pricey to buy, so I doubt they are cheap to lease.

I lived in a 1 br 1 1/2 bath at the western end of old town (5 min walk to king st metro) in a very safe location. almost 900 sq ft. It was cheap at around $1750 in 2005. Other were people a few hundred more for less in the same building. I lived in Carlyle Towers which some would consider pretty swanky. 1 indoor parking spot was included and there were very nice amenities.

I would think that landlords knowing that people are stalling on buying in the NOVA area would take that opportunity to increase their rental prices.

[akorosdc]

Originally Posted by global_dev

2BR/2Bath in a safe neighborhood for under $2K near king st metro? I was searching for that in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 without the school req't. Lets say I was less than successful.

I'd say it's near to impossible for King Street, but closer to Van Dorn, Huntington, or Springfield it may be. Unless, like I said above, you can drive to work or bear the bus. It's about a 15-minute ride from my apartment to King Street on DASH. (~1100 sq ft, 2 bed, 2 bath). I don't know anything about schools in the area though. And you'd definitely need a car for errands and such.

[global_dev]

juniperblue is right, having at least 1 car was definitely a godsend in Alexandria and for me location rent pricing was offset of not needing a second vehicle since my spouse loved metroing at off-peak hours and not having to worry about finding and paying for parking.

I perceived that a lot of the areas that juniperblue mentions were more actively rental communities for people without families. But families do live there and a lot of them.

Of course, no family should theoretically have lived in the 1 bedroom place I did, but 2 adults and an infant wasn't terrible and people live where they need to.

My wife really liked the aesthetics of cameron station and to a lesser extent kingstowne, but once we took into account other factors, I opted to pass on living there. My wife took dash from king st to seminary and king (NVCC). It averaged about an hour. By car was 15 minutes or so.

In my opinion, the sheer density of NOVA and surrounds makes it a difficult search since you can potentially live in some many places. Even though I passed, I would look at the places mentioned since block to block things change rapidly.

[thrlskr]

Thank you for your help. I'll look into the options mentioned above. We will have two cars, but I'd prefer to commute via metro so that I can avoid the traffic.

Can anyone speak to the quality of the schools in the above mentioned areas?
(I.e Van Dorn, Huntington, Springfield, Old Town, Cameron, Kingstowne, or around Eisenhower and King?)

[Fern435]

West Springfield (22152-parts of 22153 as well) has several great elementary schools--Hunt Valley, Orange Hunt, Cardinal, and Sangster are some that we've heard good things about. Burke (22015) has excellent elementary schools as well.

We rent a single family home in West Springfield. It is very convenient to take the Metro or catch a Metro express bus along Old Keene Mill Road to the Franconia/Springfield Metro station and take the Metro train from there into DC.

West Springfield feels safe to us. People are pretty good neighbors here and look out for each other. We grew up on the West Coast and felt this area of Fairfax County was the least "stressed out." Good luck!

[5stones]

Look in Burke too, you can drive to the Springfield metro station. Safe family area with good schools.
I think you'd be happy in West Springfiled/ kIngstowne/Burke areas.
Vienna and Falls chruch are nice as well but I don't know about <2000 for ents.

[akorosdc]

Originally Posted by global_dev

I perceived that a lot of the areas that juniperblue mentions were more actively rental communities for people without families. But families do live there and a lot of them.

You're probably right, although I see a good number of young families (i.e. the kids look to be under 10 years old) in my complex, and two of the 5 occupied apartments in my building have young children. There's also a good amount of young kids waiting for the school buses when I leave in the morning. I think it also helps that the complex also has townhouses for rent, and if you get a 1st floor apartment it's almost like having a little yard.


Regarding traffic, it again depends, but I have a friend who drives down Duke Street from Jordan to Washington St for work and she doesn't find it bad at all. I think she said it takes about 20-25 minutes each way (opposed to the 15 minutes it normally would take outside of rush hour). Most of the traffic I've run into is on Rt. 1, 495, 395, and Duke or Van Dorn closer to Landmark. Up in the near-Old Town areas it doesn't seem too bad, and there are multiple routes one can take, which help. And, I think a lot either drive further or take public transportation. The most horrific traffic I ever saw was near Springfield and then out in/near Fairfax.


Oh, also, FYI (broken link). I just found this posting. Don't know if you can deal with 1 bathroom, but might be worth checking out.