Working in Falls Church, where to live? (Arlington, Alexandria: apartments, to rent)

[crashmaster007]

I'm starting a job in Fall's Church on July 6th so I'm actively looking for apartments. I currently live in PA so this is a bit of a move for me. I have a list of a few apartments that I like and that have decent reviews, but nothing really seems to be even 90% of what I'm looking for.

I want a nice clean community, close to the metro (Orange line), good management, with decent amenities in the apartment (dishwasher, washer/dryer), good social scene (I'm 22), and within my price range. I have a friend who is moving with me and we don't want to spend more than $1600 on rent total.

My question is are there any specific complexes or areas that I should look at that I may be overlooking? Or am I living in a dream world?

My two more promising leads right now are Barcroft Plaza and Infinity Apartments. Does anybody have experience with these places?

Thanks for any help.

[slim04]

Originally Posted by crashmaster007

My two more promising leads right now are Barcroft Plaza and Infinity Apartments. Does anybody have experience with these places?

Thanks for any help.

I know someone that lives in Barcroft Plaza. First, it's no where near the Orange line. You have to take a 30 to 40 minute bus to the Pentagon's Blue Line Station. The neighborhood is called Bailey's Crossroads.

The place looked OK. It's mostly filled with El Salvadorean, Ethiopian and Vietnamese immigrants, lots of families. The units are pretty decent sized and the place had a small swimming pool open during the summer. No W/D in units though and I think my friend had a persistent cockroach problem, but they would sent pest control anytime she requested.

The building manager is kind of mean, but I think my friend paid something like $1,000 for a 800 sq. ft. 1BR so she would put up with all the BS. As for social scene, it's non-existent. Though there is good karoake nearby in Annandale. Plus, Shirlington and Ballston aren't too far away. Old Town and DC a little further away, but kind of pain because of parking issues or difficulty with public transportation late at night.

[athousandlogins]

If I'm reading this right, you're looking to rent a nice 2BR apartment near an Orange Line Metro stop, with a good social scene, for $1600 or less?

If so, I don't think it's going to happen. You will probably have to compromise on something.

If the cost is negotiable, you could truly have everything you want in the Ballston/Clarendon/Courthouse corridor. But you're looking at $2000 rent.

If you just can't do more than $1600, you might be able to find something a little further away from Metro and a little less upscale, but still tolerable. I looked at one 2BR apartment from craigslist last year that did cost just $1600. It was in North Arlington - not walkable to Metro, but still relatively close to the action, maybe a 5 minute bus ride to the Metro. It was clean. But it had no dishwasher and the laundry was in the building's basement.

If the amenities are most important to you, you might be able to score a nice place with enough bells and whistles in that $1600 price range (or maybe just a little more) out at the end of the Orange Line, near Vienna Metro. Your commute to Falls Church would be fine, but there's no social scene out near Vienna at all.

If you're willing to try non-Orange Line areas, there may be some areas of Alexandria that are interesting and more in your price range. The commute would be longer, but still doable.

It just depends on the tradeoff you're willing to make. Personally, if I was 22 and working in Falls Church, I'd do what I could to afford an apartment in or near the Ballston-Clarendon area, even if it meant going to a laundromat for a couple of years or taking a second job to make rent. But at this point in my life, the washer/dryer thing is a TOTAL dealbreaker.

Good luck!

[crashmaster007]

Thanks guys. I figured that I was going to have to pay more in rent to meet what I wanted. It's kind of hard doing all this when you don't know the area. If I bumped up the rent I'm willing to pay are there any places you could recommend?

[Azmordean]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Falls Church itself. Its a possibility. You'll save some bucks as compared to the Ballston corridor, be closer to work, and the City of Falls Church, while by no means as much of a "young person's paradise" as the Ballston corridor, is, I've heard, pretty walkable with shops and restaurants and such. You'd be close to Metro, though perhaps biking / easy driving distance as opposed to walking. Nonetheless, it'd be easy to take the Metro over to Ballston or into DC on weekends.

Also, OP, what do you define as "good social scene." If by "social scene" you mean club/bar scene, then athousandlogins is right. But other than that... I don't see how Vienna has "no social scene." I've found around here you meet most of your friends through your hobbies and organizations. And if you want to go out with your friends, to restaurants, to movies, to parks, and yes, even some bars, Vienna isn't a bad spot either. There's a lot of quality stuff around there, though granted its suburban. But if the Metro's convenient, you can shoot into town quick too, so I wouldn't discount that option either.

[terrence81]

If you bumped up the rent then I'd say Clarendon. That area has lots of nightlife and shopping plus you'd be close to the metro. But expect to pay to live in that area and expect the place to have lackluster amenities. The washer and dryer might be hard to find. I've found that a lot of apartments don't have them but townhouses do but they're more expensive. For me amenities are more important so I live further out. I have to drive half an hour to go out into the city but I have a nice place to come home too. So you have to ask yourself what's more important.

Falls Church is nice but you'll probably still find yourself going to Clarendon to go out though. So yeah see what you see in Clarendon. Also remember that with the metro you pay more to live within walking distance.