Fairfax and Springfield (Reston, Annandale, Oakton: apartment complexes, homes, find a job)

[Fairfax Mom]

I think the Fair Lakes area of Fairfax is good for singles - full of upscale condos and apartments, Whole Foods, coffee shops, lots of restaurants.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by novahousehunter

If there's any way to find out where you'll be working before you move, it will be worth your while commute-wise. If not, I'd say your safest hedge, if you really think your odds of DC and tech corridor (Tysons, Reston, Herndon, Sterling) are equal, would be Arlington or Falls Church, since you'd have public transportation to DC and a reverse commute to the Rt 7 jobs.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my original post, Arlington will probably be beyond my means, which is why I'm looking for an alternative.

[Caladium]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my original post, Arlington will probably be beyond my means, which is why I'm looking for an alternative.

Arlington's a great place. But, if the big reason you wanted to be in Arlington was because you thought you might find work in DC, the truth is about 95% of the jobs these days are in the Dulles Corridor or Tysons Corner. Especially the IT jobs. DC isn't where the jobs are anymore, IMO.

In fact, it's gotten to a point where the reverse commute (DC to Reston) isn't much better than the commute in the opposite direction. A lot of people who formerly worked in DC are now commuting westward.

I don't know how expensive Vienna is, but the location sure works for you. And there are a good number of young singles there. It's not the singles hot bed or anything, but you'll find plenty of things to do.

[DennyCrane]

I'm not necessarily looking for a singles hotbed. During the week, I'll be going to work, coming home, hitting the gym, and then relaxing for the evening. But at the same time, I don't want to be in an area where it's all families or all students. On the weekends including a Friday night, I want to be able to hop in the car or on the train and meet up with friends without having to go across town to see them.

As for jobs, I'm not sure where they are exactly. I'm going off what I've heard and what I see on job boards. For example, I did a search on one big board today for jobs that match my skill set and here was the distribution:

DC - 790
Herndon - 321
Reston - 292
McLean - 230
Rockville - 214
Arlington - 181
Columbia - 148
Alexandria - 136
Fairfax - 118
Fort Meade -109
Bethesda - 102
Chantilly - 70

I don't have security clearance so I filtered out jobs that require it. Down the road, I'll probably try to get a clearance. But once I include those jobs, the distribution doesn't change all that much.

DC - 1353
Herndon - 778
Columbia - 745
McLean - 716
Fort Meade - 710
Chantilly - 699
Reston - 675
Arlington - 656
Annapolis Junction - 624
Alexandria - 359
Rockville - 296
Fairfax - 281
Laurel 234

In either case, DC comes out on top followed by Herndon and Tysons.

[Caladium]

Wow, that's a surprise. But it sounds like you've done your research. I'm glad to hear DC's still got jobs. IMO it's good to spread the job centers out. If every new job was in Tysons that would be a real nightmare.

[DennyCrane]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Wow, that's a surprise. But it sounds like you've done your research. I'm glad to hear DC's still got jobs. IMO it's good to spread the job centers out. If every new job was in Tysons that would be a real nightmare.

That's one reason why I'm moving to DC. Where I live now, all the jobs are in downtown, which is great if you can afford to live there. For the rest of us, it means having to live in the suburbs and suffer through long commutes. I don't know what city planner thought it would be a good idea to have everyone converge on the same location at the same time of day. But based on the distribution of jobs I just gave, it would seem that Falls Church is ideally located. Easy to get to DC by train or drive to Tysons or even Herndon. But I hear Falls Church isn't all that.

[normie]

Here are some threads you might find interesting:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...ur-vienna.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...gh-vienna.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...an-vienna.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...e-helpful.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...nna-metro.html
http://www.city-data.com/forum/north...19th-best.html

[novahousehunter]

Originally Posted by DennyCrane

But I hear Falls Church isn't all that.

For young and single Falls Church is probably below Arlington, Alexandria, and Reston in terms of young/hip/trendy, and above Fairfax or Springfield.

Like all of these areas it has nicer and less nice parts, Falls Church is nice toward the East Falls Church metro and near 29 in Falls Church city itself--other areas around 7 Corners and between 50 and Annandale Rd are a little rougher.

Not sure where you're moving from or if you've been here to visit, but you'll find that in NoVA most of these areas have both the "young professional" buildings/areas (expensive, high rises closer in, sprawling complexes further out, big 1 BR places with a lot of amenities) and the run down, less expensive and less trendy places in the same zip code.

This is what causes all the BB disagreements about if "x" is ghetto or nice--most have both.

So there's both the macro question of where is a good general location commute-wise (for work and social stuff), and then the micro question about which neighborhoods/complexes are best.

You can pay a lot in any of these locations for a lot of amenities and to be near other young pros, pay a lot less for so-so safety a mile or two away (nowhere in NoVA is terrifying, but there is some variety), and then a lot of options in the middle.

[DennyCrane]

I realize that every area has its good and bad parts. That's true no matter where you go. When I visited DC, I noticed it there too, particularly in Arlington and Alexandria. I don't need to be in the hippest part of town as I'm not in my 20s anymore and was never part of the club hopping scene. On a micro level, it would great to be near the Metro. Chances are, I'll be living in an apartment complex my first year so I don't want to be in something old and run down or super expensive. Later on, I'd probably want to buy a townhouse, maybe a condo in a decent neighborhood. One where you're not afraid to walk your dog at night.

[Claire2900]

I would check out 22030 and 22031 to be near the Vienna metro. You can never go wrong being near the metro. I would also check out 22042 and try to stay near the Dunn Loring metro stop. There are apts across the street from that metro but haven't checked the prices recently. Even if you end up in Tyson's you can go the back route from Fairfax thru Vienna and its not as bad as the beltway/66 or 123