Please help us find where to live (Arlington, Alexandria: to rent, condo)

[Sunbrite]

Hi everyone,

Hubby and I are planning to move from South Jersey to either DC, Virginia or Maryland. I know this isn't the Maryland forum, but I figure the VA folks would know all about MD as well Trying to figure out where to live. We'll be visiting the DC/MD/VA area this summer, can you point us to some places we should check out?

About us- husband is transitioning out of the military in a couple of years and we cannot wait to move to the greater DC area, somewhere where we can really settle down, be happy, and raise a family too. He's looking for employers such as the Veteran's Administration possibly, and we'd like to be a reasonably distance from employers that would be interested in someone ex-military (been in for close to 10 years) Either reasonable commute time, or near public transit. I have experience/education in government and human resources, and am also interested in the non-profit sector. I'll be transitioning slowly back into the workforce by the time we move, hopefully have a kid by then. We both want to live reasonably near places where we can find jobs easily.

Preferences: Diversity and multi-culturalism. After the places we have previously lived, we're screaming for that. I need to have my ethnic cuisine. But I don't want to pay a fortune for it either. (of course) Would like to live somwhere that's progressive, near college towns which I adore. Are both history buffs, especially revolutionary history. Have to have plenty of farmers markets, healthy food, but not necessarily with the crazy prices (you'll notice that's my theme here) People that think like me-progressive, like Obama but am not defined by him, not super partisan myself (am an issues voter) but love to be part of and listen to political discussions and LOVE reading the Washington Post, but also hearing about the First Lady's fashion style. I "classify" myself as the public radio and public television crowd, but I don't necessarily want to dress like some of them, but don't want to pay a lot of money for clothes either. Also love C-SPAN. Husband loves revolutionary war history and the founding fathers, idolizes George Washington, likes to play golf and thinks he could have been a pro golfer if he had only kept at it. He loves the sci-fi show Battlestar Gallactica and especially the character "Gaius". (don't know if this will help us find a place to live, but hey, never know) We like funny and friendly people.

Food wise- I love Asian and Persian cuisine, cafes with sandwiches and salads and smoothies, fresh eats, boba/bubble tea kind of drinks, coffeehouses, places where you can eat and drink and maybe also listen to a talk or watch t.v. or something. Husband will pretty much eat anything, although his taste is more gourmet, but of course without the priciness. (He has the taste but not the wallet for gourmet food and always orders the most expensive thing on the menu, with appetizers of course )

Things to do- we have a dog who is our princess right now until we have a kid at least. She's the center of our world, and my husband and I fuss sometimes about whether she should get bottled water occassionally (I usually get her water from the tap) She's not a "girly" small dog, but medium- sized, quiet, older but very frisky still. Basically we want to live some place dog-friendly and near places where she could romp around, but not have to worry about ticks too much. Big parks, near city scapes type of places I guess. Would love to live near a place where she can occassionally meander/explore without her leash, but that may be pushing it, I know.

We love the outdoors- hiking, canoeing, biking (hubby is a mountain biker, I'm more of a smooth road biker) also like museums, book shops, libraries, classical music, jazz, independent films. Artsy stuff. Think I mentioned it already but I do love the college environment- listening to interesting lectures for fun, but don't want to live in the middle of noisy party-crazy frat row either.

At this point we're interested in any areas- downtown, in the city, suburbs, don't really know yet. We bought a place here for 200-250K so that's our price range for now. Don't want to rent, but thinking condo or townhouse if necessary, or a house (and then, probably having to commute more) Open to everything right now.

Thanks for suggestions for any places you think would be a good fit!

[Flamingo13]

I don't think you'll find a townhouse in the price range - possibly a one-bedroom condo - otherwise, I think Alexandria and Arlington would be good fits. Further out (i.e. Loudoun Cty.) would be a good fit for the history part but not so much for a work commute. I'm not sure about Arlington but I know Alexandria City has a bunch (either 13-15 somewhere around there) dog parks and is very pet-friendly.

If you could find somewhere along an accessible Metro you'd have easy access to the museums, etc. - further out you'd probably enjoy more hiking, biking, etc.

Read up on the kazillion other posts and you'll be able to narrow it down I think - but you also REALLY need to visit and see what is a good fit.

[Sunbrite]

Thanks so much Flamingo13, for taking the time to respond to a newcomer's message. We will add Arlington and Alexandria to our list when we visit this summer. We appreciate your input!!