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Living in Dc without a car is perfectly fine. Majority of the residents living in Dc take metro. You will have difficulty finding apartment close to metro for $750. You might be able to rent the basement of someone home for $750 but not an apartment.
It is much easier to get by without a car in the District than in Virginia. In the District, it is hard, but it can be done, and in fact it is done by a great many people. About one in three DC households does not own a car. In town, you are more likely to have nearby mom-and-pop type support and convenient access to mass transit. At that though, everything still has to break right, and that isn't really likely to happen at $750 per month, unless you're planning on having a couple of roommates.
I agree with the opinions above regarding a car. You can get by in the District without one. However, it's difficult to travel around the metropolitan area and destinations like the beach and mountains without one.
You will probably not be able to find a decent apartment in a safe neighborhood near the Metro for $700 a month. You will, however, be able to find a room in a group house.
It may be hard, unfortunately, to even find a room in a group house/shared apartment for that price, in terms of things near the metro (even with a flexible definition of "near"). I've been in the DC area for about 6 months, also without a car, and have been unable to find much of anything in terms of group houses or shared housing--in DC or close by to it--for less than $900, and in many cases for less than $1050. There are a few listings for the price range you specified, but expect to compete against 20 people for the right to rent that one room, especially if you want a place in a safe area. Each time I've done a DC housing search (done two of them now) for a room in group house/shared apartment with a budget of $950 a month, it's still taken me a good three months and 30 plus "interviews" with people who places for rent, before I find someone who offers the room to me.
It won't be so much that you won't be able to find a share listed in that price range, it's that you'll be competing against so many other people for those shares that it's likely to take months before anyone chooses you as the lucky one they want to rent to.
Membership in Zipcar or Flexcar is inexpensive (something like $35/yr.) Many DC neighborhoods have plenty of car choices w/in a 1-2 block walking distance, and once you're a member, you just go online, locate the closest car, then walk over and pick it up. Cars are available to rent on an hourly or daily basis w/o any further time consuming paperwork.
However, rentals @ $750/month are hard to come be. You can definitely find a decent share in that price range, however.
My daughter has lived in DC for about 15 years without a car: first, as a Georgetown student, then in Adams-Morgan, next on U Street and finally as a condo owner at 16th and Park, an area that she finds safe, by the way. She uses public transportation, her bike or her legs for travel in the city and Zip or Flex cars for trips to the suburbs for shopping. When she and her friends do want to go to the beach or the mountains, they rent a car. This method is much better than the cost and aggravation of having a car in the District. After 10-11pm she takes a taxi which does add a little to her transportation costs, but not as much as a car would.
Live in DC without a car that is. Both my mother and grandmother have lived in the city their entire lives without ever owning a car, as a matter of fact, they don't even have driver's licenses because they never needed to drive. They take the metro (bus and trains) everywhere they need to go, or simply walk. I guess that's one reason why my grandmother is 80 years old this year and doesn't look a day over 50! :-D
I had a car since I was 16 only because I hate the taking metro, but it is very efficient for people who actually like to use public transportation.
Kalysta, I have a feeling that the current roommates on Craigslist may be charging the newer roommates more money to subsidize their housing. Back when I rented in a group house years ago, that was a no no.
A better way might be search for a couple of roommates before looking for a place and then renting it together. I have seen 3 or 4 Br houses and condo near the Potomac Metro, Petsworth, Brookland, and Galludet rent for between $500 to $700 per person. Of course these places aren't trendy, but close enought to a metro to get where you want to go.
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Certainly, you can live in DC without a car.
Thousands do it daily....
