Looking for a Neighborhood (Washington: apartments, for rent, insurance)

[markus713]

Hi everyone, I'm a young professional who has just accepted a job in Washington DC. The job is in the GWU/White House area.

I'm currently debating between living in the city or living in the suburbs. If I was to live in the city, proximity to work and safety of the neighbourhood would be my two biggest concerns and my budget for renting a 1BR would be around $2000/mo (though less is always better). Any recommendations for areas?

Alternatively, I thought about moving to a suburb in a cheaper place (aprox $1200/month) and using a vehicle for transportation. My biggest concerns are not too long of a commute (30-45mins) and safety of neighbourhood. Does anyone have any recommendations of cities/suburbs I should check out?

Thanks for any and all input.

[Back2School]

I just interviewed at GWU and the Foggy Bottom area seemed pretty safe. The students all confirmed this. But it is EXPENSIVE. One student pays $1300/month for a studio 1 block from campus. Many students live in Virginia/Arlington and take the Metro in. There is a metro stop right there on 23rd and I streets next to the GW Hospital.

[dullnboring]

If willing to pay $2,000 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, you pretty much have your choice as to where to live with only a handful of exceptions in the nicest neighborhoods like Georgetown. You should be able to find many apartments in Foggy Bottom within your price range, and Foggy Bottom is a very safe part of DC. Otherwise, I'd recommend living in Arlington. Commuting from points in Arlington (the Clarendon and Court House areas are particularly popular for young people commuting into DC) to Foggy Bottom is actually shorter than commuting from many other points in DC since Foggy Bottom is the first stop in DC on Metro. You can save some bucks on apartments in Arlington and it's even safer than Foggy Bottom, but the difference in price may be minimal if you plan to keep your car just when you take into account insurance, payments, maintenance and gas. These parts of Arlington are a 10-15 minute commute via Metro to Foggy Bottom.

[markus713]

Thanks for the info dullnboring, that's a big help giving me a starting point. I've heard that a lot of parts in DC, it's nice one block and two/three blocks over not so much. Is foggy bottom like that? It seems like nice area from what I'm finding from searching and it's right beside where I'll be working. Claredon also looks like a pretty nice area. Is there any nice suburbs that are cheaper but a little further out, or does everything nearby stay in that price range? Thanks again btw.

[dullnboring]

Foggy Bottom is generally nice all around. Of course, like any city, you need to be aware of your surroundings and exercise street smarts, particularly at night, but Foggy Bottom is a pretty safe area and I haven't seen any parts of it that are run-down or shady. It's sandwiched in between stuffy federal downtown DC and posh Georgetown so it benefits a bit from it's location and the high concentration of students in the area. Most of Northwest DC west of Rock Creek Park is pretty nice. Generally the areas to the immediate east of the park (Northwest and parts of Northeast DC) are undergoing revitalization and some neighborhoods are further along than others. These are the areas where conditions can change rapidly from one block to the next, where yuppies live next to drug dealers.

The DC area is expensive as a whole, but follows the same general pattern of most urban areas in that it gets cheaper (but also more dull and more car-centric) the further you go out. It would be very difficult to find a one-bedroom apartment for under $1000/month inside the Beltway (the I-495 loop that circles DC and serves as a border of sorts for older more urban DC and it's inner suburbs, and the family-friendly newer suburbs), and those that you'd be able to find would be in unsafe areas. Outside of the Beltway, for example in the city of Fairfax, there are a handful of apartments for under $1000 (but only by a few bucks) but commute is a big issue in the DC area and seeing as how you're working in Foggy Bottom, an area with it's own Metro stop, commuting into DC from outside of the Beltway would be a pain unless you lived right by a Metro station. I would suggest looking perhaps at close-in suburbs if you don't want to live right in DC and also don't want too long of a commute, specifically those areas along the Orange and Blue Metro lines; places like Arlington, Alexandria and Falls Church.

[markus713]

Excellent information again. Thanks so much. Moving into a new city must've been so much harder before the internet

[Sharon R.]

I would definitely look in the Foggy Bottom area. I used to live right at 23rd & G, across the street from the Smith Center, and it was fantastic. They have torn down my old townhouse but there are still others on the block, plus lots of apartment buildings and old and newer townhouses. In general, it is a very safe area. You can walk to the Watergate (with a Safeway), to the Kennedy Center, to the river, to Georgetown, and even to work if you're downtown. You can even walk down to the Mall for recreation. Foggy Bottom is one of the best locations in DC and I am extremely envious! You shouldn't have any problem with your budget. Just park the car and enjoy!

[Sharon R.]

I just took a look on Craigslist and there are quite a few possibilities in your price range. Just search to Foggy Bottom. There will also be quite a few in the Dupont Circle and Georgetown areas that will pop up. These are also very good areas. Georgetown has no Metro station, Dupont Circle does, and both are a bit farther from where you'll be working.

Good luck!

[markus713]

How's the commute from Fairfax down the Curtis Memorial Pkwy into DC during regular hours?

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by markus713

How's the commute from Fairfax down the Curtis Memorial Pkwy into DC during regular hours?

Alright, so I've lived in Northern Virginia for most of my life, grew up here and have traversed I-66 thousands of times and I NEVER knew that it's official name was "Curtis Memorial Parkway"! LOL. But yeah, Curtis Memorial Parkway is better known (pretty much exclusively known) as I-66. Pretty much all "Routes" and "Interstates" are known by their numbers as opposed to their official names, partially because oftentimes their official names can change every 10 miles so it's easier to just refer to the constant number. Anyways, during regular workday morning and afternoon rush hours, you can expect a commute from Fairfax into DC along 66 to last anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, 15 minutes. I'd say most days the commute will run around 50 minutes however. There is always a backup at the I-495 exit near Dunn Loring and another inexplicable backup around East Falls Church Metro station (there always is, even late night on a Sunday, for around five minutes, and I've never figured out why). Metro's Orange Line actually runs in the median of I-66 from Vienna/Fairfax to Ballston in Arlington, where it goes from elevated aboveground to underground. You may want to consider taking Metro rather than driving if you live in close proximity to a Metro station.