Apartment Suggstions (real estate, apartments, rentals)

[Talondel]

We're moving from Phoenix to D.C. next month and we're in D.C. from now until Wednesday trying to find an apartment. I'm going to be splitting my time at work between an office near Metro Center, and one near Court House in Arlington. As a result, one of my main objectives is to be within walking distance of a Metro Station on either the orange, blue, or red lines.

My Wife's main objective is to be in a place at least as nice as the house we're leaving behind in Phoenix. The problem being that real estate, especially rentals, are ridiculously cheap in AZ. You could rent a 3BR apartment in the nicest part of Scottsdale (on of the most expensive areas) for $1300 a month. So we're coming from a pretty nice house in Arizona and I think we'll have a hard time keeping something that "nice" even in a much smaller apartment.

So far, we haven't had much luck. We spent most of today looking in the Courthouse area. Most of the apartments that are in our price range (1800 / month, give or take) are a little old and outdated for my wife's taste. Those that are nice enough (Hallstead Towers was one example) are no where near the Metro (though they do run a shuttle there). It seems like we can get something quite a bit nicer in Silver Spring or Crystal City.

If anyone has any suggestions as far as either: 1) A nice apartment near the Courthouse Metro station or 2) Another area of town to consider (Crystal City? Silver Spring?) we'd greatly appreciate it.

[akorosdc]

I don't know many specific complexes in Arlington, but given the choice between the two I'd be more interested in Silver Spring than Crystal City. Crystal City just seems very cold and uninviting to me, since it's mostly office buildings. I've never been impressed by a building there. That said, Silver Spring will be a lot farther for you from work (especially when you go to Courthouse). Have you looked in the Ballston area? It's sometimes a little cheaper than Clarendon/Courthouse, and would be convenient for work. You could also try Rosslyn, but I don't know if it'd be much cheaper than Courthouse. Then there's also Pentagon City.

[ceejamon]

Downtown Silver Spring by the metro is great, but it's quite a commute by metro from there to Courthouse. It's still expensive, but that is the case anywhere near DC.