VA or DC (apartments, college, place to live)

[jman23]

I'm a recent college grad and moving to dc for a job and was wondering if it would be better to simply live in northern virginia as opposed to dc metro.

I would assume its cheaper in northern virgina and safer, am i wrong? The most I could spend on housing would be around 1000-1100 a month for a 1b or studio and was wondering if its possible to get that in northern virginia.

Also what's the commute time like from areas like arlington or alexandria?

[DCNative]

I think it's possible to get a 1br/studio/efficiency at 1000-1100/mo in arlington and alexandria. Alexandria is cheaper, but if you look hard enough you should be able to find a good deal in arlington. Rosslyn and Georgetown are very expensive though. If your job is in DC, you can take the metro in from arlington and alexandria which takes between 10 and 30 minutes... but keep in mind that apartments within 3-4 blocks of a metro stop will run at least couple hundred dollars higher than those that are more distant from the metro stops.

[HGONZ001]

Have you thought of Bethesda in MD? Usually Maryland is more liberal and easier to get around. Traffic is not as bad as down in VA.

[jman23]

Is bethesda a safe place to live? Is it expensive, and how about the metro commute time?

[seldomseen]

Bethesda is very nice...and is also equally as expensive as Arlington, Rossyln, Ballston etc....