Moving to NOVA (Arlington, Alexandria, Centreville: apartment complexes, to rent, townhouse)

[kn0bby8]

I got a new job in Warrenton and will be starting some time in December. I need to find an apartment. I am a 24 year old male and would love to be surrounded by night life. I also don't want to spend a fortune every month. I currently live in Parkville MD and pay 704 a month. I am 5 miles to the heart of Towson and the bar scene. I will be moving by myself and it is impotant for me to be where the "action" is. I realy don't want to commute more than 45 minutes to work. Where should I look to live? Any speciffic apartment complexes?
-Thanks

[dullnboring]

Yikes. Unfortunately, there's a few problems with your criteria.

Firstly, as I'm sure you're aware, Warrenton is pretty far out there. It's a small town in a county that is pretty rural. As such, there is very little in regards to nightlife in town. If you want nightlife, you're going to have to move as close as you possibly can to DC. Both Manassas and Centreville are around 35 minutes away in non-rush hour traffic. Neither area is hopping with nightlife. They are pretty much your standard suburban family-friendly communities, with a bar here and there in a strip mall, or maybe a late night pool hall open late into the evening, but all in all, they're not exactly a destination for the area's twentysomethings. In these two areas, the average one bedroom apartment will cost $1000/month without utilities. You may able to find a few in the $900-1000 range in Manassas, but generally, $1000 is a good figure to assume. The closer you go in to DC, the more expensive the apartments. If you really want to be in the middle of all the nightlife, you'd be looking at Arlington, Alexandria or DC itself, where rents (especially in the middle of all the action) start at around $1300 and where you are now an hour from Warrenton in NON-rush hour traffic. So you can see how this may present some problems as far as meeting your wants in a community.

I think it's a matter of priorities. Which is most important and which can you be more flexible on? Rent, commute or nightlife-accessibility? Warrenton is simply too far removed for you to be within your commuting timeframe and still be in the center of the action. So in my opinion, the choice would be to either stay in Warrenton for cheap, or move as close as you can tolerate commute-wise into DC, but pay more for a place. I think that the Fair Oaks or Fair Lakes region of Fairfax would probably be the absolute furthest you'd be able to stretch that commute. On the plus side, as a reverse commute, there isn't that much traffic going in that direction on I-66. I should point out however that if willing to rent out a room as opposed to an entire apartment, you could easily find plenty of places in your price range in Centreville, Manassas and even Fairfax if you choose to push it.

[kn0bby8]

Originally Posted by dullnboring

Yikes. Unfortunately, there's a few problems with your criteria.

Firstly, as I'm sure you're aware, Warrenton is pretty far out there. It's a small town in a county that is pretty rural. As such, there is very little in regards to nightlife in town. If you want nightlife, you're going to have to move as close as you possibly can to DC. Both Manassas and Centreville are around 35 minutes away in non-rush hour traffic. Neither area is hopping with nightlife. They are pretty much your standard suburban family-friendly communities, with a bar here and there in a strip mall, or maybe a late night pool hall open late into the evening, but all in all, they're not exactly a destination for the area's twentysomethings. In these two areas, the average one bedroom apartment will cost $1000/month without utilities. You may able to find a few in the $900-1000 range in Manassas, but generally, $1000 is a good figure to assume. The closer you go in to DC, the more expensive the apartments. If you really want to be in the middle of all the nightlife, you'd be looking at Arlington, Alexandria or DC itself, where rents (especially in the middle of all the action) start at around $1300 and where you are now an hour from Warrenton in NON-rush hour traffic. So you can see how this may present some problems as far as meeting your wants in a community.

I think it's a matter of priorities. Which is most important and which can you be more flexible on? Rent, commute or nightlife-accessibility? Warrenton is simply too far removed for you to be within your commuting timeframe and still be in the center of the action. So in my opinion, the choice would be to either stay in Warrenton for cheap, or move as close as you can tolerate commute-wise into DC, but pay more for a place. I think that the Fair Oaks or Fair Lakes region of Fairfax would probably be the absolute furthest you'd be able to stretch that commute. On the plus side, as a reverse commute, there isn't that much traffic going in that direction on I-66. I should point out however that if willing to rent out a room as opposed to an entire apartment, you could easily find plenty of places in your price range in Centreville, Manassas and even Fairfax if you choose to push it.

Thanks a ton! I had a feeling that I wasn't gonna be able to get everything I wanted. How bad is the traffic even though I will be doing a reverse commute? Can you recomend any speciffic areas local to DC if I decide that the night life is more important to me? How would the commute be to DC and night life if I chose to live closer to Warrenton? How would I get to the night life from where I choose to live? Metro? Drive? Expensive cab rides?

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by kn0bby8

Thanks a ton! I had a feeling that I wasn't gonna be able to get everything I wanted. How bad is the traffic even though I will be doing a reverse commute? Can you recomend any speciffic areas local to DC if I decide that the night life is more important to me? How would the commute be to DC and night life if I chose to live closer to Warrenton? How would I get to the night life from where I choose to live? Metro? Drive? Expensive cab rides?

Well, I've never done the commute myself, nor have I seen what I-66W past Centreville looks like during the morning rush hour, but further north, 66W seems at least to move fairly briskly. I would guess a commute from, let's say Centreville, to Warrenton, 35 minutes in non-rush hour, would run 45 minutes in rush hour, with slight delays in Manassas around the exits, but that's a guess, so hopefully someone with more firsthand experience will pipe in. I will say though that the evening rush hour will be significantly worse than the morning rush hour.

As far as nightlife goes, the hotspots in northern Virginia are concentrated along the Ballston Corridor, which is the section of Arlington that follows Metro's Orange Line (Clarendon, Court House, Ballston, Virginia Square, etc.). Tons of restaurants, bars and shopping and very young population. And of course, there is even more in DC in many different neighborhoods such as Adams-Morgan, Logan Circle, Dupont Circle, Georgetown, Penn Quarter, Capitol Hill, etc. but Arlington is closer to Warrenton. As far as reaching Arlington/DC from points closer to Warrenton, you'd have to drive. Metro only goes out to Vienna which is a good 45 minute hike (again, non-rush hour) from Warrenton. You could drive to Vienna, park and take the train in, but many people after driving for that long would just rather drive the whole way in, especially as the Arlington hotspots are only a 20 minute Metro ride. There is VRE, a commuter rail line that goes out to Manassas but it's not really for nightlife (stops running early and trains run infrequently) but more for morning/evening commuting. Your best bet would be to drive. I definitely wouldn't recommend a cab unless of course, you're too inebriated to drive, but be warned that that would be a HEFTY cab ride, especially if you were doing it once or twice a week. Driving is best.

[jaywallace]

I'd say your best bet is Centreville. You could just hop on the closest Metro and roll out to G'town. Centreville also has some halfway decent bars as well. The reverse commute wouldn't be bad at all. 66W either way out of or into DC past Fairfax is a show though. You could also try Gainesville in Prince William. They have some new upscale type bars and nice new "town center" type walk area with bars and nice restaurants. Your commute to Warrenton would only be about 15-20 minutes down Rt.29. Manassas is another idea, O'meras, City Tavern and Philadelphia Tavern are all nice bars and attract a good college age crowd. All depends on the nights you go. You might have better luck renting a townhouse or a basement from somebody. $800 -$1,000 is on the low end of renting prices before you start getting into some areas you probably wouldn't want to live in.

[poohki]

I live in Warrenton, and it's true there is not much nightlife, although there is some. Have you considered going to Charlottesville for nightlife, and possibly to live? I really don't know alot about the area, but UVA is there so I am thinking that there could be alot of nightlife. Also I believe the rent to be much cheaper. The downside is that it's about 1 hour from Warrenton, but there is pretty much no traffic until you get to Culpeper, and even then it's not at all bad. Much less traffic than going toward DC.

I am just suggesting Charlottesville, I really don't if it would have what your looking for.

[Yankeesfan]

Not being rude here, just genuinely think you should consider whether you really want this job in this location. Living near a close-in Metro stop would give you access to nightlife (and keep you from driving after hitting the bars) but would be expensive and mean a long commute to work. Living near work would mean a long trek to and from the nightlife -- and you shouldn't be driving home after drinking. So give some consideration as to what's most essential to you.

[kn0bby8]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

Not being rude here, just genuinely think you should consider whether you really want this job in this location. Living near a close-in Metro stop would give you access to nightlife (and keep you from driving after hitting the bars) but would be expensive and mean a long commute to work. Living near work would mean a long trek to and from the nightlife -- and you shouldn't be driving home after drinking. So give some consideration as to what's most essential to you.

Sacrafice my friend...The job is definitely somthing I want to do. Its just unfortunate that I can't have my pie and eat it.

I think I am going to drive down to VA next weekend. I plan on checking out Centerville and gainsville possibly some places cloaer to DC. I was in VA last weekend and drove around Warrenton and Manassas. I may end up going on craigslist and just trying to find a room. I am really not into sharing an apartment/townhouse with random people but...

Just out of curiosity are there an ATC on this forum...I will be working at the Potomic TRACON.

[Yankeesfan]

Well, that's good news, if you start off well in your career at your age then all else will fall into place. Had no idea what a TRACON is so I googled it and up popped a picture of the Potomac TRACON on Wikipedia! So I learned something new. And I guess with a job like that you'll be hitting the bars mainly for the social life (as opposed to heavy libation), so that's good news too!

[kn0bby8]

Originally Posted by Yankeesfan

Well, that's good news, if you start off well in your career at your age then all else will fall into place. And I guess with a job like that you'll be hitting the bars mainly for the social life (as opposed to heavy libation), so that's good news too!

I really hope so!