Apartments near Fairfax or somewhere close for my age?! (Reston: home, school)

[spartan17]

Hey everyone! I'm moving to the east coast in august and am desperately looking for a place. I'll be attending school in Manassas, but i'd like to sort of live at a halfway point between Manassas and DC. I don't wanna commute more than 18-20 miles to campus and i want to live somewhere safe! I'm also 21 years old so i'm not trying to live in a Senior living area, although family living area is okay with me. I just want somewhere safe and nothign really over $1600-1700. Any information would be so helpful because i've been looking at a few such as Regents Park and Jefferson at Fair oaks but the ratings were pretty bad. I also don't really know or care about being walking distance to the metro since i'll have my car. I would ideally like a 1 bedroom 1 bath if that helps. Thanks again!

[PK12]

You should be able to find something within that budget range in places like Fairfax, Reston and Herndon (the former two definitely more geared toward young professionals and such). Centreville is doable too, in good proximity to Manassas and decent enough for DC

[tysonsengineer]

Herndon is a good drive to manassas, I did it for a couple of years, takes about 20 minutes and its against traffic. Herndon has some solid night life (nothing great but enough to have fun and be sociable).

[CapsChick]

Originally Posted by spartan17

Hey everyone! I'm moving to the east coast in august and am desperately looking for a place. I'll be attending school in Manassas, but i'd like to sort of live at a halfway point between Manassas and DC. I don't wanna commute more than 18-20 miles to campus and i want to live somewhere safe! I'm also 21 years old so i'm not trying to live in a Senior living area, although family living area is okay with me. I just want somewhere safe and nothign really over $1600-1700. Any information would be so helpful because i've been looking at a few such as Regents Park and Jefferson at Fair oaks but the ratings were pretty bad. I also don't really know or care about being walking distance to the metro since i'll have my car. I would ideally like a 1 bedroom 1 bath if that helps. Thanks again!

I have read the online reviews of The Jefferson at Fair Oaks, but I have also lived there for years (in three different apartments). Most recently I lived there for 4 years in a 2BR/2BA, moving out less than a year ago. IIRC the complaints are about parking (legit) and cooking smells from neighbors. The cooking smells didn't bother me since most of the time they smelled pretty good. Parking can be an issue because it's a small complex without a lot of parking, but the only times I had a real problem, I was getting home late at night. I had a positive experience at the Jefferson and became friendly with the manager, who by the way was there all 4 years I lived there (a rarity in that line of work). I think people often don't take the time to go online to commend; they are more likely to go online to criticize.

It's an easy trip to Manassas from that area, straight down 66, and there is a lot to do right around those apts in terms of shopping and restaurants. Fairfax is not really halfway to DC from Manassas, but you'll find a nicer place for your money out that way.

Good luck!