Trying to find a NoVA apartment, workspace, or hobby (Arlington: rental, townhouse)

[fillmore241]

I have a frustrating conundrum: I'm "new" to NoVA (been here 3 yrs) and I love my job (in Arlington, don't really want to leave it). I like to like to build stuff and fix my car (which requires a workspace) and want to save money for a house (which will probably not be purchased here), a car that works, future kids or whatever.

Currently I pay $450/mo for a room in a house within walking distance to a metro (just saying, good deals are possible), which is awesome because I don't have to commute on the road for ridiculous hours dodging reckless drivers.

Long story short, my situation is good minus having several generally disrespectful roommates who don't like me much.

My questions: How can I (a mid 20s single professional) enjoy this area?

Do I have to get a new hobby (other than being a bar scene bro ala Clarendon Ballroom)? Do people rent garages/workspaces/unfinished basements separate from living spaces? Should I try to rent something down towards Fredericksburg or out in WV and take a commuter train in (or is there a compromise I can make here)? Do I need to buy a townhouse or something? How do I find less sketchy roommates?

I honestly think this area just sucks for people like me, so the solution I'm converging on is getting a job somewhere else and moving to a more rural area

Thanks --

[FindingZen]

What is your max preferred rental budget?

Fredericksburg may actually work for you as it's more laid-back compared to further north. Other than the compact downtown (where you'd catch the VRE train) and the Central Park shopping megapolis, the area is suburban and rural areas aren't hard to find. My best guess would be that 20somethings in the area would mostly socialize downtown or some of the restaurants in Central Park.

Of course, the trade-off would be a roundtrip commute of as much as three hours or so depending on to where in Arlington and Fredericksburg you would be going to. Considering you're open to living in a rural area as it is, you may already be prepared for such a distance as it is.

[RamblingMan]

Have you considered renting a storage unit and using it as a garage/workshop? I"m sure many places won't allow this, but I've seen it done. Try searching for "workshop" under parking and storage in craigslist. I don't think you'll find much that's really close, but I'd rather commute an hour to a relatively cheap storage unit on weekends than deal with a long commute every day to get to work.

[ACWhite]

I know 2 guys in DC who do woodworking at a space in Bethesda. Maybe there is a similar space on our side of the river?

I wonder if there are homeowners out there who might love to rent you a room and garage or basement space if you are good at fixing their cars or other stuff around the house? Maybe your roommates are just immature and you would do better with an older homeowner?

[fillmore241]

Cool thanks these are all good ideas. I used to live with an older landlady who liked me because I would fix stuff around the house (and everyone was quieter there).

I am looking into soundproofing my room (I can afford weird stuff like this with low rent), but scientifically it is much easier to block sound going out than sound coming in (by the way, it's amazing how deep BBC anchors voices are through a subwoofer). Even if this works it might just be a temporary solution though. Also, I try to be self conscious with this stuff to make sure I'm not going insane (putting expensive foam panels everywhere is probably not normal).

Rental budget is tricky because of the cost/benefit of it. If I got a cool spot downtown, but not have space to work. Alternatively, living in the suburbs would give me lots of work options, but be really boring and potentially have a rough commute (though Route 50 isn't tooooo bad during rush hour; luckily I don't have to cross the river).

The other funny thing, my company reimburses most of my metro fare (not parking at the metro); while a car cost of $0.55 per mile (current government travel reimbursement), a 30 mile round trip commute every day would cost $500 a month, plus stress, risk of collision.... VRE and MARC trains cost about $300 a month? Plus the metro fare from Union and OJ line, and the stress associated with how bad the Orange and Red lines have been this past year.

Best Options:
1) Move South or West
-Long Commute time, but just about as expensive as driving 30 miles round trip every day.
-Would remove a lot of free time during the week.
-Better quality of life probably

2) Find an older person to share a house with
-Townhouse would probably give me space but woodworking is noisy (have to find a neighborhood alright with this)
-I like to play music, but again I can "soundproof" my room easier if the sounds are outgoing.

I read somewhere that the MARC train actually moves slower in the summer heat because of rails expanding; is that true? Train commuting might be a hassle (if I miss it for example).

I suppose for meeting new roommates I'll have to just scour the rental sites and ask a ton of questions.

Is the woodworking place you mentioned a community type space? I'll look into rental units -- would be cool to find somewhere where I could work on my car and furniture things.