Questions about NoVa/DC living (Arlington, Alexandria: home, tech jobs, costs)

[Flamingo13]

I love the negative posts about Landmark area - keeps our neighborhood nicer

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by lmh182

Thanks for the replies and good information. I was not aware that the Reston area had so many tech jobs, so that's good to know. I'll be visiting in a few weeks, so I'm going to check out that area, along with McLean, Vienna, Tyson's Corner, and Arlington.

I was wondering if someone could give me some additional information about the Alexandria area. There are a few areas I'm wondering about... whether they're safe or not.
1. the Landmark area
2. zip code 22302 in the area just north of King St and I-395
3. the Huntington area (looks like it's near Huntington metro station), it's sort of just south of I-495 and Telegraph Road.

Would any of these areas be safe for a single woman to live, or are they really sketchy areas?

Thanks!

If you, a single person, will be making above $70,000 a year here, there's no reason to look at Landmark or Huntington. Huntington has improved lately with new condos/apts but the area is dingy and nothing you'd care to do things in. You'd basically live in your apartment and then go other places. Same goes for nearby North Kings Highway locations. Some people would call it sketchy, others would say working class and largely new immigrants.

Landmark and the rest of West End Alexandria are car-centric with some small shopping centers.

The area in 22302 you mention is ok but again, very car-centric and not a place you'd be strolling around (not because of safety concerns, but because of isolation from businesses and things to do).

For City of Alexandria locations, you could check relative safety by researching on https://apps.alexandriava.gov/CrimeReport/

Touching on your original post, your salary range will do quite well for a single person. I've lived on that with a family of 4 and wasn't struggling.

[mpier015]

There are some absolutely beautiful parts of the Landmark area. You have to take NOVA resident's safety reviews with a grain of salt. Most of them are from the middle of nowhere and think that anywhere that you can find hispanic or 'working class' people is the 'ghetto'. I would ignore it. I once saw someone on here compare an apartment complex in Arlington to Barry Farms hahaha.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8068...2!8i6656?hl=en

They also have a weird phobia of garden style apartments lol

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by mpier015

There are some absolutely beautiful parts of the Landmark area. You have to take NOVA resident's safety reviews with a grain of salt. Most of them are from the middle of nowhere and think that anywhere that you can find hispanic or 'working class' people is the 'ghetto'. I would ignore it. I once saw someone on here compare an apartment complex in Arlington to Barry Farms hahaha.

https://www.google.com/maps/@38.8068...2!8i6656?hl=en

They also have a weird phobia of garden style apartments lol

I gotta respond to this. I'm from Hampton Roads which no one will confuse for the middle of nowhere or a low crime area. I lived in Landmark from 05-10. Is it a dangerous area? Absolutely not. Would I choose it over Ballston, Columbia Pike, or Penrose in Arlington if I could afford those areas? Absolutely not.

There is a difference between saying you would not live in area given a choice and don't live there period. I believe the former about Landmark, even though I don't think it is a terrible place.

[dkf747]

I used to live near Huntington station and it was fine. I would prefer Kingstowne, but we were fine near Huntington.

[mpier015]

Originally Posted by The Dissenter

I gotta respond to this. I'm from Hampton Roads which no one will confuse for the middle of nowhere or a low crime area. I lived in Landmark from 05-10. Is it a dangerous area? Absolutely not. Would I choose it over Ballston, Columbia Pike, or Penrose in Arlington if I could afford those areas? Absolutely not.

There is a difference between saying you would not live in area given a choice and don't live there period. I believe the former about Landmark, even though I don't think it is a terrible place.

I totally agree with your statement. I just don't think that a lot of us realize how we sound when speaking to someone who is not familiar with the area. If I'm someone looking into a specific area and I see multiple posters saying that the area is 'sketchy', 'dingy' or 'working class' then that is exactly what it says to me...don't live there. Newcomers aren't aware of the nuances of this area so where one of us would view the above comments as something to further investigate for ourselves, the same comment could cause a newcomer to remove an area off of their potential list of candidates. Also, I grew up in the city, before it turned the corner, so I always poke a little fun at NOVA when people start to talk about "bad" areas. I think that we do potential movers a disservice by not mentioning that "bad" by NOVA standards would be a pretty darn good area almost anywhere else. I lived in Norfolk for a few years so I'm sure you know what is a sketchy area and what is not

[lmh182]

Originally Posted by robbobobbo

If you, a single person, will be making above $70,000 a year here, there's no reason to look at Landmark or Huntington.

My reason is because I don't try to live within my means, I try to live below them. I guess that's rare these days, but that's how I roll. I grew up in poverty and was homeless as a 17 year old, so I just do what I can to make sure I never run out of money and end up in that type of situation again.
Thanks for the crime report link!


Are these neighborhoods I mentioned "bars on the windows" type of neighborhoods, or not that drastic? I once lived in a neighborhood in Kansas City where the Taco Bell drive thu didn't have a normal window that opened and closed. The whole drive thru window was bullet proof glass, and your food would come out in one of those drawers, like what bank drive thru's have... so that there's never any direct access between you and the person working the drive thru window. Are those neighborhood like that? Or not quite so bad?

[robbobobbo]

Originally Posted by lmh182

Are these neighborhoods I mentioned "bars on the windows" type of neighborhoods]

Absolutely not.

[ersatz]

Originally Posted by lmh182

My reason is because I don't try to live within my means, I try to live below them. I guess that's rare these days, but that's how I roll. I grew up in poverty and was homeless as a 17 year old, so I just do what I can to make sure I never run out of money and end up in that type of situation again. Thanks for the crime report link!

Are these neighborhoods I mentioned "bars on the windows" type of neighborhoods, or not that drastic? I once lived in a neighborhood in Kansas City where the Taco Bell drive thu didn't have a normal window that opened and closed. The whole drive thru window was bullet proof glass, and your food would come out in one of those drawers, like what bank drive thru's have... so that there's never any direct access between you and the person working the drive thru window. Are those neighborhood like that? Or not quite so bad?

No, none of these neighborhoods are like that. Some of the DC neighborhoods have bars on windows but I haven't seen bulletproof glass/teller tray pass throughs in years. Now, Baltimore, that's a different story. In some neighborhoods, even the post office has massive steel doors, armed guards and bullet proof glass protecting the workers but I haven't seen that anywhere in the NoVA area. (I'm sure somebody will jump in to correct me if I'm wrong).

Sketchy in NoVA usually means low income areas with graffiti, gang activity, beggars, purse snatchers, noise ordinance violations, and some car/housing break-ins. This is quite upsetting to people who grew up in tranquil settings but people accustomed to big city living take petty crime in stride.

[lmh182]

I have another question... if I chose to live in Arlington and got a job in Reston, what would my commute be like if I was driving? How long would it take at 9am? And how long if I went later, at 10am?
What would the commute home be if I left around 6pm?

Thanks!