help narrow down my apartment search! shirlington, alexandria, arlington.. (Windsor: apartments, to rent)

[goldenshell84]

My husband and I are relocating to the DC area this summer and I am feeling a little bit overwhelmed trying to find an apartment. This is what I am looking for:

-Reasonably close (15 min drive or less) to Cameron Station in Alexandria (my parents)

-Reasonably close to Georgetown

-Extra points for any kind of direct metro access (if not, a shuttle to the metro would be nice). A newer building with other young people would be great too.

-Within a 5 min walking distance to stores, restaurants, etc would be a real bonus

I am attempting to find all or most of this for under $1400. I am quitting my job to start my own business and my husband will be supporting both of us - and my business - on his income. He's all about living as cheaply as possible right now and since he's funding the whole thing I can't argue too much.

I would LOVE to live in Shirlington but it looks like I will be just out of the price range. I know there are cheaper options right nearby (Parkfairfax) but reasonably I know we will never walk to Shirlington Village and we might as well just live somewhere a little further out and drive everywhere if we do that. It looks like we might be able to swing the Windsor building in Shirlington but I have read really terrible things and I'm not sure if it's worth it.

I like the Carlyle section of Alexandria a lot but again, we are just out of the price range.

There's a building called the Alexander that is just outside Shirlington that might be doable, but again so many bad reviews online and it's not walking distance to Shirlington or metro accessible so I'm not really sure.

I was also thinking of maybe the Palisades area in Georgetown - it is a pretty area and you can get a lot for your money, but it's not really walking distance to M Street and of course it's not metro accessible. BUT, I guess cab rides wouldn't be crazy expensive since you are in DC and closer to things.

Can anyone recommend specific places? Thank you! Also, how negotiable are these buildings right now?

[geniegrl]

You might look at -- Glendale Apartments. Meets all your criteria except that the units are not new and not in Shirlington (but you could drive there and they are on the same bus line if you were so inclined). In fact, they are pretty low frills. But, you'd come in well under budget. (also, you didn't say what size you wanted -- all units there are 1 bedroom)

[CaliTerp07]

Take the reviews you read online with a grain of salt. The only people who ever take the time to write up reviews are complainers who want to "get back" at management. I lived in an apartment for 2 years without any major complaint, but the rating on apartmentratings was abysmal (30%ish)

I think there are comments on the Alexander on this board--you may want to search for them. Someone posted good things about it recently.

Another thing to do is to go tour the building, check out the unit, and quiz a resident you see on their experience. I was always happy to answer questions of someone who was looking to rent in my building.