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Hi, I'll be attending Georgetown later this year and need to find a place to live. By good, I mean safe since I'm a single 20-something female. I know Alexandria and Silver Spring are generally good locations, so I'm already looking there, but I'm just wondering if there are other towns I should consider. I need a studio/1-bedroom for ideally no more than $1300. I have a car, so I don't care about Metro stops and stuff. I also don't care if the area is moreso suburban for families.
Are you excluding DC itself on purpose? I am seeing a few one-bedrooms and studios in your price range, for example, in the Bloomingdale neighborhood of DC on Craig's List. Maybe not as safe as Silver Spring and Alexandria, but closer to Georgetown and generally viewed as an improving area, with some blocks of very nice rowhouses if you like that style of housing (some people do feel more secure in bigger apartment buildings with front desks).
You should check with Georgetown U to see if your plan of driving to school is feasible. Parking is very limited in the neighborhood of Georgetown, and I suspect that they don't offer a lot of free parking for students. You should ask the school about that if you haven't already. If you end up having to pay to park in a garage everyday to go to school that could be very expensive.
$1300 a month for a studio is quite doable in DC or Arlington as long as you are able to live far from a metro stop. But that brings us back to the question of is driving to school feasible.
You don't want to live in Alexandria or Silver Spring because that would be a bad commute to school. Or maybe you are going to Georgetown Law, which is not at all in the Georgetown neighborhood? In that case, Silver Spring would be more convenient.
I just thought of another option. If you will be going to Georgetown's main campus, consider Glover Park and Cathedral Heights, the neighborhoods just north of Georgetown. These are very safe, nice neighborhoods that have a more suburban feel even though they are in the city. They would be a very quick commute to school, either by bus or car.
I have a friend who rents a studio for $1000 a month in Glover Park so I think your budget is very realistic for there.
I just thought of another option. If you will be going to Georgetown's main campus, consider Glover Park and Cathedral Heights, the neighborhoods just north of Georgetown. These are very safe, nice neighborhoods that have a more suburban feel even though they are in the city. They would be a very quick commute to school, either by bus or car.
I have a friend who rents a studio for $1000 a month in Glover Park so I think your budget is very realistic for there.
I also saw some apartments in that price range in Cathedral Heights when I did a brief check. Advantages are location if you're trying to get to main campus and there are a number of big apartment buildings if you prefer them. Disadvantage is that it skews towards older residents. Glover Park would have younger residents; just not sure how quickly you'd find something in your price range there that's in decent condition.
I don't know why you only need a parking lot. My friend in Glover Park parks on the street in his neighborhood and it is really easy and totally free.
I don't do well with parallel parking. And when I have done it, it's been a struggle to get out with other cars parking way too close to me, and that was just in Atlanta.
There's a lot on campus available for students, and a parking garage available for $3 for students, so I think I should be fine with driving to campus. Mostly I don't wanna have to walk around at night alone with a laptop at like 11pm, as my classes are all after 5pm.
Well in Atlanta, you don't need to parallel parking very often because there are lots everywhere, so you probably just didn't have that much practice. I had rarely parallel parked before moving to DC, and in a matter of weeks I was an expert.
Trust me... the convenience of being about a mile from school far outweighs the inconvenience of having to parallel park. In this town you really want as simple a commute as possible. If you live out in the suburbs, the traffic driving into DC will make you want to tear your hair out much sooner than having to parallel park, and unlike parallel parking, which you can improve at over time, the traffic never gets better.
Is there still that much traffic though heading into D.C. around 4pm? I would be interning/working elsewhere during the day and wouldn't head over to Georgetown until 4pm-ish for classes that start after 5pm. I've never been a fan of public transportation, and I honestly don't know how comfortable I would be taking it late at night while carrying a laptop around. I already hated walking around NYC alone at night, and that was even among masses of tourists.
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