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My husband and I will be relocating to DC due to his job. We first moved from Miami to Atlanta a year ago but now we are moving again. We are planning on renting with our dog. What can anyone recomend under 3K a month in a nice and safe neighborhood. Oh and about traffic, is it comparable to Miami or Atlanta's traffic?
The best bet is somewhere with an easy commute to your jobs -- you should find out where this is and decide how much time you're willing to spend in traffic. Or, if you can get there with a straight shot on the metro or bus, you'll have time to enjoy the newspaper en route
At least 95% of everything is under $3K per month. You'll have plenty to choose from in that price range even if you're picky. Otherwise, <bopfrog> is quite right. Managing your commute will be one of your top three priorities. You need housing you can afford...you need housing that is of the size and type that's suitable...you need housing that allows a simple commute. Forget crime, forget schools, forget walkability. None of those will matter if you bungle any of the big three, and the easiest one to screw up is the third one.
Traffic is generally terrible during rush hour. By terrible, I mean absolutely horrible. Compared to most major cities, DC is surprisingly easy to get around in outside of rush hour. It can sometimes be difficult to pin down exactly when outside-of-rush-hour actually is, however...
Traffic is far worse than Miami and Atlanta, though there are pockets and areas where it's not so bad. If you live and work in the city, traffic is much less of a problem. The worst traffic is getting in and out of the city as well as between the burbs.
If you absolutely hate traffic, avoid Virginia like the plague.
Dog owners are all over DC, but it can be hard to find an apartment that takes dogs if you are renting. I always see lots of dog walkers in U St, Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Glover Park, and Capitol Hill. All of those neighborhoods are relatively safe, but in general, try to stick to NW DC.
The closer you get to the Maryland border in particular, the safer it gets, but with the cost of IMO more boring neighborhoods. You might enjoy those areas (Chevy Chase, Glover Park, Cleveland Park, etc.) if you want a more laid back lifestyle. Avoid NE and SE like the clap if you are worried about safety.
Much of Capitol Hill is in NE. The rest is in SE, as is Eastern Market, Barracks Row, and the Nationals new ballpark. The DC quadrant system of safety estimation has gone somewhat out of date.
Avoid NE and SE like the clap if you are worried about safety.
Not all of NE and SE are bad. I live in a very nice section of NE and love it.
I remember a relative saying "Don't go to SE DC or you'll get shot and killed!" when I first moved to the area. I followed her advice to a tee at first. I had to get a book from a theatrical shop that was, whaddya know, located in SE! Her thoughts rang in my head. I took a breath, hopped on the train and went, and found the area to be pleasant. That area, unknown to me at the time, was Eastern Market/Barracks Row, an area I visit frequently now when the weather's nice.
There are some shady areas in SE however, like in Ward 8 (there have been a lot of stories in the Washington Post about killings and violence going on there lately). And there's Anacostia, a formerly neglected area that is starting to see signs of change and gentrification.
Long story short, not all of NE and SE are bad. You've gotta narrow it down by neighborhood to pinpoint the bad spots.
Not all of NE and SE are bad. I live in a very nice section of NE and love it.
I remember a relative saying "Don't go to SE DC or you'll get shot and killed!" when I first moved to the area. I followed her advice to a tee at first. I had to get a book from a theatrical shop that was, whaddya know, located in SE! Her thoughts rang in my head. I took a breath, hopped on the train and went, and found the area to be pleasant. That area, unknown to me at the time, was Eastern Market/Barracks Row, an area I visit frequently now when the weather's nice.
There are some shady areas in SE however, like in Ward 8 (there have been a lot of stories in the Washington Post about killings and violence going on there lately). And there's Anacostia, a formerly neglected area that is starting to see signs of change and gentrification.
Long story short, not all of NE and SE are bad. You've gotta narrow it down by neighborhood to pinpoint the bad spots.
I agree regarding not all NE and SE is bad, but the OP was looking for recommendations based highly on safety. The parts of SE and NE that are safe are tiny in comparison or are still being gentrified. One could say that Columbia Heights in NW for instance is perfectly safe, but many others would run for the hills at night. I still say given this person's situation, stick to the areas that are safe and are generally surrounded by other safe neighborhoods.
Just because you've never been mugged or you feel safe doesn't mean the same will apply to someone else. I was merely listing best bets, not the end all be all list. You can look at the crime maps (bear in mind violent vs. petty crimes) if you want another perspective.
It's one thing to visit places and another to live there. You get spill over from things close by and it's nice not to walk down the street in any direction without saying to yourself "I can't go above xyz block." As an interesting aside, it's funny how many tourist maps including some older ones that metro used would put the legend over SE DC as if it didn't even exist.
As an interesting aside, it's funny how many tourist maps including some older ones that metro used would put the legend over SE DC as if it didn't even exist.
You know it! I bought a DC map when I got to the area, and it was only NW! If it weren't for Google Maps, I don't know how I would've gotten around the non-NW parts of DC!
My husband and I will be relocating to DC due to his job. We first moved from Miami to Atlanta a year ago but now we are moving again. We are planning on renting with our dog. What can anyone recomend under 3K a month in a nice and safe neighborhood. Oh and about traffic, is it comparable to Miami or Atlanta's traffic?
You may want to consider living near a metro station and having your husband take the subway to work. The Metro is quite different from MARTA in Atlanta. Unlike MARTA, there is no apparent stigma to commuting via subway. Many doctors, lawyers, congressmen, judges, lobbyists, etc, commute on the metro every day. Traffic is bad in DC, as it is in any city with a 5 million plus metro population. But a metro commute can eliminate many of the headaches associated with driving in traffic 90 minutes each way. Renting close to a metro stop will often be a bit more expensive (given the convenience and popularity), but certainly still within your price range.
Keep in mind that newly gentrified or "still gentrifying" neighborhoods can often revert to close to what they were before at the end of a housing boom. I am not expressing any opinion on these DC neighborhoods in particular, it's just something I've noticed in other cities after past boom/bust cycles. So just because a neighborhood got nicer in the past couple of years doesn't mean it's going to stay that way.
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