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My husband and I are moving to D.C with our new baby soon. I have been looking at Downtown Silver Spring and Arlington for apartments, but recently I found a website for Georgetown online and..I LOVE it. It has restaurants, shopping etc.
So, I want to know, what do you guys feel about Georgetown? Do you like it? Is it safe? How far from the center of D.C? Is it hip? When I say "hip" I should say, we are not big on the nightlife stuff, but like art, shows, cafes, restaurants (especially ethnic food), shopping, and I love towns that have a European feel, which it seems it does.
Do you think we can find anything for $1,600 there?
Thank you so much! and sorry for all the questions! you guys have been great though, answering my others Qs. it is truly appreciated.
Georgetown is probably the most expensive part of the DC area. I highly doubt you would even be able to find a 1 br in gorgetown for that price, let alone a house for the family. Don't get me wrong, Georgetown is a great place to hang out but it is very expensive. Also it is not on Metro so while close to Downtown, can take a while to get there.If you want something nice but affordable I would look further up in Northwest, or even in bethesda/Chevy Chase if you can find a deal.
Do you think we can find anything for $1,600 there?
No.
But you also might want to look at Glover Park, which is just north of Georgetown, and much cheaper, yet safe and filled with restaurants. Drawback there is just that many of the buildings are older. For $1600 there, you can get a 1 BR, 800 sq ft apt.
Solution for you: rent in Court House or even Rosslyn (but in its part that is closer to Court House) it's a pretty good place to live by itself and you could walk to Georgetown from there. It's a 15 min walk from Court House, faster from Rosslyn. And it's much cheaper, and unlike in Georgetown there is Metro.
wait, that's awesome! I was looking at stuff in courthouse. So I could walk to Georgetown from there? that's a great idea. Is the walk a safe walk? or do you go through some rough areas? Also, what ways to people usually get to Georgetown if not on the Metro? (Sorry I am so ignorant of these things!)
Bethesda is nice, and has shopping and restaurants. I was recently trying to decide between Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase (B/CC are really the same place for all intents and purposes) and settled on Chevy Chase -- I liked the shopping area a little better (once you get away from the super-upscale big box stores at the southern end of the commercial area), I liked the schools better, and I liked feeling closer to DC (this last point is silly, I know, the bridges are a BS psychological barrier to me). There are neat walking trails that run right to the B/CC downtown area, and a nice, big open park around the NIH. Also, Glen Echo Park seems to have a ton of activities for kids, and a gigantic carousel.
Most of the neighbors I've met in my new neighborhood seem to be European. I think B/CC is also heavily Jewish. The parts of Arlington you're talking about seem to be mostly non-descript white, though when I lived near there years ago, there was a thriving Salvadoran community around (pupusas!) though they've probably been priced out by now.
It also helped in my case that Arlington is crawling with my clinically-insane ex-boyfriends.
You'll want to consider your commute -- working in VA, it makes sense to live in VA. But it won't kill you to cross the bridge if you need to -- my husband is working in McLean/Tysons in VA, and the commute isn't so bad from the place we found in Chevy Chase (he's been commuting from Alexandria south of the Beltway, so just about any commute other than THAT looks good to him at this point).
Another point on Arlington -- you can get a great view of the downtown fireworks on the 4th of July from Arlington Cemetery, and probably from several other spots in Arlington that you can seek out if you move there.
Georgetown is very hip and European looking. Blocks and blocks of old rowhomes, narrow cobblestones streets, and very corwded. There are a bunch of cafes, restaurants, art galleries, high-end grocery stores, clothing stores and small out of the way type boutiques. The best way to get there is to take the metro to Foggy Bottom or Rosslyn and walk. You could also take the bus from the metro. It's a 15 minute walk or ride in traffic either way. The neighborhoods are some of the safest in DC.
If you live in Georgetown, best locate yourself east of Wisconsin Avenue so as to avoid the booze-fueled revelry of GU students with the "inevitable aftermath".
Georgetown is DC's "gaslight district" meaning that it is historical like Beacon Hill in Boston. M Street on weekends resembles Bourbon Street as its full of drunks. No self respecting native Washingtonian would ever join in, but lots of others do.
Its a very attractive area and there is some old money (the fabled Cliffdwellers) there and a lot of new money.
I counsel Glover Park or Burleith to the north.
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