As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/

Relocating to Washington D.C. (Apartment Question)

TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
edited May 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
I am going to be relocating to D.C. at the beginning of June and I am hoping that someone from that area can tell me about some of the apartment options there. I have already been through a number of apartment search sites and I'm going to be heading out there mid May to look in person. I'm just looking for some advice so that I can limit the scope of my search somewhat.

I am going to be splitting time between two offices in the D.C. area. One is right next to the Metro Center station, and the other is right next to the Court House station, both of which are on the Orange line. For that reason, I've mostly been looking at areas near the Orange line, or on the Blue line since I can transfer at Rosslyn. So Crystal City, Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Ballston, all seem like reasonable options. Are there are other areas I should be thinking about or is there is a specific place in one of those areas you would recommend?

When I was out to interview I walked by a couple of the apartments near the Court House station that looked nice enough from the outside (Courtland Towers, Archstone Courthouse Plaza, Arlington Courthouse Place). We're looking for something like a large 1BR or a small 2BR around $1500-$1800 a month. Any suggestions or recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Talondel on

Posts

  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Woo DC! I live just outside the city in Landover MD (Blue line, 2nd to last stop).

    Honestly, anywhere along the metro is fine. At some point or another you can cross and get where you're headed. There's also buses and such.

    It seems like you've got realistic rent expectations. Stay out of Southeast/southwest (housing wise, unless you're into Alexandria/Arlington VA). Some parts of Northeast are shady too. I looked at a place on M NW and it was...not welcoming.

    Other than that, just get a feel for the place and take a walk by at night and see what it's like.

    How old are you? Do you go out a lot? Know people down here? All these will affect where you'll want to live.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited April 2009
    Thanks for the post!

    About me: I'm married, 32, Wife is 33. We're both Phoenix natives and have never lived out on the east cost before. We don't know anyone out there, we don't have any family or friends anywhere east of the Mississippi actually. We've never had a chance to live in a downtown/urban environment (there's no such thing in Phoenix really) and we're looking forward to that. We have two cars but will probably only bring 1 since parking seems a bit outrageous.

    Talondel on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Anything along the Orange Line in Arlington would be good. Ballston and Virginia Square are a little bit less expensive, Clarendon gets pricey, as does Rosslyn and Courthouse. The managed buildings are all for the most part pretty nice—package service, fitness center, etc. There are also a lot of condo buildings on the Orange Line, so if you check Craigslist you might find some people looking to rent their condo.

    I currently live in Ballston but I'll be moving to another part of Arlington this summer. If you have any specific questions about the area let me know.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    If you want the urban experience, i'd go NW DC, but it's going to be more expensive. Parts of SE by eastern market are gentrifying, too. I believe you pay higher income taxes as a DC resident compared to a VAer. Clarendon has nice condos right on the orange line.

    kaliyama on
    fwKS7.png?1
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I found what look like good deals on apartments in the Fort Totten and Wheaton areas. Is there any particular reason I should avoid those areas?

    From Google Maps the areas appear a little less developed and look a little more suburban (surrounded by tiny houses) but it's hard to tell without being there in person.

    Talondel on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Talondel wrote: »
    I found what look like good deals on apartments in the Fort Totten and Wheaton areas. Is there any particular reason I should avoid those areas?

    From Google Maps the areas appear a little less developed and look a little more suburban (surrounded by tiny houses) but it's hard to tell without being there in person.

    Boring and not much there. If you’re looking at Maryland get a place in Bethesda or Silver Spring. But the best way to do DC is to just sell your car and live near a metro station in Downtown DC, west of 14 St and south of U St.

    supabeast on
  • GorkGork Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Talondel wrote: »
    I found what look like good deals on apartments in the Fort Totten and Wheaton areas. Is there any particular reason I should avoid those areas?

    From Google Maps the areas appear a little less developed and look a little more suburban (surrounded by tiny houses) but it's hard to tell without being there in person.

    At the risk of sounding politically incorrect, Wheaton is home to a lot of the area's day laborers and there have been gang shootings at the Wheaton mall. Take that for what you will.

    I'd stick with Clarendon or Courthouse if you're not going to live in the District.

    Gork on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    If you are going to be splitting your time working between Courthouse and Downtown, you REALLY don't want to live in Maryland. The Red Line and the Orange Line are the two most heavily used Metro lines. Taking the Red Line from MD and transferring to the Orange and taking that out to Courthouse is going to be fucking awful, especially in the summer.

    Also, trying to get from MD to Arlington by car in the mornings (and the reverse in the evenings) would be one of the worst commutes imaginable.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • Prester JohnPrester John Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Don't live in Rosslyn unless you really like concrete and ugly high rises.

    I lived there for two years, moved to Courthouse, and never looked back.

    Prester John on
  • cyphrcyphr Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Don't live in Rosslyn unless you really like concrete and ugly high rises.

    I lived there for two years, moved to Courthouse, and never looked back.
    :( I work in Tyson's Corner and I've lived out by Dulles for the past year, and I'm looking to move somewhere east of Tyson's in June (no more toll road, hooray). I'm visiting a place in Rosslyn tomorrow.

    We'll see.

    cyphr on
    steam_sig.png
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I live and work in DC, and the urban thing is great. Public transportation within the city is very accessible, and I usually walk anywhere I want to go. I managed to go six months without driving a car, which is really, really liberating.

    If we ever decide to have kids, I'm not exactly clear on what we'd do because the public schools in the district can be fairly horrible.

    SammyF on
  • NargorothRiPNargorothRiP Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I'll go ahead and be blunt about wheaton and fort totten since i really think you need to know the low down. Both areas are very high crime, dangerous and very very much not the place you want to live.

    NargorothRiP on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I live and work(ed) in DC and would like to add: "People that you hang out with who DON'T live in DC (especially the ones in Ballston) are huge douches." All the great stuff is in the city and all they do is whine about having to come back in to hang out with us. Therefore, we simply care less about those friends of ours who live outside the city proper.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I live and work(ed) in DC and would like to add: "People that you hang out with who DON'T live in DC (especially the ones in Ballston) are huge douches." All the great stuff is in the city and all they do is whine about having to come back in to hang out with us. Therefore, we simply care less about those friends of ours who live outside the city proper.

    Maybe they just don't like hanging out with YOU. Lay off my peeps! There's some serious benefits to living in the Commonwealth, not least of all not having to deal with the District government/dmv/police/etc.

    ps-do I know you?!?

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • supabeastsupabeast Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    SammyF wrote: »
    If we ever decide to have kids, I'm not exactly clear on what we'd do because the public schools in the district can be fairly horrible.

    Move to Tenleytown and send them to a private school like everyone else does.

    Regarding crime, it’s not just Fort Totten and Wheaton. Many areas of the District and its nearby suburbs are crime-ridden shitholes. Southeast DC is the worst; public gang shootouts still happen down in Anacostia. Within NW DC it tends to be very localized to areas near conglomerations of public housing. To spot public housing in DC look for the usual large repetitive building with surrounding fences, but also watch for smaller apartment buildings with lots of window unit air conditioners and NO LOITERING signs. If you plan to live near a park, drive by it on a Saturday afternoon to see if its used by drug dealers or soccer players.

    I used to always recommend that new people just suck up the high prices and spend the first year in Dupont Circle or Georgetown and then move after you know more about the area. That’s probably still good advice.

    supabeast on
  • SammyFSammyF Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    supabeast wrote: »
    SammyF wrote: »
    If we ever decide to have kids, I'm not exactly clear on what we'd do because the public schools in the district can be fairly horrible.

    Move to Tenleytown and send them to a private school like everyone else does.

    Regarding crime, it’s not just Fort Totten and Wheaton. Many areas of the District and its nearby suburbs are crime-ridden shitholes. Southeast DC is the worst; public gang shootouts still happen down in Anacostia. Within NW DC it tends to be very localized to areas near conglomerations of public housing. To spot public housing in DC look for the usual large repetitive building with surrounding fences, but also watch for smaller apartment buildings with lots of window unit air conditioners and NO LOITERING signs. If you plan to live near a park, drive by it on a Saturday afternoon to see if its used by drug dealers or soccer players.

    I used to always recommend that new people just suck up the high prices and spend the first year in Dupont Circle or Georgetown and then move after you know more about the area. That’s probably still good advice.

    Your crime myths are kind of questionable actually. Some areas in NE like the Trinidad have had some bad high profile violent crime, and there's a lot of non-random violent crime in SE, but there's a lot of crime in NW, too. It just skews towards more thefts, muggings and sexual assaults.

    The shorthand explanation is that the people committing crimes live near Navy Yard, but they have to travel up to Lincoln Park or over to Foggy Bottom to find people carrying enough cash where robbing them isn't a complete waste of time. Sort of like how there are more homeless people pan-handling per block in Georgetown than there within two miles of the Rhode Island Ave metro stop. They go where the money is, then they go home.

    edit: I have to back up Darkewolfe on his "peoples from NOVA be douches" point. You all are to Washington DC what people from Jersey are to NYC. I'm sorry, but there ya go.

    SammyF on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

    Also, trying to get from MD to Arlington by car in the mornings (and the reverse in the evenings) would be one of the worst commutes imaginable.

    False (conditional on where in Arlington)...I commute daily down 95 from route 214 in MD (exit 15 to the bridge) and I hit virtually no traffic delays. So if you're going to the Alexandria side of Arlington, just get the highway after the bridge and hook 1 north. Should be fine.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • Iceman.USAFIceman.USAF Major East CoastRegistered User regular
    edited May 2009
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

    Also, trying to get from MD to Arlington by car in the mornings (and the reverse in the evenings) would be one of the worst commutes imaginable.

    False (conditional on where in Arlington)...I commute daily down 95 from route 214 in MD (exit 15 to the bridge) and I hit virtually no traffic delays. So if you're going to the Alexandria side of Arlington, just get the highway after the bridge and hook 1 north. Should be fine.

    Iceman.USAF on
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Thanks for all the feedback! We'll be out mid May to take a look around and see what will work for us, but we're going to be pressed for time, so be able to limit the scope of the search ahead of time is quite helpful. I'm not sure that downtown DC is going to be feasible on the budget we have in mind (I'm not seeing much decent in the Dupont Circle/Foggy Bottom/Downtown D.C. area for less than $1800 a month) but we'll at least take a look around. Otherwise, we'll just have to join the "bridge and tunnel" crowd out in VA.

    Another complication is that my wife doesn't have a job offer out there yet, so she'll probably still be looking when we first get there. As a result, it would be nice if she had a car just in case she needs to get someplace not near the metro. On a related note: Anyone need to hire an accountant? :)

    Talondel on
  • CrashtardCrashtard Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Is there a particular reason you need to live inside D.C., or do you just want to? I live in Alexandria, and my wife works in downtown D.C. and it takes her about 45 minutes to get to work in the morning. We're paying about 1250 a month for a 1BR apt, we could get a 2BR for about 1450 in the area. Plus it's right outsite of old town alexandria and the downtown shopping area on King St, which is just great.

    Crashtard on
    I pinky swear that we will not screw you.

    Crashtard.jpg
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I live and work(ed) in DC and would like to add: "People that you hang out with who DON'T live in DC (especially the ones in Ballston) are huge douches." All the great stuff is in the city and all they do is whine about having to come back in to hang out with us. Therefore, we simply care less about those friends of ours who live outside the city proper.

    Maybe they just don't like hanging out with YOU. Lay off my peeps! There's some serious benefits to living in the Commonwealth, not least of all not having to deal with the District government/dmv/police/etc.

    ps-do I know you?!?

    I don't think so, no.

    I've lived in D.C. (admittedly Rosedale) for 700 a month. I lived in Chinatown for 900 a month. You just have to hunt really hard for a month or two on craigslist.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • DeathwingDeathwing Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Is there a particular reason you need to live inside D.C., or do you just want to?

    Yeah, seriously think about this. I live in Annandale, it takes me 45 minutes or so to go from the Dunn Loring metro to Gallery Place where I walk a couple blocks to work. Beats the hell outta fighting traffic and paying for parking.

    Deathwing on
    steam_sig.png
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

    Also, trying to get from MD to Arlington by car in the mornings (and the reverse in the evenings) would be one of the worst commutes imaginable.

    False (conditional on where in Arlington)...I commute daily down 95 from route 214 in MD (exit 15 to the bridge) and I hit virtually no traffic delays. So if you're going to the Alexandria side of Arlington, just get the highway after the bridge and hook 1 north. Should be fine.

    Do you actually drive up Rt. 1 from 95? I haven't made the drive recently, but Rt. 1 is pretty nightmarish in the mornings and evenings. And he said he's working in Courthouse, so down 95 across the Wilson and up Rt. 1 to 110 to Rosslyn is pretty much the most roundabout way to get from north of DC to Arlington possible.

    And Talondel, don't listen to the people being all judgy-mcjudge about people who live in Virginia. I don't really know who shoved the stick up their asses. Arlington is a perfectly nice place to live. I hope they are kidding about people in Virginia being douches.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Deathwing wrote: »
    Is there a particular reason you need to live inside D.C., or do you just want to?

    Yeah, seriously think about this. I live in Annandale, it takes me 45 minutes or so to go from the Dunn Loring metro to Gallery Place where I walk a couple blocks to work. Beats the hell outta fighting traffic and paying for parking.

    When I worked in Hart it took me 10 minutes to walk to work. I could also always get home no matter how late I'd been out drinking with friends in Dupont.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • CrashtardCrashtard Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »
    Darkewolfe wrote: »
    I live and work(ed) in DC and would like to add: "People that you hang out with who DON'T live in DC (especially the ones in Ballston) are huge douches." All the great stuff is in the city and all they do is whine about having to come back in to hang out with us. Therefore, we simply care less about those friends of ours who live outside the city proper.

    Maybe they just don't like hanging out with YOU. Lay off my peeps! There's some serious benefits to living in the Commonwealth, not least of all not having to deal with the District government/dmv/police/etc.

    ps-do I know you?!?

    I don't think so, no.

    I've lived in D.C. (admittedly Rosedale) for 700 a month. I lived in Chinatown for 900 a month. You just have to hunt really hard for a month or two on craigslist.

    Definitely want to check out Craigslist for apartments around here. There are some really good finds if you just watch for a month or so.

    Crashtard on
    I pinky swear that we will not screw you.

    Crashtard.jpg
  • cyphrcyphr Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I'm going to hijack this; hope you don't mind Talondel.

    I visited an apartment in the Westover Village part of Arlington today and liked what I saw. It's not in the shady "Westover Apartments" complex that I've heard bad things about, it's a three story building with like 9 apartments in it. Does anyone have any experience/advice/random anecdotes about that area? It seems like a great fit - rent < $1000 for a 1br, walk to restaurants and shops, less than a mile to two metro stations, walking distance to Westover Market's legendary Great Wall Of Beer, and a reverse commute to work in Tyson's Corner.

    The two things I'm not looking forward to, if I pull the trigger on this, are Comcast, and lugging a couch and heavy wooden desk up three flights of stairs.

    NOVA PAers, any feedback for me?

    cyphr on
    steam_sig.png
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I personally think that area is pretty cool. More residential, and if you bike or run you're really close to the bike trail. Lost Dog Cafe is right on Washington Blvd. in that area and they have amazing pizza. You're not too far from the East Falls Church metro stop. There's some parks in the area where ultimate frisbee leagues play. Overall it's a pretty nice area. It's definitely "old" Arlington though; it's much different than Clarendon--you won't find much in that area that wasn't there before 1950 (besides a few McMansions, that its).

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Thanks again to everyone who has posted! I think we've got a pretty good feel for what we want to look in the Arlington area when we're out there, but we're still at least thinking about trying to find someplace in D.C. proper. Any additional feedback on where to be the District? One person above had been pretty specific (West of 14th, South of U) and I'd like to know if others agree with that idea.

    Talondel on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Talondel wrote: »
    Thanks again to everyone who has posted! I think we've got a pretty good feel for what we want to look in the Arlington area when we're out there, but we're still at least thinking about trying to find someplace in D.C. proper. Any additional feedback on where to be the District? One person above had been pretty specific (West of 14th, South of U) and I'd like to know if others agree with that idea.

    West of 14th, south of U in NW? That doesn't really leave you much and is a pretty small portion of the city, and incidentally that's pretty much the most expensive area to rent in.

    I would expand your search to Capitol Hill and Eastern Market if you want to live in the city. There are lots of nice residential areas in those neighborhoods, although you do have to actually do some field work as they go from gentrified hipsterville to housing project very quickly (although, that applies to most of DC, honestly).

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    SammyF wrote: »
    I live and work in DC, and the urban thing is great. Public transportation within the city is very accessible, and I usually walk anywhere I want to go. I managed to go six months without driving a car, which is really, really liberating.

    If we ever decide to have kids, I'm not exactly clear on what we'd do because the public schools in the district can be fairly horrible.

    Sidwell Friends, or failing that, Andover or Exeter - duh.

    kaliyama on
    fwKS7.png?1
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    In northeast you don't want to go any further east than 14th street or so, and you want to stay south of H St.

    In northwest you have a lot of options, and the specific area you mentioned is way too precise. It doesn't even include the Chinatown area, for instance, which has lots of great options.

    You also have a wide swathe of Southeast which is aimed at 20-somethings and marines; there are lots of easy to find places in that area.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Asking a new question in this thread, rather than starting a new one.

    Finally got to D.C. today and started looking around for apartments. We did like the Courthouse/Ballston area, but didn't find an apartment in that area that we liked. We're heading back out again tomorrow to keep looking in that area. We did find one place we liked in the Crystal City area, but we're not sure about the neighborhood. Seemed a little quiet, but kind of hard to tell on a Sunday.

    We also found a place that looked decent up in Silver Spring. We had previously been warned off of Fort Totten and Weaton (I believe the PA consensus on those areas was roughly "you WILL get mugged, you might get raped") but Silver Spring didn't seem all that different than the Courthouse area, at least from what we saw.


    So I ask pose you these two questions PAers: 1) Can you recommend an apartment near the Courthouse or Ballston Metro Station? Keep in mind that "near" means "within walking distance" and being from Phoenix, our definition of "walking distance" is probably significantly shorter than yours.

    2) What other areas should we consider if nothing in Courthouse / Ballston works out. Crystal City? Silver Spring?

    TLDR: We're still looking for a nice/upscale 1BR in or near DC, preferably very close to the metro, and convenient to the Courthouse and MetroCenter stations.

    Thanks!

    Talondel on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    What about the apartments you saw in Ballston and Courthouse did you not like? That'll help us get an idea of what you're looking for. Also, what are you looking for as far as rent?

    Crystal City is kind of...a weird place. It's actually been improved quite a bit in the last few years, but's still at its core a failed experiment in mixed use neighborhoods. There are a couple very popular restaurants but there isn't much of a nightlife to speak of. It's mostly office buildings and therefore it gets pretty dead on the weekends and after happy hour. That being said it's a safe area and within short driving distance of both the Clarendon/Courthouse and Old Town Alexandria areas which both have more than enough going on.

    If you have to commute to Courthouse on a regular basis, don't bother looking in Silver Spring. That is seriously a hellish commute any way you slice it. Actually, I know someone that lives in Silver Spring and commutes to Rosslyn, but that wasn't her plan in the first place. I think she drives into DC with her husband and then jumps on the Metro. In any case, don't look for a place to live in MD when you have to work in VA; it's just going to make your like more difficult than necessary.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I'll be working 4 days a week in an office near the Metro Center, and 1 day a week in an office near Courthouse, so if the commute to Courthouse sucks I can probably manage for a day.

    Mostly the apartments we saw today around Courthouse were just a little on the outdated side for the money. We looked at Archstone Courthouse Plaza, Courthouse Place, Meridian at Courthouse, The Prime at Courthouse, Courtland Towers, and 2201 Wilson. Two (Courtland and 2201) we had to toss because they don't take pets, and we have a cat that we wouldn't consider getting rid of. Of the others, the Prime was quite nice and even had a decent view, but it would be about $2100 a month after you factor in parking and pet fees. The remaining ones were all pretty old once you got inside the apartments in terms of appliances, fixtures, cabinets, etc. That's not really a deal breaker, but for $1900 a month I would like better.

    Based on the other areas we looked at, we could either get a much nicer place for $1900 a month, or an equivalent place for about 15-20% less, in either Crystal City or Silver Spring.

    We still have a view places to look at out in the Courthouse/Ballston area. We didn't get to Vista at Courthouse, The Clarendon, Balston Place, or Archstone Ballston Square.

    Talondel on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    I've actually lived at Ballston Square for 2 years. It's a pretty decent place. The building itself is a little dated and the appliances are on the old side, but overall it's been a good place to live. Things break, but they've always fixed whatever it was within a day. It's a little "college" if you know what I'm saying: beer-pong in the courtyard, frat boys in the pool, which is one of the reasons we are moving. It's super close to Metro though, which is very nice. And I think it's one of the cheaper buildings around (because it's older).

    In this area, you're not going to get close to Metro AND a modern style apartment (open style, stainless appliances, etc) unless you're willing to shell out a lot of money. That's just kind of the way it is.

    One area you might want to check out is Shirlington. It's not directly on the Metro, but it's probably a 5 minute bus ride to the Pentagon station. I've seen a lot of apartments and condos for rent advertised on Craigslist. It's a pretty cool little area with some nice restaurants and a movie theater that shows a lot of limited release/arthouse stuff. You should check it out--you can definitely get more for your money there, and if Craigslist is any gauge some of the buildings around there are desperate.

    For instance, here's a listing for a place in Shirlington: http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/apa/1160513019.html

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • TalondelTalondel Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Any thoughts on the relative benefits of Crystal City vs. Silver Spring if nothing in Ballston-Rosslyn corridor works out? Obviously Crystal City is going to be a much easier commute to Courthouse for those days, but I'm more concerned about actually having things to do nights and weekends within walking distance that I am about the commute 1 day a week.

    I'll probably only end up being in D.C. for a year, I want to make sure I'm someplace where I can enjoy it. :)

    Talondel on
  • RUNN1NGMANRUNN1NGMAN Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Talondel wrote: »
    Any thoughts on the relative benefits of Crystal City vs. Silver Spring if nothing in Ballston-Rosslyn corridor works out? Obviously Crystal City is going to be a much easier commute to Courthouse for those days, but I'm more concerned about actually having things to do nights and weekends within walking distance that I am about the commute 1 day a week.

    I'll probably only end up being in D.C. for a year, I want to make sure I'm someplace where I can enjoy it. :)

    Crystal City is pretty dead nights and weekends because it's mostly office buildings. There are a few very popular restaurants, but outside those it's a ghost town at night. It's within a short drive of lots of fun areas, but it is not itself really all that fun. It's major upside to Silver Spring is that it's a heck of a lot closer to where you're working.

    RUNN1NGMAN on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    edited May 2009
    Ballston sucks, Ballston sucks, Ballston sucks. (sorry!)

    Seriously, look in D.C. With the price point you're looking at, try Mt. Vernon Square apartments near Chinatown, for instance. We had a really great two bedroom there for $1800.

    Darkewolfe on
    What is this I don't even.
Sign In or Register to comment.