I might be taking a job in Arlington, VA (particularly in Clarendon). As someone who has lived in Cincinnati all of my life, I am looking for any insight as to places I should possibly look to live in the vicinity of Arlington, VA. Being someone who has recently graduated from college (well, soon enough), affordability is nice. I also am inclined to believe that I must live in Virginia, as I am indirectly working for the Virginia DOT.

 

I know this is an Ohio Message Board, but I think and hope that there are a few people here that know something about DC, or where I can look for help. All I keep seeing is sticker shock from the cost of apartments in the area. Does anyone have any suggestions for DC? I'd certainly appreciate it if you did.

 

Note: I know there is a forum for Relocation Assistance, but I am under the impression that is for Ohio relocation only. If this thread should be there as well, feel free to move.

Hm...well I'm a student at GW and know DC pretty well, but I can't speak too much for VA.  I will say to go ahead and check out the Foggy Bottom area in DC because there are some relatively cheap (DC's an expensive city) apartments in the area due to the fact that there are a lot of students. It is also just one Metro stop away from Roslyn. Also a pretty cool area that has some cheap rates is the Logan Circle area.  It's a little sketchy at times, but is gentrifying quickly and has a great housing stock. 

I might be taking a job in Arlington, VA (particularly in Clarendon). As someone who has lived in Cincinnati all of my life, I am looking for any insight as to places I should possibly look to live in the vicinity of Arlington, VA. Being someone who has recently graduated from college (well, soon enough), affordability is nice. I also am inclined to believe that I must live in Virginia, as I am indirectly working for the Virginia DOT.

 

I know this is an Ohio Message Board, but I think and hope that there are a few people here that know something about DC, or where I can look for help. All I keep seeing is sticker shock from the cost of apartments in the area. Does anyone have any suggestions for DC? I'd certainly appreciate it if you did.

 

Note: I know there is a forum for Relocation Assistance, but I am under the impression that is for Ohio relocation only. If this thread should be there as well, feel free to move.

 

I say look in Arlington (although you have the slim chance of running into DanInDC...he he he), Rosslyn or Ballston.

 

Renting in DC is a mess.  If you live and work in VA, your check will not be affected by taxes nor will you have a bad commute .

Any of those suggestions work. Will you be able to take the metro to work? If so, that would be might biggest requirement. I was born in DC and lived there until I went to college. I lived 4 blocks from the Tenelytown metro and it was the greatest location ever....

My place of work would literally be next door to the Clarendon Metro Station.

 

Is $1400-1500 generally the median rental rate in Northern Virginia? Or can I find a better deal?

My place of work would literally be next door to the Clarendon Metro Station.

 

Is $1400-1500 generally the median rental rate in Northern Virginia? Or can I find a better deal?

how big is the unit?  Does you new employer have employee contracts or perferred housing vendors?

How big of a complex do you want to live in? I lived in a 20-building complex in Alexandria that had its own convienece store, movie theater, dry cleaners, copy/fax/computer center and 2 great pools. I believe today a 2-bedroom there would be about $1300 while a one bedroom would be $1050 or so. It was nice having all those amenities as a part of the complex. Bars, grocery stores, regular strip mall stuff and a mall were all walkable. It was a full mile from the Metro station though, with morning and evening shuttles. Arlington was 2-5 Metro stops away.

 

Also, the Crystal City area is a good TOD area that is closer to some parts of Arlington.

The pope used to live in Arlington.  Maybe he can help you.

My place of work would literally be next door to the Clarendon Metro Station.

 

Is $1400-1500 generally the median rental rate in Northern Virginia? Or can I find a better deal?

 

I personally think $1400-1500 is a lot of money, particularly for Virginia (even though Clarendon has a lot going on).  Alexandria or East Falls Church might have places near the metro for much cheaper if you want to stay in Virginia.  Rosslyn seems to be less expensive compared to other parts of Arlington; and I also want to say that Arlington has a good bus system, so you may have luck looking in an area not so close to a metro stop that would be cheaper. 

 

Have you considered rooming with other people to save money?  There are a lot of people who find places on Craigslist and live with random roommates. 

 

As far as living in DC proper goes, it depends on what you really want.  It has some great restaurants, really cool nighlife spots (much better than in VA in my opinion), and really interesting (older) neighborhoods.  The commute would not be that bad. 

 

Taxes are quite a bit higher than in Virginia, and the place can seem poorly-run from time to time. However, you can find some safe, inexpensive areas to live in.  I'm in Mt. Pleasant (by the zoo) which is quite safe, has really cheap rent (I pay $850 a month)--and I'm close to a lot of shops, restauants, and bars.  My commute to work in Ballston is about 30-40 minutes door-to-door.  Capitol Hill is another neighborhood in the District where you'd probably be able to find inexpensive rent. 

 

 

 

 

The pope used to live in Arlington. Maybe he can help you.

 

He would ...

Don't sell out, TJ!!!

Just a few thoughts....

 

$1500 seems very reasonable for Northern VA. The collapse of the housing market here has added thousands of new renters, so while rental supply is up, demand is even higher. I personally know that rental properties prices around Tysons Corner are up 20-40% over the last 2 years. Not the best time to rent in and around DC and I suspect that we have at least another year of signifcant rent increases.

 

If you want to live on the cheap, and live in an urban neighboorhood with quality rental properties, I'd suggest the Brookland/Catholic University area. It's not nearly as exciting as Mt. Pleasant or Adams Morgan but the properties in there are close to the metro and offer lots of different choices. You'll have to switch out at Metro Center to get to Clarendon though. I can't lie, crime is an issue in general in DC and a larger problem west of Rock Creek Park in NW/NE. You need to use caution and common sense to live in that area. It's improving but it has some fits and starts with trouble, expecially in the summer. That being said, I think it's a great diversified area that's got some awesome townhomes on the cheap.

 

If you want to live on the cheap in Virginia. Good luck. Alexandria might have a few properties. Falls Church is very expensive, due to the schools. You could commute from BFE to the Orange Line in Vienna, but then you'd be living large in the super large bland 'burbs that surround the Beltway communities. Annandale has resonable rents, but you'll need either a car...or do the Metrobus/Metrorail thing.

 

My advice, you should stay in Ohio. Seriously. I moved out here for personal, not financial reasons 15 years ago. It's getting worse here, not better. The traffic, the air quality, the lack of truly affordable housing, the miles of sprawl are a few of the many factors of why population growth is slowing down rather dramatically over the past 3 years. I think the silly "recession proof" idea of the DC area will be dead before the decade is out the way things are headed here. If you have a very solid job though, go for it.

 

Good luck to you though!

My advice, you should stay in Ohio. Seriously. I moved out here for personal, not financial reasons 15 years ago. It's getting worse here, not better. The traffic, the air quality, the lack of truly affordable housing, the miles of sprawl are a few of the many factors of why population growth is slowing down rather dramatically over the past 3 years. I think the silly "recession proof" idea of the DC area will be dead before the decade is out the way things are headed here. If you have a very solid job though, go for it.

Good luck to you though!

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

Ohio's market for what I wish to do has been shot and killed thanks to the overspending of the previous ODOT administrator, unbelievable increase in Asphalt, and general economic slowdown. It's sort of a quandary of what I should do. The job in DC is in fact what I want to do, but as many, many people have stated and as I have noticed, DC is stupidly expensive. I got to figure out if I want to risk living day by day or try my luck elsewhere. It isn't as though I haven't tried to find a job I wanted here in Ohio, it's just that there market isn't there anymore for what I wish to do.

I was born in DC and lived my first years in Arlington (and too many  formative years in alpha oppressive burbs such as McLean). I have been gone a long time, but can only comment I would try to live as close to work as possible. DC area has horrendous traffic.  The last time I was back to visit and riding around with a friend of mine, I kept asking where the wreck was as it was gridlocked everywhere for miles. There was no wreck BTW. 

 

Yes those prices are typical. I like Old Town Alexandria a lot, but it could be pain to get to and from.  I am surprised Falls Church is expensive for the DC area. It used to be not that expensive and a haven for Asian immigrants looking for affordable housing and decent schools . I don't care for Annandale. It is boring 1950's style (think Parma oh for literally 10x the cost).  Adams Morgan is my favorite potentially affordable- by -DC standards nabe. There are lots of great ones, but they are outrageously expensive. 

 

The weird thing about DC is despite the population,outside the city it is really sprawly, they love cars and driving.  Despite our opinions, it couldl be a great experience as I am convinced all change is good for you, although it will be a pretty challenging existence financially. Also in your calculations, look at the cost to have a car if you will be driving one. I do not know of they changed this, but when I lived there you paid a personal property tax EVERY year on your car. Back in late 80's I was paying $350 a year for a 1969 Pontiac Lemans beater worth less than that.  Lots of other taxes too. I am not saying taxes are bad when they do good things, but it should be part of your analysis

^ Yea, the funny part about DC is that the city is an urban paradise, but some of the suburbs/exurbs are just AWFUL. It's because most people in the area weren't born there - they brought their taste for sprawl with them from Texas, the South or even here.

^ Yea, the funny part about DC is that the city is an urban paradise, but some of the suburbs/exurbs are just AWFUL. It's because most people in the area weren't born there - they brought their taste for sprawl with them from Texas, the South or even here.

 

Most of the people I have met who were born and raised in the area live in the outer sprawl. It's not an ideological postion, it's a financial one. Until the region can come to grips with placing safe affordable housing near mass transit it will never be a truly urban center like Chicago, Tokyo or New York.

 

As for Arlington, it has sprawl too. The land north of the Orange Line should be far more dense than it is (North Arlington). You shouldn't live 2 miles from downtown DC and 5 minutes from Rosslyn and yet have a McLean suburban style neighborhood. It's ridiculous.

 

I will say this, most Washingtonians are far more like Southerners than East Coasters (including Baltimore). Locals even called it a quiet Southern city into the 70's. When the Beltway was built in the 1960's a vast majority of the land that was cleared was farms.

I was born in DC and lived my first years in Arlington (and too many formative years in alpha oppressive burbs such as McLean). I have been gone a long time, but can only comment I would try to live as close to work as possible. DC area has horrendous traffic. The last time I was back to visit and riding around with a friend of mine, I kept asking where the wreck was as it was gridlocked everywhere for miles. There was no wreck BTW.

 

Yes those prices are typical. I like Old Town Alexandria a lot, but it could be pain to get to and from.   I am surprised Falls Church is expensive for the DC area. It used to be not that expensive and a haven for Asian immigrants looking for affordable housing and decent schools . I don't care for Annandale. It is boring 1950's style (think Parma oh for literally 10x the cost). Adams Morgan is my favorite potentially affordable- by -DC standards nabe. There are lots of great ones, but they are outrageously expensive.

 

The weird thing about DC is despite the population,outside the city it is really sprawly, they love cars and driving. Despite our opinions, it couldl be a great experience as I am convinced all change is good for you, although it will be a pretty challenging existence financially. Also in your calculations, look at the cost to have a car if you will be driving one. I do not know of they changed this, but when I lived there you paid a personal property tax EVERY year on your car. Back in late 80's I was paying $350 a year for a 1969 Pontiac Lemans beater worth less than that. Lots of other taxes too. I am not saying taxes are bad when they do good things, but it should be part of your analysis

 

You should see Annandale today. It still has the sprawled out housing stock, with the good-'ole boy neighborhoods but almost everything on Little River Turnpike is filled with Korean businesses. It's kinda surreal.

 

You need to pay the personal property tax on the car, but it's been reduced to around 25% of orignial levels. You don't wanna drive if you work near Clarendon though. Buy something affordable near the Metro. The car will be a headache.

my uneducated guess is if you work for the DOT it would be kind of autocentric-you would be sent to meetings all over town. DC was never cheap. I moved out when I was 18 to a modest apartment  across the street from Lake Anne in Reston. I had a roomate. It was a 2br and we paid nearly 700 a month in 1987. So scary, I cannot imagine what that would be now. Amrepin. what is Reston like now? it was a racially and economically diverse, rather densely populated,green space friendly, burb back then.

 

I am guessing the commute to Arlington would be murder.

So, I decided to decline the position. The numbers just don't work out. I'll find a job elsewhere. Thanks for your help though, everyone!

sorry it did not work out. Hopefully where you are meant to be will materialize

So, I decided to decline the position. The numbers just don't work out. I'll find a job elsewhere. Thanks for your help though, everyone!

 

Good luck to you, there's still alot of govt. jobs out here for the taking!

 

Peabody,

 

Reston has changed quite a bit. They've built alot of mid-rises around Reston Town Center. And there's alot of low-to-mid rise office space that has popped up from the Tech boom. It's a strange place, because you have a very urban 6-10 block area surrounded by a strip mall and 10-lane highway in Reston Pkwy. Then you have alot of general suburban office buildup next to a very large freeway in VA 267. The Silver/Dulles line might shore up and urbanize that area a little better, but it's going to be difficult because the stop will be in the median of VA 267. You're right though, it's definitely the most urban of the outer burbs, by a mile.

The pope used to live in Arlington.  Maybe he can help you.

 

He would ...

 

 

Never!

 

I see that TJ already declined. Ballston is expensive as heck. Rather, you're paying for proximity to the Orange Line.