Actium Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Random question to the folks on the Potomac--where would be a good suburb for 2 adults in their early 30s to reside in/near our nation's capital? By good, I mean somewhere (relatively) affordable, safe, good restaurants/shops, but close enough to commute to DC every day? Thanks for any suggestions you might have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Define affordable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Skins Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Jamie beat me to it..... Also, houses or apartments? Apartments are running at least 1,200 a month. Metro goes as far south as Springfield, VA and as far west as Vienna, VA. There is also Virginia Railway Express (VRE) which is a train service that goes out to Gainesville, VA and parallels parts of 66 and eventually ends up at Union Station which is in DC. Also, VRE goes to Fredericksburg, VA which is 50 miles south of the DC line and parallels 95 and goes to Union Station. Metro also goes to Silver Spring, MD, Rockville, MD, Largo, MD and Greenbelt, MD (www.wmata.com). There are also train options there as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Jamie beat me to it..... Also, houses or apartments? Apartments are running at least 1,200 a month. Apartments. What kind of an apartment is it for the 1200? Is it a decent place to live? And by affordable I guess I mean relative to mean. Not super-fancy in the trendy district, but a good place to come home to at night. I have no idea to be honest. Would you recommend the Virginia or the Maryland side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Skins Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Apartments. What kind of an apartment is it for the 1200? Is it a decent place to live? And by affordable I guess I mean relative to mean. Not super-fancy in the trendy district, but a good place to come home to at night. I have no idea to be honest. Would you recommend the Virginia or the Maryland side? I lived in MD for about a year, and been in VA for 29 years. 1 bedroom and about 600 sq ft. That's the low end. I live in a one bedroom and nearly 900 sq ft in Alexandria very close to 395 and 5 miles south of the DC line and paying around 1,400 a month, plus utilities. Some apartments (mostly the high rises) do not have their own washer and dryer in each unit. Fairfax has a lot of apartment complexes and they are fairly nice. I have lived in my apartment nearly 5 years. Woodbridge, VA has got a lot of new restaurants that Fairfax County has had forever. That is a good thing. I would never live in MD again, everything was too far that I wanted to get to. MD is also much higher on gas. Pentagon City/Crystal City is very expensive, but close to the DC line. Arlington/Rosslyn is also not cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Skins could probabally speak to the MD side of things better than I could as he lived there for a little while. I can speak to VA pretty well, there really isnt a "bad" part of Northern VA persay, there are pockets of places that I'd not live that can be bad but overall you'll be pretty safe. If you want shopping ect and want to be close to mass transit (Metro) to commute to DC as Skins said you'll want to start in the county of fairfax, unless you're willing to do the VRE (train) and then switch from the VRE to Metro at the various places it connects. You're commute will be longer but youll save money in cost of living. What I would suggest is find a cost of living calculator online and plug in your current salary and location and then desired location and see what it spits out. Without being nosey about what your salary would be and your expected rent/utiltites/expenses spending, its hard to give a specific area. I know when I finish grad school if I stay in DC Ill be looking at possibly the Kingstowne area to move from where I am at now so I can be somewhat closer to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Thanks for the informative responses. It is appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 I understand about.it being hard to predict. We will have to get new jobs so I don't exactly what the salary will be! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 I understand about.it being hard to predict. We will have to get new jobs so I don't exactly what the salary will be! LOL Ah, yeah without knowing that, you cant really know where specifically to look. If cost of living wasnt an issue, I'd be living somewhere in fairfax....close enough to mass transit, yet far enough away from the city to not have all the complexes be high rise types Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigris Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Just looking for a life change? Seems just like a wild thought right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Skins Posted October 25, 2013 Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Actium, I left you a private message as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted October 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2013 Just looking for a life change? Seems just like a wild thought right now. No, a once in a lifetime opportunity for my wife. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigris Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 No, a once in a lifetime opportunity for my wife. Elaborate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted October 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 I enjoy being shrouded in mystery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Elflocko| Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 No, a once in a lifetime opportunity for my wife. Once in a lifetime opportunity = Do Eeeet, DO EEEEEEEEET! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyInDC Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 Don't toss living in the District out just yet. I preferred it there...less commute time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Bunghole| Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 The most affordable housing is in SE DC. Nice area, too. Marion Barry lives there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyInDC Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 If someone breaks it down by quadrant, they are wrong. There are bad parts of NW and there are good parts of NE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Bunghole| Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 If someone breaks it down by quadrant, they are wrong. There are bad parts of NW and there are good parts of NE. I was mostly joking, but the last time I lived there, SE was continually the absolute worst part of the city unless something has changed. I haven't lived in that area since 1992 so maybe they've cleaned it up. My cousin is a DC cop and from the stories he tells, I don't think it's much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-GoBengals- Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 I was mostly joking, but the last time I lived there, SE was continually the absolute worst part of the city unless something has changed. I haven't lived in that area since 1992 so maybe they've cleaned it up. My cousin is a DC cop and from the stories he tells, I don't think it's much better. nah im sure nothing has changed in 22 years.... forest fair mall is still the new nice one in cincinnati right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|Bunghole| Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 nah im sure nothing has changed in 22 years.... forest fair mall is still the new nice one in cincinnati right? Hah, but Ryan....SE DC has been the shittiest place in DC for DECADES. It is to DC what Compton is to LA. It's the freaking ghetto. It's unlikely much has changed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincyInDC Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 Eastern Market is really nice, but don't live there because it's SE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Go Skins Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 SE is dangerous. If you ever go to Nationals Stadium, even after 5 years, there is hardly anything around it. I have driven through there during the day and felt like an "outsider". Upper NW DC (Tenleytown, Friendship Heights, Chevy Chase Circle) is expensive as hell. A few of my friends live in DC and don't have cars because they can walk to most things. There is an hourly car service (Flex car or something like that) that exists as well. There is also a lot of bike rental places scattered throughout DC, MD and VA called Capitol Bikeshare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamie_B Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Stay out of Anicostia (sp?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Actium Posted March 26, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2014 Just an update, we decided to go with Alexandria. Moving there shortly. I'm really pumped. Thanks to all the helpful advice from the locals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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