DC area Dopers: could you share your knoweldge with me please?

In My Humble Opinion
21

I think Arlington might be your best bet. Most apartments in DC and Arlington won’t have parking and a washer dryer in the unit unless you are willing to pay a chunk of change. They will have a laundry room in the building. With the exception of the washer dryer in the unit, I would look for an apartment in River Place in Arlington. Here
is a link to a Craigslist search for River Place and it looks like they have a few units available. It is a coop and a lot of owners rent out their units.

You can rent parking there. It is located at the Roslyn Metro stop in Arlington which is on the blue line and the orange line. It is a relatively quiet area since it is mainly office buildings but you can walk to Clarendon and Georgetown which have nightlife in addition to using the Metro to go into the city.

I lived there for a while until we bought a place in DC. It was a very convenient location since there is a supermarket you can walk to and more than one drycleaners nearby that you can go to.

22

[QUOTE=Mama Zappa]
There are sure to be lots of buses that run along that way also, which will feed into the Huntington Metro. There is also a lot of parking available at the Metro (though I don’t know how early in the morning that fills up).
[/QUOTE]

They’re adding parking right now, actually…they’re renovating the Huntington South metro garage. I actually live in that area, and when I get to the metro stop (around 8:30-8:45) there’s usually spaces open. So, i don’t think parking there would be a major problem for the OP.

23

Mama Zappa: Based on my experience with the laundry area at my boyfriend’s apartments, I’d say ‘in the building’ would be entirely dependent on the quality of the units, but my highest preference is still for at least a washer in the unit. Nothing like half the washers and/or dryers being out of order, or do such a crappy job they may as well be out of order, and no where to get change. I have visited people who have much better on-site/in-building washing areas, and the ones that are well kept aren’t quite as bad, but I still dislike lugging laundry about.

BetsQ: Oh I will: I may take it to PM though unless for some reason a lot of people are interested in peering at my list of potentials. I know how creative places can be when trying to minimize potential issues! (Pictures that conveniently don’t show the local jail next door, or the garbage dump…)

Caffeine.addict: Interestingly enough, so far my initial blind searches have been turning up a lot in the Arlington area (second ‘most popular’ area is Silver Spring).

24

Post it in the thread. There are a few of us who live in the area and I would imagine between us we can tell you if it is a good area or not. I’ve lived in a few places in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, and DC proper so I am pretty familiar with the areas and in Arlington with the rental properties.

25

Here are two places that caught my eye, but for different reasons: I’m slowly narrowing down lists of possibilities, and feedback on these two would really help me calibrate my search.

Windsor at Arbors, in Alexandria. The presence of a car care center is nice, as is a weekday shuttle to the nearest metro station. However, using Google Maps to look at the nearby area shows a lot of apartment complexes, retail, and other buildings I can’t quite figure out. It’s also right off what looks like a major road. Mixed use areas are fine with me, as it means I don’t necessarily need to travel as far to get what I need/want, but I’m not sure how decent of an area that is.

Park Station, in Gaithersburg. One garage parking space included, which is nice, and Google Maps shows what looks like to be more residential than commercial in the immediate area. There’s a variety of floor plans in my price range, and a MARC station within walking distance. (I assume that from Union Station it’d be relatively easy to transfer to other transportation services.) However, I have no real feel for how long of a commute I’d be looking at: if it’s an acceptable amount, this would give me a better idea of how far out my search radius can be.

26

Nightsong, both those complexes are a pretty far metro ride from Farragut West. I had a friend who lived around the Windsor at Arbors area and it took him about an hour to get to town. Plus he never got a seat during rush hour because Van Dorn is the second stop on the Blue Line and the cars were already full by the time he got on the train. The neighborhood is pretty nice, though. A mall is nearby and the neighborhood has one of the few remaining bowling alleys in the area located there.

As far as Gaithersburg goes, it’s pretty far out there. You’ll have a serious commute with that one.

Keep looking. I think you can find a closer place.

27

Check out places that are accessible to the Eisenhower metro stop in Alexandria. East of the stop are highrises and the area is often called the Carlyle area. West of the stop, along Eisenhower Ave are a number of apartment communities that look similar to those you posted. Many of these places are walking distance to the metro and there’s a DASH bus that runs along there (I’ve found metros website to be unreliable with incorporating the non-Metro buses, DASH is Alexandria cities bus service). Many of the communities probably run shuttles. Eisenhower is a yellow line stop and you’ll <almost> always be able to get a seat. You could change to blue at King St, but I’d be more inclined to take the yellow into the city and change to blue/orrange at L’Enfant. You’ll also be able to change to the red at Gallery Place. Having choices for metro makes for some much more pleasant commutes (especially evening commutes).

28

[QUOTE=Nightsong]

Park Station, in Gaithersburg. One garage parking space included, which is nice, and Google Maps shows what looks like to be more residential than commercial in the immediate area. There’s a variety of floor plans in my price range, and a MARC station within walking distance. (I assume that from Union Station it’d be relatively easy to transfer to other transportation services.) However, I have no real feel for how long of a commute I’d be looking at: if it’s an acceptable amount, this would give me a better idea of how far out my search radius can be.
[/QUOTE]

It is about a 39 minute MARC Ride from the the Gaithersburg MARC stop to Union Station. It is 6 minutes on Metro from Union Station (down an escalator to get Metro) to Farragut West.

You can walk to the G-Burg MARC Stop from Park Station. It is a walk through what I would guess is a +80% Hispanic neighborhood. I haven’t read of an overabundance of crime there. If seeing Hispanic signs and people walking around creeps you out this might not be the walk for you.

I would say, in traffic, it might be a 12 minute drive from Park Station to the Shady Grove Metro Station. It is a 32 minute metro ride from Shady Grove to Farragut West.

If you want excitement and adventure this might not be an ideal place - this isn’t a swinging singles place. I would say a young person on the go needs a car to go to entertainment. It is the closest to a metro and safest place in this price range that I know Northwest of DC if you want your own place and don’t want to share.

29

This might not be a problem if you can shift your workday an hour earlier. I don’t have blue line experience, but on the green line many of the cars are virtually empty if I can get to the metro by 7-ish. If I get to the station around 8-ish then I will likely be standing. Added benefit is that you’ll probably leave work an hour early and beat the p.m. rush as well.

30

Thanks everyone! I’ll take the information and refine my search further, and probably have a few more to get feedback on by Monday. This has been extremely helpful.

31

It might help us if you tell us a bit more of what kind of neighborhood you want. Do you want a quiet suburb, or a more urban scene with nightlife?

32

My preferences are actually rather muddled when it comes to neighborhoods: I’ve lived in all kinds of areas, know the positives and negatives of the various types and how to make the most of them.

Ideally, I’d be in either a quieter area (urban or suburban) with easy access to more lively spots, or smack in the middle of a lively spot so long as the place I’m at is quiet and easy to get to. I don’t want to feel like I have to fight to get home every time, or that my place is besieged on all sides by people wanting to have a good time.

On the flip side, what I don’t want is a quiet area where I have to spend a chunk of time traveling to more lively spots. It’s one thing to choose to go to that great restaurant (for instance) that happens to be a thirty to forty-five minute drive away, it’s another thing if there simply isn’t anything closer to go to.

And for me, lively doesn’t include bars and clubs: I’m more of a coffee shop, cafe, restaurant, bookstore, etc., kind of gal.

33

[QUOTE=Nightsong]
Here are two places that caught my eye, but for different reasons: I’m slowly narrowing down lists of possibilities, and feedback on these two would really help me calibrate my search.

Windsor at Arbors, in Alexandria. The presence of a car care center is nice, as is a weekday shuttle to the nearest metro station. However, using Google Maps to look at the nearby area shows a lot of apartment complexes, retail, and other buildings I can’t quite figure out. It’s also right off what looks like a major road. Mixed use areas are fine with me, as it means I don’t necessarily need to travel as far to get what I need/want, but I’m not sure how decent of an area that is.
…
[/QUOTE]

I live not that far from there - nearer the Franconia-Springfield Metro, off the very southern end of Van Dorn (google “Kingstowne”). I checked the Windsor at Arbors location using Google maps - I was thinking of a completely different complex a couple of blocks west (right at the intersection of Van Dorn and Duke Street).

It’s sort of in a niche surrounded by apartments (low-rise and high-rise) and some industrial / warehouse stuff; Pickett Street is really not “residential”. Well, there are some townhouses along it, because its location is convenient, but it’s not the loveliest of areas. It is indeed convenient to (though not really walkable) to the Van Dorn metro. On the plus side, it is very convenient to all the major highways. Few blocks to 395 via Duke Street, mile or so to the Beltway (Van Dorn street exit); The nearby mall, Landmark Mall, is… sort of mixed. It was being converted from an outdoor mall to an indoor one about the time we moved here in the late 80s. Its anchor stores are Sears and Macy’s (formerly Hecht’s). I’ve shopped there for clothing when it was Hecht’s; I’m sure Macy’s is comparable (I usually go to a different Macy’s). It in general doesn’t attract the same sort of traffic the other big NoVA malls do; IIRC (we usually only go there when we need something at Sears) it’s missing a few of the standard chain stores. http://www.landmarkmall.com/html/storedirectory.asp

Another mall not too far from there is Springfield Mall, though that is getting rather run-down and attracts a bit too much of the “teen hangout” crowd. We go to Springfield Mall because it’s very close and we buy the kids’ clothing there; as a professional female I really wouldn’t expect you to go there too often. Really you’d probably shop at Pentagon City (Macy’s / Nordstrom, and on the Blue line), Tyson’s Corner (everything, just hideous traffic and labyrinthine parking area, but famous) or even Fair Oaks malls more often.

You’re about equidistant between two Target stores (Springfield Mall and Skyline Mall, about a mile west of 395 on route 7). Skyline might be a bit closer, though I seem to recall the parking was not free (my memory could be bad; I used to work in an office building attached to Skyline so I only ever shopped there on my lunch break). There is plenty of other shopping (groceries etc.) on Van Dorn, on Duke Street, and you’re not too far from Old Town Alexandria which is good for restaurants and more interesting shops. Wal-Mart is 5ish miles away, ditto Kohl’s, and you’d be a short distance from two major movie theatres (AMC Hoffman Center, on Eisenhower Ave - 22 theatres, and Kingstowne 16).

You will need to take transportation (bus / shuttle) if you want to use the Van Dorn metro for commuting. There is a parking lot there, but it’s not a huge one. I’m not sure how early it fills up but back when Franconia was not open, there were times where I had to drive to Huntington since I’d missed the parking spaces at Van Dorn. I wouldn’t fret about standing-room-only; even if you don’t get a seat, that’s not that unusual. You’ll figure out the timing. And of course in the evening, you’d be going through one of (if not the) busiest stations in the system so it’s likely you wouldn’t get a seat in the evenings anyway.

There are all sorts of apartments along Van Dorn Street, which advertise Metro transport. I drove by this one just today (not recommending, just happened to see it so it stuck in my mind: Ridgeleigh . Though googling the place, I can’t see a reference to a metro shuttle; perhaps they did away with that when it went to new management recently. In any case, that site might be useful for researching other places in VA.

34

I am somewhat familiar with the area around the Windsors. It is a residential area with some commercial activity around it. S. Pickett has a bunch of car dealerships on it as well as a strip mall with a Home Depot.

In terms of nightlife, you are about 15 minutes by car from Old Town Alexandria which has some restaurants and bars. There isn’t much around Landmark in terms of going out.

For some reason, as long as I can remember Landmark Mall has always been somewhat dead. Even the Old Navy Store there closed.

Does the complex offer a shuttle bus to the Metro?

35

[QUOTE=Mama Zappa]
.Landmark Mall…Its anchor stores are Sears and Macy’s (formerly Hecht’s). …http://www.landmarkmall.com/html/storedirectory.asp

[/QUOTE]

Correcting myself, there is a Lord and Taylor there also. I’d forgotten that (haven’t shopped there though I should try, I like the L&T clothing department at their Fair Oaks and Tyson’s locations).

36

[QUOTE=Nightsong]
My preferences are actually rather muddled when it comes to neighborhoods: I’ve lived in all kinds of areas, know the positives and negatives of the various types and how to make the most of them.

Ideally, I’d be in either a quieter area (urban or suburban) with easy access to more lively spots, or smack in the middle of a lively spot so long as the place I’m at is quiet and easy to get to. I don’t want to feel like I have to fight to get home every time, or that my place is besieged on all sides by people wanting to have a good time.

On the flip side, what I don’t want is a quiet area where I have to spend a chunk of time traveling to more lively spots. It’s one thing to choose to go to that great restaurant (for instance) that happens to be a thirty to forty-five minute drive away, it’s another thing if there simply isn’t anything closer to go to.

And for me, lively doesn’t include bars and clubs: I’m more of a coffee shop, cafe, restaurant, bookstore, etc., kind of gal.
[/QUOTE]

Have you considered Bethesda? It has a lot of the ‘liveliness’ you like plus it’s on the Red Line (about 22mins to Farragut North). Bethesda has a lively dense ‘towncentre’ but things become quiet within a few blocks walk. Only downside to Bethesda are the prices (both rental and buying)…

Another nice area to live would Cleveland park or Tenleytown…It all depends on how you much you are thinking of spending in rent

37

[QUOTE=Future Londonite]
Have you considered Bethesda?
[/QUOTE]
Actually, that’s one of the areas that’s been coming up on the searches: here is an example of something that’s caught my eye. Rents seem reasonable, parking fee isn’t astronomical, stuff seems to be close by.

In regards to the various remarks on the Windsors, one of the things that caught my eye about that was they offered a weekday shuttle service to the metro. Although with the comments about the nearby mall being a bit on the dead side, that is sort of worrying simply based on previous experience on seeing what happens to areas when there’s a dead/dying mall there.

Something that I have noticed in my searches: a lot of places that seem to have undergone management changes, a lot of places (some of them the same places that have had a management turnover) offering some sort of move-in incentives. To me that indicates a market that’s starting to struggle, which may or may not work in my favor. (I do wince at places that offer a ‘make your mind up on the spot!’ bonuses, why are they so desperate to get you to sign up right away?) Once in a while I see a place offering a discount for federal employees: does anyone have a feel for how frequent this kind of thing is?

I’ve fallen behind on my searching this weekend, my poor eyes needed a break. (And my sarcasm meter. I’ve found it makes searching much more bearable if I put a sarcastic spin on the listing information.)

Here’s one that looked intriguing, although given the lack of information on-line about when the place is going to be complete I rather doubt this would be a serious contender: MetroPointe. Can’t get any closer to a metro station than that! Beyond the usual ‘what about the area?’ issues, I’d be worried that I would feel under siege in this kind of place, and end up fighting traffic for when I want to drive somewhere else.

The next two are both in Silver Springs:
Woodvale, and Hampton Hollow.

Neither of these scream to me ‘move in now’ but they do seem to be places that I could live with/in for a year or two.

38

Having lived in Kensington for 4 years (next to Wheaton) let me tell you that Wheaton will not have the liveliness that you are you looking for. In my opinion Wheaton is struggling and quite immigrant heavy…However it is home to the most authentic chinese food you can find in the DC area - Paul Kee :smiley:

Silver ‘Sprung’ is nice and brandnew. Lots of brandnew apartmentbuildings are rising left and right, attracting new business. However somehow I find that Silver Spring lacks soul. A good friend of mine moved there after I left for Germany and what I read on his blog he seems to be loving life there so things might have changed…

Given your descriptions of what you like and are looking for I think Bethesda might actually be your best fit.

39

[QUOTE=Future Londonite]
Having lived in Kensington for 4 years (next to Wheaton) let me tell you that Wheaton will not have the liveliness that you are you looking for. In my opinion Wheaton is struggling and quite immigrant heavy…However it is home to the most authentic chinese food you can find in the DC area - Paul Kee :smiley:

Silver ‘Sprung’ is nice and brandnew. Lots of brandnew apartmentbuildings are rising left and right, attracting new business. However somehow I find that Silver Spring lacks soul. A good friend of mine moved there after I left for Germany and what I read on his blog he seems to be loving life there so things might have changed…

Given your descriptions of what you like and are looking for I think Bethesda might actually be your best fit.
[/QUOTE]

Bethesda would probably be very good indeed (I don’t know the area well at all but just from reputation). If you wanted Virginia, the Arlington / Ballston / Shirlington areas are all pretty hopping. In fact that Windsor place, following their links, has something near Shirlington.

Nightsong - that’s an interesting observation about apartment ownership being a sign of “interesting” things with the rental market. There’ve been quite a lot of name changes near me - that Ridgeleigh place for one, and others actually in Kingstowne have undergone 2 or more name changes in the time we’ve lived there. Archstone had a lot of properties but I don’t see their name so much any more. And certainly real estate around here’s been wild for a few years. I don’t pay too close attention to it, since we own and are planning on staying put for a long while.

The Washington Post has an apartment called “Apartment Life” (I think); some recent links are at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/28/LI2005032800583.html. Maybe there’ll be some stuff there to give you ideas.

Will you have a chance to spend a few days in the area to look around? or are you going to have to practically pick a place sight unseen?

40

[QUOTE=Future Londonite]
However it is home to the most authentic chinese food you can find in the DC area - Paul Kee :smiley:
[/QUOTE]
With a grin like that, dare I ask? :slight_smile:

I’m hoping that I’ll get a chance to at least look around the area before relocating: I’m waiting on the formal offer to see what kinds, if any, of relocation assistance they’ll offer. Worst case I show up, find a short-term stay unit for me and my clothes, and scramble to look at and get a place quickly, then get my stuff to me later. This thread is really going to help if that turns out to be the case, since I’ll hopefully have a short list of potentials to visit.

I’m switching the bulk of my searches over to this site (link goes to one of the searches I’ve run on there, the other search simply swaps studio for one bedroom), as it seems to have a decent listing of apartments that otherwise don’t have an on-line presence and it gives the last known rents, apartment types and sizes, amenities, and shows the location on a Google map.