Would love to drop in on the DC folks, but there’s the iffy thing called “commute to work”, and how would be nice to not have a long one…
Do you plan to work in Fairfax? because I-66 is a parking lot for about 10 hours of any 24 “Rush hour” is about 5am-10am; 3pm-8pm. I’ve never been to LA but I find it hard to believe there is any place in the US with a more vile commute than down I-66.
Where to live depends on where you are working. If your job is in Reston, I would live out in that area since your commute heading there from DC would suck. If your job is in Tyson’s, then traffic is going to suck anyway, although you can avoid 66 and the parkway if you live in Arlington.
Or choice “C,” which is, find a job that lets you work from home and use the money you would have spent on an efficiency in Arlington to buy a resort in Detroit.
I’ve lived in Reston and Fairfax and liked both of them. I agree the traffic is the pits.
My wife and I visited DC a few weeks ago and had a really nice time. The first night, we stayed with a friend in Reston. (She actually commutes 45 minutes each way from Reston to Old Town Alexandria for work!) I think This YouTube video sums up Arlington pretty well.
After the first night, we stayed at the Radisson in Crystal City. We walked across the street to the Crystal City Underground for ice cream at 10 at night and had no problems. We walked through an empty pedestrian tunnel under US 1, no problems. In fact, we only saw one homeless person during the whole trip, and he was sitting on a corner outside the Founding Farmers restaurant in Foggy Bottom. (Great food, by the way, and not too pricey.)
ETA that yes, I know Crystal City is not in DC, but my general point remains.