Washington D.C. Neighborhoods

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve lived in this particular area for just under two years, and sometime in the first quarter of 2003 I’d like to move to another apartment in the same general area - that is, somewhere within the giant sprawl of Washington, D.C.

I’ve been through this before, and I’ll do a lot of the searching online, eliminating apartments that don’t meet certain criteria, but certainly at some point I’ll drive to the neighborhood of a potential apartment to check it out.

Now, those of you who are from this area know there are hundreds and hundreds of neighborhoods here. (I work in the District itself, but I think I’d prefer to continue to live outside of it and commute, like most other people.)

I will be looking for an apartment that rents for $1000 or less per month.

Can any of you tell me which neighborhoods you think are “nice” and why you think so?

Of course, “nice” is relative, isn’t it? I was going to say “low crime,” but just about any place in the metro DC area will have some crime. I guess the best way to put it is like this - not upper class, but not lower class, either. In short, the kind of place where a $1000/month apartment is middle of the road, rather than being the high end or low end of the spectrum.

I bring all of this up because the last few times I’ve gotten to the point of driving over to a prospective apartment, I’ve found the immediate surrounding area to be a little run down. This is not, of course, obvious by any way other than a physical inspection. I’d just as soon save myself a lot of driving, since the various neighborhoods are so spread out here.

[By the way, for reference, I live in Laurel. So if you know what that hamlet is like, I’m looking for an area as good or better.]

Thanks, everyone!

2

I suggest Adams Morgan, between Columbia Rd. and the east side Zoo entrance. I used to live on Summit place, and would wake up to the sound of monkeys screeching in the mornings. The restaurants are fantastic and cheap, and it’s one of the more affordable areas of town.

Of course, I keft in '93. Maybe things have changed.

3

Hey dantheman, what’s shakin!

Have you decided on your new car yet? Oh wait, that’s a different thread.

My bad.:smack: :smack:

Anyway, you might want to check out the Miramount apartments in Rockville. My ex-girlfriends ex-boyfriend used to live in one & it wasn’t half bad and it was less then $1000 a month. But I don’t know what type of apartment you are looking for, studio, 1 bedroom, 2 bedroom, loft, etc?

I believe the Miramount had studio, 1 & 2 bedrooms. As for the neighborhood, they were right next door to the Jewish Community Center and are right off of Rockville Pike near Congressional Plaza.

4

Humm, both sound mighty nice. I’ll take a closer look at them both.

My work is on the Red line, so Adams-Morgan and Rockville both work.

I’m looking for a 1BR, which most apartment complexes should have available. I actually have a list of criteria that unfortunately would limit my options considerably, so I’ll have to forget some of those criteria. :wink:

[The upshot is that like most Washingtonian workers, I have a lengthy commute, and I’d like to improve upon it.]

5

Why not try Germantown? I’ve lived here for a 1.5 years now, but been in the area my whole life. I quite like it, plus it’s growing so there are a lot of things to do, or you are at least close to things to do. Rent is cheaper, I pay 800 a month and the apartments are nice, never had any problems with anyone in the area and never seen any crime etc. I have really come to like the area, even though when I first got here I didn’t take to well to it. The train station is also right here, I can walk to it, and you can get off in Rockville and take the Metro, or drive to the park and ride for the Metro about 4 miles away.

I plan on staying in the area and when I call my realtor today I hope to buy something.

6

I have lived on and around Capitol Hill for 3 years now - right now I live on Independence SE, which I LOVE. It’s a “cusp” neighborhood - so you can still get in under your price limit - but it’s not high crime, it’s walking distance to several metros and lots of shopping/restaurants.

A good resource is www.yarmouthm.com, which is a management company here that posts listings every day - it should give you a pretty good idea of what to expect.

For the record, I’m 28 and female, with a young son, and I have never once felt unsafe or threatened anywhere on the Hill - of course, keeping in mind that I don’t take risks and pay attention to my surroundings.

AR

7

I hadn’t really considered living in the city itself, but I might be swayed to that thinking…

Here’s why I haven’t really considered it an option thus far. Where I am now is the first place I’ve lived on my own. I came from a fairly rural area (plenty of houses but quite far from anything), in the middle of the woods. When I moved down here, I didn’t want to be in the middle of the city - too busy, too this, too that.

But now that I’ve been here a couple of years, I might want to try it, provided I could still park and do food shopping and the like.

8

If you’re looking for a nice neighborhood, close in, with good restaurants & nightlife, try Arlington. It’s convenient to almost anywhere, has decent govt (well there’s too many speed traps) and schools. If you want to be near the Red line, perhaps Bethesda or Takoma Park. Up until the shootings the other day, I would also recommend Kensington.

9

Well, I did a preliminary search on homestore.com for apartments in Arlington, Kesington, Germantown, Rockville, and the District itself.

I’ve found that although there are apartments in these areas that are within my price range, they’re also a bit smaller than what I have now. (I do have criteria other than price, of course, and I know it won’t be easy if not impossible to find a place that covers all of them.)

yojimboguy, I didn’t see Adams-Morgan listed as an area on which to search - I guess because it’s actually within the city limits.

I think I’ll try some other sites and see if they come up with anything better. :slight_smile:

10

I didn’t realize you would be driving. Adams Morgan sucks, car wise. Forget about parking on the street.

11

I don’t live there, but some of the older houses around the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington seemed nice and reasonably priced. I almost rented an apartment there, and it would have been a great deal. Parking seemed more than adequate around there, as well. There’s a nice little complex of stores (Crate & Barrel, Apple Store, Barnes and Noble, Pottery Barn) near the Metro stop.

Instead I took a SUPER cheap rent in Columbia Heights, but a lot of people would consider that a dangerous neighborhood. Not this Detroit born-n-bred kid, though. I’ve never felt the least bit threatened in my own neighborhood. In fact, the only place I’ve ever been accosted was on Capitol Hill.

12

'Fraid so, yojimboguy. I don’t have a problem at all taking Metro, but I do drive up to NJ on occasion.

But no matter! This thread’s already been very helpful. I hadn’t really considered Rockville before, but I should be able to swing it this time around. Or even Silver Spring.

13

Look into Takoma Park. A bit more folksy, a bit less built up - less urban than Silver Spring. The Library used to have a tool section- you could borrow enough tools to build a house. It used to have a socialist mayor, and was known as the “People’s Republic of Takoma Park”. Also on the Red line.

14

Hm, thanks. I think I’ve looked at it, but never seriously. And now I have the new Apartment Guide, so I’ll do so researchin’.

15

I used to spend a lot of time with family within walking distance of Huntingdon Metro, about halfway between the station and Route 1. Great for commuting. It’s the last station on the Yellow Line, so you always get a seat in the morning!

(I’d prefer Adams-Morgan personally, but that’s a downtown, noisier, higher-crime, more crowded sort of place - depends on your tastes and circumstances.)

16

Yeah, I do like the Metro - it just takes me 25 minutes to drive to it, as of now.

17

Vienna is a nice area, but the traffic is bad and it’s dull as ditchwater; there’s nothing to do!

18

Maybe, but they got a bitchin’ boys choir!

19

Adams-Morgan, affordable?? Maybe back in the pre-gentrification days. You could probably find a one-bedroom under $1K if you work at it though.

My vote for outside DC is Takoma Park. It’s a fun, liberal place to live. I don’t know what part of Laurel you’re in–my mom lives there and it seems pretty quiet and suburban to me.

Inside DC, there’s this new trend by real estate agents to refer to upper U Street as “Dupont West”, which is stretching the range of Dupont a bit. Lots of nice, affordable housing in that stretch.

Guess it depends on what you’re looking for!

20

Oh I vote for Arlington. But getting a one bedroom close to a Metro for under $1K won’t be easy. But Arlington is really nice, it is where I live now. As a petite, blond girl who walks late at night from the Courthouse Metro to her townhouse, I can say I have never felt unsafe.

Living in the District scares me. I tried to find a place up in NE near where I go to law school but it was frightening up there.