Sorry for not coming on here for awhile. I had to wait for my dd to find out about her employment situation. She is going to be able to transfer to DC! So that took some stress off of things. She will be working right near the White House and to recap her husband will be in Crystal City in Arlington. They plan to rent for a year in the city and then after experiencing that, the plan is to move farther out. They were wondering about Columbia Heights. They are planning on taking the train down this weekend and checking out different neighborhoods. I have to say that they were blown away by all the advice that was given here. This is one great site!
That’s wonderful. They will be able to calculate commute times on the train utilizing this site when looking at different residential locations. https://www.wmata.com/
Love noma, h street, Capitol Hill but those are less convenient for the commutes (red line from the ne sector). Though dd could take red line to Farragut north for a downtown commute and Capitol Hill on orange/blue in se sector. What about Wharf/Southwest? That is pretty popular now. For young singles who don’t love car commuting, there’s no way I would recommend any farther suburb than Clarendon. Traffic is beastly 7 days a week. And all the DC neighborhoods mentioned so far are just fine. Though they might be more than $2000/mo.
Yes, they have no plans now for a car. They have gotten use to not having one in NYC although that may change in a new town. I will send them the link raclut.
I hope it doesn’t snow this weekend. Some of the forecast models say possibly 9 inches of snow.
Alexandria is also a wonderful area, near metro and hip. But yeah, Mosaic is awesome.
A son has lived in the DC area for almost 10 years now. First in Arlington (Clarendon/Courthouse area). He liked Arlington but prefers to be in DC. Has lived in Chinatown, then Columbia Heights, now Adams Morgan-all good areas. I like Adams Morgan the best of those.
DC is a great place to live. If they are experienced urbanites they should look at Adams Morgan area. It’s gorgeous, has great restaurants, and is fairly close to the subway system (walk down to Dupont Circle – if they’re used to NYC this walk is not huge). Adams Morgan also has access to the park – nice for walking and running. Otherwise, they should look at the corridor that follows the red line to the northwest. Any location along there is pleasant.
If they have been living in NYC then DC will be fine. My child attended school in DC in what was considered not the best area of DC and she was from a sheltered Ohio suburb, she was fine there.
Our S really enjoys the Ballston area, near the public library and park and courthouse. There are lots of young adults and many places to eat. It’s very convenient to the metro.
We live in the Maryland burbs. Husband commutes towards DC. Two pieces of advice:
- Live as close as you possibly can to work.
- avoid having to cross bridges between home and work.
The traffic and commute (via metro, bus or train) is the most soul sucking part of living and working in the DC area. The city is wonderful, and really quite safe. One of my sons lived a block from the mall for a year and had a blast.
However. Driving anywhere during the multihour morning and evening commute in the DC/VA/MD metro area is terrible. Honestly. In some areas around and inside the beltway, including northern Virginia, a 7 mile commute can take 40 minutes. Be thoughtful and try the commute during rush hour before signing a rental agreement.
Agree. Driving in DC is not fun. Commuting – especially across town – really not fun. Commuting directly into and out of the city is marginally better, but still it’s better to live walking or bike-share distance from your job. Adams Morgan is a long walk to Georgetown, to downtown, and elsewhere.
If they are used to walking in NYC they could probably walk many places from there or Dupont circle.
It really depends on what they are looking for. Although rents are lower, my daughter did not find NOVA appealing. She enjoyed living in the Dupont Circle and Adams Morgan areas. Both were in walking distance to Metro stations.
I am not a tax expert by any means, but I read recently that DCs payroll tax (I think that’s what they call it) is quite high. Virginia has a personal property tax that I know Maryland’s doesn’t have. Maryland may have higher state/county taxes than VA. There are certainly pros and cons of each area (MD/DC/VA).
Many of the young, single people who work for my employer in Maryland reverse commute from DC. They want to live in a place like Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan, no matter how much more difficult it makes their day.
Did they visit? I hope they didn’t get stuck in the snow storm.
They did visit. I haven’t had a chance to talk to her yet but by text she said that they liked a place in Columbia Heights and one in DuPont Circle. They have to evaluate and think on it a bit. There probably will be another trip down.
My dd impressions of DC so far (compared to NYC): snow was bad but people acted like it was insane to be outside, apartments are bigger and nicer and every apartment she looked at had a laundry room (some in the unit!) and the city is so much smaller and compact. I will be happy if she gets a laundry room in the building as she has to trudge a block and half to one now.
Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, and Columbia Heights are adjacent lively neighborhoods (Adams Morgan between the other two) that are particularly popular with young people: lots of restaurants, bars, nightlife but also, especially in Adams Morgan, a vibrant multicultural mix, with many recent immigrants. Columbia Heights is pretty multicultural as well. Dupont Circle is a little more upscale and especially popular with the LGBTQ community
If I were a 20-something I’d probably choose Adams Morgan. Although it doesn’t have its own Metro station, the Woodley Park Metro is an easy walk, albeit across a long bridge over Rock Creek that can be chilly on a windy winter day. Dupont Circle and Columbia Heights Metro stations are also walkable from Adams Morgan. Dupont Circle and Woodley Park are on the Red Line, which would give your D an easy two or three stop commute; SIL would need to change to the Yellow Line at Gallery Place but that’s still not a bad commute as the trip across the Potomac is quick and Crystal City is three quick stops into Arlington. Columbia Heights is on the Yellow and Green lines which would mean a slightly longer but still relatively easy commute for your D (5 or 6 stops with one transfer), and pretty similar to the Red Line commute for SIL (9 stops with one transfer in each case).
I can’t tell you all how appreciative I have been for all the advice. It’s fun and a bit scary to watch your kids move to new areas. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to this thread.