<p>Thanks for the info. It looks like there’s easy bus transportation from this area to AEI.
I was curious if it was a decent area. I figure the busier the area, the more people circulating—LOL.</p>
<p>Kalorama at 18th is about a block from a friend’s long-term condo (she’s been there since 1988). Not the best neighborhood in DC but vibrant and interesting and mostly safe if you’re sensible. And much more affordable then Dupont Circle or Georgetown.</p>
<p>Busier also can equal noisier. Make sure your S evaluates the noise factor if the apartment is in close proximity to any nightlife. May not matter to all, but if a bedroom window overlooks a street busy late at night it can be annoying.</p>
<p>My daughter did not want to live in Adam’s Morgan due to the noise and the lack of parking. She has a car in DC and needed a neighborhood that had available street parking. Glover Park was the perfect area for her; she feels safe walking at night, especially while walking her dog. Rarely does she park more that a block or two from her home. While Glover Park does not have a metro stop, she prefers to ride the bus; one is outside her door that she uses to get to the metro at Dupont, the other she walks to when going to work.</p>
<p>That said, many love Adam’s Morgan; just depends on what you are looking for.</p>
<p>I’d avoid Adam’s Morgan personally. It’s loud and there is an inordinate amount of crime. I am partial to Columbia Heights and parts of 16th street. I’ve lived in SW and liked it (large military presence) but it’s kinda spartan down there and close to SE.</p>
<p>I’d avoid NE, SE, the Capitol area (just my preferenc), around RFK stadium, Adam’s Morgan. It’s all personal preference though.</p>
<p>The only really bad areas are SE and NE IMHO. Anywhere in NW, SW should be fine. There is crime in Georgetown and I’ve seen naked crackhead women walking around New York avenue and as far in as 14th street. But I’ve lived on the border of SE and walked with no problem. Shrug… YMMV. If money isn’t an issue, Crystal/Pentagon City is preferable, has a young crowd and is really nice.</p>
<p>I’ve been here 6 years, started in Pentagon City, tried DC and have ended up in Reston. I personally prefer VA and unless I lived in upper NW (suburbia, kind of) I’d stick to Crystal/Pentagon City/McLean, all close to DC and all much nicer.</p>
<p>thank you, thank you, and thank you. We’re keeping our eye on Craig’s List and hoping something turns up that fits his needs. Keep the advice coming! I’m sure there are others out there looking for the same info that’s being posted on this thread.</p>
<p>if you live in McLean, you will definitely need a car. I would say that’s probably not the best location, but one of my recently graduated friends lives there in an apartment, so all of it is not out of the price range, but the median household income in McLean is about $160,000.</p>
<p>Washington DC is a great young people’s city. To be honest, a single kid, fresh out of grad school, on a short term internship, would be nuts to not take advantage of the city and live in-town, especially if the job is a few blocks from DuPont Circle. I’m not sure the argument that popular Adams Morgan would have too much hustle and bustle and be “too noisy” for guy in his mid-20s holds much water!</p>
<p>There will be plenty of time to buy a car and move to Virginia or the Maryland suburbs.</p>
<p>If you want an ideal combo of affordable prices, easy access to the metro and great shopping, I think Columbia Heights (especially north of Irving, East of 14th, and west of Sherman is absolutely ideal. Working at AEG, Adams Morgan or DuPont would be great, as would anything on or off 16th Street north of Irving, which would have a straight bus route down 16th. U Street around 14th wouldn’t be bad either.</p>
<p>The area north of U Street and south of Irving and east of Meridian Hill Park would be more of a block by block thing. There are some housing projects along 14th in that stretch that tend to attract some crime.</p>
<p>I lived in a rent control place in Georgetown as a young dude.
Also lived on the Orange Line corridor as an older dude. Rosslyn up through Ballston is great for young grads. Unlike Crystal/Pentagon City you aren’t cut off from the rest of Arlington and DC by highrises and highways.</p>
<p>interesteddad, I agree with you. We want to give him the opportunity to live right in DC.
He’s a kid from a small town who has always wanted the chance to experience life right in the heart of DC. He’s worked his butt off in school, worked full time every summer since he was 15 or 16 years old, worked during his academic breaks, and always put his academics first (yes, he did manage to still have a social life and friends). He’s always wanted to do an internship in DC during a summer, but knew it would mean he wouldn’t be able to work and earn money for the upcoming semesters. </p>
<p>While some kids take time off after college graduation to go off to Vegas or traveling the world (nothing wrong with this at all), living in DC is his wish. I really want to give him the opportunity. It’ll only be for a few months so if we have to pay a bit more for him to live in a nice area and experience DC., we’ll try our best to swing it. It’ll be his graduation gift from us. :)</p>
<p>We’re still looking–checking Craig’s list daily. I have too much prepping to do for the holidays so I’m going to take a day or two off from dealing with the DC housing situation. It’s stressing me out so I’m going to focus more on getting my Christmas holiday prepping finished and then we’ll dive right back into looking for DC housing.</p>
<p>Again, I sincerely want to thank everyone. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve never been to DC and we live quite a distance away so I’m totally confused and overwhelmed right now.
Keep the ideas coming. I’m off to do some errands (grocery shopping, gift shopping, etc.). Then, it’s time for cleaning the house, wrapping presents, and baking some cookies. So much to do!</p>
<p>Have a great day everyone. I’ll check back to this thread when I get caught up with my errands. See ya :)</p>
<p>I just received an email from my son. He got a response from Craig’s List.
Does anyone know anything about: 2130 N Street Northwest? He has a chance for a sublet there and they OK’d his timeframe of Mid-Jan. through end of May.</p>
<p>OK–now I’m running out of this house to get errands done.</p>
<p>It seems to be near Dupont Circle. In general, this is a nice area, but I’m not familiar with the exact location.</p>
<p>A little Internet research indicated that it is a condo building, so if your son would be living in the apartment alone, he will need to find out what to do if there’s a need for maintenance (leaky faucet, etc.). This is not as obvious in a subletted condo as it is in a rental apartment.</p>
<p>He might also want to find out whether the furniture is staying. If not, there is an IKEA near DC, but you need access to a car to take advantage of it.</p>
<p>DH works about a block from there. Great area, very safe, parking will be beastly but public transit location is ideal. About a 7-10 min walk to GW (and my dentist), about 10 minutes to Georgetown. Bonefish Grill is nearby and is excellent and reasonable. DH also likes Mei Wah, which is also in the immediate area. </p>
<p>If the place is affordable, grab it.</p>
<p>Yeah. I can’t think of any reason that location wouldn’t be good, if not excellent. It’s certainly no concern at all in terms of safety and so forth. </p>
<p>Plus, it’s only three blocks from Bobby’s Burger Palace (Bobby Flay’s upscale fast food chain). Some GWU students. Lot of embassies. Lot of restaurants.</p>
<p>^^^DH sublet a studio on 24th and M in 1988 while doing a summer internship. (We’d been married almost five years and I commuted down on weekends.) We are REALLY sorry we didn’t buy the 1BR that was available on that floor at the time – $59k. But we were young and broke and investment property was nowhere on our radar. Said condo now goes for $349k.</p>
<p>I’d guess OP’s S could Craigslist any furniture he needs from folks in that area.</p>
<p>DH walks from his office to Metro at 10:30-11 pm on a regular basis and has never had a problem.</p>
<p>For a city, the Dupont area is safe. You still need street smarts. I’ve wandered around that neighborhood after dark, and it is full of undesirables. Dupont Circle Park is a major hangout for winos and the homeless. I’ve stayed in hotels and BandB’s in Dupont Circle, and police sirens scream all night long.</p>
<p>I second CountingDown’s recommendation of Bonefish Grill.</p>
<p>Since this will be your son’s first experience in a large city, he needs to develop “city smarts” wherever in DC he lives. Dupont is fine, altho there are some streets nearby that get pretty deserted after working hours. It stays more populated around where the restaurants are. He’ll just have to be smart about staying alert to his environment.</p>
<p>Son has been to NYC with buddies a couple of times and he did live in Syracuse for a year and a half (some places there are really creepy). </p>
<p>The owner (woman) is subleasing. Rent includes all utilities, even internet. It’s fully furnished and she said that if any maintenance issues happen like leaky faucets, etc. she’ll have it fixed.</p>
<p>It’s on the first floor. Should that be a concern or do the positives (location, all inclusive out) out weigh those concerns?</p>
<p>That address is more West End than Dupont Circle, but it’s only about a 5-block walk to the Dupont Circle metro station and maybe 6 blocks or so to the Foggy Bottom metro station. Nice area, lively, lots of shops and restaurants nearby, very urban feel. I wouldn’t want to have a car there, but without a car he should be fine. Georgetown is also walking distance from there. There’s a Trader Joe’s about 5 or 6 blocks away at 25th and Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>I agree you need to use street smarts in pretty much any big American city, especially late at night. I try to avoid crossing through Dupont Circle park after dark, and sometimes even during the day, frankly, depending on who is hanging out there. I’m also on full alert when walking in the quieter and darker streets in that area. The busier commercial strips feel safer, at least until everything closes down; late at night it can be kind of bleak. But hey, that’s life in the big city. As far as DC neighborhoods go, this is one of the livelier and safer ones.</p>
<p>Do NOT buy any used furniture on Craigslist. DC has a huge bedbug problem, and it is just spreading. Your son needs to realize that there are lot of scams on Craigslist, so be very very cautious when forking over money for places. That said, it is the method most kids are using to find places…just be cautious and realize that if it is a great deal, then there likely to be something wrong with the transaction.</p>