I agree - Courthouse and Clarendon areas. I lived in both neighborhoods during my 20s. The area upscaled quite a bit since then, but it still has a community feel to them. Ballston completely changed that it was unrecognizable. These areas are very accessible for walking - it was easy to walk to Georgetown and GW on a non-humid day if I didn’t feel like taking the metro.
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My 20-something D lived in both Ballston and then Clarendon after college. She liked Ballston, LOVED Clarendon - for all the reasons already mentioned. Most of her social network lived in this area at some point. For her next move (now with her BF) she really wanted to be in Court House, but the best deal for what they wanted was in Navy Yard (where he was already living.) She moved to Navy Yard a year ago and has zero regrets - loves it! She has been in DC since 2019 and has never had a car and hasn’t missed it. Her office used to be in Georgetown and she took the bus from Ballston, because there is no metro stop in Gtown. During the pandemic she was remote, and now the office is in Dupont and she takes the metro when she goes in 1x/week. She is very social and travels around the city and back and forth from Arlington a lot - by metro or Uber/Lyft. She would not like the suburban feel of Falls Church.
FYI any of her 20-something friends that have lived in Alexandria thought it was too far away from all the DC social activities.
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I live on the Arlington/Falls Church border. First, you need to make sure you are talking about the “city of Falls Church” - which is close to where the East Falls Church and West Falls Church metro stations are. There is also the Falls Church part of Fairfax County - which is more where neighborhoods called Bailey’s Crossroads or Skyline or Seven Corners are located. That part is much less expensive, but not on or near any metro, and not as “cute” or nice. Think more strip malls, less independent ice cream stores.
Courthouse and Clarendon are the most “fun” areas on the orange/silver metro line (both in Arlington, so closer into the city than Falls Church) but will also be the most expensive. Virginia Square and Ballston start dropping in price a tiny bit and are still an urban corridor. Falls Church if you are near the cute downtown part of the “little city” it’s more houses, fewer apartments, more young marrieds, fewer singles. There are some townhouses and apartments near the West Falls Church and Dunn Loring metro stops (both of which would be classified as Falls Church I think) that will be much more affordable but, not surprisingly, not as fun / happening for a young person.
I commute from the East Falls Church metro to L’Enfant Plaza metro every day - typically takes me no more than 25-30 minutes. When i drive it’s about the same - but I leave my house at 6:15 in the morning so I won’t be in traffic. So it doesn’t have to be a bad commute, but there will be tradeoffs.
Similarly, a lot really depends on budget here. It’s more fun to live closer in, but that can cost much much more.
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I can’t speak to the particulars of the D.C. area (thanks to all the experts chiming in!). I will say that the median home price of areas can sometimes be very misleading. For instance, in my metro area, the “median” home price would not be in a condition or neighborhood that most on CC would consider. To get to a condition/neighborhood desired, one is probably looking at close to 50% more than the median of the city. And this is for something like a 1300sf house (no basement) in good condition (not freshly renovated) in a “good” (but not the best) area of town. If you want a bigger space, then the price obviously increases accordingly.
All of this to say, depending upon the specifics of the location, I can see how median home prices don’t necessarily align with the lived experience of house hunters (or renters).
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My son loved living in Arlington near the courthouse and public library. There were lots of young people around and lots of places to eat.
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Ahhh, I lived there in junior high when my father worked at the Pentagon. Lily Dhu Lane in fact…I have good memories of it being very pretty, good shopping centers, and good schools. Had to edit to retype the street name after looking it up on maps.
I say for a 20-something, Arlington would be a better location than Alexandria. Arlington is known for being a “happy place” for the younger generation, and my son and DIL lived there for multiple years, both as singles and being married. Also, Alexandria is farther from DC than Arlington. But both are certainly nice places to live.
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Thanks for all the great info. Arlington going to get a good luck I am told.
My S lived happily in Arlington for a decade. It was after he tried and rejected Reston and other locations. He found it very convenient to the metro and a safe place to wander around. He lived walking distance of Harris Tweeter and a CVS and a food court or two. They have some nice apartments and condos in the area.
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Here is an article from January, 2024 listing the top 3 cities near Wash DC as:
- Alexandria
- Bethesda
- Arlington
Falls Church is not listed among the top 10 cities.
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Well sure, but organizations like that typically are comparing things that aren’t apples to oranges. In the 2020 census Alexandria had just under 160,000 residents, Arlington had close to 239,000 residents. Tiny Falls Church City had fewer than 15,000 residents. It’s so much smaller that it probably just didn’t rate for that list. Falls Church is just over 2 miles large, it’s the smallest municipality in Virginia and they tout themselves as the smallest county-equivalent in the US. It’s tiny, but a great place to live - for the right people.
If I were a 20 something with sufficient income, I would probably want to live in Arlington, in the Courthouse or Clarendon neighborhoods. But the “with sufficient income” part of that is key. Those are typically very expensive apartments. But it’s all a trade off - where can you afford, how long of a commute are you willing to make, how walkable do you want.
Somebody upthread suggested Navy Yard. I have no idea how the rents are going there, but it very much looks like a fun area for young people too, and is in DC so no need to cross a bridge or use a car to get to anything.
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Yes, I suggested Navy Yard. Fairly expensive. Much safer than in the past. Attracts lots of high income earners who are young professionals in their late 20s and early 30s. Great restaurants.
Reasonable to assume that OP’s nephew has a budget above $1 million for housing based on current location in New Jersey & on the DH Horton townhome in Falls Church under consideration.
Much depends upon the individual’s actual age as I see Arlington as great for those under 29 years old as there are lots of recent college grads.
Personal preferences are important so long as Wash DC is accessible without an onerous commute. Just need to visit the options of Alexandria, Arlington, Bethesda, Falls Church, Navy Yard, etc. to find one’s preferred area. However, even within Washington, DC, some commutes are a bit challenging, so one’s work location needs to be taken into consideration if required to be in the office 5 days a week.
FWIW I know folks who commute to DC from Annapolis, Maryland because they strongly preferred a location bordering the ocean. And Annapolis is a great community, but these folks are all in their thirties, not twenty-somethings.
Demographics are different.
If OP’s nephew wants a demographic area similar to current location of Spring Lake, NJ, then Falls Church may be the best option.
If one prefers more diversity, then Alexandria is a great option as it is much more racially diverse than Falls Church and more diverse than Arlington.
All 3 are wealthy communities.
Within Wash Dc, I like AU Park and Northwest DC because it is safe, upscale, and vibrant.
Yes, the City of Falls Church IS tiny. And cities are independent from counties in VA. So the schools are small, in the middle of all of the large to huge schools in Fairfax and surrounding counties. When my mom taught there, the schools had to travel very far to compete against others with a similar size, whereas I had 8 high schools closer to my house than the one I was districted to go to! And that was in the 80s.
But it really depends on the person. I would think that most unmarried people in their 20s would prefer Arlington. Older S lived in VA Square with a roommate and now in Clarendon/Courthouse with FDIL1. Younger S lives in the same building. It’s great for people in that demographic who want to live amongst the social scene, walkable neighborhoods, easy access to DC/Georgetown, easy access to Metro.
Who isn’t it good for? I could see homebodies (and this isn’t a bad thing) not wanting to live there. Maybe someone who needs cheaper or wants more space. If you like hiking/fishing/etc, it might be easier to live further out and easier to get to Burke Lake, Lake Fairfax, etc.
And re: expense. There is still a variation between prices. I don’t think what my kids pay for the 1BR/1BA in Clarendon/Courthouse is bad at all. Sure, they only have 1 BR for 2 people, but they are a couple. Their building isn’t the newest, but the apartments are all newly renovated. But they aren’t as glitzy as others. And they don’t have the pool, though they do have a decent gym that the FDILs use. Ss’ go to Golds. They do have to walk 5-8 min to a Metro, but I don’t consider that terrible. They live adjacent to a couple of cute neighborhoods where they walk the dogs.
They could live in my city for $700-800/month less with a little more space, but not only isn’t there as much to do around here (huge understatement), their starting salaries (combined) were roughly $7000/month more than they’d make here. Older S/FDIL are now likely $12K+/month higher. And that’s assuming they could get a job here at all. There are tradeoffs everywhere
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I doubt that COL is of much concern to OP’s nephew based on his current location in New Jersey and based on the new DH Horton community (over $1 million townhomes) being considered in Falls Church.
Personally, I prefer a more racially diverse community like Old South Alexandria. But I am not OP’s nephew. Demographics may or may not be important to him.
All of the communities under consideration are economically upscale & wealthy.
Nephew works for a defense contractor and his significant other will be starting a policy role at Brookings. They are fairly comfortable with the finances looking for fit. They would prefer a diverse community.
Again thanks for the input. I will feed it back.
Lots of young Biglaw attorneys live in Dupont Circle–which, I believe, is where the Brookings Institute is located. Great for young high earning professionals.
Again, NW DC is safe (area around American University which has a beautiful campus and a really nice running track which seems to be open to all) (has the most safest neighborhoods) and offers easy access to most DC locations. Lots of open space for such a great urban location. Seems to be mostly single family homes, but not certain of the percentages. Embassy Row is located in NW DC.
Here is a typical starter home in NW DC:
Sold for $17.3 million. Listed below are several other recent home sales in NW DC:
https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/3900-Nebraska-Ave-NW-20016/home/9949853
Much depends upon one’s preferences, but if proximity to work location is a primary concern for the significant other, then Dupont Circle should be considered.
P.S. Many embassies in NW DC (Embassy Row is in NW DC) are open to the public in May:
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Family member here lived in DuPont circle for a bunch of years. They owned a really neat townhouse. Great location, but if they want a lot of open space, that isn’t a good choice.
OP - when your people look at Arlington, know that there is a difference between North Arlington and South Arlington. The two are divided by a road (Route 50). Both have metro access, although there seem to be more fun places to live along the metro in North Arlington (that’s where these communities we’ve been mentioning - Courthouse, Clarendon, Virginia Square, Ballston) are located, and that’s what is adjacent to City of Falls Church and the Falls Church metro stops (East Falls Church, West Falls Church, Dunn Loring).
South Arlington has the metro also - it runs through the Pentagon, Pentagon City, Crystal City, Reagan National Airport. And there are lots of apartments in those areas, not so much townhomes if that’s what your people are looking for. Also those neighborhoods don’t tend to be as “alive” in terms of people out and about enjoying the neighborhood. There’s a good amount of office space, indoor and outdoor malls, and a decent amount of restaurants, but it doesn’t feel as vibrant urban walking around corridor like. Housing costs tend to be higher in North Arlington (not always true, there are some very expensive areas of S. Arlington, and some less costly N. Arlington, but typically true). You will be able to tell if you are looking at properties on one side or the other because every street address will have a North or South descriptor.
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Have they considered living in DC close to work rather than in VA?
There are some great neighborhoods close to foggy bottom and brookings that many 20 somethings would really enjoy. They could probably find a place where both could walk or take a short metro ride to work.
That whole area is safe, walkable, vibrant. Rock Creek park trails are close by. It is urban but not skyscraper and all concrete urban.
They could also consider leasing for a year while exploring the area.
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