Need info for new graduate moving to DC

<p>I’d appreciated reasonably priced suggestions of neighborhoods that a new college graduate (from out of the area) would want to live in.</p>

<p>Any areas to stay away from?</p>

<p>Are there areas that are more appealing to young people than others? Perhaps areas where it is easy to meet people?</p>

<p>Any info would be greatly appreciated!</p>

<p>Is this new grad going to work? School? Car or public transportation? Are you thinking DC as in the district or DC as in the general northern VA, MD-ish area?</p>

<p>You’ve asked a pretty open question. In general, NW DC is considered safer than, say, SE. It’s usually all about getting to and from school or work so it helps to know if that is a factor.</p>

<p>Yes, possible job there. Could bring a car or use public transportation. Prefers city life, so I’m thinking in the district if it’s affordable. I don’t know anything about DC which is why my question was so open - I’ve only been a tourist there a few times!</p>

<p>Does the area near the White House have a name?</p>

<p>S1 has lived in DC three years since graduation in '07. The first year, he and his roommates got an apartment in Arlington. Close to nothing much, and not much fun. The second year, they got a townhouse in an area – still in Arlington – that was a little bit more bustling, and they enjoyed it more. This year, they’ve been living in the City, in a neighborhood known as U Street (NW), and it’s terrific – lots of small shops, lots of restaurants, lots and lots of young people. He can walk to work from there, though he sometimes rides his bike, and the Metro is great (and cheap) for getting around. Has a lady-friend who lives just a few blocks away. He’s happy as can be in this neighborhood.</p>

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<p>Certainly. It’s called “out of his price range”.</p>

<p>My S lived in Columbia Heights. A great neighborhood near U and 14th, but I have to say that if it was my D I’d have been a little leary of the block he lived on. Some of his friends lived in Adams Morgan which seemed terrific. He had a car, which he parked in a friend’s driveway because street parking wasn’t easy, and often could lead to smashed windows. However, he relied primarily on the Metro and his feet! He worked within walking distance of his apartment and usually walked or rode his bike.</p>

<p>My D lives near the Tenleytown Metro stop. She is very happy there, loves having a yard to putter around in, and lots of shops nearby. One of her housemates is moving to the above mentioned U Street area because that is where so many of her friends live. </p>

<p>Rents are high but I guess you probably knew that. Lots and lots of young people live there for both work and school. Most seem to share apartments and houses and dogs seem to be involved in many of those situations. Just my observations.</p>

<p>Certainly. It’s called “out of his price range”.</p>

<p>LOL. I wondered if that is a business area similar to midtown Manhattan. Gosh, I sound like a hick.</p>

<p>The area around the White House is pretty boring. A lot of federal buildings, and no night life or street life. Capitol Hill is much better and has housing in all directions so something affordable might be found. Georgetown would be the most expensive, and ironically, has the worst public transport since they rejected a Metro stop decades ago. Penn Quarter (near the Verizon Center) has great night life, as does Adams Morgan. The U street area is the newest thriving neighborhood, but really, most of DC is thriving.</p>

<p>DC is a fantastic just out of college town. My daughter and her friends love it. It’s big enough to have a lot of stuff going on for young people, but small enough to get around easily. Expensive, but not like NYC where Manhattan is prohibitively expensive.</p>

<p>The ideal situation for a new graduate is to put the feelers out for alums from his/her college and try to get hooked up into a “group house”. DC is all townhouses. Three or four kids rent a townhouse.</p>

<p>The post-college kids follow the frontiers of gentrification, so the group house neighborhoods move over time. For a good long while, it was Adams Morgan which is centered at 18th Street and Columbia Road. This area is full of “hipster” bars, happy hours, etc.</p>

<p>The U-Street corridor runs east-west from there over to Howard University. This was the commercial corridor for black Washington and, historically, is much like 125th St. in Harlem. The 1968 riots were centered at U Street and 14th and wiped out much of this area. This was a devastatingly bad area in the 70s and 80s, but has now seen intense gentrification and is quite happening.</p>

<p>14th Street runs north-south up to Columbia Heights – a once ritzy neighborhood, transformed to African American in the 1950s, destroyed in the riots, became heavily Latino in the 90s, and is now one of the hottest urban renewal areas in the country. Extremely multicultural with white gentrification, heavy Latino, and the traditional middle-class African American populations.</p>

<p>At 14th and Park is a massive new urban shopping center, anchored by a Target and served by the Columbia Heights subway station at 14th and Irving. The subway stop south on U Street and the one north at Georgia and New Hampshire have opened up all these neighborhoods for semi affordable group houses – figure $600 to $900 a person for a townhouse with 3 or 4 kids. New restaurants and bars open weekly. One of the popular spots is Wonderland at 11th and Kenyon – now a mecca of post-college hipsters in a building that was once Washington’s most popular African American gay nightclub.</p>

<p>These neighborhoods vary wildly from block to block. There are some blocks on 14th south of Harvard with public housing developments that are seriously bad news (although most of the violent crime appears to be drug dealer territorial battles). A few blocks north is really nice with renovated $500,000 luxury townhouses.</p>

<p>If you can get in with an existing group that knows the territory, great. Craigslist is also a popular option for matching up roommates with houses. My daughter and her friends have lived in two different Columbia Heights houses. They have not had crime issues, although they are smart about it. They don’t wander around late at night solo. They routinely walk home from Adams Morgan after a happy hour and dinner, no problem. These are bustling city streets with a lot people out and about. But, different people have different perpectives and different experience levels in city neighborhoods. They moved three blocks after the first year and upgraded their situation (safety and convenience) exponentially.</p>

<p>You really don’t want a car living in the district. Parking is expensive. Public transportation (both subway and bus) is good. You can rent a Zip car once a month as needed for much less than the price of a parking space, let alone insurance and upkeep.</p>

<p>Here’s my favorite photo of the new DCUSA shopping center. This was, I believe, the largest grand opening of any Target store in the chain’s history. This photo captures the “marvel” of the opening of this development - now surrounded by pricey apartments, public fountains, etc. </p>

<p>This place was built on a lot that had been empty since 1968 when the previous storefronts were burned to the ground in the riots the night of Martin Luther King, Jr’s assassination. </p>

<p>[Flickr</a> Photo Download: Targetnacht](<a href=“http://www.■■■■■■■■■■/photos/intangible/2313862184/sizes/l/]Flickr”>All sizes | Targetnacht | Flickr - Photo Sharing!)</p>

<p>The gentrification started with Georgetown, which is has been prohibitively expensive forever. Then moved to DuPont Circle (Conn Ave and Mass Ave), which is now way too expensive. Then, moved north to Adams Morgan, which is pretty pricey for just out of college. And, has now moved east along the U Street corridor and north up to Columbia Hieghts.</p>

<p>There is another young urban pioneering neighborhood along H Street northeast of the Capitol, but this is much less far along the gentrification curve than Columbia Heights.</p>

<p>Great advice interesteddad! Looks like my S will be settling in Washington after graduation. He’s been talking to us about various neighborhoods, mostly U St. and Columbia Heights. Thanks for the reassurance that these areas are safer and more gentrified than we’d thought. He’s also talked about the Eastern Market area. I’ve been to the market and the area looks great. What do you know about pricing/safety/night life?</p>

<p>I think the first question is how much time does he/she wants to commute. If plan to have a car, I suggest staying in VA along the Orange subway line (subway here known as the Metro). Price is about the same as downtown DC but usually parking included. Easy commute to the DC. Parking in DC cost about $220 per month, unless you find off street parking. Suggest looking at Clarendon (in Arlington). VA. Three stops and you are in DC.</p>

<p>In addition to the areas mentioned, a very nice area close to the White House is Penn Quarter/Chinatown. Its close to the White House (<10 blocks). Revitalized area, mostly relatively new condos, by Verizon Center, close to the Mall and lost of restaurants. A one bedroom is close to $2,000 per month. Slightly less expensive is NoMa (North of Mass Ave), just northeast of Chinatown. </p>

<p>Neighborhoods near White House: East = Penn Quarter, West = Foggy Bottom, North = Downtown. Here is the map: [File:DC</a> neighborhoods map.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:DC_neighborhoods_map.png]File:DC”>File:DC neighborhoods map.png - Wikipedia)</p>

<p>DC is expensive for new graduates. It’s not uncommon to people to share houses/condos.
Stay away from SE.</p>

<p>Ditto to the group house idea. Though my S knew people in Washington, he found a great room in a group house on Craigslist. He met some great and very interesting people, including his landlord. From what I could see when he was looking, the current residents of a group house “interview” prospective new tenants to get an idea as to whether there would be a good fit. Sounds like college all over again!</p>

<p>I live in the cool U street neighborhood, just a few blocks from the U street metro. Only problem is, I’m not cool. I’m a forty something mom, with husband, three kids (one in college and two in high school in DC), dog, cat. I still love the neighborhood. I have a car and hardly ever drive. DC is a great walkable city, and public transportation is good.
Other neighborhoods to consider are SoFlo (near Gaulladet), LeDroit (near Howard), Petworth (still iffy, but cheaper) and Shaw.
Rents are high, but most people go the group house route.
Northern VA and MD are options, but really, nothing beats living in the city and being near the activities (good and bad) that happen in DC.
Good luck!</p>

<p>Keep the suggestions going here! My daughter moved to DC just a few weeks ago and days before her move, her roommate situation fell apart; well not the roommate, but the place they were going to rent. It was just a week before my daughter was going to start work, so she took a short term lease on a studio apartment in Pentagon City. Not where she wanted to live, but the price was better than anywhere else. She is currently keeping her eyes open for a rental in June with one friend, and maybe more as their leases are up in June also. </p>

<p>As a mother, my first concern is her safety. I know there will be times where she is walking home alone at night, whether after being out on a weekend or a late night of work. While Dupont would be great as far as location for work, her wallet most likely will not be able to cover that! Ideally she would like to be very close to a metro which of course means higher rent. One of her friends lives in a great home on Capitol Hill, but it is 1.5 miles from the metro. She stayed with this friend during her interview and the travel time was over 45 minutes each way. Not so terrible in the spring and fall, but come winter that is a long walk to and from the metro.</p>

<p>From my son who has been living there for three years now: (I’m gonna assume that “admo” = Adams Morgan)</p>

<p>A work friend used to live in eastern market but their place got broken into. [Friend] however owns his house there and it is really really nice. Will be very nice residential area in 5 years.</p>

<p>Depending on neighborhood, one can spend as little as $500 a month or up to $1700 (Other friend’s bro was paying the latter but of course he makes a lot more than I do, then argued w landlord and got at least $400 taken off…).</p>

<p>Dupont and Georgetown way too expensive for post grad, and both are pretentious in my opinion. Admo is getting more expensive but there are affordable places. Then U st area and then CH. My friends and I mostly go out in U st and Admo areas but Galleryplace/Chinatown has a lot going on.</p>

<p>NE is dead. SE is (except for some of eastern market) struggling. SW has nothing. The majority of the city is NW. I’m able to bike from U st to the end of Georgetown is about 30 min, prob the farthest one would need/want to bike in the city.</p>

<p>Logan circle is another area worth considering, just S of U st. Shaw/Howard is also another area, much more affordable. Not sure about the Galleryplace/Chinatown area for housing but know people who live around there. I think all but two of my friends live with other people. Tenleytown and Van Ness are slightly further from the bigger night life but are considered pretty safe and a lot of people live around there.</p>

<p>Orange line corridor from Rosslyn to Ballston is safe, relatively cheap, has places to hang out and a ton of recent grads.</p>

<p>My daughter’s take on the orange line-if she wanted to live in the suburbs, she would have stayed in our home city! I personally would be happy if she lived in Arlington, but she is dead set on being in the district. She moved to DC to live in DC, not the burbs; now she just needs to find an affordable place with good metro access to work and play.</p>