Thank you all for the recommendations so far, I will do some research on those places.

I do plan to have a car, but I will not commute in it. As someone from Jersey, traffic makes me angry, and I don't think my heart can handle DC traffic. Also, 8mpg in the city.

If there is enough to do in my town, I do not plan to visit DC itself too often. But if not, I wouldn't mind the equivalent of living in Long Island City and taking the subway to Manhattan.

DC airport location is not important, but I will be going to EWR a lot via bus or train. Not having to park my car at wherever the bus/train terminals are in the DC area is a plus. I assume if I'm close to a metro stop this wouldn't be an issue.