They are a bit different. The Clarendon area has a higher concentration of the bars, restaurants and shops than the others (including Trader Joe's and Whole Foods). The metro map is quite deceiving. In looking at the orange line, Ballston - Virginia Sq - Clarendon - Courthouse - Rosslyn are each about 1/2 mile from each other. In comparison, East Falls Church - Ballston is 2 miles. I think there are two brand new apartment complexes in Courthouse though (by Tupelo Honey Cafe).

When we first lived there, we lived in Crystal City at Camden Potomac Yard. Very convenient to grocery (Harris Teeter next door), DCA, and the Metro (they now have MetroWay bus service which helps getting to the subway), but since it is on the Blue/Yellow Line it wouldn't be as convenient. The nice part is it's "high" at 12 floors and overlooks the airport so you get some great shots of planes. We then moved to Bell Del Ray after that, Del Ray is awesome to live in but again not convenient for you since it's on Blue/Yellow. Definitely visit Del Ray though, it's like an old Southern main street, full of shops and restaurants and seems to be a bit of a hidden gem.

To be honest, I don't know if these neighborhood terms are official or just reflections of what people call an area around a metro stop. If there are official boundaries I wouldn't say you necessarily feel them in any notable way. The boundary between the Orange Line corridor and the more leafy, suburban areas to the North is far more pronounced than any boundaries between the areas on the Metro line.

I live in Reston. Yes, I recommend it. Commute via the silver line to Tyson's. There are upscale condos in Reston Town Center, a long walk or short bus ride from the Weihle station. Mid-to upper scale eateries abound in town center.

Or you could snag the new housing is being built right at the metro station. You could commute by elevator.

If you're a foodie there is a farmer's market in the Weihle station on Wednesday, including Lobster Maine-ia, live lobsters.

Definitely Clarendon. Also as "young and single" you may well want reasonable access to the overwhelming cultural, entertainment, and social opportunities in DC proper, which Clarendon would facilitate than farther out Virginia alternatives. Of course, that's from my perspective of living near Dupont Circle, so I see Clarendon as actually pretty far out of the city!

If I live in Clarendon, do I even need a car? If not, I might just sell it, and free up some funds for maybe buying a condo in the near future instead of renting. If there is a decent grocery store (Whole Food is too expensive, although if it's a local farmer's market or independent grocery store, I would happily pay WF prices there), restaurants, bars, a dry cleaners, and a good tailor near by, I think I will be ok. I will need to occasionally take public transport to EWR, or fly out of IAD.

Why IAD? DCA is closer from all the places under discussion except Reston, and much easier to get to on Metro; UA flies direct DCA-EWR.

IAD for international flights. I would prefer bus or train to EWR instead.

It depends on your usage patterns, but I have friends who sold their cars and get by using Zipcar/car2go along with the Metro.

For a great local alternative to Whole Foods, I'd go to MOM's Organic Market.

Maybe I'll just sell everything and buy one car that has fully depreciated so it can sit in the garage, and I'll take it out on the weekends to ruin the tires.

There's a fairly big Giant on Washington not too far from Clarendon, that'd be the closest 'real' supermarket I can think of.

Don't get too hung up on the distance between Clarendon and Courthouse. The two Metro stops are barely a 10-minute walk from each other on mostly flat ground; it's only when you get east of Courthouse Road and the elevation starts to drop that you incur any serious effort walking or biking to get from one to the other.

If you don't need to drive to work, you can indeed live in that part of Arlington without a car. Beyond Metro and Arlington's ART buses, you've got Zipcar and car2go car sharing (although the latter will only allow trips that start and end in the county when it launches) and also Capital Bikeshare. Meanwhile, Arlington-based taxi companies are predictable and fair, while Uber and Lyft almost always have cars available.

Grocery stores: In addition to Whole Foods, there's a Trader Joe's across an intersection from the Clarendon Metro and multiple convenience stores for the things that WF and TJ's don't stock (like, for some insane reason, tonic water). There's also a great farmers market on Saturday mornings by Courthouse and an okay one Wednesday afternoons in the summer next to the Clarendon Metro.

These two neighborhoods, Clarendon especially, offer an avgeek bonus if you're around during a workday: Anytime there's a flyover of Arlington National Cemetery, the aircraft involved are liable to go right over your head.

Is Ballston as good as Clarendon? The apt prices there are noticeably cheaper, and it will also be closer to work. Not that one extra stop on the Metro matters much.

Ballston has slightly less of an upscale hipster vibe and is a touch more gritty. I don't have the numbers but the demographics probably somewhat reflect that. There's some less upscale apartment complexes in that area especially when you get further away from the amenities. And it really is gradual, the difference is subtle. There's still plenty of dudes in shorts and loafers in Ballston.

But if you can save significantly by living there rather than in Clarendon, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It's still nice enough and convenient enough.

Clarendon has been nicer than Ballston for quite some time, but Ballston has gone upscale compared to what it was say ten years ago or twenty years ago. If the building amenities are close to one another and the price per square foot is better, I would consider going with the one that is closer to work.

Most of my friends and family in the area have kept a car while living there, but it's easy enough to get away without keeping a car. For my own stretch of using my places along the Rosslyn-Ballston stretch of the Orange line, I've mostly done that without keeping my own car in my parking spots.

Others have said it all. Being along the Orange Line somewhere in the Clarendon-Court Houseish area is likely your best bet. I'd keep a car; the Metro is just fine for weekday commuting but on weekends gets much less frequent and much more frustrating to use. Reston is also convenient for your work commute but is quite dull for a single, young person. I used to work in the Potomac Yard/Crystal City area. It's pretty dead on weekends/evenings compared to Clarendon, and somewhat less convenient for your commute.