DC - where to live?
 

Hi all, I will be starting a new job in McLean, VA soon, and I'm looking for a place to live. Here are what I'm looking for, in order of importance. I am young, relatively, and single. I like a good bar and love an honest, non-pretentious restaurant. I do not care much for the club scene. Where would you recommend?

1. Being in a newer, taller building. The newer the better, the taller the better.

2. Proximity to grocery stores and local restaurants. The more dense, the better.

3. Easy commute (i.e. near a metro station).

4. $2500/month for rent max, 1 bed, studio is okay. But cheaper is better.

I have to admit to not understanding why someone would want to live in a tall building, but if that's your thing, you probably want to be in Arlington along the Orange Line corridor (still called that despite the Silver Line also running through there). There are more restaurants around Clarendon and Ballston than, say, Rosslyn, but really the whole area from Rosslyn to Ballston is only a few miles anyway. The other option would be Crystal City, but that is tougher transit-wise because of the infrequency of Blue Line trains.

You are probably talking about $2000 for a 1-bedroom apartment in that area. Crystal City / Pentagon City area is a bit cheaper, but less convenient.

There is also some newer stuff going up around the end of the Silver Line in Reston, but I'm not sure how much of it is open yet.

Keep in mind that in that area "tall" really isn't very -- a couple years ago, a development in Pentagon City had to get a variance for the height limit so it could go up to 22 stories.

In addition to the options listed by mhnadel, the new Silver Line opens up some possibilities in the Tysons Corner area; sites such as this should be helpful. Prices are in the range you're looking for, but height probably won't exceed 10-12 stories. Depending on where in "McLean" you're working, some of them might even be walking distance to work, barely.

Also, keep in mind that you could own a nice 1-2 BR home in the same area and pay well under $2500/mo in mortgage and taxes, but of course that requires having the down payment funds.

Full disclosure: I will soon be selling my 3BR in the area. :p

Thanks, by tall building I mean taller than the average building I can see from my window/balcony. So no it doesn't have to be some skyscraper. Currently I live on the 7th floor (top floor of my building), and all the nearby buildings are shorter, and it's perfectly fine.

Lots of choices popping up. In terms of height, you're looking at some of the new places near Tysons, or Reston or Arlington.

Tysons downside is that its still sort of a ghost town at night. Its going to take some time for it to really develop.

Reston works well (Reston Town Center area) but may skew a bit older and can vary from pretentious to "urban" depending on the time of day. Lots of new $$$ showing off in Reston.

Clarendon is a great choice for someone under 30. Rents are quite high though. Clarendon can be as pretentious or as "dive-ish" as you want to be. I used to live at Whitlows for several years and its never changed. Everything around it has changed....

My final thought although which is close for those who drive would be the Mosaic District in Merrifield. Very fast growing. I don't know much about the rental market there.

Yes, lots of rental choices in Merrifield, some of them an easy walk to the Dunn Loring metro stop, 'though the new "Mosaic District" refers to the area just south of 29 and would therefore be a bit of a hike. Metrorail from Dunn Loring to McLean / Tysons Corner would require a transfer, but a bus runs along Gallows through Merrifield to TC.

It sounds like you're not planning to have a car.

Do you envision yourself going into the District often during evenings and weekends? Is airport convenience a consideration? (How often will you travel and where?)

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.

As others have mentioned, the area from Rosslyn down to Ballston sounds like it's pretty much exactly what you're looking for. It's fairly dense with a lot of restaurants, stores etc., a lot of high-rise apartment buildings, and it's a pretty quick Metro ride into D.C. and thanks to the Silver line it's now a fairly easy trip to the Tyson's mall complex as well. The area has a big concentration of young professionals working in NoVa and D.C. and that is reflected in the vibe of the place. It's sorta 'urban' but without the urban edge or grittiness.

If you're driving to McLean from McLean/TC/Falls Church/Merrifield, you're not dealing with "DC traffic". Driving from between Rosslyn and Ballston, or Reston, is a somewhat different story and it sounds like you'd be happier Metroing in that case. And, yes, National Airport is convenient to Metro; Dulles Airport, not so much, for a few more years.

I agree with Ber2dca on the plusses of Rosslyn-Ballston; the minus is that you're further from work. Sounds like you're ok with that.

OP, to answer the easy commute question, it would be helpful to know where your employer is. Some of McLean is much harder to access on transit than other areas.

edit:

I'd vote for Clarendon.

Good call. Transit times to DCA, walking to Metro excluded, are under 30 minutes in peak periods, and I've gone from the Clarendon station to IAD via the Wiehle Ave. station in less than 50 minutes. Bonus: You'll be well situated for FT happy hours.

Is Clarendon the same as Courthouse? How come with I google Clarendon Arlington VA, and zoom out, it says Courthouse?