FloridaCoastalorbust wrote:As a 0L living in DC for 3 years, I recommend looking into Georgetown. It has a deserved reputation as being incredibly expensive, but you can find some good deals on English basements. You can find a 1br for ~$1,500 if you prowl CL every day. And getting to K St./Farragut is very easy by bus -- a 15 minute commute. Georgetown's nightlife/restaurants are very good, the neighborhood's history is incredible, and, having lived in four different neighborhoods, I think Georgetown is by far the most aesthetically pleasing and safe neighborhood in DC.
Part of why Georgetown is safe is because its a total pain the ass to get in and out of without a car. DC's bus system is terrible and very unreliable. They're probably a little better during peak hours for commuting to and from work, but you'll get frustrated quickly when you're standing a bus stop in 100 degree heat and two of the buses on the schedule fail to show up and the third one arrives late, where you're standing at the bus stop for a good hour to make your 10 minute drive. Personally, I wouldn't even consider Georgetown unless you're an undergrad there or are planning on both having a car and driving that car everywhere you need to go.
Anonymous User wrote:Anonymous User wrote:OP here. First, you all are amazing and I bow down in gratitude. I've been on here for years and this has been the most helpful thread by far.
Second, I'll be working right by the Farragut/McPherson area. I'm getting a great idea of what neighborhoods to focus my search on. If there are any particularly good apartments in these areas, I'd love to hear about them.
I work near where you're working and live in Dupont. It's a 15 minute walk, door to desk, for me, and I pay around 2k for a jr. 1 bedroom. It's incredibly nice to have such a chill commute, Dupont has plenty of things to keep me entertained, and I'm enjoying it a fair amount. Some random thoughts: unless you have very little in the way of student debt, you probably won't be able to have a car here - it's like 250 for parking, 150 for insurance, so 5k a year without even driving once -
and not having a car is surprisingly shitty in DC; the downside of being in a trendy area is that most things are pretty expensive, every time I order out I'm blowing a hole in my wallet; and 2k is actually a pretty decent deal for a jr 1 bdroom in my area - I've seen studios with less floor space go for the same amount - that said, I've also seen jr 1 bdrooms go for as little as 1500.
+1. It's not bad for commuting to and from work, and dupont circle is great for weekends/evenings, but it really sucks when you need to go to basic places, like Walmart, on the weekend because the metro always has crazy delays on weekend, and, to make matters worse, the metro doesn't run to so many places (especially if you want to go out to the burbs for actually good quality foreign foods, Shenandoah, the beach, etc.) I found that ordering basically everything online and having it shipped or delivered helps a lot (including groceries), but was really glad I had a car when I lived in DC. There's just way too much nice stuff outside of DC that you're basically never going to do or see without a car. Zipcar is an option, but it's hella expensive to borrow a car for an entire day (typically $110 /day for a low-end car on the weekends). If you already own a car and want to bring, Pentagon city tends to be a good option. It's nearly as expensive as dupont circle, but it's a pretty chill metro ride to work, easy to get to other places outside of DC because of I-395, and it's practically on top of the airport, which is awesome if you travel a lot (like I did).
