pabigelow5 wrote:inyoureyes89 wrote:what is the cheapest closeish/safe neighborhood to GWU? i don't mind commuting a bit via metro... though I'm sure that'll add up
If you want cheap, you can all but forget DC, save having a place with a few other roommates. Your best bet will be Arlington or Alexandria, both of which offer metro commutes. Two metro lines go to GW, the orange and the blue. The orange goes through Arlington and the blue Alexandria.
Arlington would be your shortest commute. The Ballston station is an 11 minute metro ride to the Foggy Bottom/GW stop, and there are four more between the two that would be a few minutes less. A 1br in the Ballston/Clarendon/Rosslyn area will cost upwards of $1700, with basement apartments running a few hundred less. There are plenty within walking distance of a metro stop, which would make your overall commute 20 minutes give or take a few. These areas are pretty neat. Safe and relatively quiet but with lots of restaurants, shopping, and bars for all of those nights when you'll have hours of free time with no homework during 1L.....
Alexandria can be slightly cheaper, but also a longer commute. Pentagon City and Crystal city are just as close but also just as expensive. (11 minutes, 4 stops in between, and at least $1600 for a 1br). It gets cheaper as you get further away, especially after King Street, but that makes the commute quite a bit longer (20 minutes or more). There are also apartments that offer free shuttles to close metro stops but only during rush hour which makes it difficult if your class schedule isn't 8-5.
I live in Alexandria now and I've been looking for Arlington apartments for a while to relocate to when my lease runs out, so I know a good bit about the area if you want other specific details. I'd be happy to help out!
Lol, maybe it's because I'm in NYC now, but being able to find a decent 1br for $1600 sounds too good to be true...
Does anyone have a sense of how much it costs to live in the Bethesda area these days?
haha
