Are there some affordable areas to live within commuting distance of Washington, D.C.?

Question

It seems from my research that Washington, D.C. is a very expensive place to live. I'm a recent university graduate and I would like to relocate there, but I'm not sure that I could afford it. Are there affordable suburbs nearby that are reasonably decent places to live?

mrsjvb: By "affordable", I mean relative to Washington itself. By "decent", I mean an area that does not have a particularly high rate of crime and that has not been run down to the point of being a slum.

Answer 1

The first thing I would suggest is determining where you plan to work. Or where the type of jobs you are looking for tend to exist. If you end up working in Tysons Corner or Old Town Alexandria then the cost of commutting to those areas from Gaithersburg or Colesville Road would be huge.

Living near a METRO station helps reduce the cost of commuting but raises the cost of living. If you want to be near a METRO station, but keep costs down, I would look down Route 1 south of Old Town Alexandria (Huntington METRO) or near the farther out stations in Prince Georges County.

If you are looking for a community where a young, urban single can meet and such - I would suggest finding a roommate in the Arlington (Ballston - Clarendon - Court House METRO) area.

Taxes - Maryland ranks 17th in the total State/Local tax burden among the 50 states. Virginia ranks 34th. DC ranks 2nd. Virginia has lower income tax and the counties do not tax your income. They do tax the value of your car; however, the rate is low if your car is worth less than $20,000.

Crime - the crime rate in the DC area isn't that bad. The suburbs are particularly good.

Answer 2

Monuments and memorials, modern neighbourhoods, true local flavor this is what Washington, DC is; a spot unlike any other; just like this page hotelbye . Washington it's your home abroad with free museums and America's entrance yard. Washington is acknowledged around the world as a mark of the United States. Here, the place you cannot skip could be the Capitol. Capitol may be the seat of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The large dome, on the basis of the dome of St. Peter's in Rome, sticks out especially different Washington buildings. Like Washington it self, the developing has grown over time since the main part was created between 1793 and 1812. The past addition, in 1958-62, enlarged the main façade where presidents get the oath. On one other part, a marble terrace offers lovely opinions within the mall and the city. The inner is resplendent with frescoes, reliefs, and paintings, particularly the rotunda underneath the good cast-iron dome with a threshold painting by Constantino Brumidi and enormous paintings of scenes from American history on the walls.

Answer 3

Do you want to rent or buy? Live by yourself or with roomates? You can research rooms/apartments for rent on craigslist and see what it out there. You can find affordable places for rent in decent areas throughout DC and MD and VA. In VA check out the areas around the following metro stations: King Street, Braddock Road, Crystal City, Penatagon City, Rosslyn, Clarendon, Courthouse, VA Square, or Ballston. If you want to live in DC - Capitol Hill, Adams Morgan, Georgetown, and Foggy Bottom are all younger places (recent graduates) to live. There are lots of great up and coming places, too. I suggest you get a listing of some potential areas, come visit and then make a decision.

Answer 4

I think if you are looking for the least crime you should try Rockville, MD. However Rockville doesn't have many apartment complexes. Another nice area is Bethesda, MD but it is a bit pricey. Both areas would only be a 20-30 minute commute to DC maybe 40 if traffic is bad and less than that if you take Metro.

Answer 5

VA and MD have high tax rates. If you do not have a stable job, get an apartment the houses here are too expensive. If you have a car, I would suggest Clinton, Waldorf or Brandywine Maryland. As far as DC, the only decent place to live is in the White House. Every neighborhood in DC have it's share of problems, most crime are reported while others aren't. If you are looking to pay less than $1000 for a decent area in DC, keep looking. Most apartments that are under $1000 still have radiators in them. I live in a 2-bedroom duplex in SE and pay only $850 for i, not the best place to live area wise but my apartment is lovely (and no I do not have any radiators). The better apartments are in Maryland because they are starting to build more complexes. DC, on the other hand, building are old and the new buildings are having issues. One woman actually died when she fell in the elevator shaft in one of those apartments on Mass. Ave. Do a little more research on it though, most people have different opinions when it comes to crime in neighborhoods. Most think that crime wouldn't happen in their neighborhood and that's bull because crime can happen anywhere.

Answer 6

Most young people in the DC area live with roomates. A cheap efficiency or one bedroom apartment runs you around $1000 in this area - if you get a townhouse with four roomates you might be able to bring it down to $600 to $800 a person a month.

Some less expensive areas include parts of Falls Church, Annandale, Alexandria in Virginia, and some neighborhoods in Maryland.

I also suggest that people considering this plan on paying a little more to be on metro, and ditch their expensvie car. Public transport here is very good.

Answer 7

define affordable, and define decent. also take into consideration how much a commute you want, and whether you want VA or MD with regards to taxes and such.

ETA: than you do not want DC itself, you want the outlying areas. PG county MD has an iffy reputation for crime and affordability. I live in Columbia, (Howard Cty MD)about 45 min via beltway to DC. also, not the best neighborhood.

Plan on at least an hour commute to find safe, affordable housing unless you are willing to have several roomies. Bonus points if you get a Job in DC on or near the Subway/MARC system. NO parking in DC.

My personal Opinion, Baltimore is the biggest slum in the area, worse even than DC. It has the rep of being the murder capitol of the US. Laurel, Bowie and Pasadena MD are nice (we are looking at purchasing a home in that area)

Answer 8

Where are you relocating from? I live about 25 min from DC, (if beltway traffic hasn't turned it into a parking lot). We have a 1600 sq ft Cape cod home and it is worth $350,000. You also have to consider the cost of getting to and from work. I would recommend public transportation. safety is always an issue, and i am not truly comortable here. but if the city is your thing, you might like it.

Answer 9

You could probably find a decent 1b/1b condo about 45 minutes outside of the city for about $200k. You can't find any single families in decent neighborhoods for under $400k.

Answer 10

Try Arlington, Alexandria, Laurel, Greenbelt, College park.