My wife got accepted to a grad program at George Washington University, so we'll be moving to D.C. soon (late Dec/early Jan). My job prospects will the best there anyway, as I'm finishing a master's degree in public policy this semester.

Anyway, I don't know a fucking thing about D.C. Does anyone have any advice for me? Neighborhoods to avoid? How is the renter's market there? Is it easy to find a (two cat friendly) apartment? What about the parking situation? Is it feasible to park a car on street, or is that just downright laughable?

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated!

Oh, damn, son...I'll email you shitloads about D.C... I was just back east a few weeks ago.

damn expensive .

thats all i know ....

i am from southern Pa/Md area ... and everyone is moving up to Pa to get out of DC- i was in a house that was 297,000 sale price the other day (southern Pa) and it was alittle 3 bedroom - 1560 sq ft home ... and all i was thinking was "damn - 297K for this ???" and the real estate agent said the people buying it was from DC/VA area and the same thing there would be 700K !

You'll have to become a Redskins fan, too, or else they won't let you move there...

I just hear it's very expensive. And that the cherry blossom season is beautiful!

AND you're gonna be on the right coast now...my coast That's a good thing!


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[Edited 10/7/05 7:04am]

KS!!!

Is it the housing market (= ownership) that's expensive, or is the renters' market expensive also? Does anyone know of a good site I can check out to see what apartments are available, or what the current vacancy rate is?

well, all i can tell you is...unless you and your wife are bringing in about $100k combined... it's gonna be a struggle to find affordable housing. anything more than a one bedroom apt in pretty good neighborhood is gonna cost you minimum $1,000 a month. as far as buying, the same houses here in baltimore that are going for $300,000 are more than double that in the dc area. virginia is even more expensive. quite a few people have resorted to buying homes in pennsylvania and then commuting to dc, just to SAVE money.

I just looked up some sample housing prices online, and it looks like an equivalent apartment to my current St. Paul location will cost almost twice as much...damn near $1,500! Wow...that sucks ass. Can anyone recommend certain neighborhoods to avoid? I know Columbia Heights might be a no-no, and I'd rather eat my own shit than hang around snobs in Georgetown.

if i remember correctly..the most expensive area is going to be NorthWest DC(foggy bottom, G'town, Dupont Circle (gay mecca)...a lot of SW (waterfront) is now considered capitol hill/eastern market, so what used to be affordable lower income housing has now become trendy and overpriced. Also, the new baseball stadium for the Nationals is going in SW, so it's only gonna get worse, price wise. SE is probably the least expensive, but also might be least desirable, depending on your personal taste--a lot of the lower income residents reside here in and in NE (anacostia, rhose island ave)...but since the city is changing so much, the housing market might change since a lot of professionals are buying houses in these areas now. the city really isn't all that big, so what might be undesirable today could be the new "it" area tomorrow.

good luck--you might want to consider maryland or virginia outside of the beltway (commute 30 miles)..the prices drop drastically, and dc has one of the most extensive subway systems in the world. very, very efficient. gridlock is horrible driving.

Thanks again for the advice! We've been sort of looking at Foggy Bottom and other NW areas, and that's where we're seeing these killer $1,500/mo. apartment prices. Scary shit...

Also, a friend told me that auto insurance is killer in D.C. Does anyone know if that's true?

Congrats to you and your wife, King Sausage!!

dreamfactory313 said:

Thanks! But now I'm more scared of falling into debt and financial danger than I am excited for the change....Is D.C. truly this expensive? Jesus....Somebody cheer me up!

KingSausage said:

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/hhh/

Those Craiglist postings were the source of my fears in the first place! Yikes...


Does anyone know how much time I should allot myself to find a place there? If I want to move to D.C. in early January, will it be enough time if I check out places in early December? I don't know how this works there...

Does anyone else have any opinions on the D.C. metro system? I hear it's badass, but personal testimonies are always nice!

eltwithu said: