scuci76

My husband just landed a job working in DC. We've decided to live in Alexandria walking distance to the King Street or Braddock St Metro since we'll only have one car. Now the dilemma is how we start looking for a place to live because we're living in california right now. We're thinking about renting, at least for the first six months before purchasing a place. Any advice on moves across the country and renting in Alexandria? I've read several msgs on Del Ray, is that near the Evening Star Cafe? walking distance to a metro station?

MikeT

Renting an apartment seems worthwhile until you find your bearings and get a sense of what you want and where you want to live. There are a number of apartments near both Braddock Rd. and King St. Metros.

I wouldn't consider Del Ray (or at least the heart of Del Ray) to be within walking distance of a Metro station. More like a bus, then Metro. It's a nice neighborhood, but you definitely need to see it before you move there because it is "transitional" and may not be to everyone's liking.

jtp

There is a Quaker center in DC really helpful with relocation - 202 483-3341 Ask for Denny, it's not his primary area but he can point you in the right direction.
I moved to NJ from Alexandria, and loved that part of Virginia. Huntington Towers not in the heart of Alexandria (old Towne) is a nice high rise and close to the metro until you get a feel for the place. It use to be pretty easy to sub-rent (I did that through the Quaker Meeting) until I found an area I wanted to settle into.

Cassandra

You may find you don't really need to try to live within walking distance of a Metro stop because some of the buslines are very convenient and don't add that much time. For example, we lived in Parkfairfax (a subdivision that used to be all rental, went condo in the 70s but now you can usually find both there), which is just off I95, and I took the bus to the Pentagon Metro stop every day -- really was convenient. The bus routes may have changed since then, but I do know they tend to be arranged to link up with Metro stops. Del Ray is rather a hike to a Metro stop, and until you know which neighborhoods are doing what (some change character just by crossing a street), it's probably a good idea to rent -- or even consider living in a suites-type place for a few weeks before you get serious about househunting.

Cassandra

PS: If you own your place in Calif. and can therefore afford somewhat pricey housing, you might well look in the general area of Braddock Heights between Braddock, King, and Russell, not far from the King St. station. Again, buses make it convenient if you're still too far from King St., and it's a lovely area.

Ann41

Typed in an very long message, and it suddenly disappeared as I tried to send, so I will condense.

About 2-3 blocks (if that) from King Street metro, on Holland Lane, is an nice apartment building that does 6-month leases. Unfortunately, can't remember the name, but think it may be a Meridian property. It is the only apartment building on Holland Lane. You're right on the edge of Old Town, 1/2 a block off Duke Street.

There's also a nice building about a block from Braddock Road station, but again, don't know the name. It may be an Avalon property.

Stick with being close to the metro. My bus experiences in the DC area have been less than positive. Schedules don't seem to take rush hour into consideration, so I'm forever waiting 15 minutes or more for the bus.

Del Ray is a great neighborhood, but probably better to buy than rent, particularly when you're unfamiliar with the places. Some parts of it are great, others not so much, so you'd need to get to know it before you live there.

Good luck. I lived in Alexandria for about 5 years, in Old Town, and about 2 miles outside. OT is the best neighborhood around and a great place to live. It's expensive and hard to find parking, but worth it.

Hope you enjoy the area. Don't let the traffic get you down!

scuci76

Thank you everyone for the great advice. My husband and I are very excited about our move to the East Coast. It'll be the first for the both of us. We've visited the area during the summer but never experienced living with snow.

Now for those of you who have lived in the area for a while: Should I go through a realtor agent or directly through the apartment association? any you would recommend?

MikeT

I think most people contact the apartments themselves.

emd

There was an extensive thread on this same subject in August. Search for "Alexandria" and it comes up. The thread was called "Living in Old Town Alexandria"
I used to rent a small townhouse (2 bedrm, one bath, small front and backyard, close to the tracks) on West Rosemont, one block from the King Street metro. Being close to the metro has pros and cons in that area. Check out that thread. I think it is a good idea to rent before buying in order to get to know the area.

jor

After reading your post I thought you might be asking about Alexandria, Minnesota. There are lots of Alexandria's.

obxgirl

You don't have to live within immediate walking distance of a metro station if you're talking about using public transport for commuting to work. The bus system running on the major thoroughfares to the Braddock or King St. metro's during commuter hours is excellent.

Don't restrict yourselves to apartment complexes as there are a lot of single family homes, condos and townhouses for rent. For that reason alone, I'd suggest going through one of the realty companies since they're more likely to have leads on all sorts of possibilities. A good realtor will have commutor info too. Also, try and get a copy of the Alexandria Gazette Packet, a very fine community newspaper with lots of of local information, neighborhood news, real estate stuff (buy and rental). It will give you a good feel for City of Alex and immediate environs.

We left Del Ray a little over 7 years ago. Still miss the area. There are dicey spots but that is true of all of the communities in Alex and Arlington closest to the city. It's an urban environment. I doubt you'd be tempted to live in the one of the questionable areas but if you have any doubt you'll know if the rent rate seems out of whack. We lived between Mt. Vernon Ave. and Russell Road about 15 minutes walk from the King St. metro. My DH worked downtown. He caught a bus a block from our house to the Braddock metro and was front door to office in 30 minutes.

Someone mentioned Hunting Towers which is one of a number of apartment complexes on the south end of Old Town (the end closer to Mt. Vernon). There is an ongoing MONSTER expansion of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge (VA to MD) on that end of town which impacts a lot of residents. Take that into serious consideration.

Good luck! If you end up choosing Alexandria, I hope you love living there as much as we did.

Ann41

My husband used one of the apartment locator services when he first came to DC, and it worked really well for him. They just have the larger buildings listed, but since you're just looking for a 6-month rental, those are the places you should be looking at anyway. You're not going to find an individual landlord willing to give you less than a year lease on a house or condo.

You can also search for the apartments on your own. Try Meridian, Avalon, Charles Smith--those are some of the major rental companies in the area.

If you happen to come east to go apartment shopping, you can pick up a free apartment rental guide at any Giant or Safeway grocery store. Again, they just list the larger buildings, but it's a good resource.

Also, take some of the distances to Metro with a grain of salt. "5 minute walk" can mean anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes. The good thing is that you can map it on MapQuest and find out if they are telling the truth.

Oh-Avalon has apartments near the Eisenhower Avenue metro stop. You are about a mile outside Old Town. It's easy enough to get into OT, and the metro (as well as a movie theater) are very close by.

scuci76

We've narrowed the apartments down to 2. Metropolitan at Alexandria and Millbrook at Mark Center. Anyone has any comments to say about either of those? location, safety, convenience.

MikeT

I don't think Mark Center is close to either King or Braddock Road Metros.

Ann41

The Metropolitan is fairly new--roughly 2 years old. I used to live in the townhouse community about a mile down the road toward Old Town. Regardless of what they tell you, it is not walking distance to Eisenhower metro. It is walking distance to Van Dorn metro. However, there's not much around that you can walk to. That end of Eisenhower Avenue is still pretty industrial, and there are just small offices around there. The complex, however, does look nice. But for the price, think you can get a better location.

Mike T is right--Mark Center isn't close to any metro stop. I'm not a big fan of the area, as traffic around there is always a nightmare, and it's really the land of ugly mini-malls. That said, I think there's a lot of bus service in that area.

Cassandra

Strongly recommend that you don't zero in on a place 'til you've at least seen the area -- and that includes temporary apartment arrangements. If you put yourself in a place that you come to hate, just because you wanted to nail down an apt. before you actually arrive, you'll end up tired and cranky and pretty much impatient with the whole area.

scuci76

You all have been extremely helpful!

Cassandra - I agree with you 100% on seeing the unit before signing any agreements. The only problem is that we will not be able to come out anytime before our move.

I might ask a couple of people who we befriended to look into the places. But from the comments it sounds like we're back to where we started. When we were out there 2 months ago we sublet a place near the Colecroft Condos/Townhouses but I imagine those are pretty pricey. That would be a definite place I wouldn't mind leasing without actually walking into the unit.

Ann41

When we moved back from overseas the last time, we rented a Charles Smith apartment in Arlington over the phone, so we were able to go directly from the airport to our completely empty apartment with no bed (had to sleep on the floor for a couple of nights until new mattress arrived). My sister went to look at the place before we rented just to make sure it was still standing. But we also knew the area, which makes a big difference.

However, it was also only a 6-month rental, so it's not going to kill you if you don't get a great place.

And the place you mentioned--might as well find out what they charge before writing it off as pricey.

Oh-and I was right about the place on Holland Lane. It's Meridian at Carlyle. Studios start at $1,070 up to 3-bedrooms for a max $2,310. And there was another building I forgot about--Carlyle Mill, on Mill Road (just off Eisenhower). It's at the other end of Eisenhower from the Metropolitan--so you're walking distance to Old Town, as well as both King Street and Eisenhower Avenue metro stops. 1-beds from $1,400.

jnn1964

This site might have some useful info for you:
www.aptratings.com

scuci76

Okay - so we expanded our search outside of old town Alexandria. What are your thoughts on Fairlington Village?