Moving to DC ( Nova area) Please help me
 

Good Morning Everyone.

I need your help. I am thinking about moving to the DC area but not sure where. I am a young professional 30 years old running my business from home ( photography) and my number one priority is convenience. I'm having a issue trying to be in the middle of everything and being close to transportation. I love Alexandria, Arlington, Dupont, etc but worried about how people will get to me. I have googled Arlington and noticed it is 10-16 mins from everything else including the cities I just mentioned so it seems like a good spot!
Really, not knowing the area doesn't do me any help. I was told I could move anywhere in NOVA since everything is so close no one would have trouble commuting to me by train or car.

It sounds like you are planning on running this business from your house rather than from a store front - is that correct? (Hope you don't mean an apartment which would probably not be permitted.)

Are you talking primarily about portrait photography?

Have you looked into opportunities for developing business (that is areas not already well served by established photographers)?

As a resident of Arlington, I agree that it's a great place to live and so convenient to DC. But, it's also a fairly expensive place to live--especially if you absolutely have to live within walking distance of a Metro station. If you are willing to live outside of the Orange/Silver Line corridor, you should find more affordable housing that is still convenient via car or bus. E.g. the Columbia Pike corridor has a lot of new apartment buildings with rents less than in North Arlington.

But depending on where you are coming from, be prepared for sticker shock if you want to live in DC or the nearby suburbs.

Take a look at something near Greenbelt MD. There is a huge parking lot at the Greenbelt station which is the end of the Green line.

I used to live in Arlington and only a couple of stoplights from Key Bridge.

Yes, the area is expensive, although not nearly as expensive as where I live now (Florida oceanfront).

I would caution you to remember that Arlington and Alexandria are close to parts of the District but they are certainly not close to parts of the Maryland suburbs on the other side of the District. Does being not so close to half the area's population make any difference to you?

You might want to concentrate on areas as close to the Metro as possible such as Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon, Ballston, etc in Arlington or follow the same strategy for Alexandria.

I agree, great place to live and we did so for more than 40 years.

Do people need to actually come to you? A friend runs a successful photography business from home and I doubt anyone has ever come to her. She's near the Loudoun/Fairfax border so easy access to everything. It's hard to answer this question, really. You might find that the perceived convenience of DC is outweighed by the price of living. If people do need to come to you, I'd look for an area with parking and that has the space for you to dedicate a room to your business. I would be a bit leery of coming to someone's house, personally, and having a professional set-up would make it somewhat less off putting. But that's me.

You might also want to post this on city-data.com which is a relocation forum.

Thanks everyone.

I actually have a commerical unit in dupont as a studio set up for photography however there are a few other clients that prefer to stop by when I move since they do not always make it out to dupont area so not everyone will go to my house or apartment but convenience is a must. I'm thinking arlington might be it. I seen a really nice high rise for 2000 plus which is doable for me.

Somerone mentioned areas close to Rosslyn, Court House, Clarendon and Ballston will help and I'm actually looking at places now that are not to far from Ballson.

If your clients aren't willing to go to the Dupont Circle area, I wonder where they are and whether a place in VA would be more convenient, and whether it really makes sense to make decisions based on the convenience of a few of your current clients who apparently aren't in the district itself. Just something to consider....

Have you determined if the building will allow businesses on te premises. Many (most) landlords would not allow that since they don't want a lot of random people wandering around the building.

Some place make exceptions for medial offices, but usually that has to be at street level.

They are fine with other areas just not dupont but I'm also making the decision for me as well so I have considered it and thank you :-)

After checking. 3 out of 5 said they were ok with vistors and know that it is business related so everything is fine on that end. I dont think it would be too much trouble for me. It was really deciding on a area that had me worried because I didn't want to be to far out away from everything. I believe my decision is made, I'll go with arlington especially close to the metro.

I really appreciate everyone stepping up to help me :-)

The only reason someone might not go to Dupont would be that the traffic can be horrible on weekdays around there, especially rush hour, I've been stuck there for at least an hour going just a few blocks. At least that's the only reason I can think of, but if you think being in Arlington close to the metro is better, it sounds like you expect them to use metro and that these clients live in VA. Otherwise, it makes no sense (why would a client in College Park, for example, refuse to go to DUpont Circle but would go to NoVA. SO if your clients mainly live in the VA suburbs, fine, then Arlington would be good and close as you can get to the city if you are close in, anyway.

Arlington is definitely not 10-15 minutes from "everything else" in the DC area, though, it isn't from any of the Maryland suburbs and it sure isn't 10 minutes from Navy Yards in DC, for example, it's 30 minutes from there by metro alone. SOunds like you only have VA clients, though, and are planning around that.

Christina, you are definitely INCORRECT. There are parts of Arlington which are easily within 10-15 minutes of many parts of the District. It depends on exactly which part of Arlington this person ends up in. Since you don't LIVE there I can understand your non-understanding.

I also might look in Ballston area of Arlington - but that is area I am most familiar with, so there might be other areas just as good. There is a Metro stop in the center of everything in Ballston and the trip to DC is short. Lots of new apartments and condos in the area, and enough stores, restaurants in walking distance to make it a nice place to live. It is expensive to rent - think $1500 minimum for 1 BR and $2500+ for 2 bedroom. Parking is sometimes extra.