Look in either South Fairlington or North Fairlington, both in South Arlington.

 

Section 8 is gov't housing, so if you want to be in that...... have fun Though some of our members live in DC, I would not, especially on Capitol Hill and Eastern Market. There is NO PARKING and people park by car bumper meaning they hit the car in front and behind while parking to let them know they can't go any further.

 

cardiac

Why should you avoid the city? Capitol Hill ( Eastern Market - Union Station- Lincon Park) is a great place to live, in fact just this past Spring, Capitol Hill was voted one of America's 10 Best Neighborhoods by US News & World Report.

A few people who are regular in this forum live in Capitol Hill as I do . I moved here about 14 yrs ago and while back then it was rough and a bit dangerous , now this part of town is not worse than any other cities in the world (and I have travelled a lot and lived in a few )

For young people particulary, the Hill is a great !!! The Metro is a fantastic way of transportation , we have great restaurants, caffees, two Starbucks,
nice little shops, and a great sense of community... This area is famous for having block parties..., block yard sales etc...

The Historic Capitol Hill is limited and many rental/sales ads on CL say "capitol hill" but they are far out...

good area is from 1st street SE to 12 st SE between A and G streets (BTW there is no B street in DC) zip code 20003

Good area also 2nd St. NE to 12NE between A and G zip code 20002
H street is becoming very very popular but is still in the making..

rental around these areas are between $1,500 - $1,900 for one bedroom (some are English basements) but plenty of condos , too.
two bedrooms between $2,000- 2,500 you may able to find a small house.

If you are considering moving to the Hill feel free to e-mail me. BTW i am not a real estate agent I just know the Hill very well as I live here and most of my clients are here too.

Hope this helps

 

In your original post you said you were looking for a garage and a yard. You are not likely to find that in DC proper. Most of the places on the Hill/Eastern Market, and many other neighborhoods are rowhouses (attached to each other). As you move farther out, VA neighborhoods and MD neighborhoods you are much more likely to find a house with a yard.

If you don't particularly mind street parking or alley parking, then the city is fine. There are dangerous parts in EVERY neighborhood in the city, its a city you will have that. I have lived in Mt.Pleasant (which would be a good place to start) Columbia Heights, Logan Circle and NE near Catholic Univ. all these neighborhoods are MUCH safer now than when I lived there and I never had any problems. The times that my car has been vandalized/broken into (not the MINI) were times when I was parked in very nice areas such as Georgetown/Dupont Circle. My point is that crime can happen anywhere. I now live in MD (silver spring) b/c I wanted a yard/house but we are contemplating moving back into DC soon.

I would suggest looking at the places before you commit to anything. Its really hard to generalize neighborhoods b/c one person's preference/tolerance level will be much different than the next. Its hard when moving out of state but maybe you can come for a weekend committed solely to finding a place to live. Drive around, get a sense of where you want to be in order to narrow down your search.

 

I live in DC, in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. It's safe enough, but like any city you need to be careful. The yard and garage are going to be nearly impossible to find. Parking on the street is a disaster, especially at night. We're lucky enough to have a garage, but if we didn't, we probably wouldn't have a a car. It's not easy to get to Foggy Bottom from here, either. You have to transfer on the Metro and I don't think there's a bus that goes directly there. (I could be wrong, I hate the bus) However, it's only about a 20-25 minute walk and it's all through nice neighborhoods.

When I first moved to DC, I lived in the Clarendon area of Arlington, VA. I loved it there. It's got a very urban feel as you can walk to lots of restaurants, shops and the grocery store. It's on the Orange Line (3 stops to Foggy Bottom!) and is generally very convenient. There are a lot of high-rise apartment buildings, but there are also rental homes. I would start with Craigslist to find something. I will warn you, it's expensive. I had a two-bedroom apartment, about 1100 square feet and my rent was $2300/month. That was 3 years ago. It is a relatively safe area though.

I'm sure any of us would be happy to answer questions if you find something and aren't sure about the area. Good luck with the move!