So I m from Charleston and really thinking about moving to DC next year. I want to know how the scene is up there is? I visited a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with the city. I also will be transferring to NOVA to the paramedic program. And I would like input on where to live. I would like a garage and be somewhat close to school. Anybody looking for a roommate that has a place to park inside or do y'all think that I need just to pay for a spot in a parking garage?

 

welcome...


nova can chime in to the living spots.



charleston is effing beautiful! great little city.

 

Thats the old DC trap... visit and love it then stay and grow to hate it... u gon be mad

 

Will you be at the Annandale campus? Makes a difference in where you will want to locate, since traffic here is pretty bad. The guys who live out there can clue you in. DC is certainly different than Charleston, but it's a great area, IMO.

 

If you want to know what it is like in NOVA, get a couple of your friends, park your cars on the street and sit there for three hours. Everyday. Until you get used to it.

 

the parking thing depends entirely on where you want to live. I think the biggest changes you'll notice if you move up here, are the cost of living, and the traffic.

"Close" to where you're going to school is a relative term. Real estate around here isn't measure in terms of distance - we measure it in the amount of time it takes to get somewhere. It is entirely realistic that in rush hour (or extreme situations) it will take a long time to get a short amount of distance. That said, the general rule is the further you get away from the city, the smaller the place, the less frills a place offers, the cheaper it will be.

People moving up from the south often have sticker shock. take a look at www.housingmaps.com to see what is available for rent and what ammenities are offered to give yourself an idea of what things cost.

 

Ideally, I think you'd want to live somewhere inside the Beltway, but it'll cost you.

Here's a general rule of thumb for living in NoVA -- you can only have 2 of the 3 below ...

- close to the city (DC)
- garage parking
- "reasonable" rent (note that reasonable for up here isn't necessarily reasonable if you're coming from somewhere else)

 

Thats how it is here in real estate. The closer you are to the water the more insane the prices get. I ll be at the springfield campus, so I was looking around that area. I have a friend that lives in Adams Morgan. I thought you pay for street parking monthly? I figured that into a budget, so that was going to pay for parking anyways. I would really like a garage. I just don't feel like dealing with my car getting broken into. I should be going back up there in Oct. Thanks guys

 

Seems the Nova crew have this under control, but if I were you, I'd look to live closer to Springfield than right in Adams Morgan (if you want your car up there anyway...without the car, I'd get an apartment somewhere on Connecticut right in the district ). I love hanging out in Nova and DC, but the traffic angers me every time.

 

Springfield and Adams Morgan (right downtown DC) are 13 miles apart, but it's a long 13 miles when traffic is heavy on 395/95 (which is often). I'd not recommend living in the city or near. You are better off living in/near Springfield and driving into town for fun. There is also a Metro station (Blue Line) at Franconia/Springfield. If you could rent a place within walking distance to that, you'd be good to go by subway.