Moving from London - where to live?

[Anonymous]

I think you would love Capitol Hill. We used to live in London (Holborn/Chancery Lane) and we now live on Capitol Hill with our 11 month-old. Your husband would have a very short commute to the Pentagon and the neighborhood is very walkable. There is a ton to do with a small child. I also SAH and we have activities to walk to everyday. You will get a smaller place on Capitol Hill than you would in the suburbs, but for your budget you will find a nice 2-3 bedroom rowhouse. We have more space than we had in central London.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Old town Alexandria or the Clarendon neighborhood of Arlington.

+1.

If you have the luxury of not worrying about schools, a relatively healthy budget, and are planning to stay only a few years, that's what I'd do.

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill near Eastern Market. Great commute to the Pentagon, close to all the museums, walkable, Metro accessible, tons of families, lots of parks, restaurants, and kids' activities, plenty of charm, good houses for $4000/month rent. There's no reason to move to Old Town where you're farther away from all that DC has to offer and no reason to move to NW and make it a harder commute for your husband.

[Anonymous]

Crime is not bad in Capitol Hill but it is an issue, at least more of an issue than the other areas that have been suggested here.

[Anonymous]

I recommend Old Town Alexandria. DC would be a bit of a hike for your DH and Arlington has become very crass.

[Anonymous]

I live in North Arlington now, but used to live in Old Town. For you, OP, I agree with the Old Town Alexandria posters. If you live in Old Town, you have easy access to parks, the Potomac River - and there is a Whole Foods, too, on Duke Street. Very walkable and just a few Metro stops from the Pentagon.

My sister lives on Capitol Hill and loves it. She will never be more than a few blocks from Eastern Market. Capitol Hill is not a bad choice, either, but the Metro commute includes a train change, which adds time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend Old Town Alexandria. DC would be a bit of a hike for your DH and Arlington has become very crass.

Capitol Hill metros are just as close as close a ride as King Street.

[Anonymous]

Also op: My impression is that in London if you're looking for a rental, you contact the broker like Foxton's etc. and have them show you places on behalf of the owners. Dc doesn't work like that, it's not really a broker city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I recommend Old Town Alexandria. DC would be a bit of a hike for your DH and Arlington has become very crass.

Crass?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also op: My impression is that in London if you're looking for a rental, you contact the broker like Foxton's etc. and have them show you places on behalf of the owners. Dc doesn't work like that, it's not really a broker city.

Actually she can call any real estate company and an agent will show her rentals. It's not like NewYork where you can only get a good rental with key money

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Capitol Hill near Eastern Market. Great commute to the Pentagon, close to all the museums, walkable, Metro accessible, tons of families, lots of parks, restaurants, and kids' activities, plenty of charm, good houses for $4000/month rent. There's no reason to move to Old Town where you're farther away from all that DC has to offer and no reason to move to NW and make it a harder commute for your husband.

+1 better to be in DC, especially if you're expecting visitors. Old Town is nice too, but a bit more sterile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think she should rent in north arlington. She doesn't need good schools yet and moving to the suburbs straight from London might be tough. plus Ballston, courthouse etc require a transfer at Rosslyn to get to the pentagon - it's not the same line.

You might like Capitol Hill. Eastern market or Capitol south is nice and would be a fairly painless metro commute. One transfer, only a couple stops on both ends. You could get a row house on Capitol Hill in the 2,800 (tiny not very nice two bedroom) to 4,000 range. The tricky part is some parts of Capitol Hill are safer than others, and I've never been able to figure out which. But you could ask that in a separate post or google it or check out crime rate maps.

There are tons of rental buildings in the crystal city, pentagon city area. I live in one and hate it and wouldn't recommend it, but if you strike out otherwise, you could look up the managed buildings and pretty easily find a two bedroom.

With your budget, you could also rent in DuPont. If you rent in the west end of DuPont, he could walk to foggy bottom and not have to transfer. Or he could get on at DuPont and transfer at gallery place or metro center.

You could also live in an apartment near the gallery place Chinatown stop or archives. Straight quick shot down yellow line to pentagon.

Further up, you could live near u street metro, but that's a bit further and more of a singles area.

Check out craigslist for listings.

I'm British. I agree with this advice. Dupont will be busier and with less obvious community, more tourists etc. If you really want somewhere established (not too transitional) and with a good community, places to walk to and a lot of other mums to make connections with the Hill is your best bet. Even the parts that are less "safe" (e.g. less gentrified) are going to be quite comfortable for you. if you are walking distance to the metro you can't lose.

[Anonymous]

Clarendon/Courthouse is right down the street from the Pentagon. It is a commuter belt as well--Metro, capitol bike share, etc. There are TONS of kids and families, playgrounds, parks-- even splash parks in the summer. There are 4th of July parades, etc. it is a quick trip to DC for museums, sightseeing--with my older kids we often bike.

He could be at the Pentagon in 3 minutes anytime of day.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, Capitol Hill, Old Town, Clarendon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, Capitol Hill, Old Town, Clarendon.

And I'd add Glover Park to this list.