Anonymous wrote:I would look along the MARC train line or the Virginia Railway Express train line ~ since you don't have a car. Either will bring you into the city for interviews

+1

Downtown Frederick might be your best bet. The parts of DC/inner suburbia that are affordable and possible to live a car-free life are either too $$$ or not really all that safe if you're used to the "party belt" (extends from Ballston and goes east through say H Street NE, there's a smaller "party belt" in Rockville/Bethesda/Silver Spring.)

I would look along the MARC train line or the Virginia Railway Express train line ~ since you don't have a car. Either will bring you into the city for interviews

Richmond is cheap and close enough that you could drive up for an interview

Can you start a new business--not the cake/cupcake/foodtruck type businesses since too many unemployed law grads and many others have already done that? Think outside the box. Look around for unfulfilled demand. GL.

How long have you lived in DC? Maybe this is a good time for a change to move somewhere new. It seems like a great opportunity to move your life in a different direction.

What is your budget? Fairligton always has people looking to rent a floor for professionals. You can walk to several stores-restaurants and is right off a bus line with express service to the pentagon. Very safe.

OP, you might find what you're looking for in the Kingman Park area (north of Stadium-Armory) or east of the Anacostia river

You really need a car to live almost anywhere else in the country, and certainly anywhere cheaper than DC.

If you work in-house, any bar is fine regardless of where the job is located.

There are cheap places advertised in the Express. On a bus line instead of near a metro, and the neighborhoods are not trendy (some also aren't super safe) but you could stay in DC for well under $1000 a month.

If you're set on leaving, try Baltimore. It's a lot cheaper, you may not need a car depending on where you live, and you can take the MARC back for interviews. And I agree with everyone else--looking for temp work (grocery store checker? coffee shop? tutoring SATs?) is key just so you have some money coming in.

If you do document review while you look for work, you could probably afford a lot of housing in DC.

If you want to stay in the general area so you can easily interview in DC, move out to the end of the yellow line - can get pretty cheap out in Huntington.

If you want to just pick up an move to another part of the country, check out NC - good job market, affordable housing, etc.

If it were me, I'd go somewhere I could temp and crash with relatives - a month with my brother, two with my parents. Temping always went well for me - the hourly rate is low but keeps you busy, networking, and eventually turned into an offer for me.

I agree about moving outside the beltway or even an hour or two out. Not having a car is an issue, so maybe see if zipcar has stations in nearby towns?

We were in the same boat when my husband lost his job four years ago. We drained everything we had to stay in the DC area for three years since job prospects were best there and he had a tide-over job paying 75% of his former salary. When that ended last year we finally left for the Shenandoah valley. I SO wish we had left immediately- we'd be in such better shape now. He is in finance, not law, so maybe your outlook is different, but I suggest cutting expenses drastically now because you don't know how long this will last.