Fellows' Housing Insights

Kara Suzuka, Winter Fellow 2000

Some general resources I've found helpful:
(1) WashingtonCityPaper -- this is a free paper that comes out on Thursday afternoon that has a helpful classifieds section. In particular, there are two sections that I came to know intimately: Housing for Rent and Housing to Share. I started off looking only at efficiencies and single bedroom apartments to live in alone but soon found that it was HARD to find nice places in convenient locations, for short term leasing, for under $1000/month -- sharing a place with someone looking for a roommate became an attractive option to me.

Here's a helpful insider tip I got: The online version of the WashingtonCityPaper comes out on TUESDAY -- two days earlier than the print version. You can get a jump on the other apartment-hunters by getting the listings from the internet on Tuesday and making contacts immediately. (http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com)

(2) WashingtonPost -- (cf Michelle's recommendations in her 12/01 email)

(3) www.wmata.com
-- the transit authority website. (cf Michelle's recommendations). I'd also like to add that you check out bus routes. There are a number of bus routes that can get you to Georgetown from various parts of DC.

(4) There are two Universities located in the Georgetown area that have good listings that are, as far as I can tell, updated daily (or pretty frequently):
* Georgetown University (http://data.law.georgetown.edu/reslife/area.cfm)
* George Washington University (http://gwired.gwu.edu/och/)

There is also a site for the American University but I found that website difficult to use. (the layout is inconvenient and the database is slow... the listings might be good, however... I just didn't have the time, patience, or bandwidth to devote to that site).
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Good areas to live (i.e. some generally nice neighborhoods and...) Close to work (for the people at the Upper Georgetown [@ 1900 Wisconsin Ave. ] and Foundry [address?] Buildings --
* Georgetown
* Foggy Bottom
* Glover Park
Places in these areas might be close enough to walk to work (or maybe take one short bus ride).

On the Blue and Orange Metro lines (which stops at the Foggy Bottom Metro, where you can catch the academy shuttle bus to the upper Georgetown and foundry buildings)--
* Arlington (There are lots of other places on the blue line that goes into VA but I'm not sure about how nice the areas are -- someone recommended Arlington to me, however.)

Likely to be connected to Georgetown by a Metro bus (you should double check this but this is what I have been told) --
* Dupont Circle (lots of restaurants and shops)

* Adams Morgan (this is supposed to be a "fun" and somewhat trendy area with lots of restaurants, interesting shops, and rotten parking)
* Cleveland Park (don't know much about)
* Woodley Park (don't know much about)
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Miscellaneous Notes:
(1) Many people/places are looking for tenants to start renting immediately and/or through the duration of the "semester" (for the nearby universities). One thing you might think about, if you really like the place, is offering to pay for December rent (or some portion thereof) if it is within your means. Or, alternatively, offering to pay for the remainder of the semester (which seems to run through May). I think many people immediately wrote me off as a potential tenant when they found out that my program runs from mid-January to early April. (I suppose deception is another option but I didn't feel comfortable with it...) Also, many places -- particularly apartment buildings -- require a minimum of a one-year lease. It will save you time if you find out whether or not a short term lease is even possible before you start getting other details.

(2) Good places go FAST. Many of the best apartments/rooms are rented out the same day the ad comes out. You should be prepared to place a deposit if you really like the place. In many ways, it is a competition won by the fastest and those most able to make a good impression (the latter is particularly true if you are looking for shared housing). Some rental situations require housing references. You might want to line some up in advance. (Especially for shared housing or short-term leases with people going on sabbatical or taking temporary leave.)

(3) I am told that buses frequently run up and down Wisconsin Ave (into Cleveland Park and above) -- this is good for those of us at the Upper Georgetown building. Any rental with easy access to Wisconsin Ave is likely to have a reliable, easy means of public transportation.

(4) One idea I had but haven't implemented yet is to sign up at jfax.com for a free dc area phone and fax number. You could give your housing contacts a local area phone number to call; they could leave you a message and you could call them back. I heard that sometimes people don't call you back if your number is a long distance one. As I said, I haven't implemented this plan yet but I have had a free jfax number (for fax and voicemail) in Seattle and it's worked out quite well so far. Basically, jfax gives you a phone number you can give out to people and, when they call and leave a message, an audio file is created and you receive an email with a URL for downloading the audio file. Using free software, you can listen to your messages. (Same thing with the faxes except you download a graphic file.) I might not need to do this but if I do l'll let you know how it goes. (Maybe you could do likewise if you decide to try this out...). [NOTE: I haven't gotten any spam from jfax since I signed up 6 months+ ago -- just an occasional offer to upgrade my services (for a small fee, of course!).]

Avital "Tali" Bar-Shalom, Winter Fellow 2000

The area east of Rock Creek park, or the subset east of 16th ST NW is not safe for a woman walking home alone at night from the metro. I looked (only on the web) at places near Columbia

Heights and Petworth Metro stops but stopped considering them once I learned this. I'm sure there are areas that are ok but without going there in person I didn't want to end up in a place where I didn't feel comfortable.

Michelle Bragg, Winter Fellow 2000

The Washington Post also has info on places to share and rooms for rent. Its located in the Rental Homes section, which is found under the Apt. section of the real estate classifieds.

Another source is http://liveoffcampus.com

This is from the George Mason site. The majority of the places will likely be in VA, but GMU has a campus in Arlington so some of the housing listings are in that area.

Arlington is nice. It’s about 10-15min from DC. If you look here you'll want to check for places around the Ballston area. You'll generally want to shy away from places located around the South Glebe area of Arlington. Clarendon, Rosslyn, and Falls Church are also nice areas of VA that are

not far from DC. They are also on the orange line of the Metro Subway. Crystal City is nice also, and is right outside DC and is near Nat'l Airport. It’s on the Blue subway line.

I live in VA, so my knowledge of DC neighborhoods is limited. However, the Georgetown area is one of the most expensive areas in DC. Just keep that in mind when looking. Adams Morgan is a cool place to hang out, but personally, I would not live there. The Foggy Bottom area (where GWU is located) is decent as well as DuPont Circle. There are some parts of the DuPont area that you might not want to live in, so don't just go by the neighborhood. Just as in any city, some blocks (or neighborhood sub-sections) are better, nicer, safer than others. Generally, you will

want a place located either in Northwest or Northeast DC. The Capital Hill areas of Southeast and Southwest are generally decent, but are sometimes pricey. The residential area of SW is generally small and has a lot of townhomes, but there are several apt. buildings that may have

efficiencies. SW is mostly decent, there are pockets that are not, however.

Silver Spring, MD is also an area that you might want to check out. The metro bus lines run everywhere--even in MD and VA. However, I would recommend finding a place near a Metro Subway stop. It’s quicker.

The idea of having a local number is a good one. In this area, you will likely have to secure a place for a semester as opposed to the duration of the fellowship. I highly recommend sharing a place with other fellows. The searching process here is a nightmare as I said. Places generally go quicker than quick and it is not uncommon for persons to pay more than the asking rent in order to just secure a place to live. Not trying to dampen anyone's spirits, but it is hard to find decent places to live for under $1000 in this area. They exist, they just go quick!

Personally, I had to adjust when I moved here. Many of the condos/apts. that are under $1000 are older and not as nice as what I was used to in TX. In TX, everything was new. The only people that lived in older places where poor. When I moved here, I found out I was poor! :-)

Good luck and Happy hunting!

MB