D2 will be starting at Georgetown in the fall as a grad student. Any advice on good inexpensive neighborhoods for housing would be greatly appreciated! She would prefer to take public transit if possible.
Many grad students live in the neighborhoods adjacent to the university (Burleith, Glover Park, and Foxhall). These neighborhoods don’t have a particularly convenient Metro stop (neither does Georgetown itself), though there are bus routes that run through the area that stop at Dupont Circle (roughly a 15 minute ride). As far as getting to campus they are walkable/bike-able when the weather permits, and the university has a shuttle that runs to these neighborhoods until 2am if safety is a concern.
Depending on how willing she is to commute, there are certainly other options. The Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington, VA is a well known hotspot for millenials, and is serviced by the Orange and Silver lines of the metro (hence their popularity). Once in Rosslyn, you have the option of walking over the Key Bridge (~20 minutes), or taking a bus across. The university runs a free bus between the Rosslyn Metro and campus pretty regularly during the week, and less frequently during the weekend. There is also the Circulator and Metrobus, which will take you across the bridge and drop you off on M Street, leaving around a 10 minute walk to campus.
Other neighborhoods in the District that come to mind are Cathedral Heights (also close to Georgetown, about a mile or so up Wisconsin Avenue), and Tenleytown/Friendship Heights, both of which are just a bit further up Wisconsin Avenue and have Metro stops on the Red Line. Tenleytown is also home to American University, so there will probably be a large student presence there as well.
Thanks @rkw0211 that’s really helpful! The public transit problem was evident to her when she visited in April, and of course she also needs to find affordable housing that will accept her cat… It’s great to have some names to refer to when looking at housing options!
Yea, unfortunately, ‘good inexpensive neighborhoods with good public transit access’ don’t really exist in or around DC. Metro access tends to drive real estate prices up; the only places where that’s not true are places where either there’s not much housing period or not much high demand housing due to crime, lack of amenities, etc.
To echo what @rkw0211 said (and everything (s)he said was 100% accurate): many grad students live within walking/biking distance in neighborhoods that lack Metrorail access but have fair-to-good bus service and attractive housing stock: Burleith, Glover Park, Foxhall, Cathedral Heights. There are lots of rowhouses and other SFHs in these neighborhoods that are often rented out to students, whether in groups or piecemeal.
Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom are within walking distance for people used to walking in cities (under half an hour) and have Metrorail stations, as well as the aforementioned GUTS bus that goes from Rosslyn to campus over the Key Bridge.
To me, the biggest key question is: what/where else aside from campus will your daughter be looking to commute to? If it’s the State Department, USIP, or other things in Foggy, then something in that direction makes more sense. If it’s the Pentagon or the Mark Center or other Northern Virginia destinations, then Pentagon City, Crystal City, and even Alexandria might make sense. If it’s something downtown or on Capital Hill, it could be that those neighborhoods are worth a look. If she’s totally unsure, then perhaps finding something close to campus (hello Craigslist) is the best bet.
Of course, with living arrangements, there are many considerations beyond location. You named a few (price, cat), but there are other key ones (roommates? shared bathroom? hours/noise? etc).
If you have any more specific questions, feel free to DM me.
Georgetown has a free shuttle for students targeting some of the public transportation points in the area like Rosslyn and Dupont Circle. Perhaps your daughter can look at areas that are convenient to the shuttle. It looks like they run between 5am and midnight during the academic year.
It’s expensive near campus. Virginia suburbs are typically cheaper.
Thanks for the helpful tips! She’s hoping to cut down on her current one hour plus NYC commute and spend her time more effectively. She’ll have a car, but is hoping to avoid using it too much.
I would advise looking for a group house in Georgetown, Burleith or Glover Park. It would give her really easy access to campus and has good bus routes to access the rest of the city. There are many group house situations in those neighborhoods.