Arlington / Washington DC Area

[BiggusGeekus]

I'm moving to Herndon, VA in a week. I'm really going to miss the city.

Nightlife link:
http://www.ontaponline.com

Suggestion: Live in Rosslyn/Courthouse/Clarendon/Ballston. These are all neighborhoods in Arlington. It is cheaper than living in the city, you can take the metro in, and you're only a half mile to a mile away from DC.

Have fun! Hopefully I'll see you at one of the game stores!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

* - Man, I miss Fantasy Forum.

Yeah. I'd finish my workout at Gold's, smell the lovely, lovely food from the Greek place and be seduced into the Fantasy Forum where I'd feed my Magic card addiction. I swear that store helped me lose weight, because by the time I'd get done buying all my cards I wouldn't have enough money for dinner.

 

[Endur]

All kinds of technology employers. The biggest are government contractors, but we also have AOL, telcoms, etc.

If you are thinking about Law Schools, you have two very prestigious schools in the Virginia/DC area. UVA and Georgetown. UVA is the better of the two and its much cheaper (state tuition), but its located in Charlottesville. Georgetown is private and far more expensive ($20k more per year I think), but it is located in downtown DC, which has its own advantages. If you don't care about attending a top ranked law school, you have another dozen law schools in the VA/MD/DC area. George Mason University Law School is the most affordable law school in the DC area (if you don't want to go to Charlottesville for UVA).

If I come out there next August/September I will have a B.S. in Computer Science. I am already planning on applying to the Patent and Copyright Office (I have an interested in copyright and patent law and think that would be an interesting place to see if I want to spend the time to go to law school for it before committing to paying all the money for law school) and the big three intelligence agencies (FBI, NSA, and CIA). What other sort of big computer/technology employers are there in the area?

 

[Tuerny]

I'm moving to Herndon, VA in a week. I'm really going to miss the city.

Nightlife link:
http://www.ontaponline.com

Suggestion: Live in Rosslyn/Courthouse/Clarendon/Ballston. These are all neighborhoods in Arlington. It is cheaper than living in the city, you can take the metro in, and you're only a half mile to a mile away from DC.

Have fun! Hopefully I'll see you at one of the game stores!

The more I see (and hear) the more I like...

The big issue is finding a post graduate job that pays enough to make living in the region viable.

Oh well. Worse case scenario, I can always just stay here.

 

[Kid Socrates]

From a past and possible future Alexandria resident...

I lived in Triangle, VA, for a long time and commuted to Alexandria for work, at one of those associations everyone's talking about. Prices are dropping on some apartments, at least in Alexandria -- I'm seeing stuff I could afford on my old entry-level salary in the studio or one-bedroom range in Alexandria itself, in decent neighborhoods I walked through. You're not going to want to drive unless you have to -- like everyone's said, traffic is horrendous during peak hours, and the metro is a wonderful way to get around.

From what I've heard, there's something to do with the Lease & Patent Office that's opening up a ton of new jobs in a few months. Friend of mine told me about it, since I'm possibly moving back to the area. Hence, some apartments are getting cheaper to live in, and I may jump back to the area for a while at least. Hard to say what's going to happen.

It's really not too bad if you don't have to deal with a two hour commute (which I did) and don't live in a bad area (which I did). There's lot of culture, stuff to do, concerts go through regularly, some great gaming stores and groups, and the parts that are pretty are really pretty. Plus the economy is decently stable there, thanks to the government.

 

[The_Gneech]

I'm moving to Herndon, VA in a week. I'm really going to miss the city.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

-The Gneech

 

[kengar]

On the subject of transportation,

I live in MD (Silver Spring) and my wife & I share 1 car. Before she went freelance, we both took Metro or buses to work (I walk to the station and take the subway to capitol hill every day). I agree having a car is a nice convienence, and if you already have one, keep a hold of it. But -if at all possible- look into Metro-accessible locations for work & home. Traffic is nasty. The Metro is getting crowded, but it still beats my old commute to Tyson's hands down.

I have found after living in MD for many years, as well as having worked in DC and Northern VA, that public transportation is more extensive in MD & DC (if that's a priority with you) than NOVA. Of course, you could get a place a stone's throw from a Metro station in DC, VA or MD and if your job ends up someplace like Reston or Tyson's (big IT areas, BTW), you'll still need to drive.