Fuck you DC rent.

[MrHat]

What the fuck.

I can't find a living space with more than 550 sqft for less than $1500 a month.

Gods damn.  Craig's List, Rent.com, apartment.com.  Fuck them all.

The only way to live here affordably is to share a house w/ 5 roommates and you can sew my balls to my knee before I'll subject myself to stupidity^4.

Any suggestions?  Other rentor avenues I may have not explored?  Anyone in the area looking for a roommate? I have TV and videogame systems.

[dusematic]

Dude do you have a requirement to live in the District?  You can get cheaper in Alexandria, etc.

[Chimpy]

Housing is spendy anywhere inside the beltway. The cheapest places where you are not in a DMZ are probably stuff in Arlington that is older. My sister lives in one of the high rises built in the 60s and she pays about 1000 a month for a good sized 1 bedroom with a nice unobstructed view of the district.

[Ookii]

You could one day decide to move to Arizona because the rent is so high, worked out for Phildo, schild, and I.

My parents have a house in Bethesda with two empty rooms 

[AutomaticZen]

Welcome to the DC Metro area!

I'm on the Maryland side.  I live near Columbia.  30 minutes to Baltimore, 30 minutes to DC.  You could probably do about 800-1000 sqft for around $1200.

[Trippy]

Dude do you have a requirement to live in the District?  You can get cheaper in Alexandria, etc.

The Metro extends out pretty far into certain suburbs. If you work near a Metro station you can expand your search area to include those areas that have a Metro stop.

[schild]

Yea dude you can live in PG County. Go for it. It's safe.

Metro commutes kinda suck giant asshole on the DC Metro guys.

[Trippy]

Okay just ignore me then

[Sky]

Sounds like you feel THE RENT IS TOO DAMN HIGH!


(Disclaimer: I've learned to mute my mac before hitting that site, so there may still be loud audio there)

[MrHat]

Browsing craig's list makes me all

With the amount of scammers on there.

[Dr. Spoons]

As others have already pointed out, cheaper/larger apartment can be had out in the burbs.  If you are set on living in the city I’d suggest looking in the Columbia Heights area.  I was able to find a one-bedroom (around 560 sqft) for $1250 a month within two blocks of the metro stop.  I’m told CH was a shithole until they built that stop a few years back, and on some streets it's still a bit dicey, but as a whole the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  The gentrification (or the next step in The Plan depending on your pov) seems to be driven by all the people who can’t afford Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan moving in.  Granted, I’ve only lived here six months but I dig the neighborhood.  It’s a good mix of bars/stores/amenities.

[MrHat]

As others have already pointed out, cheaper/larger apartment can be had out in the burbs.  If you are set on living in the city I’d suggest looking in the Columbia Heights area.  I was able to find a one-bedroom (around 560 sqft) for $1250 a month within two blocks of the metro stop.  I’m told CH was a shithole until they built that stop a few years back, and on some streets it's still a bit dicey, but as a whole the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  The gentrification (or the next step in The Plan depending on your pov) seems to be driven by all the people who can’t afford Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan moving in.  Granted, I’ve only lived here six months but I dig the neighborhood.  It’s a good mix of bars/stores/amenities.

I liked CH when I went there to visit a couple friends.  But a friend of a friend's gf got shot there last summer in a crossfire fight.  Her first US visit from China.

[Dr. Spoons]

As others have already pointed out, cheaper/larger apartment can be had out in the burbs.  If you are set on living in the city I’d suggest looking in the Columbia Heights area.  I was able to find a one-bedroom (around 560 sqft) for $1250 a month within two blocks of the metro stop.  I’m told CH was a shithole until they built that stop a few years back, and on some streets it's still a bit dicey, but as a whole the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  The gentrification (or the next step in The Plan depending on your pov) seems to be driven by all the people who can’t afford Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan moving in.  Granted, I’ve only lived here six months but I dig the neighborhood.  It’s a good mix of bars/stores/amenities.

I liked CH when I went there to visit a couple friends.  But a friend of a friend's gf got shot there last summer in a crossfire fight.  Her first US visit from China.

I'm sorry to hear that.  You may want to make use of this DC crime map.  According to the stats, violent crime is down 25% in CH, at least around my apartment.  Of course there’s nothing you can do about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   Anyway, this should be useful in your apartment search.

[Paelos]

As others have already pointed out, cheaper/larger apartment can be had out in the burbs.  If you are set on living in the city I’d suggest looking in the Columbia Heights area.  I was able to find a one-bedroom (around 560 sqft) for $1250 a month within two blocks of the metro stop.  I’m told CH was a shithole until they built that stop a few years back, and on some streets it's still a bit dicey, but as a whole the neighborhood seems to be on the rise.  The gentrification (or the next step in The Plan depending on your pov) seems to be driven by all the people who can’t afford Dupont Circle or Adams Morgan moving in.  Granted, I’ve only lived here six months but I dig the neighborhood.  It’s a good mix of bars/stores/amenities.

I liked CH when I went there to visit a couple friends.  But a friend of a friend's gf got shot there last summer in a crossfire fight.  Her first US visit from China.

I'm sorry to hear that.  You may want to make use of this DC crime map.  According to the stats, violent crime is down 25% in CH, at least around my apartment.  Of course there’s nothing you can do about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.   Anyway, this should be useful in your apartment search.

Don't worry. Someone got shot who was a friend of a friend's girl-friend of an internet guy you don't know. I think we can make quicker connections between you and Kevin Bacon than that story and crime.

NOTE: This isn't to say it didn't happen, I just found that as a reason to be pretty funny.

[AutomaticZen]

Where are you working exactly?  Might help in the search.

[MrHat]

Where are you working exactly?  Might help in the search.

Doesn't matter.  To continue living in and around DC I have to be IN or AROUND DC.  In a nice place, but reasonably priced.

[MrHat]

Hehe.

The internet is fantastic.  If you dream it, it's there:

www.padmapper.com

www.spotcrime.com

[schild]

Spot Crime is missing a MAJOR case of arson in my neighborhood. Like, MAJOR. All sorts of news crews and everything. As such, I wonder what else it's missing.

I'm surprised I can even see the map under the icons for baltimore.

Edit: Rofflcoptors at the Baltimore shooting map.

[JWIV]

Spot Crime is missing a MAJOR case of arson in my neighborhood. Like, MAJOR. All sorts of news crews and everything. As such, I wonder what else it's missing.

I'm surprised I can even see the map under the icons for baltimore.

Edit: Rofflcoptors at the Baltimore shooting map.

Yah, the druggies are going after each other like crazy right now.   After last year's nice little drop, they're trying to play catch up.

[Tale]

I blame the end of The Wire.

[Lantyssa]

Spot Crime is missing a MAJOR case of arson in my neighborhood. Like, MAJOR. All sorts of news crews and everything. As such, I wonder what else it's missing.

The dude breaking into my apartment while I was home isn't on there.

[Sky]

Yay for living in a place without a crime map?

[Teleku]

Spot Crime is missing a MAJOR case of arson in my neighborhood. Like, MAJOR. All sorts of news crews and everything. As such, I wonder what else it's missing.

The dude breaking into my apartment while I was home isn't on there.

Did you yell at him to knock next time?

[Lantyssa]

No, I freaked over realizing I saw a dude's head poke around the corner and did my best to quietly tell my roomie to call the cops.  We didn't leave the front room until they showed up.

[Broughden]

Here you go. $975 a month for a unit in a duplex on Q street.
http://www.apartments.com/summarybz.aspx?property=277193.2&srank=14&subarea6=y&area2=y&state=dc&rgn1=34&rent_minimum=0&rent_maximum=1200&pg=2&page=summarybz&prvpg=7&srt1=0.67&srt2=0.41&srt3=0.70

I havent lived or been to DC since I worked at DIA and that was back in the early 90's when getting to work at Bolling AFB meant driving through a gang war zone. Not sure what or how much has changed.
I did recently see Adams Morgan area listed as one of the best places to live in the US.

$1025 for 1 bedroom on Wisconsin Ave near American Uni. http://classifieds.washingtoncitypaper.com/washington/ViewAd?oid=oid%3A758882
$1180 on Logan Circle http://classifieds.washingtoncitypaper.com/washington/ViewAd?oid=oid%3A768982


In fact there seems to be quite a few in the $1100-1200 range in Adams Morgan and Old Town Alexandria.

[Nebu]

Here you go. $975 a month for a unit in a duplex on Q street.

$975 a month for 500 sq ft?  Damn.   

[bhodi]

Here you go. $975 a month for a unit in a duplex on Q street.

$975 a month for 500 sq ft?  Damn.   

And that's a good deal.

[Nebu]

And that's a good deal.

I have a brand new, 1500 sq ft house that I pay $631 a month for.  I guess I should be grateful that I don't live in/near DC. 

[CharlieMopps]

How else do you expect your mayor to afford his crack? Pay up and be glad he's not on Oxycontin.

[kaid]

I have a 900sq foot apartment in a nice quiet neighborhood with no gangs or crime and its a 15 minute drive to work and I pay 310$ a month.

That said I live in green bay wisconsin hehe but there is something to be said about living in a place with a reasonable cost of living rate.


kaid

[Nebu]

I have a 900sq foot apartment in a nice quiet neighborhood with no gangs or crime and its a 15 minute drive to work and I pay 310$ a month.

That said I live in green bay wisconsin hehe but there is something to be said about living in a place with a reasonable cost of living rate.

True... just think of how much money you have leftover to spend on cheese-shaped hats.

[Broughden]

Here you go. $975 a month for a unit in a duplex on Q street.

$975 a month for 500 sq ft?  Damn.   

My wife and I were paying $2100 a month for rent for a 1.5 bedroom in Manhattan, and that was a good deal.

[Abagadro]

A walkdown studio was what I lived in in Georgetown.  It's not the best living situation. Although that particular one would be close to the Brickskeller, an awesome bar, so it has that going for it.

Go find a place across the Key Bridge.

[Bismallah]

That's why I moved out down 50 just outside the beltway.

Whole area sucks nuts though for rent/purchase.

[Sky]

Sometimes it's worth the money for the neighborhood and lack of commute.