June 7, 2004

4:29 PM

HousingFilter: I'm desperately seeking to sublet/rent a room in the D.C. area, where I'll be interning from June 14th through August 6th. I've hit up Craig's List, Roll Call, The Hill, Roomates.com, Sabbaticalhomes.com, and the Weekly Paper. I've tried the various universities, but I don't relish the idea of sharing a bunk bed. Anyone got any other bright ideas about where I might look on such short notice without actually having to be in D.C.? Barring that, anyone got a room for rent that's even slightly accessible to Dupont Circle?
posted by schoolgirl report to (10 comments total)

Sabbaticalhomes.com, by the way, is really great. Check out the last line of this listing.
posted by schoolgirl report at 4:33 PM on June 7, 2004

City Paper?
posted by machaus at 5:07 PM on June 7, 2004

Actually, that's what I meant to say when I wrote "Weekly Paper", but thanks.
posted by schoolgirl report at 5:14 PM on June 7, 2004

Have you tried Sublet.com? I know some people who've had success around here (DC) with it.

Be sure to look for places on up the Red Line: Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Van Ness, Tenley/Cathedral [my neighborhood], Bethesda... Dupont Circle is great, but what you'll find will probably be very expensive.

Drop me a line when you get here. Not like I know anyone or anywhere cool to hang out, but maybe we can discover some places together. And, congrats on the internship!
posted by arco at 6:17 PM on June 7, 2004

(Actually I think Sublet.com might require a fee to contact the potential renters. Craigslist is still probably the way to go.)
posted by arco at 6:32 PM on June 7, 2004

Thanks Arco. I'm pretty unfamiliar with the area, and it's hard for me to remember that places in Virginia or Maryland are still close enough to DC to be fair game. Is everything up the Red Line toward your area and beyond pretty safe?
posted by schoolgirl report at 6:41 PM on June 7, 2004

It's very safe, though pretty expensive. Generally speaking, NW DC is the safest/nicest area of the four quadrants, but also the most expensive. Not that the other sections are all bad--quite to the contrary if you're looking to move into the city--but you don't have time to try to learn about all the differences between different neighborhoods. Don't even consider anything with a SE at the end of the address unless it's on Capitol Hill (which is a really great area, btw).

The closer you are to a Metro the more expensive it will be, but there are some great neighborhoods that aren't right next to a station. I have a lovely one-mile walk to the Cleveland Park metro, and I love it. Keep in mind, though, that DC summers are BRUTAL. It WILL be hot and humid (they don't call it Swamp City for nothing), so if you ask me about it in a month I will be cursing this &#$* walk every morning/afternoon. Feel free to email me with any questions you have, though, again, I'm not exactly the most plugged-into-the-DC-scene individual around here.
posted by arco at 7:07 PM on June 7, 2004

If you can find a place in Rosslyn, Clarendon, or Pentagon City, that'd be the most convenient to Metro (and the cost of living is a bit less than NW DC, IMO). Basically, anything outside of Arlington probably will be too far, require a car, and/or cost way too much. I would, though, urge you to reconsider housing oriented towards university students -- there are a lot of good subletting deals for the summer semester in places like Georgetown, Foggy Bottom, Tenleytown, etc. You may have to just come down and troll the student center bulletin boards, though, if craigslist and the like aren't helpful.

I second arco's advice on the climate -- I've lived in the region (Virginia) for my entire life, and I'll never like the summers here. Oh, and beware of cicadas, at least for the first few weeks -- they are everywhere ;-)

If you have questions, just ask -- I'm not in DC at the moment, since I'm only a student and thus I'm back home in Richmond, but I know the area well. Welcome to the city -- at least for a while :-)
posted by armage at 7:39 PM on June 7, 2004

I live in Foggy Bottom near the George Washington campus in a building with lots of students in it. I'm about 6 or 7 blocks from the Foggy Bottom metro, which is the blue and orange line, so if you're metroing to Dupont Circle you'd have to go to Metro Center and then transfer onto the red line -- probably about 15 to 30 minute commute depending on whether you have to wait for trains. Anyway, as I said there are lots of students in my building and possibly someone might want to sublet for the summer. If you're interested and contact me by the e-mail in my profile with your own relevant contact info, I'd put a sign up in the building saying you're looking for a sublet and giving them your number to call.

(My building is actually only about 10 blocks away from DuPont Circle, but again in the DC summer heat I'm not sure you'd want to hike it every day. Thus, the metro transfer dance of frustration.)

I could also give you the name and number of the realtor I contacted when I was initially looking for an apartment in DC. I don't know whether he could help you, but he worked with alot of students then, too.
posted by onlyconnect at 8:56 PM on June 7, 2004

If you get desparate you might try Alexandria, VA, or Silver Spring or Takoma Park in MD. They're nice, but I know if I were a intern, I'd want to live in DC.

If you can, check out the neighborhood before you move in -- there are some shady parts of NW DC, too, and a lot of places advertised as Capital Hill will be further away (and not so nice) then what people here would associate with Capital Hill. Also, Capital Hill is pretty far from Dupont Circle (but an interesting neighborhood.) Two decent neighborhoods not mentioned above are Adams Morgan (tons of bars) and Mount Pleasant. You might look at Shaw, too - it's still a little rough, but has gotten a lot better, and is close to live music venues like the the Black Cat, 9:30 club, the Velvet Lounge, and DC-9. I'm not sure of your price range, but because of low interest rates and the buying craze the rental market in DC is much softer then it has been in recent years (according to friends who recently rented a house in DC.)
posted by drobot at 6:26 AM on June 8, 2004