Need to give parental advice re: housing in/around D.C.

Poststructural Pub
1

It looks like a child of mine is set to take a teaching job in Washington D.C., just west of Georgetown. (sister might actually join her, and find a job nearby so as to share housing.) Thoughts of commuting from here (Annapolis area) are not remotely reasonable for longer than a transitional period, and public transportation is limited. (could be accomplished in roughly 2 hours, one-way, with 1 train and 2 buses.)

I have reached the limits of my parentis ex machina potential. (i.e…have not cut the auto and health insurance apron strings yet, but c’ain’t help you with housing. sorry.)

What a place to try to find affordable housing. I don’t even know how to suggest starting the process. I’m hoping that the couple of people she knows from school will know a few people, etc…thus leading to leads.

Anybody have the best ideas re room or roommate-finding anywhere, and/or specifically in and around D.C.?

2

Craigslist would be my first stop, and maybe check with the housing departments of local universities for leads.

3

It has been about 10 or more years since I lived there but…

Transportation in that area might be one of the bigger factors, parking can be difficult and expensive when found. The subways were really topnotch and not expensive for what they were, timely, clean, the buses could be could be less so. DC area is a strange area in that a neighborhood could change from good to sketchy in the distance of a block.

Getting a hold of someone in the school would be a great start, especially if they can find a superior or adviser and get a heads up in what to expect.

4

I have a number of friends who work in DC. Even though they own homes access to the Metro determined where they all purchased homes, they all own cars but they rarely drive. One has a eighties Subaru wagon with less than a 100k.

5

The unfortunate thing is that the school where she’ll be employed happens to be in one of the odd spots that is hard to access via public transportation. Craigslist looks like a great idea. I think she’s apt to end up commuting, but there are a number of ads for group housing type situations full of crunchy people she’d probably hit it right off with, and she’ll just need to find a compatible one within non-crazy commute range.