Live as close to work as possible

Look to traffic from near the north Arlington metro stops and your work. If it is bad, you might want to consider them opposite plan unless you really think you’ll go into DC a lot.

Get a realtor. The fee is paid by owners and they will be helpful finding an apartment directly from a person who is less likely to be predator than the buildings.

I highly recommend living where you would want to hang out. Look to some of the local brick and mortars/amenities (gym, bars, restaurants, grocery stores, parks, proximity to metro, trails, etc.) and see if that matches the vibe you’re looking for. Arlington has a lot to offer but it’s hard to answer your question without knowing what matters to you in a neighborhood.

Ballston to McLean is a pretty chill commute. It's also an easy train/bike/car ride into DC.

Are you new to the area? If so, consider when you get advice whether your job is in what people refer to as McLean or if it's actually in Tyson's Corner with a McLean address. It could make a difference in the advice you get.

Thanks for the advice! Yes I am new to the area. I’ll be working at the Capital One HQ in McLean. It looks like it’s ~10 min drive from Tysons Corner and a 15-20 min drive from Arlington. I’ve never been to the area so I could be wrong. I have a couple friends that live in DC so thats why I want atleast some proximity to DC but it’s not a necessity. To me it just looked like Arlington would be a good middle place to live at. Plus i’ll also be working hybrid and i’ll be commuting maybe at most 2 times per week to work.

Yeah that's definitely what people refer to as Tyson's - McLean would lead to confusion (despite the address).

We love living in Arlington. It has lots to offer day-to-day for both young people and parents with kids. It would still be a pretty easy commute depending on timing. I commute to Reston and it's still not that bad using the dulles toll road.

One tip: Google maps doesn't have the timed tolls on i-66 coded correctly so use Waze for more accurate directions until you learn your way around. You should not be impacted by 66 tolls in an Arlington to Tyson's commute (assuming day shift hours).

Thanks for the advice! I’ll have a car so i’m not too worried about proximity to grocery stores, bars and such. Although I do not know 100% how bad the traffic gets there. Arlington does sound like the vibe i am looking for. I’ve heard a lot of college graduates end up moving there for work so that would be nice. The one thing I am looking for is proximity to the metro. I think I should be taking public transportation to work rather than driving because I have heard that there’s a lot of traffic. So living a block or two from the metro would be nice.

If your only requirements are the proximity to the metro and price, then that’s easy. Fan favorites are Clarendon/Court House, Ballston, Crystal City/Pentagon City, and Virginia Square. Depending on what you’re looking for an apartment, you can expect to spend anywhere $1400-$2500 (big gap, I know). Each neighborhood has its pros and cons which can be easily found searching prior posts too.

Capitol one is in Tysons, you might even consider living out there if you don’t mind a sort of cold-futurist aesthetic

24 and 130k 🥲 OHHHHHH, if I had the will to sell myself to big tech.

Thank you! Yeah it sounds like a great place to be at. Currently i’m trying to find any decent apartments in the ballston-rosslyn area

That’s really helpful. Thank you so much. I’m leaning towards Ballston right now. Hopefully I can get something for like ~1800 haha. Have you heard anything about about The Rixey apartments? Thanks again.

lol. It's worth it if you can make it through the classes.

I’ve heard of the apartments but I haven’t heard any real feedback on them.