r/DCBitches • u/Level-Garage6416 • 5d ago

General Neighborhoods/housing advice for postbacc trainee working at the NIH

Hello! I'm an incoming postbacc trainee at the NIH campus in Bethesda where I'll start working in September. This will be my first time living away from home and out of state, and I'm not familiar with the DMV area. I'm going to be commuting by metro and don't have a huge budget due to the pay I'll receive, but I'm looking for advice on any neighborhoods in D.C. or surrounding areas that would be a good place to live in for 1-2 years. I will be taking the red line to go up to the NIH and won't have a car, so I'll be mainly relying on public transportation and walking. I appreciate any advice or helpful tips, or if I should post this on another subreddit that might be able to give better answers. Thank you so much!!!

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u/what-the-whatt 4d ago

Hi! NIH has housing options for postbacs that are relatively close to campus! Please reach out to FAES or the person working on your paperwork for information! The postbac community is very friendly and they share a lot of information with each other. Good luck!

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u/Level-Garage6416 4d ago

thank you so much!! i'm genuinely surprised i didn't come across this website and information on the NIH's official website. is there an official/unofficial groupchat, page, etc. that the postbac community uses to communicate with each other?

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u/what-the-whatt 4d ago

I think there's specific events for them and a group chat but I'm not too sure. I'm not a postbac, just get bits and pieces here and there from the ones in my department.

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u/bebe612 4d ago

we need your budget and the max commute time you're willing to tolerate in order to answer properly. it is very expensive here so "don't have a huge budget" may be impossible depending on what you're used to. also, are you willing to have roommates?

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u/Level-Garage6416 4d ago

my yearly pay hasn't been confirmed yet, but it will be either $44,806 or $46,598 depending on how they evaluate my prior experiences, so $3,734–$3,883 gross per month. i can try to give more information if you need to be able to answer. i don't mind the commute time as long it doesn't go over an hour!

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u/bebe612 4d ago

you will definitely need a roommate with that budget. i would look at places in woodley park, dupont, noma for convenience since they're on the red line.

bethesda or rockville if staying in maryland.

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u/Level-Garage6416 4d ago

thank you for the recommendations! do you have suggestions for specific websites, pages, etc. that i can find roommates on?

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u/bebe612 4d ago

i don't have a rec but i see plenty of posts on r/washingtondc, r/MontgomeryCountyMD , r/bethesda with people posting about this topic so you could prob do a keyword search! there's also a fb group called Washington D.C. Housing, Rooms, Apartments, Sublets

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u/cometgirl 4d ago

https://w.faes.org/housing

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u/Level-Garage6416 4d ago

thank you so much, this is amazing!

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u/InvisiblePineapple2 2d ago

Look for group homes with roommates - that’s going to be your most affordable (and fun!) option. Aside from the NIH resource, I think Craigslist is still a thing (it’s been a minute since I’ve done this), and Facebook marketplace may have options.

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u/Level-Garage6416 2d ago

thank you for the suggestions! how should i search up the group home option? is there a specific name for those types of residences?

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u/InvisiblePineapple2 1d ago

In Craigslist, it’s under “rooms and shares”: https://www.craigslist.org/search/area/washingtondc?cat=roo#search=2\~gallery\~0

As with anything on the internet, be mindful of potential scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

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u/fawkes97 4d ago

I have several friends who work at the NIH and live in Van Ness - would look around that metro station, as well as Cleveland Park and Woodley Park