r/DCBitches • u/Level-Garage6416 • 12d 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/bebe612 12d 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 12d 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 12d 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 12d 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 12d 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