Moving to DC area soon. Will you please help me find a bike friendly neighborhood?

I only have experience in Virginia–so here goes: In Arlington Virginia I loved Rosslyn, Courthouse, Clarendon, Virginia Square, Ballston. Arlington is super bike friendly, and has some great trails and green space, and also has quite a few fun things going on. It’s like city living, but more safe with more space Some locations are quieter than others, so you just need to walk around that specific area. Prices in Arlington are going up though, so it is getting a little trickier to find reasonably priced housing. I recommend avoiding the “big” complexes and focus on more garden style apartments and condo units to stay within your price range. Bonus is that if you plan to hang out in DC alot, they’re all relatively short trips (via metro, uber, or bike) back home. I have some friends in Pentagon City and Crystal City who love those areas too, but I’ve never lived there so I can’t comment as much.

Del Ray (by Braddock Rd Metro) in Alexandria is quiet, safe, tons of green space, and if you look you can find 1 BR in that range–I’ve seen some 2 BR townhouses that go for below that price. It’s also close enough that getting to and from the city is easy. The area around King Street Metro is also fabulous, but price wise it may be a little tougher to fit within your range.

@jorgsofi 146095 wrote:

Hi. I’ll be moving to the DC area very soon. I’m not very familiar with the area. I’m looking for a neighborhood that is very bike friendly. I’ve been doing some research online, but figured the best input might come from a forum like this one, where I could get opinions from people who live in the area.

Which neighborhoods in DC, Arlington and Alexandria would you say are the most bike friendly?

Other neighborhood criteria that I have, and that are not directly related to bike friendliness:

• Metro stop nearby
• Relatively safe
• Relatively quiet
• Relatively easy to find a 1 BR for less than $2,000/month
• Parks and gardens nearby (not a must, but nice to have)

Any suggestions? Thanks for your help!

Define what you mean by very bike friendly.

There’s a wide variety of bikers on the forums that will interpret that differently. I consider my place on Columbia Pike to be very bike friendly even though it requires navigating a high traffic four lane road every time I ride.

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@jorgsofi 146099 wrote:

Hi. Thanks for your reply. I’ll be working in the DC area. I’d be okay with a bike commute of up to 5 miles. I’d be commuting in work clothes (I save the lycra for after work, or for weekends), but not on a fixed gear bike. My commute would be on a classic commuter bike (fenders, fattish tires, upright position, head and tail lights, freewheel, several gears, reasonably wide saddle, swept back handlebars, light rack in the back, etc). I don’t mind hills on my commute, and I like them when I go on club and training rides.

I gathered that you would be working in the DC area. I meant more specifically – in downtown DC, in Tysons, in Reston, etc? This is a big metro area, with employment in many different parts, and what works for one employment location (especially if you want a commute of less than 5 miles) won’t work for another. If you specify where you will be working (and even the west end of downtown is different from Capitol Hill) you will get more useful answers.

@jorgsofi 146107 wrote:

Hi. Thanks for your reply. You may assume that my commute ends at the White House.

I give extra points to Arlington then if you want 5 miles or less–Rosslyn if you want to avoid the worst hills, but Courthouse and Clarendon are also really nice. My commute from Rosslyn down to the White House area was AMAZING. Scenic and quiet as you biked next to the reflecting pool along the National Mall in the morning after crossing Memorial bridge from VA, and overall flat. Only issue is there can be alot of tourists in the PM which can require re-configuring your route, but it’s not bad. I miss that commute.

Del Ray is around 7-8 miles. I loved that neighborhood if you want peace and quiet.