TheWriteAlex said:
Alexandria is one of the places I'm looking into living, though I've heard it's a bit expensive though, but it's very close to where I will be working. Think I'd be able to find any decent 1BR apartments in decent neighborhoods for around $1000 a month?
ANY-place close to D.C. is going to be "a bit expensive." I don't think Alexandria is any more expensive than Arlington, where you mentioned you might be looking. Might even be a bit cheaper, but there's too much variation to really say. North Arlington is very expensive, South Arlington is less so. Anything along the Orange line corridor is going to be pricey.
Personally I love Alexandria, love the history of it, love the charm of Old Town, love the convenience. From where I am (just south of Alexandria) I can be to the airport in 13 minutes, can be to the Kennedy Ctr. in 20 minutes to half an hour (better time than my friends in NW Washington), and can get to anyplace via the Beltway very easily.
Also, via the Yellow Line on the Metro, you can be into downtown D.C. very quickly and easily. I used to commute to L'Enfant Plaza; it was about 20 minutes or so. (Not counting the short drive from my house to the Metro station, plus parking and walking to the underground level - that part took almost as long as the actual trip itself.)
Anyway - Old Town will be expensive. You will be very lucky indeed to find anything at all in OT for $1,000 a month or less. But there are some apartments at Braddock Rd. (very convenient to the Braddock Metro). I don't know how much they cost, but might be worth looking into. That is a little bit outside OT, more toward the northern end of the city of Alexandria.
If you go to realtor.com and do a search for rentals for $900 - $1100, there are about 20 listings right now. Most of them are actually in the Alexandria part of Fairfax County, not Alexandria proper. But that's ok (better for taxes, actually, and better parking). The end of the Yellow Line is the Huntington station, which is in F'fax County. Slightly west of that, the end of the Blue line goes to Van Dorn and Franconia/Springfield. There are some nice apartment complexes near the Van Dorn stop.
If you like the idea of living in a low-rise, historic, apartment building with a lot of green space around, you might like Parkfairfax.
Parkfairfax Condominiums - Welcome to Parkfairfax
These units were built in the 1940's to house the thousands of gov't workers who came pouring into D.C. They are VERY sturdy (solid brick) and the grounds are beautiful. I owned a condo there for 5 years and loved it; if I hadn't gotten married, I'd be living there still. There is an express bus from there to the Pentagon, where you can pick up the Metro. Also it's just across the highway from Shirlington, a very pleasant, newly developed area with fun shops, a movie theater, good restaurants, etc. It's not Old Town but it's really nice and a neat place to hang out and walk around.
If you need more info, feel free to PM me. I don't want to bore everyone else here reading. But would be more than happy to give you some ideas for places to look, and if you want, a short tour of the Alexandria area when you come.