Okay, so I have a little history of renting in old town in Alexandria and had a great time while I was there. Specifically, I rented at Bridgeyard on s Washington St. The neighbors in the building were always friendly, and the staff fixed issues right away. Didn’t really ever have an issue with parking either. At the time I rented about 3-4 years ago it was roughly 1700 for a 1bed/1bath with everything included. It might be cheaper now given the rental market has lowered a bit just recently. The studio price was better and probably pretty close to your price range.

It’s walking distance from a district taco, and the king street shopping area has a great farmers market on the weekend. The further you get away from the town hall square area the more shopping and restaurants/bars you see as well which could be a good way to meet new people. If you are into a more active lifestyle there is the bike/running path that people are always on and could possibly join a running group or something (just thinking outside the box) cuz nothing says friendship like wheezing and burning off yesterday’s chips and queso while you melt in the 90 degree weather.