Apartment Choice

River Terrace in Northeast Washington is a modest, under-the-radar neighborhood of neat rowhouses, duplexes and a few rental apartment buildings . It’s quiet because the streets are exclusively residential, with no through traffic and limited entry points , and it is one of the few places in the city where you can find a home for less than $300,000. “It’s really an oversized cul-de-sac,” said Patrick Hughes, a resident since 2002 with his partner, Chris Quinones. The lush grounds of Anacostia Park and River Terrace Park and well-designed trails along the Anacostia River are neighborhood perks that provide residents with exceptional quality-of-life benefits — green space, fresh air, shade under the trees, a playground and water vistas. “We walk the dog along the trails. I ran there this morning, and I often bike there. We have season tickets to the Nationals and pick up a bike share and ride to Eastern Market and Navy Yard,” said Jessica Jones Capparell , who moved there with R...

By Sarah Butrymowicz and Meredith Kolodner Alduha Leon and Jared Sanders, roommates at Savannah State University , dined on hot dogs in their apartment on Thanksgiving Day of their sophomore year. They had decided to skip feasting with family in Atlanta to pick up extra hours at their airport jobs loading luggage onto planes. Payday wasn’t until Friday, though, and Leon only had $5 left on his food stamps card . During the three years they spent at Savannah State , Sanders and Leon struggled to pay their tuition, fees and living expenses. They accumulated more than $50,000 in loans between the two of them, despite working up to 40 hours a week. After exhausting themselves working late or overnight shifts so they wouldn’t have to miss class, and finding their grades suffering, they dropped out in 2015, joining a growing pool of Georgians who have debt but no degree. More than 108,000 students who had taken out federal loans withdrew from Georgia’s public colleges and universities bet...