Fair I missed that when I read his post, but at any rate, the things WABA advocates for make the city more walkable/navigable without a car anyway.

Not sure a blind guy is going to be biking regularly…

Do you have a college degree/working on one? Because that ladder SUCKS and you should be looking at 7/9/11/12 ladders. Or at least 7/9. Single digit ladder that ends at a 7 sounds like a dead end.

I live out in the Mount Vernon area and got by for years without a car. My commute was a bus then metroing into DC which was deeply not fun, but not as bad as commuting from Baltimore. There is a grocery store within walking distance, and a few restaurants as well. It's a harder life without a car but doable.

I think you could consider a building around the Tenley town metro. You will have a good chance of finding a roommate as well because of American University being close

Gotcha — honestly, I am not familiar enough with the process to answer that, but it does look like they have a link or email to ask questions/speak to a recruiter on that site, if you haven’t already been down that route.

Best of luck!!

Thanks! It's only after a bit of looking around I recognize this is a purely DC sub, which makes sense. A lot of the Southern (insert large city name) subs include the suburban hellsprawl that goes around them.. I mean it's all one contiguous mass so it makes sense.. I'll look around that other sub, thank you.

I already have a Schedule A and utilize it in every opportunity. Maybe my resume should be rewritten by a professional? I got a very generic letter from my glaucoma doctor, I am uncertain what getting a second doc who has followed me more closely would do, tbh.

I have heard slightly different things - does applying to positions "open to the public" while using Schedule A give any benefit, or is it only the non-competitive roles? My current opportunity was under Schedule A and a few federal/military/spouse hiring authoritties.. I was joking around w/ a former Navy friend that I probably got past 20 dependas.

I think if you look on the red line at Rockville or Shady Grove you’ll get more affordable options. r/MontgomeryCountyMD might have people with more specific experience of finding apartments within your price range if that’s the route you want to go. Good luck!

I sadly graduated in 2020 over Rona, so hiring freeze + L + Uncertainty. I will look into getting my resume rewritten.. could very well be a good.. what,$80 well spent? If it means I can finally snag a GS7 I'd be a lot happier and comfortable moving.

At the time I was able to see a lot better. I have a degenerative retina condition. I've been half blind since I was a teenager, and have been losing my vision (conscious of it at least) for the last 20 months. Before that I literally thought seeing a ring of light moving around myvision when I blink was totally normal.

I agree with what many have mentioned — DC is one of the more accessible cities in the country and a good place to find disabled community. I was wondering, since you said you’d applied to higher-paying jobs but this one is the one that is panning out, have you looked into the non-competitive process for federal jobs?

https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/disability-employment/

A voc rehab counselor wrote me a schedule A letter once — wasn’t hard to get. I didn’t end up going that direction, but I know some who did who it really worked out for, and they moved up the ladder from there.

> seeing a blind woman who looked to be in her 30s walking with a cane. That moment showed me

yo I’m sorry, I really wish you the best, but I gotta ask, how does a blind person see this? I am genuinely asking

If you recently graduated apply for pathways program jobs, if not get your year of experience and start applying for better jobs. If I could recommend something, look for someone who specializes in writing degrees for federal jobs and pay to have your resume made, that will help you a lot.

I do, yes. Political Science. That is the thing, I keep getting denied because "lack of experience" or somesuch.. when I literally have on my resume "Purchasing Assistant, 3 years, 40h/wk".. getting a ladder like you mentioned would be awesome.

> I said this elsewhere, but one of the things that struck me when I first moved to DC was how many people with disabilities seemed to be living full, independent lives.

It's a damn beautiful thing, ain't it? :D I wish it was more common to have that available in this country. That same opportunity to just walk down a street with my cane and a purpose, as odd as that may sound to non-disabled people. The opportunities for me to live a full life as a disabled person in DC are second to none.

I remember oee day walking to my crummy internship, seeing a blind woman who looked to be in her 30s walking with a cane. That moment showed me that even if I do go blind, it's still possible to live a good life, be employed, etc.. It isn't hopeless.

People sometimes ask me why I don't leave for the EU because of my 2nd passport. EU countries might have more public transit and options in aggregate, but I don't speak German.. do you think the Germans would hire a blind American unless I am top of the top? Much less navigating bureaucracy in a language you do not speak, which you cannot read? I grew up here, I am staying here, and even if I get paid lower than average I will feel good serving the country that brought my family from nothing.

I would probably skip apartment searching in downtown Bethesda and off the Medical Center stop because it's an expensive neighborhood. But anything further up the line toward North Bethesda/Rockville, you'll have rental prices drop a bit.

Do you have a bachelors degree? I started with a 5/7/9/12

Check out Clarendon and balston! There are Facebook groups of people looking for roommates. Sone of my friends lived there with roommates. Also get money from work for your metro commute. Good luck!

Group houses are everywhere and, if anything, tend to be closer to Metro stations (or popular bus lines) than not because they tend to be occupied by people who can't necessarily own a car.

Check out DC’s IZ program and get on the ball early.

Interesting. I had always thought the more common ladders were on the lower end. The sad thing to me is I have been applying for all these 1302 roles in contracting thinking that 3 years of purchasing experience will do the trick.. apparently it doesnt if I lack knowledge of FERS shrug so I feel locked out of those more common ladders that go from 7-11/12.

to be perfectly honest (prolly should've included this in the OP) I had this impression that the entire area outside of DC was suburban sprawl. Even with the metro, apartments close to Metro was some kind of luxury thing that the "not rich but still upper middle class" people could afford.. think Arab international students. A lot of them I knew lived out in Bethesda. Glad to hear there's more options than "downtown DC but really we just mean a few NW neighborhoods" aand shlepping myself to/from Baltimore everyday.

I said this elsewhere, but one of the things that struck me when I first moved to DC was how many people with disabilities seemed to be living full, independent lives.

You'll be broke, but you seem to already know that. Just as a heads up, the roommate/group house process is probably far more competitive than what you'd expect. You should be prepared to have to apply to a bunch of places before you get accepted into one that is a good fit.

Barring my medical condition getting out of control (I had some doc lie to me about a retina detachment.. turns out I just need regular monitoring), I'll be in a lot better place mentally. I'd be totally good with dive bars, Black Cat metal nights (got to see The Hu before I left, good times), and not spending all my money on booze.