And I found my place by walking around neighborhoods I was most seriously considering (Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, Woodley Park, and Cleveland Park) and bopping into complex offices and asking to see what they have in my price range. I used the newspaper and online listings to figure out what rent range to expect. Some were more expensive, some were much cheaper, and I really liked my kitchen.

You might try something similar with driving around the suburbanish neighborhoods. Because not all apartments with vacancies announce the vacancies online or in papers and the phone books around here are horrible for figuring out where things are.