Oh man, that's a tough commute. Could you go smaller on size and have a look at Bethesda or McLean or West Falls Church? I think that extra swing north might kind of suck for both of you. |
If you're not wed to Rockville and are looking for a slightly shorter commute, why not look in the Rock Creek Hills section of Kensington. It is in the Bethesda Chevy Chase cluster. Some houses are quite a bit higher than 700k, but there are houses there available in the high 600 to 700k range. It would be a pretty decent commute for you both especially since there's a Ride-On bus on Kensington Parkway, the MARC train and Forest Glen Metro (you can get parking if you're there by about 8:15 or 8:30). |
OP here. I think Kensington would be ideal --- but our budget would not go very far. We're in the beginning stages of looking and not really wedded to any particular area, right now a reasonable commute is one of the biggest factors.
About Kensington: from reading this board, it seems like some areas are less desirable. How do I differentiate? |
Part of Kensington is zoned for Walter Johnson and the other part is zoned for Einstein. Most people want WJ, and the housing prices reflect that. You could consider the North Bethesda area of Rockville, which would give you easier access to the Beltway and 270. Check out Old Farm, North Farm, Tilden Woods. |
This is correct; plus another part is zoned for B-CC as another PP mentioned. |
To clarify, part of kensington zones to BCC, part to WJ and the rest I believe is assigned to Einstein. |
That is going to be a tough commute.
I looked at some of the elementary school stats and finding diverse and consistent test scores was tough ...and then adding a commute that would work for both Reston and Silver Spring was no easy task. Here are some possibilities: Rock Creek Forest - 5330 Grubb Rd, 20815 - in the BCC cluster Luxmanor Elementary School - 6201 Tilden Lane, Rockville, MD (has the tight knit community with pool nearby, close to 270 and 495, sidewalks in parts of neighborhood) - WJ cluster Beall Elementary -451 Beall Ave, Rockville, MD 20850 - Richard Montgomery cluster Westover Elementary -401 Hawkesberry Lane, Silver Spring, 20904 - Northeast Consortium Stonegate Elementary - 14811 Notley Rd, Silver Spring, 20905 - Northeast Consortium - have met lots of diverse, involved parents from this school but don't know if the commute would be doable. You can mapquest the commute and use school boundary maps to get an idea of the area for the elementary school. Hope this helps. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/other.shtm#maps |
Stonegate does not have sidewalks. |
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PP is correct but there are a number of other Kensington neighborhoods zoned for BCC besides just Rock Creek Hills - Chevy Chase View, Byeford, Larchmont Knolls, Rock Creek Highlands are the other ones.
for Walter Johnson, it's not just Parkwood, also the town of Kensington, Kensington Estates, the part of Chevy Chase View that's west of Cedar/Summit, Garrett Park Estates and White Flint Park, and the Warners and Kensington Terrace all go there. Plus the new townhouses at Strathmore. |
OP here. Thanks for all of the responses, this gives us a lot to think about!
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I live in Rockville (Horizon Hill) and work in Virginia (out the Dulles Toll Rd. past Tysons) and the commute is really not bad. Admittedly, the latest I leave the house is 7:30am - but I can get to work in about 35 - 40 minutes. Coming home is worse depending on what time you leave the office. All the neighborhoods off of Falls Rd. - near 270 and Wootten Parkway are very nice - (Fallsmead, Potomac Woods, Montgomery Sq, Falls Orchard, and Orchard Ridge). Good Schools and nice communities. |
I would recommend that you check out Kensington as well. In Parkwood (1/2 of which is Bethesda)/Kensington Estates a majority of the streets have sidewalks and depending on what part the house is located, you can walk to the town of Kensington (where the MARC train is, restaurants, stores etc) or the other end you can walk to the metro. The elementary school Kensington Parkwood is in the neighborhood and one of the only ones in the county with a special arts integration program. This neighborhood is "cheaper" than Rock Creek Hills and Chevy Chase View mainly due to the smaller lots and smaller original homes although a large amount have some sort of renovations/additions. Chevy Chase View and Rock Creek Hills go to schools in the BCC cluster. There is also a "less desirable" part of Kensington on the other side of the train tracks but it is a much more affordable and still very cute neighborhood. The schools aren't as good but the elementary school - Oakland Terrace is very good. I think the schools only become a concern from Middle school on. |
Flower Valley? |