Middle class African American DCUMers, where are you living?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. We had a very informative and successful week long house hunting trip, and have narrowed our choices to Bentley Park in Burtonsville , Urbana, Maple Lawn in Fulton, and Gaithersburg (Crown, The Townes at Shady Grove). I know, I know, the list is still not as lean as I would like, but we really could see ourselves living there.

I'm most curious and unsure about Burtonsville, and whether or not this would be a good fit for our family. We looked at some SFH that are really affordable and nice, but I worry about the neighborhood growth and whether we will basically have to live in a community that is constantly undergoing construction for the next seven years.

Anyone have any input or live in any of these areas/neighborhoods?

I work next to Maple Lawn and drive through there all the time. If you don't need a yard and can afford it, it seems like a nice place to live. I have a friend who lives there who loves it. I see tons of diversity in the kids getting off the bus. Well, racial diversity anyway; probably not much SES diversity as even the cheapest places are pricey.

Where are you commuting to?

One SAHP and the other commutes to Bethesda. We are okay with the travel and distance of all areas we are considering.

[Anonymous]

OP - did you ever decide what to go with? Also considering the same neighborhoods you listed (except Gburg ones).

Mainly- Maple Lawn or Bentley Park

[Anonymous]

Wow, can't believe it's been almost a year!

PP, we ended up in Urbana. We were very impressed with the Frederick County school system and the programs they had available for our son. In the end, the commute for my husband would have been the same from Bentley Park, Maple Lawn and Urbana, and we just didn't think those neighborhoods were worth the $100k price difference.

We really liked the plans for the Bentley Park neighborhood, but it seemed so unfinished and rough around the edges, we had trouble envisioning them building out the area fully over the next five years or so. We decided we'd rather be in an established community rather than wait.

We feel so comfortable living here on this income. Our neighborhood is very diverse and very family friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice to see you here, OP. We are a mixed race family (I am black, husband is white) with a toddler and we live in the 4 corners area of Silver Spring. Not terribly walkable but it's close to great restaurants, shopping, transit, etc. We moved here from Brooklyn and lived in Alexandria before buying here. Neighbors are very diverse, educated, and friendly. Good luck!

Thanks so much! Was your budget around the same as ours? Really glad to hear some real confirmation about the diversity of Silver Spring.

Yes it was and we found what we wanted for just under $500K.

We have friends who bought near Four Corners area of Silver Spring in the 300s near Sligo Middle School--the neighborhood seems diverse and friendly. I think the commute to Bethesda would be do-able, no idea how the high schools in that area are for special needs though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have friends in DC who have a child with autism, and the school situation has been a total nightmare. I have other friends with a child that has SN (not autism) and they have been happy with the services in Arlington. There's probably not a ton in your price range unless you look in South Arlington, though. I also suggest posting in the Special Needs forum. GL

I've had a great experience with our SN child in DC. He's in Middle School at a DCPS. He has also attended a charter school which was quite good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live in PG and absolutely love it (NT kid is in a public magnet), but have to advise against it if your child has an IEP and and autism diagnosis.

I do have a couple of dear friends in Howard County who have great things to say about the schools there.

Grew up in PG and would absolutely not recommend it. Terrible schools for one. Secondly, it's not very diverse unless you consider mostly AA with a sprinkling of low income whites and a small filipino enclave as diverse.

Howard County is NOT diverse. It has just as many white people as PG County has black people. Living in a mostly white county does not make it diverse. Also I think Howard County is to far from Bethesda. It's a bit country also but some people like that.

Yes, it is. Maple Lawn and Columbia are very diverse. I am a black woman who grew up in Glenelg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have friends in DC who have a child with autism, and the school situation has been a total nightmare. I have other friends with a child that has SN (not autism) and they have been happy with the services in Arlington. There's probably not a ton in your price range unless you look in South Arlington, though. I also suggest posting in the Special Needs forum. GL

I've had a great experience with our SN child in DC. He's in Middle School at a DCPS. He has also attended a charter school which was quite good.

OP here.

DCPS did not even return our phone calls or respond to our email requests. My son is mod to severe on the spectrum, I would not trust his education to a district who couldn't even be bothered to answer questions from parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I live in PG and absolutely love it (NT kid is in a public magnet), but have to advise against it if your child has an IEP and and autism diagnosis.

I do have a couple of dear friends in Howard County who have great things to say about the schools there.

Grew up in PG and would absolutely not recommend it. Terrible schools for one. Secondly, it's not very diverse unless you consider mostly AA with a sprinkling of low income whites and a small filipino enclave as diverse.

Howard County is NOT diverse. It has just as many white people as PG County has black people. Living in a mostly white county does not make it diverse. Also I think Howard County is to far from Bethesda. It's a bit country also but some people like that.

Hey, hey. I'm AA from Howard County. Columbia is VERY diverse. Western Howard County (where I'm from) is not as diverse, but you would be surprised at how diverse it has become.

So which areas in Howard County would you recommend? Columbia, but anywhere else?

Columbia, Ellicott City, Maple Lawn (Fulton) - all very nice and very diverse. Loved growing up in HoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I have friends in DC who have a child with autism, and the school situation has been a total nightmare. I have other friends with a child that has SN (not autism) and they have been happy with the services in Arlington. There's probably not a ton in your price range unless you look in South Arlington, though. I also suggest posting in the Special Needs forum. GL

I've had a great experience with our SN child in DC. He's in Middle School at a DCPS. He has also attended a charter school which was quite good.

OP here.

DCPS did not even return our phone calls or respond to our email requests. My son is mod to severe on the spectrum, I would not trust his education to a district who couldn't even be bothered to answer questions from parents.

DCPS is NOT good for SN students. My SN kids go private.

[Anonymous]

Bumping up this thread for another AA poster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP I live in PG (Brandywine) and we also have a SN child. We have been extremely happy with the services. We are on an extended ISFP through the summer will convert to an IEP when the school year starts. Can't say enough about the help we've gotten.

We also live in a great neighborhood with a lot of military retirees who are both white and AA. My DH commutes to DC but we've driven to Walter Reed for DD's medical appointments and it usually take 1.5 hours in rush hour (we have 9 am appointments).

Might be worth your while to consider southern PG also.

If you are willing to look at Brandywine, look at Waldorf about 3 miles down the road. Predominately middle and upper class AA community. My neighborhood off of 228 is 5 mins to 4 grocery stores, Target, and a sizable mall. Good school district (Charles County).

[Anonymous]

NP here. Are there any places with sizable middle class black folks in NoVa, within the beltway? I'm restricted due to commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I live in PG (Brandywine) and we also have a SN child. We have been extremely happy with the services. We are on an extended ISFP through the summer will convert to an IEP when the school year starts. Can't say enough about the help we've gotten.

We also live in a great neighborhood with a lot of military retirees who are both white and AA. My DH commutes to DC but we've driven to Walter Reed for DD's medical appointments and it usually take 1.5 hours in rush hour (we have 9 am appointments).

Might be worth your while to consider southern PG also.

If you are willing to look at Brandywine, look at Waldorf about 3 miles down the road. Predominately middle and upper class AA community. My neighborhood off of 228 is 5 mins to 4 grocery stores, Target, and a sizable mall. Good school district (Charles County).

Waldorf area looks like it's growing a lot but what about the crime and the schools? Can't tell if all the stores they're putting in will help or hurt.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I live in PG (Brandywine) and we also have a SN child. We have been extremely happy with the services. We are on an extended ISFP through the summer will convert to an IEP when the school year starts. Can't say enough about the help we've gotten.

We also live in a great neighborhood with a lot of military retirees who are both white and AA. My DH commutes to DC but we've driven to Walter Reed for DD's medical appointments and it usually take 1.5 hours in rush hour (we have 9 am appointments).

Might be worth your while to consider southern PG also.

If you are willing to look at Brandywine, look at Waldorf about 3 miles down the road. Predominately middle and upper class AA community. My neighborhood off of 228 is 5 mins to 4 grocery stores, Target, and a sizable mall. Good school district (Charles County).

Sorry, but the resale value and appreciation is not there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To the Bowie posters, PGC (in particular, Bowie or Hyattsville) would have been a no brainer for us, but again, we're not getting very positive feedback on special education. If I knew that we could plug into a particular school and for sure knew our son would be attending, then that would make our search a whole lot easier, because I really find parts of PGC charming and would love to consider it.

I should ask, does anyone have any experience with Laurel (Howard) or Fulton? SN forum speaks highly of the Howard public schools.

I would not write off PG as a whole. I think you need to explore each school individually.