What is it like to live in Kensington MD?

[Anonymous]

(Apologies if this has already been asked several times) What is it like to live in Kensington, MD? Are there are any pros to living in Kensington versus other close by areas like Bethesda/Chevy Chase besides the cost of homes? Also please forgive my ignorance, I am researching neighborhoods from out of state but hope to visit soon to get a better sense of the lay of the land.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Bethesda (near the Beltway, a couple of miles from downtown) and now live in Kensington Heights, which is east of the Town of Kensington (ToK). I can't speak much to actually living in ToK, but in terms of the general Kensington area I really like it because you have access to both the restaurants and shops in Kensington and downtown Wheaton - including a Target and Costco at Wheaton Plaza. It's also more diverse than Bethesda which I appreciate. Being so close to Rock Creek Park is also awesome. Downside is that Kensington does not have a super walkable downtown area since it is pretty small and has Connecticut Ave (a six lane road) cutting right through it. That being said, where I used to live in Bethesda was not very walkable to much of anything, so I prefer Kensington since I can still walk places. But of course there are very walkable parts of Bethesda/Chevy Chase, so it really depends where specifically you are looking.

If commute is an issue for you, it depends a little where you are commuting to - Kensington has the Marc station which takes you straight into Union Station. With Bethesda/Chevy Chase, access to public transit really depends on where you are since it is such a big area, it is generally closer to DC than Kensington if that is where you are going.

If schools are a consideration I can't speak much to the ToK schools, but I strongly recommend checking out the MCPS School Climate Surveys (a little dated now, but still helpful - https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php ) to understand schools beyond the GreatSchools scores which are kind of meaningless.

If you are interested in going a little further east to Kensington Heights/Silver Spring, many people do love the schools here which are more diverse than ToK. Oakland Terrace Elementary School has Spanish immersion for all students, and people also love Rock View, Flora Singer, Forest Knolls and Glen Haven ESs.

[Anonymous]

Homes with a Kensington address can either go to different school clusters, so watch out for that. We are at Rock View and love it, and all of our neighbors use the zoned middle school (Newport) and have had very positive experiences. But other parts of Kensington go to more Bethesda schools, if you prefer that.

We have a great community pool at Kenmont - that’s been a big part of how we have made friends.

[Anonymous]

Whenever I go to the Kensington Safeway, I'm always impressed by the number of 1160 AM Christian Talk radio bumper stickers I see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Bethesda (near the Beltway, a couple of miles from downtown) and now live in Kensington Heights, which is east of the Town of Kensington (ToK). I can't speak much to actually living in ToK, but in terms of the general Kensington area I really like it because you have access to both the restaurants and shops in Kensington and downtown Wheaton - including a Target and Costco at Wheaton Plaza. It's also more diverse than Bethesda which I appreciate. Being so close to Rock Creek Park is also awesome. Downside is that Kensington does not have a super walkable downtown area since it is pretty small and has Connecticut Ave (a six lane road) cutting right through it. That being said, where I used to live in Bethesda was not very walkable to much of anything, so I prefer Kensington since I can still walk places. But of course there are very walkable parts of Bethesda/Chevy Chase, so it really depends where specifically you are looking.

If commute is an issue for you, it depends a little where you are commuting to - Kensington has the Marc station which takes you straight into Union Station. With Bethesda/Chevy Chase, access to public transit really depends on where you are since it is such a big area, it is generally closer to DC than Kensington if that is where you are going.

If schools are a consideration I can't speak much to the ToK schools, but I strongly recommend checking out the MCPS School Climate Surveys (a little dated now, but still helpful - https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php ) to understand schools beyond the GreatSchools scores which are kind of meaningless.

If you are interested in going a little further east to Kensington Heights/Silver Spring, many people do love the schools here which are more diverse than ToK. Oakland Terrace Elementary School has Spanish immersion for all students, and people also love Rock View, Flora Singer, Forest Knolls and Glen Haven ESs.

Wow, I really appreciate your providing all this information! Thank you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I go to the Kensington Safeway, I'm always impressed by the number of 1160 AM Christian Talk radio bumper stickers I see.

So weird, I’ve never noticed that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Homes with a Kensington address can either go to different school clusters, so watch out for that. We are at Rock View and love it, and all of our neighbors use the zoned middle school (Newport) and have had very positive experiences. But other parts of Kensington go to more Bethesda schools, if you prefer that.

We have a great community pool at Kenmont - that’s been a big part of how we have made friends.

Thank you! I just looked up Kenmont and saw that there's tennis too. Was hoping to find a neighborhood pool and tennis club. Glad to hear to hear that they've all had positive experiences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I go to the Kensington Safeway, I'm always impressed by the number of 1160 AM Christian Talk radio bumper stickers I see.

So weird, I’ve never noticed that.

I wish I understood this reference. Could you elaborate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Whenever I go to the Kensington Safeway, I'm always impressed by the number of 1160 AM Christian Talk radio bumper stickers I see.

So weird, I’ve never noticed that.

Yeah, neither have I. My guess is that there's an employee with that sticker, and so the PP sees that employee's car every time.

[Anonymous]

I used to live in DC and now live in the Oakland Terrace part of Kensington, which is not in Town of Kensington.

The old part of Kensington, TofK, to the east of CT Ave, is super cute. It’s the old country houses etc.

My area is fine. It’s 1950s housing. Nice people. OTES is Spanish immersion which is nice. Feeds to Einstein which is very diverse which we like but some people don’t like their kids to be around so many brown kids so they criticize it. I can walk to the farmers market etc. The houses zoned for Walter Johnson tend to cost more for comparable ones zoned for Einstein because some people would rather their kid take a forty minute bus ride to a whiter school than walk to the more diverse Einstein. (But those same people will plant Black Lives Matter flags in their yards!)

My issue is that it’s just so far to get anywhere interesting. Like a half hour or more drive to the fun things in DC. If you don’t care about that, then it’s a nice place to live. I’m surprised the housing prices are still as low as they are.

[Anonymous]

Live in Kensington - not actual town of - just south on the east side of Connecticut, BCC school cluster. Town of Kensington totally walkable from here - and the new restaurant/retail center opening where Chevy Chase Market was is just over a mile away that will add even more options. We have a MARC train station now and the Purple Line at Chevy Chase Lake (3 years out) will be nice too. Our family goes to the North Chevy Chase pool that if you end up in the zone for is a lovely pool and right near the Audubon center.
Kensington is a big ‘zip code’ designation and each part seems to have its identity. We used to live in the actual Town of and it was fine but honestly happier being away from the little municipality rules. I personally don’t care for the Parkwood section of Kensington and the Oakland Terrace/Einstein areas are hampered by school ratings as far as real estate values.

[Anonymous]

We live in Kensington and really like it. We can walk to the little town and are zoned for BCC schools. Our local pool is Cedarbrook which also has tennis. We have found a really nice sense of community. One spouse commutes using Marc or the red line metro and it is fine. The other drives to DC which can be very long. In our neighborhood, there are a lot of trees and pretty big lots which is nice. The traffic on CT and the intersection where the Safeway is is a bummer and likely to only get worse. We usually just will not go that way between 4-7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Live in Kensington - not actual town of - just south on the east side of Connecticut, BCC school cluster. Town of Kensington totally walkable from here - and the new restaurant/retail center opening where Chevy Chase Market was is just over a mile away that will add even more options. We have a MARC train station now and the Purple Line at Chevy Chase Lake (3 years out) will be nice too. Our family goes to the North Chevy Chase pool that if you end up in the zone for is a lovely pool and right near the Audubon center.
Kensington is a big ‘zip code’ designation and each part seems to have its identity. We used to live in the actual Town of and it was fine but honestly happier being away from the little municipality rules. I personally don’t care for the Parkwood section of Kensington and the Oakland Terrace/Einstein areas are hampered by school ratings as far as real estate values.

20902 seems to have higher growth in average housing prices in the Bethesda/Chevy Chase zip codes over the last year

[Anonymous]

Kensington is somewhat dominated by the Catholic school/parish Holy Redeemer. If you are Catholic, it’s a very tight knit community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kensington is somewhat dominated by the Catholic school/parish Holy Redeemer. If you are Catholic, it’s a very tight knit community.

The few blocks around it maybe but not Kensington.