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What's wrong with Kensington?
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Anonymous
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We've been looking at houses in Bethesda but near Kensington. I know that two of the three school clusters in Kensington are very good, but for unknown reason I keep getting steered away from Kensington. I'm totally open minded - is it Bethesda snobbery? Are there certain neighborhoods I should consider?
TIA |
Anonymous
| Check out Chevy Chase View in Kensington (20895). Large older homes that sell for $800k to well over one million. Very close knit community. Many of the residents send their kids to Holy Redeemer, which is right in the neighborhood. The local elem is Parkwood. The neighborhood pool is Cedarbrook. Very small hometown feel --- easy commute downtown. |
Anonymous
| I think Kensington is lovely... not sure what the issue is. I'm sure there are Bethesda-ites who look down on it, but I doubt it's warranted. |
Anonymous
| I've always heard great things about Kensington. Not sure why you're being steered away. Then again, I live in DC so I don't know much about the burbs. |
Anonymous
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I think anything that feeds in KP Elementary is going to be lovely. Some of it is snobbery I think, based on 20 year old out-of-date information when Kensington used to be a less affluent neighborhood. Also, depending on the address, there are real differences between the school clusters - the KP-NOBethesda-WJ cluster - great - the Einstein Cluster, not as great - but still good - depends on what you're looking for (too many threads on this topic to really get into). Also, the further southern parts of Kensington are really quite lovely, and are clustered to RC Forest/BCC - fine schools. There are northeastern areas that may call themselves part of Kensington that are clustered to Wheaton -those areas may be viewed as having a bit more crime - nothing like urban areas, but more than suburban areas are used to - that is not so good, and may explain some of the steering. All in all, Kensington is very difficult to get a handle on, and I would take on a case by case basis and do careful research on the school clusters to get an idea. Also the other issue is if your too close to the park, then there has been flooding during the hurricanes and big rains. I would not, if I were you, mark them off the list - there are some beautiful homes in Kensington, and you can get very good deals comparatively.
Good luck. |
Anonymous
| Who is steering you away? I grew up in Chevy Chase, but I LOVE living in Kensington now. |
Anonymous
| Weird... My ped is in Kensington and every time we drive there I think the homes are so beautiful in the area. But I'm a city-dweller, so what do I know? |
Anonymous
| No easy access to shopping. |
Anonymous
Are you kidding me? You have Connecticut Ave. to the east, Rockville Pike to the west, White Flint Mall is essentially IN Kensington, and Montgomery Mall is maybe 10 minutes away. |
Anonymous
| I live in CC, MD, and would move to Kensington in a heartbeat. Look for houses that are zoned for BCC (Rosemary Hills elementary, not Rock Creek Forest, as a PP said - this is a good thing.) WJ is also good but I think BCC has advantages particularly in terms of college placement. The downtown bit of old Kensington is just lovely. If I could trade up I would be looking around there, at any house that was in BCC or WJ, because the lots are huge and the houses are beautiful. |
Anonymous
Major error here - Chevy Chase View is lovely - my sister lives there and loves it - and PP is right about home prices, Holy Reedemer and Cedarbrook. However, Chevy Chase View (and Rock Creek Hills on the other side of Connecticut) are in the Rosemary Hills/North Chevy Chase/Westland/B-CC school district, NOT Kensington-Parkwood. Kensington is fantastic, very walkable, lots of young families. I lived there for years, we only moved to get a bit closer to DC. |
Anonymous
| The northeast bit of Kensington has more than a "bit" of crime, as a PP put it so diplomatically. You are probably not looking there, but it if you are, scan the crime stats carefully. |
Anonymous
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Who is telling you to stay away from Kensington and why? When I was first looking to move to MD from VA my realtor is the one that told me about Kensington. We looked in Kensington, Bethesda, Potomac, and Rockville (feeding into WJ). Of all the houses I looked at the neighborhood I still kind of have a pang about is off CT Ave near Saul Rd. However, in the height of the market that house ended up with something like 10 offers and I knew we didn't have a chance. So anyway, Kensington feeding into WJ or BCC are areas I believe are in demand. I'm not going to rehash the debate on the other cluster for Kensington since there are already several threads. I would also add that the Antique row in Kensington gives it a quasi artsy appeal. Also, I think there are quite a few private schools in that area that are popular. I know a few people that send their kids to Grace Episcopal.
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Anonymous
| wheaton is pretty unattractive and probably fairly risky as far as MoCo goes, old town kensington is gorgeous and historic and increasingly pricey. Garret park nearby is lovely. Rock Creek Hills is upscale but conservative in design/appearance. |
Anonymous
Nice generalization about Wheaton, must be from someone who lives in Bethesda and wouldn't dare leave Bethesda. There are great places to eat in Wheaton, some nice neighborhoods and some neighborhoods which are starter homes and have many immigrants. There is nothing wrong with Kensington. If someone is telling you that, find out their angle. Kensington seems to have 2 different kinds of housing stock, houses > 600K that are fairly nice, and small houses <400 K. Nothing in between. |