Toddler-dense (or just kid-dense) neighborhoods

[Anonymous]

Hi! My family moved to the area last year and will likely be buying a home in the next several years. We are currently in southwest Silver Spring near Rock Creek Forest elementary school, at the border of Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, and DC. We chose the area because it is a reasonable commute, good access to Silver Spring and Bethesda amenities as well as DC, and near Rock Creek Park. And great schools!

But oddly, there are surprisingly few young kids near us. Yes, there are some, but most of the single-family homes around here are occupied by long-time owners with high school or college kids (or beyond), and many of the condos/apartments/townhouses are on the smaller side (1-2 bedrooms) and occupied by either young couples or retired people, and the young couples tend to move away when they have kids. We have been told it's because the apartments are too small to be comfortable once people have kids, and it's so expensive around here that young families can't afford places in the neighborhood with enough space to be comfortable. (Our 2 br+den is more than enough space for myself+husband+daughter so we are fine with the real estate around here, but most housing nearby is either much larger or significantly smaller than our place so I can see why others struggle, and anyway, as I say, regardless of the reason there really just aren't a lot of other families with young kids.)

Both my husband and I grew up in neighborhoods with a bunch of kids, including several kids near our own age within a block or two, and we really want that for our daughter. We are likely to be moving in the next couple of years and are hoping to find a super kid-filled, warm and vibrant neighborhood. Price, schools, walkability, and proximity to DC may ultimately be factors for us, but I'd like to set those aside for now and just focus on what neighborhoods are overrun with kids (and ideally really friendly as well). We are open to MD, VA, and DC.

I think what we're looking for likely often depends on the very specific micro-location, so if you can be as granular as possible about specific subdivisions/cross-streets/etc that fit the bill rather than broader generalizations about cities, I would really appreciate it. Also, the more recent your intel, the better. Thank you so much!

[Anonymous]

What do you expect your budget to be when you buy? How close to the metro do you need to be?

[Anonymous]

Thank you! As I mentioned, price and proximity to DC may ultimately be factors, but right now we are trying to just focus on gathering info about places with lots of families. We are willing to be far from the metro if necessary.

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a daycare in Silver Spring, in a neighborhood zoned to Northwood high school. Tenbrook Drive, Dennis Avenue and such. Most of the daycare families live in the immediate neighborhood and plan to go to the local schools. Forest Glen metro is right there and the SFH are small but priced around $650k.

[Anonymous]

Look specifically into Stonegate neighborhood in Silver Spring lots of kids there. Join the Stonegate swim club.

[Anonymous]

Check out Martin’s Additions, on the Silver Spring side of Chevy Chase. There are tons of kids, many of them on the younger side.

[Anonymous]

Takoma/Manor Park DC is absolutely filled with toddlers

[Anonymous]

Wyngate has tons of kids and young kids. Very neighborhood friendly and there is a great park that’s in walking distance.

[Anonymous]

How far out are you willing to go? Fort Hunt, Virginia (Alexandria mailing address, but actually Fairfax County) is full of kids. In our neighborhood virtually every house has children, and they are always running between houses, riding bikes, and playing basketball. Very safe and little traffic. Most parents seem to feel comfortable letting young kids walk to school on their own. Everyone socializes at the neighborhood pool club. Great area for trick-or-treating. Lots of communities like that around here. 15 minutes to Old Town for access to restaurants and shops. Commute to DC would be at least 30 minutes, but driving the GW Parkway is generally not too bad.

[Anonymous]

Not sure what your budget is, but Chevy Chase DC (Barnaby Woods, etc) has a TON of kids! The park next to Lafayette Elem is amazing and always full of young families.

You will pay a lot for a small house but you are getting the community you are looking for. You can always expand/renovate your house but you can't change your neighborhood!!!

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Look within .5 miles of a good elementary school. For example we bought in the overlap between west brook and sommerset and there are so many playgrounds, parks and kids here

[Anonymous]

Parkwood in Kensington has lots of young families. Our block has a range in the age of kids from5 months to 17.

[Anonymous]

Lots of families with young kids moving to the area zoned for Oakland Terrace Elementary. Especially the "Homewood" neighborhood east of Homewood Park

[Anonymous]

Historic Hyattsville

[Anonymous]

Mount Pleasant DC- lots of small kids and very friendly community; right near rock creek park too. Elementary school is Bancroft. But it’s a bit more urban than some mentioned above- kids can’t ride their tricycles in most streets for example. Lots of row houses; prices have admittedly gone up a lot in recent years.