Where to live in the DMV as a gay middle eastern family?
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Anonymous
| I'm asking this question on behalf of my brother, who is currently in another metro area but will be moving back to the DC area soon. Both him and his partner are from Muslim/Middle Eastern families. They want to start a family eventually, so they are thinking about schools, family-friendliness, and of course more progressive attitudes towards sexuality and diversity. Right now, areas on their radar are Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda, Kensington, McLean, Vienna, and Chevy Chase. I think Silver Spring and Takoma Park are the most ideal location for them. What do you all think? Are there any others? |
Anonymous
| Are you looking for gay families or middle eastern families? If the latter, McLean. Definitely not Kensington or silver spring. They aren’t interested in DC at all? Where will they be working? |
Anonymous
Sorry, I forgot to mention that. My brother definitely likes the idea of living in DC proper (he is currently living in another very large and major city and loves the urban lifestyle). However, his partner is not a huge fun of super crowded areas but would still be open to parts of DC that are semi-calm, walkable, and metro accessible if they can afford it. His partner works in Foggy Bottom. My brother is still applying, but given the type of work he does, he will almost certainly be somewhere in DC or inside the beltway as well. An area being more middle eastern would be a pro, but not a requirement. They are just looking for diverse areas that are very accepting of middle eastern families and gay families. |
Anonymous
| Logan circle dc |
Anonymous
| Private or public school types? |
Anonymous
|
I'm in downtown Bethesda, used to live in downtown Silver Spring, and I think all the locations you mention would be reasonably welcoming. Takoma Park is known to be particularly "crunchy" and left-leaning.
I suppose you know this but: this couple probably wants to be around people who are culturally American or western European (regardless of their ethnic origins). Other parts of the world don't exactly embrace homosexuality. So me, personally, I would avoid all communities of immigrants who have strong ties to the home country, who tend to socialize amongst themselves, and try to foster the same family values and traditions that they have in their home country. Because those can be hotspots for transferring racial, religious and other prejudices to the US, that perhaps their American neighbors aren't even aware of. I'm not Middle-Eastern, I'm East Asian, and I experienced this with an East Asian community as a child. They were more traditional and misogynist than the people I knew in my home country, because I think they felt threatened by their progressive community and were trying to preserve their values. Just FYI... |
Anonymous
| 18:38 again. Forgot to mention schools. They need to prioritize good public schools, because good privates are getting horribly expensive (50-75K a year), and cheap privates are mostly Catholic. It's tempting to buy a cheap place with meh public schools, but it's going to bite them in the fundament come secondary school. This is why I moved from Silver Spring to Bethesda, and why I didn't want to live in DC. MCPS (Montgomery County Public Schools) is far superior to DCPS (DC Public Schools). The west part MoCo has better schools, and of course more expensive real estate, than the east part of the MoCo. So they need a place that suits their budget and has a non-lethal commute to DC, which mean buying within walking distance to a Metro station. My son had a relatively easy metro commute from downtown Bethesda to Foggy Bottom. |
Anonymous
They are very pro-public school, so they will definitely be going that route. |
Anonymous
| Budget? |
Anonymous
Which in the dc area matters more than being middle eastern, gay or both. |
Anonymous
Very true! |
Anonymous
| Would they consider N Arlington on the Orange/Silver line? |
Anonymous
| McLean |
Anonymous
| They'll be fine anywhere in the DC area. Their decision about where to live should be driven by commutes and schools. |
Anonymous
|
Definitely not Kensington. And probably not NoVA.
The safe parts of DC with the very best schools will be liberal and welcoming. Takoma Park and Silver Spring will also be liberal and welcoming. But SS is huge, and large swaths aren’t great in terms of schools, so you need to do your research. The west part of MoCo is more expensive, has better schools, and has more middle eastern/indian/asian diversity…but these communities skew conservative. |