Tell me about Forest Hills

[Anonymous]

Seems like a nice neighborhood, it seem very kid friendly And doesn't seem like DC at all.

[Anonymous]

I know it well; what would you like to know?

It skews older, with a lot of retirees and parents with teen and college aged kids. Definitely not babies and strollers.

Forest Hills doesn't have a neighborhood school feel, and the kids who do live there go everywhere for private.

It's not a sidewalk and porch culture; the people I know there are friendly enough but don't hang out in front in order to chat. On the other hand, there seem to be lots of long-time couples there who have fabulous cocktail parties and they invite all the neighbors.

Bottom line, people are pleasant enough and helpful but they really keep to themselves and entertain behind their tall brick patio walls, hidden from view.

[Anonymous]

I love close (on the other side of Connecticut) and have gone to the Forest Hills playground for years. A lot of kids from FH proper go to Murch- definitely not ALL at private schools. The playground is great, lots of parents with kids (sitters too). Girls softball and co-ed baseball play in the field between the church and playground in the spring and fall.
I think it depends on the street- the busier (east-west) streets seem less people-y, but the north-south streets seem more friendly. The apartments on Connecticut nearby make for interesting mix of families and people here temporarily. I met some of my closest friends at the playground over the past 8 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know it well; what would you like to know?

It skews older, with a lot of retirees and parents with teen and college aged kids. Definitely not babies and strollers.

Forest Hills doesn't have a neighborhood school feel, and the kids who do live there go everywhere for private.

It's not a sidewalk and porch culture; the people I know there are friendly enough but don't hang out in front in order to chat. On the other hand, there seem to be lots of long-time couples there who have fabulous cocktail parties and they invite all the neighbors.

Bottom line, people are pleasant enough and helpful but they really keep to themselves and entertain behind their tall brick patio walls, hidden from view.

This perfectly describes the families we know who live in FH -- empty-nesters and parents of older teens. They're lovely people, and I'm sure they're considerate neighbors, but the n-hood is not the focus of their social lives. Kids have attended independent schools starting in K, so families socialize more with friends from kids' schools and from work.

[Anonymous]

OP here. This is what I thought. We're cool with that, we don't need our neighbors running over to tell us the street gossip, but we'd hope they'd call 911 if our house was on fire. It seems as if it's a hard neighborhood to get in to in that not many houses come on the market but it's a good long term neighborhood to live in.

[Anonymous]

I used to live in Forest Hills. I now live on Capitol Hill and prefer it greatly - but then again I wanted urban. Forest Hills is nice if you want a suburban feel (detached homes, lots of property, quiet, etc) but urban convenience (very close to Tenleytown, Van Ness business strip, Chevy Chase (south of the circle).

[Anonymous]

Oh - one thing about parts of that neighborhoods - no sidewalks, especially in the sidestreets that lead down into the part.

And VERY hilly so even though there's little traffic (just local/residential except maybe on Brandywine St or some of the others that feed into the Rock Creek parkway) it would be hard to send the kids outside to ride bikes or whatnot. I'm pretty athletic and I wouldn't last long on some of those hills!

[Anonymous]

$$$$$$$

[Anonymous]

We live there right now and we're moving out to Rockville in Jan. In my opinion, it's better suited for young singles or retirees (unless you have one of those $2 million homes off of Connecticut. There is one great park but that's about it.