Tell me about your neighborhood that you love!

[Anonymous]

I am loving this wholesome thread! Keep it comin!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We’re really liking our part of Silver Spring near downtown and just outside TKPK. Very walkable but we also have a spacious SFH. Great friendly neighbors. Most neighbors are using the public schools. The neighborhood is very diverse especially since we’re very near a lot of apartment complexes. Personally I’m feeling optimistic about property values as well, although we bought the house because we liked it. I know crime can be an issue in DTSS but we are close but not that close, so I don’t have concerns about this.

We’re in a slightly different part of Silver Spring (McKenney Hills/Carroll Knolls neighborhood) and we also love it. Just outside the beltway, walkable to the Forest Glen metro which is clean and quiet, as well as the local elementary schools (Flora Singer and Oakland Terrace) which most people really like. Diverse housing stock, which makes for a great mix of people in all stages of life with all types of jobs (although super kid friendly area so young families are very well represented), and diverse retail (one direction is Wheaton/the mall, or you can walk to Town of Kensington by cutting through Homewood Park). Friendly neighbors who are happy to help you out, very active community association. And affordable for this non-profit family: we live in a large house that’s less than half a mile from a metro! I will say one con is the majority of the diverse housing stock is quite small so it can be hard to find a larger house, but plenty of neighbors have bought or are buying small and adding on.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for this thread! We (might) be moving to the DMV in the next year, so hearing about different neighborhoods will help us a lot. We have some friends in the area, but nice to get a wider view.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live in Ashton Heights/Lyon Park and really like it. Lots of old growth trees and birds chirping make it feel like you're living in an arboretum. Still has plenty of original houses with lots of character. Neighbors are exceedingly friendly and it's easy to make friends. Big "take a walk after dinner" culture where you see people stopping to chat all the time (we've walked around neighborhoods further north by the country club and didn't experience the same - hillier neighborhoods without sidewalks). You have a mix of state department workers/teachers who bought here 20-30 years ago and higher earners in the new $2.4 million farmhouses. Tons of parks including Lyon Park with the community center you can rent out. Our kids are too young for the schools but everyone we spoke to has spoken very highly of our school pyramid and we're in the walking boundary for all three of them. Multiple high quality daycare options within the neighborhood. Easy walk to Ballston/Courthouse/Clarendon. We walk to Whole Foods and TJ's and restaurants all the time. Easy walk to same metro stations. 7-8 minutes from DCA makes picking up friends at the airport a breeze. You can literally run to Georgetown or the mall if you don't want to drive.

+1 We're one of the families that bought over 20 years ago and have been very happy here. My youngest just graduated today from W-L and it's been a great place for my kids to grow up and I appreciate that it will also be a great location for us as empty-nesters.

[Anonymous]

We love living in Capitol View Park (Silver Spring 20910, near Kensington)! It is such a welcoming neighborhood with a strong sense of community. There are events throughout the year (Halloween Parade, Turkey Trot, etc.) The houses are an eclectic mix, with lots of mature trees and nearby parks and playgrounds. The neighbors are a great mix of young families, older families, singles, empty nesters, seniors. A friendly, down-to-earth vibe.

[Anonymous]

We live in a neighborhood in Alexandria called Beverley Hills (22305 is the zip code) and love it. Most people don’t know that name so we usually just say we live 1 mile up the hill from Del Ray.

This neighborhood is really calm and peaceful with a huge mature tree canopy. People are friendly and we meet a lot of neighbors out dog walking. It is a great location within NoVA because it has the small Del Ray Main Street down the hill which has nice community events, parades, art shows, farmers market, etc but is also a quick drive to Old Town Alexandria, places all over Arlington, 8 minutes to DCA, pretty easy drive into DC.

Many of the brick homes here from the 1940s-60s have been significantly renovated but there aren’t a lot of tear-downs. I prefer that vibe to neighborhoods where you have a hodgepodge of run down shacks next to McMansions and constant construction sites, or new developments where every house is identical.

[Anonymous]

We love Oak Hill/Herndon. We don't live in Franklin Farm but right next to it and use all of its amenities. We're zoned to great schools, our area feels rather rural, everyone in the neighborhood and local school is really kind and close, it's much more diverse than I would have expected this area to be, and it's 8 minutes away from the metro which is fantastic.

[Anonymous]

I live in Ashburn Farm which is one of the original communities built in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s while lots were still decent sized and they left the majority of the trees in place. Houses are more modest than the newer builds. I moved here from Bethesda almost 25 years ago and absolutely love it. I know almost all of my neighbors. It’s been a great place to raise kids and now that the kids are out it’s a great place to spend time with friends. Almost my entire neighborhood friend group has known each other 10-15 years.

[Anonymous]

We love living in Mount Rainier, MD. It’s genuinely diverse, relatively inexpensive and full of young families. People are friendly and present. We have great local amenities and it’s also pretty easy to get downtown.

[Anonymous]

We love Mount Vernon (VA). Easy bus commute to the city but also a true neighborhood feel where we have half an acre of land. We love being close to the water, yet an easy drive from Old Town. Yes, the high school needs improvement but the elementary schools are excellent. We’ve found a wonderful community school where they really care about my kids’ success. Route 1 does get a (justifiably) bad rap, but we have literally every store we could need nearby (except maybe a Trader Joe’s).

[Anonymous]

Sunderland, MD (I’d be surprised if anyone knows where it is, honestly.)

Mostly retired couples with nice gardens, a few families with kids, so it’s very quiet. Trees everywhere. Everyone has at least 2 acres, so no cars on the street. It’s the kind of neighborhood where you wave at everyone you walk or drive past.

One neighbor has horses. Another has a whole farm with goats, cows, horses, and a donkey. Tons of wildlife — deer, hawks, eagles, foxes, rabbits, groundhogs, and if you’re really lucky you’ll see the two wandering peacocks.

45ish minutes to DC, 35ish minutes to Annapolis. 3 minutes to a convenience store. 10 minutes to the main shopping area for groceries and restaurants. 10 minutes to a Bay beach and more restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Woodacres

[Anonymous]

Mount Pleasant DC.
Moving from other parts of DC, it feels very residential and suburban at times.
That said, you still have restaurants, bars, ice cream shop in walking distance and great tacos!
The school is amazing so far, my kid has so many friends, it almost feels like we live in a small town when we go out as we always run into someone he knows and can play with.
Library, farmers market and playgrounds. Constant access to the zoo. Great neighborhood festivals

[Anonymous]

I love living in Brightwood. It's unpretentious and relatively affordable for a SFH in DC and definitely on the upswing. I love the trees and birds and bunnies. We're in the area between Georgia Ave, 16th Street, Military, and Aspen, and are 2 blocks from Rock Creek Park. We are 3 blocks from the Parks at Walter Reed, where they have lots of free, family-friendly activities like Jazz in the Park and the Home Rule Music Festival in a big green space. There's a nice dog park there and I always feel very safe both in Walter Reed and in the neighborhood. Whole Foods and lots of new restaurants and retail are coming soon. We are close to Silver Spring/Takoma Park/Bethesda and Petworth/Columbia Heights for shopping, and traffic isn't bad.

The people are friendly and not all the same. Neighbors talk to each other and help each other out. On our block, there are families with kids from birth through college age. There's a nice mix of adults in their 30s/40s plus older residents who have been in the neighborhood a long time. I do wish there were better neighborhood schools, but we lotteried into a good public school. There are modest but comfortable SFHs, townhouses, and apartments so it's mixed-income. I like that not everyone has a car and lots of people with dogs, so there are always neighbors walking by.

It's a nice little spot not many people have heard of, and I feel lucky to have found it.

[Anonymous]

We love Fairfax City! We're in Daniel's Run Woods, which is walkable to downtown Fairfax shopping, restaurants, and events/festivals, the elementary school and high school, and lots more. It also backs to a fantastic woods (Daniel's Run Park) which is great for running/walking/enjoying nature. There are great neighborhood events, a pool in the neighborhood, and it's really intergenerational.

Other nearby neighborhoods are Country Club Hills (across from Daniel's Run Woods) and Farrcroft (more expensive houses, closer to downtown).

Plus, Fairfax City has excellent and reliable trash pickup, responsive local government, fare free local bus service that will take you around the city and to the Vienna Metro, good schools, good playgrounds, housing for all stages of life, and George Mason University. We're close to the beltway and 66 to go into DC, and it's also easy to get out to the wineries in Loudoun County without having to live that far out.