Mt. Pleasant Families

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:>> pp here. If you are moving from Europe, you will like Glover Park. Also Georgetown and the west part of Burleith.

If you are from Europe, you'll probably like Georgetown and perhaps Burleith. On the other hand, you may find Glover Park dull. The primary difference is that many of the homes in Georgetown and Burleith were built before the 1930s. In comparison, Glover Park is full of Depression-era, 1930s rowhouses with few architectural details. It's convenient and safe but, compared to other DC neighborhoods, quite drab. This may not matter to you, but make sure you've seen pictures before you spend any time looking into housing there. Both Adams Morgan and Mount Pleasant, for their other flaws, are much prettier than Glover Park.

[Anonymous]

Where are you coming from OP?[/quote wrote:

We are moving from Italy and not used to being car dependant. Unfourtunately, Glover Park, Georgetown and Adams Morgan are out of our budget and we'd really like to buy now with the low interest rates. This blog is a great start to figure things out. Thank you so much for the advice.

[Anonymous]

OP, what is your budget? How many bedrooms? That will tell us a lot. Buying in Burleith or Glover Park is not affordable for a 3 bedroom townhouse if you have less than $650K (more like $750, realistically) to spend.

If you do not want a car, you might find a larger co-operative condo in a beautiful old (pre-war) building along the Red-Line (Connecticut and Wisconsin) for under $600K (but condo fees can be high).

Public schools in Mt. Pleasant (unless you can find something that is along the Western edge that feeds into Oyster) are not good. Avoid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try Glover Park and Stoddert Elementar. Houses are about the same price as Mt Pleasant, though they're generally a little smaller.

Glover Park gets props for good schools and safety, but it's Cheeze Whiz in terms of urbanity. It's like the ugly parts of Queens without the good food.

This made me laugh. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Oyster does not cover all of Adams Morgan, no go on Mount Pleasant.

[Anonymous]

Glover Park is not "urban" because it's difficult to walk get from there to anywhere else in the city without using a car and you are limited to a stretch of Wisconsin Avenue in terms of things you can walk to. I am pretty sure that's what people mean by urban around here, being able to walk to the metro and having a decent number of dining and shopping options within a few blocks.

[Anonymous]

We live in Mt.P. The schools are Bancroft and H.D. Cooke, depending on your street. Neither are great, but some neighborhood kids attend both, with their parents generally saying they are happy. H.D. Cooke is newly renovated and quite lovely. Kids also attend other DC schools (OOB), charters or private. It's a pretty good mix of all the options out there. It's a great neighborhood with tons of families and generally nice, interesting people. We walk to Columbia Hts., Adams-Morgan and Woodley Park. I know families that also walk to Cleveland Park. We use the zoo and its grounds constantly. Very nice to be so close to Rock Creek Parkway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, what is your budget? How many bedrooms? That will tell us a lot. Buying in Burleith or Glover Park is not affordable for a 3 bedroom townhouse if you have less than $650K (more like $750, realistically) to spend.

If you do not want a car, you might find a larger co-operative condo in a beautiful old (pre-war) building along the Red-Line (Connecticut and Wisconsin) for under $600K (but condo fees can be high).
Public schools in Mt. Pleasant (unless you can find something that is along the Western edge that feeds into Oyster) are not good. Avoid.

I second this. We're a European family living in a condo on Connecticut with 2 little ones and it's a great combination of urban and family friendly, among the best elementary schools in DC and while we're a bit cramped there are lots of parks right outside our door. And money left over for traveling etc. Granted, neighborhood is not diverse at all and some might say not urban either (it's not in the heart of the city but very close by metro).