Work on the Hill and downtown, where to live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For free schools ARlington near Ballston metro should work for your price. If you are a good shopper and move in the school year, maybe even closer in. Walk to metro and both of you should be to work in 40 minutes door to door. Alt, drive in together early, you park on the hill and the other metro downtown.

40 minutes is not, IMO, a short commute.

In everyone's opinion.

Most people don't get to commute 10 minutes. You can't even get from Arlington to Gallery Place in under 30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If the red line would suit you both for work, there are some houses near Tenley that could suit your needs, you will just have to wait and find the right one for an $800,000 budget. Elemtary schools are awesome, and you would be okay beyond that, too. Capital Hill is fine, but just wanted to throw that option out as well, if you had concerns about safety, etc.

+1. We left the Hill when we had kids because we didn't feel safe on the "safe" part of the Hill and even the "good" schools aren't considered good by many. A large percentage of our friends who lived in the Hill left also (usually to Arlington or NW DC). We have friends who are currently looking to leave the Hill b/c she doesn't feel safe home there during the daytime when her husband and most of her neighbors are at work.

There are many Hill boosters on this board. Talk to people IRL and look at the crime stats. Some people are fine with the Hill and see the benefits as outweighing the risks. Others aren't comfortable there. It's important to consider what you and your family are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For free schools ARlington near Ballston metro should work for your price. If you are a good shopper and move in the school year, maybe even closer in. Walk to metro and both of you should be to work in 40 minutes door to door. Alt, drive in together early, you park on the hill and the other metro downtown.

40 minutes is not, IMO, a short commute.

In everyone's opinion.

Most people don't get to commute 10 minutes. You can't even get from Arlington to Gallery Place in under 30.

Most people lie about their commutes, so I appreciate PP's honesty.

[Anonymous]

LMAO about people who think the Hill is unsafe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LMAO about people who think the Hill is unsafe.

Especially ones who think it is unsafe to be alone in her house on the Hill during the day. She should get a gun, a dog, and a security system wherever she moves!

[Anonymous]

Not everyone places the same degree of importance on a short commute. Witness the very many posters who truck in to DC from Reston or Great Falls, not to mention Burke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:LMAO about people who think the Hill is unsafe.

Long time resident here - we have our issues, sure, but not feeling "safe" during the day while you DH is at work is in fact laughable. And nearly everyone I know who left the Hill for NW or Arlington did so with huge capital gains from houses that went up 500% or more during the boom. The public school situation remains dicey, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

alternatives to the Hill:
Palisades - there aren't a ton of houses in the 800k range, but there are some (including some that have been updated but not necessarily expanded). School will be either Key or Mann, both considered excellent.
Tenleytown
Brookland - charter schools most likely, but more house for your money compared to Hill, Palisades or Tenleytown

I'm not sure what your child care situation is now, but I found that when DC entered PK that our schedules had to shift again, as before and after care hours (and location close to home rather than work) weren't quite the same. That can also impact your commute. And think about if you can do the home-school-work and back loop all on public transportation or all in a car. It gets complicated (IMO) if you are need to combine car with public transportation or walking. All stuff to take into consideration. In our case, it means leaving work earlier, which actually shortened my evening commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:alternatives to the Hill:
Palisades - there aren't a ton of houses in the 800k range, but there are some (including some that have been updated but not necessarily expanded). School will be either Key or Mann, both considered excellent.
Tenleytown
Brookland - charter schools most likely, but more house for your money compared to Hill, Palisades or Tenleytown

I'm not sure what your child care situation is now, but I found that when DC entered PK that our schedules had to shift again, as before and after care hours (and location close to home rather than work) weren't quite the same. That can also impact your commute. And think about if you can do the home-school-work and back loop all on public transportation or all in a car. It gets complicated (IMO) if you are need to combine car with public transportation or walking. All stuff to take into consideration. In our case, it means leaving work earlier, which actually shortened my evening commute.

OP here: Thanks for the thoughtful reply. I have my child in the daycare in my office, so I trek into the city and back on Metro (that I drive to, then walk a few blocks) with a toddler every day. Another reason I want to ditch the commute! If we did not get a spot for pre school, I would just keep our current care, but look for an alternative if we also missed out on a pre-K spot the following year.

I have a flexible schedule and the ability to work from home several days a week, so I'm not too concerned about the shifting hours of before and aftercare. And if we didn't have to commute so far, my H could actually help with drop off/pick up which doesn't happen now since he's on the Hill and it would be silly to add the time to come to the daycare onto his already long commute. Especially when the daycare is in my building...which also means I gave up working from home since if I don't go to work my child doesn't go to daycare. I would love to have working from home back in my life as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not everyone places the same degree of importance on a short commute. Witness the very many posters who truck in to DC from Reston or Great Falls, not to mention Burke.

OP's stated reason for wanting to move it to shorten her commute, so obviously that's a relevant factor here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:alternatives to the Hill:
Palisades - there aren't a ton of houses in the 800k range, but there are some (including some that have been updated but not necessarily expanded). School will be either Key or Mann, both considered excellent.
Tenleytown
Brookland - charter schools most likely, but more house for your money compared to Hill, Palisades or Tenleytown

I'm not sure what your child care situation is now, but I found that when DC entered PK that our schedules had to shift again, as before and after care hours (and location close to home rather than work) weren't quite the same. That can also impact your commute. And think about if you can do the home-school-work and back loop all on public transportation or all in a car. It gets complicated (IMO) if you are need to combine car with public transportation or walking. All stuff to take into consideration. In our case, it means leaving work earlier, which actually shortened my evening commute.

Sounds like Palisades has some great schools, but I guess you would have to drive, and I would not want to do that drive to the Hill every day. Tenley maybe better if your DH is close to Union Station and your work downtown is close to the red line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:alternatives to the Hill:
Palisades - there aren't a ton of houses in the 800k range, but there are some (including some that have been updated but not necessarily expanded). School will be either Key or Mann, both considered excellent.
Tenleytown
Brookland - charter schools most likely, but more house for your money compared to Hill, Palisades or Tenleytown

I'm not sure what your child care situation is now, but I found that when DC entered PK that our schedules had to shift again, as before and after care hours (and location close to home rather than work) weren't quite the same. That can also impact your commute. And think about if you can do the home-school-work and back loop all on public transportation or all in a car. It gets complicated (IMO) if you are need to combine car with public transportation or walking. All stuff to take into consideration. In our case, it means leaving work earlier, which actually shortened my evening commute.

Sounds like Palisades has some great schools, but I guess you would have to drive, and I would not want to do that drive to the Hill every day. Tenley maybe better if your DH is close to Union Station and your work downtown is close to the red line.

OP here: I can make red line work, the closest stop is about 4 blocks from my office. My H can drive, he gets a parking spot from work and we would plan to retain one of our two cars. Though he could probably get off at Judiciary Square and walk from there. Hoping to ditch the 2nd car, though it won't save much since both are paid off.

[Anonymous]

40 minutes from the time you step out your door to the time you plop your ass down at your desk is a decent commute around here. People so underestimate their commutes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:40 minutes from the time you step out your door to the time you plop your ass down at your desk is a decent commute around here. People so underestimate their commutes.[/quote]

I believe this. I'm exactly two miles from work and I need 30 minutes, kitchen to desk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:alternatives to the Hill:
Palisades - there aren't a ton of houses in the 800k range, but there are some (including some that have been updated but not necessarily expanded). School will be either Key or Mann, both considered excellent.
Tenleytown
Brookland - charter schools most likely, but more house for your money compared to Hill, Palisades or Tenleytown

I'm not sure what your child care situation is now, but I found that when DC entered PK that our schedules had to shift again, as before and after care hours (and location close to home rather than work) weren't quite the same. That can also impact your commute. And think about if you can do the home-school-work and back loop all on public transportation or all in a car. It gets complicated (IMO) if you are need to combine car with public transportation or walking. All stuff to take into consideration. In our case, it means leaving work earlier, which actually shortened my evening commute.

Sounds like Palisades has some great schools, but I guess you would have to drive, and I would not want to do that drive to the Hill every day. Tenley maybe better if your DH is close to Union Station and your work downtown is close to the red line.

+1. I used to drive from Cleveland Park to the Hill, and that is not an easy commute. It's not far, as the crow flies, but there's no easy way to do it. Not long ago, I drove from the Hill to Embassy row in the evening -- it was raining, but not terribly hard, and it took an hour.