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Where to live in MoCo for a Suburb Hater?
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Anonymous
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Something else to think about - although on average DC Public Schools are far from what MoCo has to offer, parts of NW DC might compare to parts of MoCo.
The neighborhood elementary for AU Park gets high marks, people are saying good things about Deal (Middle School) and there are some nice options for high schools such as School Without Walls. Read some of the posts on the DC Schools section to find out more. |
Anonymous
| I've been reading until my eyes bleed about DCPS, and I've nearly, almost, pretty much made up my mind, but not quite, that MoCo would work better for my children. If we do buy in DC, it will be in Lafayette, Janney or Murch, as they seem to be the only areas where we could find a house we can afford. I'd love to be in Oyster, but not a single house currently on the market in the boundary area can we afford. (I can't squeeze my family into a 2 BR apartment.) |
Anonymous
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OP - I'm the 6:02 poster and all I can say is that you simply have to look at a map around downtown Bethesda and NIH and proceed from there. SHould be easy enough to do on most real estate websites if you're operating from a distance, or just get in the car (horrors!) and drive. We live in eastern Bethesda/CC which gives us easy access to bus routes, a quick walk to the supermarket and a few shops and restaurants, and a longer walk (1.5mi) to all that is downtown Bethesda. All that plus the BCC school district keeps us pretty happy.
But based on your posts I get the sense that what you want may not be available in this area... except at an exorbitant price. If - as you say in your posts - you expect architectural charm, a renovated/updated house with plenty of space, family/neighborhood feel, walkability, easy metro access, great schools, very low crime risk plus an area with "an edge" as you put it -- that's an awfully steep list and in this area finding all that will cost you a lot, even in a depressed real estate market. |
Anonymous
OP, you've been doing a lot of agonizing about this on DCUM on various threads. While I'm sympathetic to your plight, maybe it's time for you to buck up and deal with the fact you won't get everything you want. But since you're doing a lot of research and really considering your needs, you'll probably do okay. Stop worrying so much! 
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Anonymous
| OP, read this thread about East Bethesda: http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/12166.page#69877 |
Anonymous
| know someone who lived in DC moved to Kentland MD and liked it...not sure why? |
Anonymous
I appreciate the sentiment, but as one who has made one too many expensive mistakes, I can |
Anonymous
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oops, hit the wrong key
I think it's prudent to examine the problem from every angle before making a decision that affects my entire family and is difficult to change. I don't feel agonized at all, despite your impression. I like to ask questions. It's in my nature. |
Anonymous
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To OP: just curious, where are you now living? You keep comparing the DC area to where you are now and inquiring minds want to know.
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Anonymous
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OP, why don't you just rent? Are your child(ren) actually in elementary school? If not, you really must rent, not buy, for a year. That's the only way to sense the true personalities of neighborhoods in a region.
If they are already in elementary school: work backwards from a MoCo school you like, figure out where the attendance boundaries are on the MoCo website, and rent a house in one of the many neighborhoods that will feed into it. *THEN* buy. |
Anonymous
| We're thinking about renting, but a full year of renting could dig into our equity. Buying would be cheaper if we pick the right place. One child is in ES and the other will start K in the fall. We live outside a nice mid-sized city, I'd prefer not to name. It's way cheaper than DC. Renting would make sense, but the H*LL of moving twice might kill me. |
Anonymous
| OP, I don't know if it has been mentioned before, but in DC, you can rent, enroll in a school, and give your kids the right to continue as out-of-boundary students once you move to a neighborhood you prefer/ can afford to buy in. |
Anonymous
15:42 here. This is just my opinion, but it's based on a number of years of observation. I should add that we chose not to move to Takoma Park until there had been major drops in crime (and until we had a child, too). In general, the safest parts of Takoma Park are those that are further removed from PG County, Langley Park and the District. I'm not necessarily saying those jurisdictions harbor criminals, but I am saying that people tend to commit crimes and then flee to those jurisdictions. So you want to avoid anything close to New Hampshire Ave., for example. The Takoma Park police are quite efficient and they use undercover officers on the street a lot, which reduces street crime quite a bit. There are also citizen "orange-hat" patrols around Old Town Takoma when necessary. Most crime in Takoma Park is theft from vehicles and residences. Some are break-ins; others involve people leaving doors unlocked. There is some street crime and it's worst in November and December, I suppose because of Christmas -- both opportunity and desire for money and stuff. The street crime involves muggings, usually without injury. It's hardly a crime haven, though there is of course more crime than in Bethesda or Chevy Chase. Things have greatly improved in recent years. You can take a look at the Washington Post's local explorer tool too. Good luck, OP. There are always tradeoffs! |
Anonymous
| 10:30 here. We're in Parkwood (Bethesda and Kensington). Yes, the houses are postwar. Some are more spacious than others--both smaller houses with additions and the new builds. Some of the neighborhood has sidewalks, other streets have chosen to have bigger yards. (It's a street by street decision.) We can walk to playgrounds, the elementary school, Rock Creek Park, and, particularly from the Bethesda side of the neighborhood, the Grosvenor/Strathmore metro. We are an easy drive from the plentiful shopping opportunities up Rockville Pike or in downtown Bethesda, and far enough away that we can avoid them if we want. |
Anonymous
| OP, I'm curious about why you are limiting your search to MoCo? Why not Arlington or other parts of NoVa? |