Relocating to the Area with two young children

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband will be working in DC (Georgetown area) and I will be working part time (also driving to DC). We have a house budget of $1-1.5 million. We like newer single family homes. Our children will be in kindergarten and preschool next year. Good schools and relatively easy commute are most important to us. We visited the area earlier this year and did not like the older look of Bethesda but liked the newer areas in N Bethesda/Rockville. Potomac was intimidating with all the mansions and we are probably priced out anyways. We did not have a chance to drive through Silver Spring and Kensington although we have read good things about that area as well. We are also open to Virginia (McLean or Arlington) but I think I like MD better. We got stuck in some Tysons area traffic that was not fun. Could not imagine driving through that daily.

Could you help us narrow our search?

We are down to earth people and will be new to the area. Would love to be near an elementary school with a strong community. We would like to be in a feeder to a top high school.

???

[Anonymous]

I echo the recommendation for Arlington. I moved from DC for the MCPS schools and have been deeply disappointed. Arlington is inside the Tyson's mess and a perfect commute to G'town. Close-in Arlington was not in my budget, but it's in yours.

[Anonymous]

OP, I just moved here. We ended up on the VA side since my DH is from VA and wanted to live in VA again. That being said, we are in N. Arlington and I really like it. DH works in the District and commutes by car, or by Metro (Ballston) or by bike. By bike!! Incredible.