Bethesda vs Kensington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FU 21:33. I am asking where it LITERALLY is b/c I am not familiar with the neighborhood, jeez. Give me a landmark to google map.

Jenny Cakes!

Thank you! I like cake....

[Anonymous]

What in the holy hell is wrong with these swearing posters.

[Anonymous]

I love living in Kensington. I find the traffic to be easier to manage than Bethesda and the people to be a bit easier to deal with as well. More down to earth. I also love being close to Wheaton, because the grocery stores are cheaper and I do like Costco, even though the parking lot is a nightmare, I still prefer it to dealing with Rockville Pike when I need to go to a Target or other suburban store.

I also enjoy being equidistant to downtown Bethesda and downtown silver spring without having to deal with the daily congestion. On weekend nights an Uber to either locale is cheap if you want to have a few drinks and get home safely and parking is easy and cheap if you drive

[Anonymous]

We live literally across the street, in far western Silver Spring, so are there all the time. I want to love the southern parts of Kensington (zoned mostly for BCC), and they have some gorgeous homes, but I've met way too many snobs there. Mostly it's around schools, which isn't surprising, but I have no interest in dealing with that. It's tiresome. If you don't mind it, then yeah, Kensington is cute and walkable (if not to a ton) and easy to get to other areas from.

N. Kensington I find much friendlier, the parts closer to Wheaton mall, Rock Creek Palisades, etc.

[Anonymous]

Downtown Kensington is basically Howard Avenue, a little of Kensington Parkway and the stores on the streets that run perpendicular to it. So it's not a lot, but it is cute, especially with the Noyes Children's Library and gorgeous Victorians surrounding it. This is the area, near the MARC train station, that has the book festival in the spring and the fall festival, along with food trucks a few nights a month in the summer.

I live in the more affordable Kensington Hts. area and would never have considered Bethesda between price and my general perception of snobbery there. We're fine with Einstein. If we get zoned to Woodward, I'll be excited mainly because I assume my home will rise in value.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for these tips. I live a few miles away from the little kensington downtown and I am going to check it out

And yeah, lots of people are happy with Einstein so don't let that discourage you. It is improving too

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for these tips. I live a few miles away from the little kensington downtown and I am going to check it out

And yeah, lots of people are happy with Einstein so don't let that discourage you. It is improving too

Check out http://explorekensington.com for info on activities happening in the little town area. There's usually something fun happening on Saturdays during the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What in the holy hell is wrong with these swearing posters.

The heat is really making people have short fuses, chill out folks!

[Anonymous]

I also live in the Kensington part zoned for Einstein and think it's a very nice neighborhood for the price, with an awesome location-- We are just behind the drive-thru Starbucks and can walk to that shopping plaza with the CVS and Donut King; we are approximately 1 mile to Wheaton Mall/metro (with Target, Costco, Giant), 1 mile to Kensington MARC and the farmer's market, Noyes Children's Library, Safeway, Car Wash Coffee (When it opens!). We are a 10-15 minute drive (without traffic, of course!) to Pike and Rose, Downtown Bethesda, and Downtown Silver Spring. We are 20-30 minutes to Dupont Circle. An Uber to 14th St is between $15-25 each way. We are approximately 35 minutes from all 3 airports. My commute to Farragut is 45 minutes driving to Grosvenor and taking the red line. If I wanted to take the bus to Medical Center and then metro in, I could do that in about an hour.

Our neighborhood is safe, quiet, and well-kept. Our neighbors are friendly and look out for each other. I really do not understand all the negativity surrounding being zoned to Einstein, and you definitely cannot go wrong with any neighborhood in the 20895 Kensington zip code.

It all depends on your budget. For some neighborhoods I prefer Bethesda for the commute. But if you live in Bethesda and have to drive to the metro, then you're most likely driving and parking at the Grosvenor metro anyway, and in that case, I prefer Kensington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also live in the Kensington part zoned for Einstein and think it's a very nice neighborhood for the price, with an awesome location-- We are just behind the drive-thru Starbucks and can walk to that shopping plaza with the CVS and Donut King; we are approximately 1 mile to Wheaton Mall/metro (with Target, Costco, Giant), 1 mile to Kensington MARC and the farmer's market, Noyes Children's Library, Safeway, Car Wash Coffee (When it opens!). We are a 10-15 minute drive (without traffic, of course!) to Pike and Rose, Downtown Bethesda, and Downtown Silver Spring. We are 20-30 minutes to Dupont Circle. An Uber to 14th St is between $15-25 each way. We are approximately 35 minutes from all 3 airports. My commute to Farragut is 45 minutes driving to Grosvenor and taking the red line. If I wanted to take the bus to Medical Center and then metro in, I could do that in about an hour.

Our neighborhood is safe, quiet, and well-kept. Our neighbors are friendly and look out for each other. I really do not understand all the negativity surrounding being zoned to Einstein, and you definitely cannot go wrong with any neighborhood in the 20895 Kensington zip code.

It all depends on your budget. For some neighborhoods I prefer Bethesda for the commute. But if you live in Bethesda and have to drive to the metro, then you're most likely driving and parking at the Grosvenor metro anyway, and in that case, I prefer Kensington.

OP here. We do not commute - work from home. Our budget would be in the low to mid 1s, but really on the lower side. Thank you so much to you and everyone who took the time to respond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also live in the Kensington part zoned for Einstein and think it's a very nice neighborhood for the price, with an awesome location-- We are just behind the drive-thru Starbucks and can walk to that shopping plaza with the CVS and Donut King; we are approximately 1 mile to Wheaton Mall/metro (with Target, Costco, Giant), 1 mile to Kensington MARC and the farmer's market, Noyes Children's Library, Safeway, Car Wash Coffee (When it opens!). We are a 10-15 minute drive (without traffic, of course!) to Pike and Rose, Downtown Bethesda, and Downtown Silver Spring. We are 20-30 minutes to Dupont Circle. An Uber to 14th St is between $15-25 each way. We are approximately 35 minutes from all 3 airports. My commute to Farragut is 45 minutes driving to Grosvenor and taking the red line. If I wanted to take the bus to Medical Center and then metro in, I could do that in about an hour.

Our neighborhood is safe, quiet, and well-kept. Our neighbors are friendly and look out for each other. I really do not understand all the negativity surrounding being zoned to Einstein, and you definitely cannot go wrong with any neighborhood in the 20895 Kensington zip code.

It all depends on your budget. For some neighborhoods I prefer Bethesda for the commute. But if you live in Bethesda and have to drive to the metro, then you're most likely driving and parking at the Grosvenor metro anyway, and in that case, I prefer Kensington.

OP here. We do not commute - work from home. Our budget would be in the low to mid 1s, but really on the lower side. Thank you so much to you and everyone who took the time to respond.

OP, we just moved to the Parkwood neighborhood of Kensington. We don't commute, either, and had a similar budget. We absolutely love it so far. The neighbors have been friendly and welcoming, and it's so convenient.

[Anonymous]

I think it is hard to compare anything to Bethesda because Bethesda is really a few different places. The biggest difference between East Bethesda/CCMD is the walkability - there is just a lot more to walk to. You really could live without a car. We idon'thave a costco. Where is this super close Target that Kensington people are driving 3 minutes to?

I would think that compared to non-walkable Bethesda (so this would be the Whitman, etc areas), Kensington probably is more walkable and has smaller older homes, overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is hard to compare anything to Bethesda because Bethesda is really a few different places. The biggest difference between East Bethesda/CCMD is the walkability - there is just a lot more to walk to. You really could live without a car. We idon'thave a costco. Where is this super close Target that Kensington people are driving 3 minutes to?

I would think that compared to non-walkable Bethesda (so this would be the Whitman, etc areas), Kensington probably is more walkable and has smaller older homes, overall.

Wheaton Westfield has a Costco and a Target, plus much more of course. It's about an 8 min drive from "downtown" Kensington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it is hard to compare anything to Bethesda because Bethesda is really a few different places. The biggest difference between East Bethesda/CCMD is the walkability - there is just a lot more to walk to. You really could live without a car. We idon'thave a costco. Where is this super close Target that Kensington people are driving 3 minutes to?

I would think that compared to non-walkable Bethesda (so this would be the Whitman, etc areas), Kensington probably is more walkable and has smaller older homes, overall.

Some are smaller, but there are some pretty decent sized homes in Town of Kensington and some of the parts within a half mile or so "downtown" Kensington.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also live next to Kensington and think it's hugely underappreciated. Love the cute downtown, love the community feel esp the parades, love having useful retail nearby (Safeway/Strosniders), love the parkway with little streams etc.

However, the Woodward thing is an issue that can't be ignored. If you're buying in the WJ -zoned parts of Kensington and (to a lesser extent) the BCC-zoned part, you can't really guarantee that you won't be switched to Woodward -- which will almost certainly have a higher proportion of low-income kids. That's not inherently a problem, but the reality is that it impacts property values. It's mostly upside for the Einstein-zoned parts of Kensington, but I wouldn't pay the 'school premium' for Kensington right now even though I love it.

Where is this cute downtown of Kensington?

We think it’s cute, bitch. We’re glad you don’t live here.

I’m not the PP.

Well so now you've met your neighbors.