Bethesda or NoVa Elem/Middle Schools?

[Anonymous]

NOVA covers a big territory, from Arlington/Alexandria (across the bridge from DC) all the way out to Woodbridge, Loudon, Fairfax...20 miles away.

You can't go wrong with Arlington schools, and the area is pretty lively and diverse. Bethesda has great schools too, but feels a little swankier and uppity. Both locations are very metro accessible.

[Anonymous]

I don't know about the Arlington poster, but I am the PP NoVA poster. In the last year I've had to go back to work after being a SAHM. While I think that living close to work is ideal, it can be an issue if you can't afford what is available where you live. I'd never live in, say, Woodbridge, and commute to Bethesda. But we live in Annandale and I can get to College Park in 30 minutes in the morning (if I leave before 7:30) and home in about 45 minutes. I mean my house door to my office door.

People who live in Montgomery County and work where I do do not necessarily have any better commutes. So unless you live VERY close to work, a surface street commute from a "nearby" area is not necessarily better than a Beltway commute. Of course there are bad days, but honestly, not as many as I feared and I've been doing this for almost a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Arlington and work in Bethesda (NIH to be specific). my commute is short - 20 minutes to get there, around 35 min to come home. I love where I live and love where I work. I think the schools in Arlington are excellent, but they are everywhere in this area. I like Arlington co because it is a small county and well managed - you really see where and how your taxes affect you.

Are you taking metro? I'm surprised that you can get from Arlington to Bethesda in 20 minutes in rush hour traffic. What route do you take?

I thought the same thing, but it can't be metro because it's about 20 mins just to ride from NIH to Metro Center I think.

Nope - not metro. If I did it would take me over an hour to commute (orange line to Metro center to medical center, no thanks). I would LOVE to take metro, but that would require them building a 'beltway' metro (for another thread).

I take 66W very briefly to the access road, hook onto 495 and take it all the way to either Old Georgetown rd exit or Rockville pike. My car has one of those things where it tells you how long you've been in the car and it reliably says 20 min in the am; the eve commute can vary due to traffic patterns - but it's not more than 35-45 min most days.

[Anonymous]

I live in Arlington and love it, but when I worked in Chevy Chase, the commute was a little wearing, and that was before I had children. Is the OP hoping to get home occasionally (school plays, preschool events, whatever)? Every minute of your commute counts in those situations.

[Anonymous]

I live in N. Bethesda. DD is going to enter kindergarten in the fall in the Johnson cluster. If you are coming from California, the sticker shock may not be that bad. I really don't have a feeling for prices anymore. As for uppity, I suppose it is all relative. I know uppity families that live in Arlington County. I like our neighbors around here, but they definitely like their luxuries and can't stop at a stop sign to save their lives.

Our elementary school is widely described as being very good. It was just renovated, and the capacity has been doubled because of significant development in the area. The commute from here (southern part of 20852 area code) into Bethesda proper (about 3-4 miles away) can be 20 minutes or so. It should be 10 with no traffic. It's the lights that get you.

[Anonymous]

Op here, thanks everyone so much. I have looked at housing, it is very comparable to our area of Southern California. One less thing to worry about

I will be there in a few days for a visit of the area and hopefully that will help narrow it down, but as of right now I believe we will end up in Bethesda. I am a SAHM, however, my husband would like to catch the occasional school/sporting event!

I'm so glad I stumbled across this forum and look forward to everyone's input once we narrow it down further.

[Anonymous]

The prices and the commutes are likely comparable. The weather and the people...well, be prepared for "less than sunny".

[Anonymous]

OP, I am the previous poster with the DD entering kindergarten in N. Bethesda next year. If you are in SoCal, on traffic aspect to think about is that DC does not offer the opportunity to jump from freeway to surface streets, and some areas, like in parts of Bethesda, are painfully far from a freeway entrance. If you have to cross a bridge in the DC area, you are hostage to the traffic conditions on those bridges.

[Anonymous]

Would echo PP on bridge crossing and being hostage to traffic conditions. While you may be able to find something in VA that allows you to get to Bethesda in 30-40 minutes, that would be on a good day when there are no problems on bridges or beltway. Many of the commuter arteries into DC are narrow and subject to horrific jams.

I'd much prefer to live in MD and work in MD in the sense that your traffic routes are varied. Same with living in MD and working in DC vs. living in VA and working in DC. If one way is jammed, there are a lot of other routes. When you're stuck trying to get over the bridge, it's really tough....

[Anonymous]

OP other things to consider in the MD vs. Nova debate -- Income and property taxes are higher in MD than Virginia. Car insurance is also higher in MD. Closing costs are also much higher in MD (tax stamps, etc.). than VA. We live in Arlington County and pay approx $6500 in property taxes. A house in Montgomery County of similar value would be in the $8500 to $9000 range.

[Anonymous]

Arlington commuter to MD again - I never feel 'held hostage' on the bridge. In fact, there are a number of back road routes that you can take in MD that dump you on to the Amer Legion and then you get right off onto the GW pkw if the beltway is backed up. I hear more complaints from my MD colleagues about 70, I270, Wisconsin ave, etc than I have with my own commute. Then by living in Arlington, I take back roads, no highways or huge roads like Rockville Pike or old Georgetown rd to run all my errands or meet up with friends.