If you had 650K to spend where would you live?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is at Rosemary Hills (B-CC cluster) right now and we love it. We used to live in the town of Kensington, zoned for Kensington-Parkwood (W-J Cluster) and its reputation was excellent as well.

[Anonymous]

Personally, Vienna or Mclean.

[Anonymous]

Id do Kensington, the ES are not as good as Bethesda but I think in the long run the differences are negligible... are the Kensington kids at BCC any less smart than the Bethesda kids at BCC?

[Anonymous]

excellent schools, feeds into BCC(but that could change by the time your kids are HS age):

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7162549&Add=10007-CONNECTICUT-AVE,Kensington,MD-20895

less great schools but tons of livable space:
http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7194563&Add=3226-BLUEFORD-RD,Kensington,MD-20895

or

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7181989&Add=3316-FERNDALE-ST,Kensington,MD-20895


personally I would go for the more space, not as prestigous schools. All MCPS teaches the same cirriculum and I am of the beleif that 50% or so of your childs learning comes from parent involvement rather than classroom involvement. Also I get the impression that those Bethesda HSs are filled with super smart and super rich kids who wont need FA for college. Id rather have my kid be top of the class at Einstein.

[Anonymous]

Im the poster above. Personally with 650k I would move to Vienna, that is my plan for when we move out of our dc condo. But I agree the commute from VA to SS would make living in VA awful.

here are my picks for Bethesda, but you can get SUCH a nicer house .5 miles away in Kensington:

http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7219573&Add=4509-ROXBURY-DR,Bethesda,MD-20814

or
http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7235099&Add=5631-MASSACHUSETTS-AVE,Bethesda,MD-20816


http://homes.longandfoster.com/Real-Estate/PropertyDetails.aspx?MlsCompanyID=2&MlsNumber=MC7232760&Add=6204-DUNROBBIN-DR,Bethesda,MD-20816

because its in an awesome cluster, but then you are commuting across bethesda to SS which is a PITA

[Anonymous]

I second rosemary hills district. very close to SS (which is awesome btw! for families, maybe DH thinks of it as a crappy place for an office, which is kinda true).

[Anonymous]

Well, we love close in Silver Spring, but I won't try to change your mind!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, we love close in Silver Spring, but I won't try to change your mind!

We do too!

[Anonymous]

a good friend of mine grew up in Kensington and went to Walter Johnson, which is not too bad. Kensington is close in, too - not far off the CT avenue exit of 495, and the housing is definitely cheaper than "more fashionable" Bethesda. Easy commute to Silver Spring, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you like Garrett Park I would look in Kensington (Parkwood & Kensington Estates) because assuming you are looking at public schools, Kensington Parkwood Elementary is better than Garrett Park Elementary. For $650 you could find a 3 bed/2-3 bath in Kensington Estates. There are LOTS of kids in the neighborhood, and the Cedarbrook Pool is a nice neighborhood pool. Your husband could walk to the Marc train.

If you do look in Kensington, be careful what school cluster the house is in--could be WJ, Einstein or BCC.

Np here - what is your basis for saying that KP is better than GP?

That said, I do think it would be harder to find something in GP district for that $$ - and be careful about looking in Kensington that it's zoned for KP - I have heard great things about that school - arts curriculum etc.

[Anonymous]

OP Here. Thanks for the suggestions. We are in the burbs now and I really really want to be close in.

As far as schools I go - I get WJ and BCC are great, but are the elementary schools in those clusters also great?

I have heard KP is great, but my kids have a couple more years til K, so I am not the best source. I have heard the parent involvement is strong, that the remodel (2005, I think) is great, and that the arts integration is well regarded.

[Anonymous]

Elementary Schools zoned for WJ and BCC - I have also heard from parents with kids there that Rosemary Hills is a LOVELY place for children - and the houses are reasonably priced comparatively.

[Anonymous]

We live in the Rock Creek Forest neighborhood of Chevy Chase. We like to say it is the "low rent" Chevy Chase... but we LOVE it. We are between Grubb Road and Beach Drive. Houses are small but very cute, great neighborhood with lots and lots of kids. E.S. is Rock Creek Forest which we've had a wonderful experience with, and then WEstland, BCC. Great commute to Silver Spring or downtown.
Houses are in the high $500s/mid $600s right now.

[Anonymous]

I'd recommend Rockville. There are some great neighborhoods. We're in 20853 and love it.

Try Flower Valley, Manor Woods, English Manor. Easily get a house for under $650K.

[Anonymous]

Two good High Schools in Rockville/Potomac are Richard Montgomery and Walt Whitman. We have friends who live in the middle-class part of Potomac. They live in a very nice (but 70's looking) neighborhood near the intersection of Wooton Parkway and Falls Rd. It would be a short drive to the Metro but a great area I think and close to 270/495. I think these days you could get 3/4 beds in their neighborhood for $650.