Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

Bad vibe = black people are present.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

Bad vibe = black people are present.

LOL, no. When was the last time you went to Barracks Row? Unfortunately, there are a fair number of people of questionable mental health or with fairly obvious substance abuse issues hanging around there. It’s pretty tired to say “but racism!!! Durrr!!!”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

Regarding parks, I think CH suffers often from having parks run by the NPS instead of municipal government. Like the playground at Eastern Market is great, because it was built by the city and is maintained through a neighborhood organization. Meanwhile, Lincoln Park has awful playgrounds, desperately needs a separate dog park, and the grass is often not well maintained. Similar problem with Stanton Park. It's a missed opportunity but due to the weirdness of DC governance, will not change anytime soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

Bad vibe = black people are present.

The last 3 or 4 times I've been in Barracks Row, there have been skirmishes between a group who likes to proselytize near the Chipotle and either people who don't like what they are proselytizing about, or don't like how loudly they do (they use a loudspeaker, it is indeed very annoying).

I have known several people who worked at restaurants in the neighborhood (I work in hospitality) and have moved to other restaurants because they don't feel safe walking to their cars/bikes/metro after work and there is an above average amount of vagrancy and sketchy behavior that comes into the restaurants. Barracks Row is rough these days.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

We don't walk more than ten minutes to the metro, or the supermarket, or one of 5 coffee shops, or our great middle school here in Arlington. We didn't really start over socially, we kept our old friends and made new ones. We have a yard and pay about $1000/year for someone else to take care of it (we save at least that much in taxes). Sounds like the Hill worked for you because of the scholarships, but honestly I do think some people assume that life outside of the Hill is some kind of suburban hellscape, when it can still be very walkable and pleasant. Our kids are in the car much less since we moved than they were before. And yes, real estate near a metro stop is expensive - but so is the Hill.

I live 2 blocks from Eastern Market, so it’s pleasant, but if I lived in Hill East like so many young families do these days, I’d have moved years ago. So much of the Hill is near nothing and is very inconvenient.

It is adorable how old timers on the Hill think Eastern Market is the epicenter of area amenities.

I actually think near NE in the LT zone is the sweet spot for amenities. Eastern Market, west side of Lincoln Park, or south of Capitol South within easy walking distance to WF/pretty close to Navy Yard are the other good spots. Near Potomac Ave metro/the Roost/new Safeway also not bad. But Hill East (14th/15th & East) slightly farther north/Maury zone is actually pretty inconvenient to any amenities. Maury is a great school, but that part of the Hill really isn’t very walkable.

We bid on a row house literally opposite the Maury playground but we were outbid. Is that not a good location?

It’s a fantastic location. You can walk to h street and Lincoln park. In my opinion the LT area is a dump. There is a lot of crime, lots of public housing, and the houses are too small, and you are not near that many parks except for the LT park and Sherwood rec. Ludlow isn’t great and there aren’t any middle schools on the hill worth attending.

Across from Maury is a perfectly good location. But Redfin says the average house in the LT zone is over $1 million and the most expensive on the Hill except for Brent. And there isn’t any public housing in the zone aside from one building of subsidized seniors apartments at 10th & G, so the rest of this is crazy. It’s also worth noting that the average LT house is almost exactly the same distance to Lincoln Park as the average Maury house… very slightly closer actually!

You’re talking about the Maury expansion area. Yes that area sucks too. But it is at least cheaper than living going to ludlow taylor and has a better elementary as well.

Ahh, so you're someone who lived on the Hill a decade ago! Got it. "Expansion area"... following the last boundary review, which was nearly a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

Yeah, not everyone in CH is like this but some people definitely are. Like there is nowhere else in the area that is worthwhile or something. It's weird. I live here and it has good qualities and bad qualities. It is not all things to all people and there are of course tradeoffs.

I wonder if, as CH has gotten more expensive, people feel like they need to justify the expense by believing it's better than everywhere else. When a row house in CH costs $2m, and you still don't have a yard or a good IB high school, maybe you feel like you have to justify yourself? Though the people we know who have bough recently for $$$ just send kids to private and can travel a lot or spend time at a family home or second home in the country in warmer months. So I don't know.

This is just poor logic. Most people bought their homes years ago and can afford to sell and buy another in a different neighborhood. Even the ones without family money and second homes.

What doesn’t make sense to me is selling your Capitol Hill house to move to a neighborhood with similarly poor middle and high schools, with worse amenities in a worse location. I would happily sell my house and move if I could find a neighborhood with excellent schools. I would be ok selling my nice brick house for a wooden box in a cookie cutter suburb if it meant the schools made the step down worth it. There is no neighborhood in dc with good enough schools for me to justify a move from Capitol Hill but that’s my opinion anyway.

Whether it’s logical or not, I think it is at least a partial explanation. Truth be told, many of the amenities in Capitol Hill aren’t really that great. Barracks Row would be nice, but really, I avoid taking my kid down there because there is always a bad vibe on parts of it. Eastern Market is ok and a fun time with kids on the weekend. I like many of the parks, but we also travel out of the neighborhood to go to other parks pretty regularly. I do like the proximity to the mall, and that I can easily walk around the neighborhood with kids.

Bad vibe = black people are present.

The last 3 or 4 times I've been in Barracks Row, there have been skirmishes between a group who likes to proselytize near the Chipotle and either people who don't like what they are proselytizing about, or don't like how loudly they do (they use a loudspeaker, it is indeed very annoying).

I have known several people who worked at restaurants in the neighborhood (I work in hospitality) and have moved to other restaurants because they don't feel safe walking to their cars/bikes/metro after work and there is an above average amount of vagrancy and sketchy behavior that comes into the restaurants. Barracks Row is rough these days.

In general, areas like Barracks Row and H Street need a much larger police presence. The druggies and criminals are really out of control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

We don't walk more than ten minutes to the metro, or the supermarket, or one of 5 coffee shops, or our great middle school here in Arlington. We didn't really start over socially, we kept our old friends and made new ones. We have a yard and pay about $1000/year for someone else to take care of it (we save at least that much in taxes). Sounds like the Hill worked for you because of the scholarships, but honestly I do think some people assume that life outside of the Hill is some kind of suburban hellscape, when it can still be very walkable and pleasant. Our kids are in the car much less since we moved than they were before. And yes, real estate near a metro stop is expensive - but so is the Hill.

I live 2 blocks from Eastern Market, so it’s pleasant, but if I lived in Hill East like so many young families do these days, I’d have moved years ago. So much of the Hill is near nothing and is very inconvenient.

It is adorable how old timers on the Hill think Eastern Market is the epicenter of area amenities.

I actually think near NE in the LT zone is the sweet spot for amenities. Eastern Market, west side of Lincoln Park, or south of Capitol South within easy walking distance to WF/pretty close to Navy Yard are the other good spots. Near Potomac Ave metro/the Roost/new Safeway also not bad. But Hill East (14th/15th & East) slightly farther north/Maury zone is actually pretty inconvenient to any amenities. Maury is a great school, but that part of the Hill really isn’t very walkable.

We bid on a row house literally opposite the Maury playground but we were outbid. Is that not a good location?

It’s a fantastic location. You can walk to h street and Lincoln park. In my opinion the LT area is a dump. There is a lot of crime, lots of public housing, and the houses are too small, and you are not near that many parks except for the LT park and Sherwood rec. Ludlow isn’t great and there aren’t any middle schools on the hill worth attending.

LOL what? The housing stock IB for Maury and IB for LT is the same, and the LT neighborhood is closer to transit, shops and a bunch of parks. Are you even from DC?

It is so funny to me that you seem to actually believe that the falling down Victorian worker housing in the ludlow Taylor area is similar to the gorgeous Victorians around Lincoln park and eastern market. Sure. Okay!

Eastern Market isn't IB for Maury at all. Or even close. Only half of the area surrounding Lincoln Park is. The Maury zone directly abuts the LT zone for a large stretch. It appears that you're conflating the Maury and Watkins zones, if I had to guess. The Maury zone also stretches all the way out to 21stish, whereas the LT zone ends at 12th. There's certainly much cheaper housing available in the Maury zone than there is in the LT zone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

We don't walk more than ten minutes to the metro, or the supermarket, or one of 5 coffee shops, or our great middle school here in Arlington. We didn't really start over socially, we kept our old friends and made new ones. We have a yard and pay about $1000/year for someone else to take care of it (we save at least that much in taxes). Sounds like the Hill worked for you because of the scholarships, but honestly I do think some people assume that life outside of the Hill is some kind of suburban hellscape, when it can still be very walkable and pleasant. Our kids are in the car much less since we moved than they were before. And yes, real estate near a metro stop is expensive - but so is the Hill.

I live 2 blocks from Eastern Market, so it’s pleasant, but if I lived in Hill East like so many young families do these days, I’d have moved years ago. So much of the Hill is near nothing and is very inconvenient.

It is adorable how old timers on the Hill think Eastern Market is the epicenter of area amenities.

I actually think near NE in the LT zone is the sweet spot for amenities. Eastern Market, west side of Lincoln Park, or south of Capitol South within easy walking distance to WF/pretty close to Navy Yard are the other good spots. Near Potomac Ave metro/the Roost/new Safeway also not bad. But Hill East (14th/15th & East) slightly farther north/Maury zone is actually pretty inconvenient to any amenities. Maury is a great school, but that part of the Hill really isn’t very walkable.

We bid on a row house literally opposite the Maury playground but we were outbid. Is that not a good location?

It’s a fantastic location. You can walk to h street and Lincoln park. In my opinion the LT area is a dump. There is a lot of crime, lots of public housing, and the houses are too small, and you are not near that many parks except for the LT park and Sherwood rec. Ludlow isn’t great and there aren’t any middle schools on the hill worth attending.

LOL what? The housing stock IB for Maury and IB for LT is the same, and the LT neighborhood is closer to transit, shops and a bunch of parks. Are you even from DC?

It is so funny to me that you seem to actually believe that the falling down Victorian worker housing in the ludlow Taylor area is similar to the gorgeous Victorians around Lincoln park and eastern market. Sure. Okay!

What are you blathering on about?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My kids went to our local DCPS school through 5th grade. They've won music/academic scholarships to a private school we can afford with the fi aid. We know that there are other great DC neighborhoods, but we're not moving 25 years into our life on the Hill just for schools. We can't stand the idea of taking care of a yard, having to walk more than 10 mins to a Metro station, or starting over socially. To each her own.

We don't walk more than ten minutes to the metro, or the supermarket, or one of 5 coffee shops, or our great middle school here in Arlington. We didn't really start over socially, we kept our old friends and made new ones. We have a yard and pay about $1000/year for someone else to take care of it (we save at least that much in taxes). Sounds like the Hill worked for you because of the scholarships, but honestly I do think some people assume that life outside of the Hill is some kind of suburban hellscape, when it can still be very walkable and pleasant. Our kids are in the car much less since we moved than they were before. And yes, real estate near a metro stop is expensive - but so is the Hill.

I live 2 blocks from Eastern Market, so it’s pleasant, but if I lived in Hill East like so many young families do these days, I’d have moved years ago. So much of the Hill is near nothing and is very inconvenient.

It is adorable how old timers on the Hill think Eastern Market is the epicenter of area amenities.

I actually think near NE in the LT zone is the sweet spot for amenities. Eastern Market, west side of Lincoln Park, or south of Capitol South within easy walking distance to WF/pretty close to Navy Yard are the other good spots. Near Potomac Ave metro/the Roost/new Safeway also not bad. But Hill East (14th/15th & East) slightly farther north/Maury zone is actually pretty inconvenient to any amenities. Maury is a great school, but that part of the Hill really isn’t very walkable.

We bid on a row house literally opposite the Maury playground but we were outbid. Is that not a good location?

It’s a fantastic location. You can walk to h street and Lincoln park. In my opinion the LT area is a dump. There is a lot of crime, lots of public housing, and the houses are too small, and you are not near that many parks except for the LT park and Sherwood rec. Ludlow isn’t great and there aren’t any middle schools on the hill worth attending.

LOL what? The housing stock IB for Maury and IB for LT is the same, and the LT neighborhood is closer to transit, shops and a bunch of parks. Are you even from DC?

It is so funny to me that you seem to actually believe that the falling down Victorian worker housing in the ludlow Taylor area is similar to the gorgeous Victorians around Lincoln park and eastern market. Sure. Okay!

What are you blathering on about?

Yeah, I don’t get the hate. A lot of the LT area seems nice to me.

[Anonymous]

Overall Barracks Row is quite nice.

But the street where the chipotle/7-11/bus stop is remains problematic. I always walk on the Yes Market/Firehouse side to avoid that street.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Overall Barracks Row is quite nice.

But the street where the chipotle/7-11/bus stop is remains problematic. I always walk on the Yes Market/Firehouse side to avoid that street.

That is the literal “Row” referred to in Barracks Row.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:I’m surprised no one has mentioned Takoma park on this thread yet (probably bc this is the dcps board). But we moved there a few years ago and have been very happy. It’s more of a small town vibe, rather than sprawling suburbs. Very walkable, easy to commute to my job on the hill, we got an yard, and we’ve been happy with the schools. It sounds like OP is considering Silver Spring, which (depending on the neighborhood they land on) would likely be pretty similar in terms of walkability. It’s not perfect here (traffic, and we have plenty of posturing lawn signs), but it’s much more livable and relaxing, for us.

Takoma park is great if you like insane commuters blasting through the neighborhood, constant traffic, high housing prices for poorly maintained cheap siding covered homes, and truly bad to mediocre schools. Also if you think proximity to Georgia Ave is a plus (pawn shops and McDonald’s) then sure, maybe? I guess some people like crime.

Huh? Georgia Ave doesn’t even go through TKPK… if you don’t like it, don’t move there, though it sounds like maybe you haven’t been there before? I’m just sharing my experience of moving to another neighborhood without big regrets in case it’s helpful to the OP, who may be wrestling with some of the same issues we were (crime, schools, space, etc).

From what I can tell, the CH boosters don’t like any neighbourhood in DC, MD or VA except CH

I am not a CH booster, but as a former takoma resident, I am also not going to pretend takoma is remotely better than Capitol Hill or even Trinidad. Honestly Brightwood is better than Takoma and it’s a huge dump.

I think the poster who brought up Takoma probably meant Takoma Park MD

[Anonymous]

Interesting that the Eastern principal ran outta there and jumped ship to JR. He did not move the needle on Eastern and clearly felt he didn’t have any unfinished work there. I think the new principal was a well liked assistant principal at JR but not sure he can do any meaningful overhaul without the blessing of DCPS Central and they seem fine with the current state of Eastern