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

[Anonymous]

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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.

It’s one block.

No, it's not. It runs all the way from Pennsylvania down South to the highway. It's only one street "wide" (i.e., 8th st.), if that's what you mean?

And only one of those blocks (the one with the Chipotle/7-11) is problematic, with homeless, etc.

Uhhhh, no. I mean, that's the worst block. But the metro plaza is also very bad and plenty of that questionable behavior trickles further down 8th. Plenty of times that I've been eating/drinking at Ambar, Lola's, or Matchbox and there have been people who appear to be drunk or high harassing the staff or the patrons out on the patio or streetery. It's not the critical mass you get up by the Chipotle, but it's not like there's some magical barrier around that Chipotle/7-11.

There have also been murders down at the McDonald's down Penn Ave and there was that horrible shoot out that exited the highway and came up 11th and resulted in multiple deaths and a ton of property damage. I know a bunch of people in that part of the neighborhood who have had break ins or cars stolen or damaged. One person I know, some teenagers broke into her house via a window, took her car keys, and took there car for a joyride. The car was recovered on the Hill the next day and the cops said they wouldn't investigate because her security camera footage didn't show faces and the car had been recovered undamaged. What. the. heck.

[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!

I hate to contribute to this discussion, but I think you must be confusing Maury for a different school.

LT: https://www.redfin.com/school/159511/DC/Washington-DC/Ludlow-Taylor-Elementary-School

Maury: https://www.redfin.com/school/118348/DC/Washington-DC/Maury-Elementary-School

So they basically share a border for the more expensive part of the Maury zone, while LT extends west and Maury extends east from there. LT zone is pretty small and has multiple houses going for over $2 million currently. It goes no further north than H and no further east than 12th. Most of it is only a few blocks to Stanton Park or a few blocks to Lincoln Park. Where is the magic part of it that's a green space deprived dump? I think the Western part of the Maury zone is very nice and well-located, but there's way more of the Maury zone that's near nothing and not very nice than the LT zone. They seem to be equidistant to Eastern Market.

Wow someone is really angry in their falling down 1.5 bedroom home with no basement!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

It’s one block.

No, it's not. It runs all the way from Pennsylvania down South to the highway. It's only one street "wide" (i.e., 8th st.), if that's what you mean?

And only one of those blocks (the one with the Chipotle/7-11) is problematic, with homeless, etc.

Uhhhh, no. I mean, that's the worst block. But the metro plaza is also very bad and plenty of that questionable behavior trickles further down 8th. Plenty of times that I've been eating/drinking at Ambar, Lola's, or Matchbox and there have been people who appear to be drunk or high harassing the staff or the patrons out on the patio or streetery. It's not the critical mass you get up by the Chipotle, but it's not like there's some magical barrier around that Chipotle/7-11.

There have also been murders down at the McDonald's down Penn Ave and there was that horrible shoot out that exited the highway and came up 11th and resulted in multiple deaths and a ton of property damage. I know a bunch of people in that part of the neighborhood who have had break ins or cars stolen or damaged. One person I know, some teenagers broke into her house via a window, took her car keys, and took there car for a joyride. The car was recovered on the Hill the next day and the cops said they wouldn't investigate because her security camera footage didn't show faces and the car had been recovered undamaged. What. the. heck.

There is crime all over dc, especially in areas with lots of nightlife. I feel similarly about H street and Union market areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A totally derailed thread. But a good reminder of what you loons really think.

Please explain how it is derailed. People are giving honest opinions.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Are you considering moving to NW, or outside of DC? I am asking because before we got great 5th grade lottery luck we were having the same conversations in our house. We came to the conclusion that the NW burbs were really just that; burbs. Deal and JR are the best public schools in DC, but they do not compare favorably to the best public schools in MD or VA. If we were prepared to leave CH for schools, we weren't going to nibble around the edges for JR and were going to just pull the ripcord and decamp for true burbs and objectively better schools.

This. If we moved it would be for the BCC pyramid.

BCC isn't that different from Jackson-Reed though. If you want the best public schools in MD you should move into the Whitman zone or another W pyramid

You’re funny.

Agree W pyramid or schools in Virginia. If you’re going to live in a sad suburb at least make it low crime with good schools.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The only reason people have problems with Takoma is because there are too many black people in the neighborhood. It’s the truth that people won’t say out loud.

Takoma Dc or takoma md? Takoma dc always struck me as predominately white - the kind of white person puts one of those anti racist yard signs up but has zero black or Latino friends.

I was referring to Takoma DC. These people will scream that they aren’t racist but make no effort to socialize with black folks.

[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.

Brightwood is a huge dump? What parts are you referring? We are looking at moving and noticed some inventory south of the new Walter Reed site (west of GA ave) and didn’t get a dump vibe?

Can you elaborate?

Go to that Safeway on Van Buren/piney branch around 9pm on a weeknight and come back to talk to me. There is also a CVS on the other side of Georgia Ave- really any time of day or night- which should be sufficient to give you that dump vibe.

Oh and all those areas are priced as if Walter Reed is already built, while it will take years for that place to be finished.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The only reason people have problems with Takoma is because there are too many black people in the neighborhood. It’s the truth that people won’t say out loud.

Takoma Dc or takoma md? Takoma dc always struck me as predominately white - the kind of white person puts one of those anti racist yard signs up but has zero black or Latino friends.

I was referring to Takoma DC. These people will scream that they aren’t racist but make no effort to socialize with black folks.

COULD. NOT. AGREE. MORE.

Don’t forget proximity to Georgia Ave too.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The only reason people have problems with Takoma is because there are too many black people in the neighborhood. It’s the truth that people won’t say out loud.

Takoma Dc or takoma md? Takoma dc always struck me as predominately white - the kind of white person puts one of those anti racist yard signs up but has zero black or Latino friends.

I was referring to Takoma DC. These people will scream that they aren’t racist but make no effort to socialize with black folks.

COULD. NOT. AGREE. MORE.

Don’t forget proximity to Georgia Ave too.

You see how some of them are talking on this forum. They’re all undercover racists but would move before they let a blacks person become their neighbor lol

[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.

Brightwood is a huge dump? What parts are you referring? We are looking at moving and noticed some inventory south of the new Walter Reed site (west of GA ave) and didn’t get a dump vibe?

Can you elaborate?

Go to that Safeway on Van Buren/piney branch around 9pm on a weeknight and come back to talk to me. There is also a CVS on the other side of Georgia Ave- really any time of day or night- which should be sufficient to give you that dump vibe.

Oh and all those areas are priced as if Walter Reed is already built, while it will take years for that place to be finished.

To these folks on this forum, anywhere with black folks is a “dump” lol. They should just come clean and admit that they’re racists. Us black folks are tired of doing the unveiling all the time lol

[Anonymous]

And watch them try to shut down this thread because someone called out the racist folks in Takoma DC. If they don’t like being called out, maybe they shouldn’t be racist toward black folks.

[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!

I hate to contribute to this discussion, but I think you must be confusing Maury for a different school.

LT: https://www.redfin.com/school/159511/DC/Washington-DC/Ludlow-Taylor-Elementary-School

Maury: https://www.redfin.com/school/118348/DC/Washington-DC/Maury-Elementary-School

So they basically share a border for the more expensive part of the Maury zone, while LT extends west and Maury extends east from there. LT zone is pretty small and has multiple houses going for over $2 million currently. It goes no further north than H and no further east than 12th. Most of it is only a few blocks to Stanton Park or a few blocks to Lincoln Park. Where is the magic part of it that's a green space deprived dump? I think the Western part of the Maury zone is very nice and well-located, but there's way more of the Maury zone that's near nothing and not very nice than the LT zone. They seem to be equidistant to Eastern Market.

Yeah, you’re 2.5 bedroom home with no basement is identical to the Maury zone around Lincoln park. Sure. Definitely!! And everyone knows ludlow Taylor is on par with Brent and Maury too. And by the way, there are so many parks, no housing projects and no crime.

As an amendment to my previous comments, add “delusional people” to reasons why the ludlow Taylor district is undesirable.

There are no housing projects in the LT zone. There may not be the really big piles like on N Carolina but otherwise housing seems the same. This is a very weird argument.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And watch them try to shut down this thread because someone called out the racist folks in Takoma DC. If they don’t like being called out, maybe they shouldn’t be racist toward black folks.

Takoma dc is really bad in this respect. Fyi they definitely don’t limit their racism to just black people as they definitely are racist towards Latino families as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And watch them try to shut down this thread because someone called out the racist folks in Takoma DC. If they don’t like being called out, maybe they shouldn’t be racist toward black folks.

Takoma dc is really bad in this respect. Fyi they definitely don’t limit their racism to just black people as they definitely are racist towards Latino families as well.

I bet they’ll stop when they come across the right black person who won’t tolerate that mess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And watch them try to shut down this thread because someone called out the racist folks in Takoma DC. If they don’t like being called out, maybe they shouldn’t be racist toward black folks.

The only racists in this thread are the ones calling a middle/working class black neighborhood a dump