TKPK or CCDC?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here — This is all helpful thank you.

We are definitely more hippie than preppy😂

Reading the replies, I think I’m realizing it really does come down to the safety question. Otherwise, I’d prefer takoma park for a lot of reasons - I just think I’m nervous to move and have the same experience we’ve had recently in Columbia Heights wrt safety.

TKPK is very safe, especially with that budget if you're buying on the NW side of Carroll.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here — This is all helpful thank you.

We are definitely more hippie than preppy😂

Reading the replies, I think I’m realizing it really does come down to the safety question. Otherwise, I’d prefer takoma park for a lot of reasons - I just think I’m nervous to move and have the same experience we’ve had recently in Columbia Heights wrt safety.

TKPK is very safe, especially with that budget if you're buying on the NW side of Carroll.

We moved to the historic district in 2016 from Columbia heights and it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders safety wise. That's not to say it's perfect. If you leave your car doors unlocked, it will be rifled through eventually. We had some store windows broken overnight a few months back, repeatedly. We had that rash of Kia thefts and the police department sends out notices about air bags and catalytic converters being stolen. I've never felt personally threatened and I don't hesitate to take my kids out or walk around myself, though. I really love the community and I don't find the crime level unreasonable, though if course it's disappointing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would think Takoma Park and CCDC would appeal to wildly different people.

Is this a joke?

[Anonymous]

They are both safe and the schools are no sure bet anywhere but good in both places so just start looking for houses and go on vibes and when you win one you like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think a marginally better "walkable restaurant and coffee scene" is as important as schools and safety. Not by a long shot.

The main commercial strip of CCDC on Connecticut is a great place for a stroll and has a few good neighborhood restaurants, an amazing independent toy store, and an actual greengrocer. Lots of great preschools around too!

You'd also be close to the walkable commercial areas of Cleveland Park and Downtown Bethesda if that interests you.

CCDC is not exactly walkable to downtown Bethesda…..and it’s a hike to Cleveland Park

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CCDC is going to have a lot more very wealthy people and depending on where you are could be more or less car dependent.

I think the schools are probably a wash, as is safety.

TKPK has a very small town hippie feel, like if you took UC out of Berkeley. During the fall it has an almost Gilmore Girls level of town events from the very large street festival to Pajarama and markets. The farmers market even does a pie contest. Between the DC side and the Maryland side someone seems to know someone else at any given moment hanging out on a weekend when it's even remotely nice.

CCDC also has restaurants and a community, just a very different one. Much preppier. A lot more private school folks. And frankly $1.7 probably won't go as far (though taxes will be lower).

CCDC also skews much older. TK will have more families with younger children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CCDC is going to have a lot more very wealthy people and depending on where you are could be more or less car dependent.

I think the schools are probably a wash, as is safety.

TKPK has a very small town hippie feel, like if you took UC out of Berkeley. During the fall it has an almost Gilmore Girls level of town events from the very large street festival to Pajarama and markets. The farmers market even does a pie contest. Between the DC side and the Maryland side someone seems to know someone else at any given moment hanging out on a weekend when it's even remotely nice.

CCDC also has restaurants and a community, just a very different one. Much preppier. A lot more private school folks. And frankly $1.7 probably won't go as far (though taxes will be lower).

CCDC also skews much older. TK will have more families with younger children.

It's definitely starting to skew much younger, both families and otherwise. There's a distillery moving in, a new vintage/plants/books store, and if you blink on a Saturday morning in San Pancho you might think you're in Brooklyn for a split second.

[Anonymous]

I live in CCDC and it is totally different from Takoma Park. We have 2 kids in public school. Tons of families here, a lot of community, very safe, and the schools are excellent. Y

[Anonymous]

Am I on glue? I’ve lived here my whole life and these are very, very similar neighborhoods. Not identical, of course, but fundamentally the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I on glue? I’ve lived here my whole life and these are very, very similar neighborhoods. Not identical, of course, but fundamentally the same.

Technically both neighborhoods are either partially in Ward 4 or share a Main Street district in Ward 4 but I wouldn't really call them similar. They aren't wildly different, but I wouldn't call them fundamentally the same at all. There are a lot of rich white NIMBYs in both, but TKPK definitely has small town hippie vibes and CCDC is a lot more K Street adjacent preppy.

TKPK is also more diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:???

DC public schools are not better than Takoma Park schools.

And if in Maryland, you are in state for all the Maryland colleges.

Look in both and base it on which house you like best. If the houses are a toss up, choose Takoma Park for sure. Better schools, better services, more community.

The public schools in CCDC are most certainly better than the public schools in Takoma Park.

Absolutely not.
They are not even in the same league.
TPMS & Blair are leagues above Deal and JR

You are confusing the selection magnet with the reputation of Blair its self. Put it this way; even after brining in some of the best students from a massive county to prop up Blair’s test scores, it still manages to rank towards the bottom of the county. Don’t compare the best school in a city to lower ranked school in a county.

[Anonymous]

I still can’t tell whether OP is referring to TP DC or in MD. There is no way I’d send my kids to public schools in TP DC. And you can’t assume you’d get a spot at a charter school. Based on schools alone, I’d move to CCDC no question if those are the 2 choices.

Parts of TP in DC are ok and probably safe-ish but again, if that’s a priority, CCDC comes out on top.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still can’t tell whether OP is referring to TP DC or in MD. There is no way I’d send my kids to public schools in TP DC. And you can’t assume you’d get a spot at a charter school. Based on schools alone, I’d move to CCDC no question if those are the 2 choices.

Parts of TP in DC are ok and probably safe-ish but again, if that’s a priority, CCDC comes out on top.

OP is pretty clearly talking about TKPK but Whittier, which admittedly is technically mostly Brightwood, is a fantastic school.

[Anonymous]

Public schools in CCDC - Lafayette, Murch and Janey - are incredible. Alice Deal and Jackson Reed (or School Without Walls, if you get in) are also amazing. The kids in CCDC are from striver families who care about education (sometimes too much) and so the schools are a reflection of that.

I don’t know anything about Takoma schools.
Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:CCDC is going to have a lot more very wealthy people and depending on where you are could be more or less car dependent.

I think the schools are probably a wash, as is safety.

TKPK has a very small town hippie feel, like if you took UC out of Berkeley. During the fall it has an almost Gilmore Girls level of town events from the very large street festival to Pajarama and markets. The farmers market even does a pie contest. Between the DC side and the Maryland side someone seems to know someone else at any given moment hanging out on a weekend when it's even remotely nice.

CCDC also has restaurants and a community, just a very different one. Much preppier. A lot more private school folks. And frankly $1.7 probably won't go as far (though taxes will be lower).

CCDC also skews much older. TK will have more families with younger children.

It's definitely starting to skew much younger, both families and otherwise. There's a distillery moving in, a new vintage/plants/books store, and if you blink on a Saturday morning in San Pancho you might think you're in Brooklyn for a split second.

Where are these businesses going in? A distillery?