Relocating to DC...what's life like?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP who just wrote a novel on living 'uniquely' in DC. Here's some recent, similar sales in other buildings near (zip code: 20008) the link I previously posted:
https://bit.ly/3IxbNAl

And for the zip code across Connecticut Avenue (20009), which has much more variety and but some very similar areas close by:
https://bit.ly/3ye9QUS

Thank you for this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

Then why don’t you move to an urban environment near you? Like Chicago. You seem to really want an urban environment. Why do you need to move across the country for this? You’ve moved many, many times. It seems like a red flag.

[Anonymous]

Ask Meliania

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

Then why don’t you move to an urban environment near you? Like Chicago. You seem to really want an urban environment. Why do you need to move across the country for this? You’ve moved many, many times. It seems like a red flag.

She said her husband has work here.

I'm the Ohio poster. I think the DC area would be a good place for you and your family because it is a good mix of urban and suburban life, way more than Milwaukee or similar mid-sized cities. It sounds like you would like space for 5 people, a yard, walkability, and good schools. This is what everyone in the DC area wants, so you pay a premium for it.

I think you'd like Capitol Hill or Chevy Chase (if you can find something in your price range), Bethesda (if you want to be surrounded by mostly UMC) or downtown Silver Spring (if you want to have more SES and ethnic diversity).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

Then why don’t you move to an urban environment near you? Like Chicago. You seem to really want an urban environment. Why do you need to move across the country for this? You’ve moved many, many times. It seems like a red flag.

She said her husband has work here.

I'm the Ohio poster. I think the DC area would be a good place for you and your family because it is a good mix of urban and suburban life, way more than Milwaukee or similar mid-sized cities. It sounds like you would like space for 5 people, a yard, walkability, and good schools. This is what everyone in the DC area wants, so you pay a premium for it.

I think you'd like Capitol Hill or Chevy Chase (if you can find something in your price range), Bethesda (if you want to be surrounded by mostly UMC) or downtown Silver Spring (if you want to have more SES and ethnic diversity).

From everything OP has said, it seems like her rosy view of DC and desire to live in an urban environment is driving the move. Not her husband’s job.

[Anonymous]

I love living in DC. My kids attend DC public school. We live East of Rock Creek Park, which has a very different vibe (more friendly and down to earth) than our previous neighborhood West of the Park. Two kids, one in MS and the other HS. HS kid is at a magnet. I find DC more livable for a family than NY. Tons to do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I'm the Ohio poster. I LOVE DC. We live in Silver Spring, though, because we couldn't afford anything close to $1.8 million for a house. We have a 6 year old son. Here's a rambling of things I love about DC that we couldn't find in Ohio:

Restaurants, bars, concerts, proximity to NYC and the beach.

Finding likeminded friends; I have made some lifelong friends through work, a new moms group I joined when on maternity leave, and friends through my son's preschool and now in our neighborhood. In fact, my neighbor picked my son up after school so he could play with her son and I could finish up work. Most of my friends and neighbors are working professionals, although there are a few SAHMs. Everyone around me went to college and most went to grad school. We value education but my friends are neighbors are also really fun. My neighborhood is diverse, and my son goes to a focus school where some of the kids speak Spanish as their first language and are low-income.

Obviously, city life was way more fun when we were young, lived in Adams Morgan, and didn't have a child. But we make it work and find time for date nights to 9:30 club or the Anthem.

It's so easy to catch a direct flight from one of the 3 airports to anywhere we want to go. Amtrak.

Museums, monuments, etc. DC is a place where people want to visit you.

The after school, camp, sports, etc. activities around here vastly surpass what's available in my hometown. My son does an afterschool STEM program and plays hockey. Where I grew up, kindergarten is still half day, and there aren't many after school programs at the school. Here, there's lots of after school programs and since DH and I both work, neither of us have to take time off to drive to after school activities. if you live in DC, there's free PreK.

I think this area is REALLY friendly. Maybe it's just where I live? Maybe it's my personality? I don't know, but I feel like I fit right in here. I have a great work/life balance and despite not having the things my parents think we need (being close to them, having a big house), we love the DC area and aren't leaving. If I could afford to live anywhere in the city (you almost can at $1.8 million), I'd choose close to downtown Bethesda.

You're kidding yourself if you think these friends will be "life long." When the kids are grown and the job is done, check back in with us.

-- empty nester

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

Then why don’t you move to an urban environment near you? Like Chicago. You seem to really want an urban environment. Why do you need to move across the country for this? You’ve moved many, many times. It seems like a red flag.

She said her husband has work here.

I'm the Ohio poster. I think the DC area would be a good place for you and your family because it is a good mix of urban and suburban life, way more than Milwaukee or similar mid-sized cities. It sounds like you would like space for 5 people, a yard, walkability, and good schools. This is what everyone in the DC area wants, so you pay a premium for it.

I think you'd like Capitol Hill or Chevy Chase (if you can find something in your price range), Bethesda (if you want to be surrounded by mostly UMC) or downtown Silver Spring (if you want to have more SES and ethnic diversity).

From everything OP has said, it seems like her rosy view of DC and desire to live in an urban environment is driving the move. Not her husband’s job.

It’s a distinctive place, there’s nothing surprising about thinking it might offer something uniquely different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP, I'm the Ohio poster. I LOVE DC. We live in Silver Spring, though, because we couldn't afford anything close to $1.8 million for a house. We have a 6 year old son. Here's a rambling of things I love about DC that we couldn't find in Ohio:

Restaurants, bars, concerts, proximity to NYC and the beach.

Finding likeminded friends; I have made some lifelong friends through work, a new moms group I joined when on maternity leave, and friends through my son's preschool and now in our neighborhood. In fact, my neighbor picked my son up after school so he could play with her son and I could finish up work. Most of my friends and neighbors are working professionals, although there are a few SAHMs. Everyone around me went to college and most went to grad school. We value education but my friends are neighbors are also really fun. My neighborhood is diverse, and my son goes to a focus school where some of the kids speak Spanish as their first language and are low-income.

Obviously, city life was way more fun when we were young, lived in Adams Morgan, and didn't have a child. But we make it work and find time for date nights to 9:30 club or the Anthem.

It's so easy to catch a direct flight from one of the 3 airports to anywhere we want to go. Amtrak.

Museums, monuments, etc. DC is a place where people want to visit you.

The after school, camp, sports, etc. activities around here vastly surpass what's available in my hometown. My son does an afterschool STEM program and plays hockey. Where I grew up, kindergarten is still half day, and there aren't many after school programs at the school. Here, there's lots of after school programs and since DH and I both work, neither of us have to take time off to drive to after school activities. if you live in DC, there's free PreK.

I think this area is REALLY friendly. Maybe it's just where I live? Maybe it's my personality? I don't know, but I feel like I fit right in here. I have a great work/life balance and despite not having the things my parents think we need (being close to them, having a big house), we love the DC area and aren't leaving. If I could afford to live anywhere in the city (you almost can at $1.8 million), I'd choose close to downtown Bethesda.

You're kidding yourself if you think these friends will be "life long." When the kids are grown and the job is done, check back in with us. Seriously, that’s what you want to nitpick?

-- empty nester

Ok, if that’s what you want to nitpick. The op asked if it’s hard to make friends in dc. It was not hard for me to make friendships that have lasted 7 years and counting. I’ll check back in in 15 years if you’d like. 🙄

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, I hope you haven't given up on this thread yet. I've been enjoying it (voyeurism is real, I'm afraid!) and have had some thoughts since I posted earlier about the uniquely high-density of educated professional-class strivers around DC....

It hits me from learning more about you that you and your family probably have above average coping skills and an above average interest in the rest of the world. You are probably a little different from the typical tribal DC person or, for that matter, typical tribal London person or tribal HK or NYC person. You might be better at doing things your way and of not being caught in the biggest traps.

That means, at least to me, that you might be better at not getting unnerved by the legions of petty women with big SUVs that can't stop playing stupid status games. It also means that maybe you don't want an obvious tribe of like-minded folks and that you can fashion your own life, one that cuts across the obvious bright lines others' respect too much.

One previous poster (they are in Dupont Circle) claimed that no one had even hinted at urban options, but I at least tangentially hinted at them by noting options along Connecticut Avenue or 16th Street. I went looking at them because there's an area I've long thought is undervalued for a certain kind of family.

Here's a large condo (3beds is hard to find in DC), a rarity in DC, but in a very nice older building:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2126-Connecticut-Ave-NW-34-Washington-DC-20008/460726_zpid/

You are very close to the thick of it here, but the immediate few blocks in most cardinal directions are either very-posh or diplomatic and that means fairly safe, as I can assure you the police are watching *you*. Due north is Rock Creek Park, but also one of the main residential compounds for the Chinese Embassy, so maybe think of this place as something like Nathan Road?

But you are also not so far from commercial stuff or gritter urban areas or public transportation. The nearby neighborhoods have attracted some of DC's more famous Brits, one (still alive) who was a President of the Oxford Union and Harkness Fellow, another was Oxonian who mingled with WJC and was regarded as a contemporary echo of Lytton Strachey.

There would still be a lot of figuring things if you ended up in a unit like this or another in a similar building nearby, but I'd seriously consider an atypical life like this as being better than simply following the well-worn paths of striving professionals.

OP here - OK, I'll bite haha. I don't mind replying to useful posts like this. My family are definitely not "tribal-like". We try to be friendly neighbors, but rarely get too caught up in their business. We genuinely just enjoy being near the buzz of an urban environment and want our children to be exposed to it as well. I don't drive a SUV and am typically very uninterested in games/gossip (which usually means I can be out of the loop at times). I love your suggestions as we are always up for something new, but of course it now has to include parenting and having a dog. The Zillow link is a really nice place, just wish the dog didn't need to go outside, which means the kids would be on their own inside. For a while at least, I'll need a bit of attached fenced green space. But yes, in the thick of things would be great. Thank you for the info!

Then why don’t you move to an urban environment near you? Like Chicago. You seem to really want an urban environment. Why do you need to move across the country for this? You’ve moved many, many times. It seems like a red flag.

She said her husband has work here.

I'm the Ohio poster. I think the DC area would be a good place for you and your family because it is a good mix of urban and suburban life, way more than Milwaukee or similar mid-sized cities. It sounds like you would like space for 5 people, a yard, walkability, and good schools. This is what everyone in the DC area wants, so you pay a premium for it.

I think you'd like Capitol Hill or Chevy Chase (if you can find something in your price range), Bethesda (if you want to be surrounded by mostly UMC) or downtown Silver Spring (if you want to have more SES and ethnic diversity).

There are suburbs in midsize cities that run circles around the Maryland suburbs you mention. But for the OP, please look in nova too. Virginia’s state schools are much better than Maryland’s if you plan on staying that long.

[Anonymous]

I moved to NW DC when my kid was going into kindergarten, public school. The parents were pretty friendly, almost all the moms work outside the home. The pickup and drop off was striking to me at first because it was half dads. As a working mom l appreciate that.

Something l didn’t anticipate was that the level of education of most of the parents is very high, like it seems like half or more have a PhD. Lots of interesting well travelled people. They push their kids a lot in sports and academics. I don’t like that. I mean does your kindergartner really need to be reading chapter books? I moved my kid to a small private in 2nd grade due to Covid. It’s actually less competitive and less pressure. All the kids are taught to their level. I couldn’t believe in public how my normal kid (according to his teacher) already felt behind in first grade because the class was so segregated by reading levels already. I didn’t even know the alphabet when l started kindergarten, so this was a shock. I’m from Canada.

With your budget l would think about spending less on the housing and maybe spring for private school. Unless you are up for supplementing and pushing your kids a lot to keep up. Maybe this has all changed with COVID though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here - Currently, we are not looking at private schools. Have registered for the online EdFest next weekend. Do families with kids live in row houses or are they typically in single family detached homes? Really miss the walkability of Hong Kong and being close to good food, shopping, coffee, etc. Thanks so much for everyone's feedback!!

In NW there are more urban areas, and more suburban areas. If you want walkability to coffee shops and bookstores etc., try Chevy Chase DC, Cleveland Park, and Tenleytown.

https://tenleytownmainstreet.org/

https://www.longandfoster.com/dc/washington/chevy-chase

https://www.longandfoster.com/DC/Washington/Cleveland-Park

And Forest Hills too

[Anonymous]

If you want suburban feel in the city, go for Chevy Chase DC or American University park. Detached houses, great schools, lots of kids.
Besides this, DuPont circle has one of the nicest elementaries, Ross.
More urban, try east of the park neighborhoods, Bloomingdale, logan circle, or Shaw. The schools are diverse, but you’ll find many good teachers and families of all backgrounds. However, a big caveat, I can’t believe I’m the first to warn you about violent crime—it’s reached troubling levels in downtown neighborhoods and Capitol Hill. Take that very seriously,

[Anonymous]

If I had a good life in wisconsin, knowing what I know, there is 0% chance I would move here.