What's wrong with Kensington?

[Anonymous]

I'm a Kensington booster but I don't live there. I think the PP from NWDC is a little odd; all of her description of the neighborhood is really just based on the people she knows rather than the environment itself. (For example, I know a lot of people of X religion who live in NWDC; that's not actually evidence of the demographic breakdown or environment of NWDC.) My child goes to Rosemary Hills and has lots of friends in south Kensington (Rock Creek Hills??) and I have no idea what hteir religions might be but I've never gotten any sense that it is a "Catholic" neighborhood. I just like the old town/antique section and the fact that the houses in Rock Creek Hills seem to be a bit more widely spaced than in nearby CC or Bethesda, even though it's not much further in terms of a commute to DC. It doesn't seem like many houses come on the market in that area, though - I watch only because I'd love to move there. Also watch for the fact that MCPS is considering placing a new middle school around there, which strangely enough seems to be unpopular with the parents of the kids who live there.

[Anonymous]

Here's a con.
You are outside the beltway in Kensington so traffic going south in the AM and north in the PM is worse, especially along Conn.

[Anonymous]

there's no "there, there"?
please don't compare Chevy Chase to Kensington - the two are vastly different!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Kensington booster but I don't live there. I think the PP from NWDC is a little odd; all of her description of the neighborhood is really just based on the people she knows rather than the environment itself. (For example, I know a lot of people of X religion who live in NWDC; that's not actually evidence of the demographic breakdown or environment of NWDC.) My child goes to Rosemary Hills and has lots of friends in south Kensington (Rock Creek Hills??) and I have no idea what hteir religions might be but I've never gotten any sense that it is a "Catholic" neighborhood. I just like the old town/antique section and the fact that the houses in Rock Creek Hills seem to be a bit more widely spaced than in nearby CC or Bethesda, even though it's not much further in terms of a commute to DC. It doesn't seem like many houses come on the market in that area, though - I watch only because I'd love to move there. Also watch for the fact that MCPS is considering placing a new middle school around there, which strangely enough seems to be unpopular with the parents of the kids who live there.

It would seem less strange to you if you saw the park that they've picked for the site -- it's only 13 acres (MCPS normally requires 20 for schools) and is currently well-used and loved by the neighborhood for its beautiful soccer fields (redone last year), tennis courts, jogging track and playground. The only access is via two narrow neighborhood streets, so it would completely disrupt the entire quiet neighborhood around it. Interestingly enough, the park and the retirement home next to it used to be a middle school, from what I understand. So the new school would go on less than half the site of where the old school formerly sat decades ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a Kensington booster but I don't live there. I think the PP from NWDC is a little odd; all of her description of the neighborhood is really just based on the people she knows rather than the environment itself. (For example, I know a lot of people of X religion who live in NWDC; that's not actually evidence of the demographic breakdown or environment of NWDC.) My child goes to Rosemary Hills and has lots of friends in south Kensington (Rock Creek Hills??) and I have no idea what hteir religions might be but I've never gotten any sense that it is a "Catholic" neighborhood. I just like the old town/antique section and the fact that the houses in Rock Creek Hills seem to be a bit more widely spaced than in nearby CC or Bethesda, even though it's not much further in terms of a commute to DC. It doesn't seem like many houses come on the market in that area, though - I watch only because I'd love to move there. Also watch for the fact that MCPS is considering placing a new middle school around there, which strangely enough seems to be unpopular with the parents of the kids who live there.

It would seem less strange to you if you saw the park that they've picked for the site -- it's only 13 acres (MCPS normally requires 20 for schools) and is currently well-used and loved by the neighborhood for its beautiful soccer fields (redone last year), tennis courts, jogging track and playground. The only access is via two narrow neighborhood streets, so it would completely disrupt the entire quiet neighborhood around it. Interestingly enough, the park and the retirement home next to it used to be a middle school, from what I understand. So the new school would go on less than half the site of where the old school formerly sat decades ago.

Are you talking about the school being proposed near the Gwendolyn Coffey community center? Or is this something different? I'm trying to get a handle on what neighborhood Rock Creek Hills comprises.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Huh, didn't know that there was a large Catholic population. Not that it is an issue for me, but didn't know it.

I think PP is overstating the Catholic thing. Around Holy Redeemer, yes. Around greater Kensington, not necessarily.

I do know someone who moved into a really nice house near Holy Redeemer and had trouble making connections in the neighborhood. In addition to the fact that her kids didn't go to school with the kids around them, she felt a bit judged by the more conservative group that ran the social scene in the neighborhood. They didn't like her anti-Bush, pro-choice bumperstickers, for example.

So it's something to be aware of, not for the religion per se, but the fact that this is a different demographic politically than the rest of MoCo. IIRC, a map of MoCo voting shows that Holy Redeemer neighborhood as a red spot in a sea of blue. For some that might not be as good a fit.

[Anonymous]

Are you talking about the school being proposed near the Gwendolyn Coffey community center? Or is this something different? I'm trying to get a handle on what neighborhood Rock Creek Hills comprises.

Yes, the proposed second middle school in the B-CC cluster. That site has been scrapped and replaced with the Rock Creek Hills site. Rock Creek Hills is north of Beach Drive, East of Kensington Parkway, west of Rock Creek Park, and south of wherever the town of Kensington starts - Washington Street maybe?

[Anonymous]

Here's a map of Rock Creek Hills. The "Kensington Cabin Park" (which is incorrectly labeled) on this map is the proposed site of the new school. This is actually Rock Creek Hills park, with Kensington Cabin Park being the smaller green park at the corner of Kensington Parkway & Everett.

http://www.rchca.org/images/rchca%20map%20with%20line1024.jpg

[Anonymous]

The Chevy Chase View/Holy Redeemer neighborhood has lovely, expensive homes and a small town feel, but you should know that most (if not all) kids go to Holy Redeemer and most (if not all) people there are mega-conservative Republicans (I heard from locals bragging they steered Obama administration folks out of the area -- I'm not kidding). It's sort of like living in the 1950s there (with all the good and the bad that goes along with it). Plus, zero diversity (the non-Catholics would be the only diversity, and that would be a very small group). Everyone who lives there pretty much grew up there, went to HR, and now moved back to raise their families.

[Anonymous]

Sorry PP, I'm the Kensington booster and I still think it reflects very badly on the Rock Creek Hills community that they are trying to mobilize against a middle school in their midst. Especially when it coming from the parents of the kids who would actually go to the school (circulating on feeder elementary PTA list servs.) I don't get the horror at having your lovely neighborhood "disrupted" ... by a school for your own kids. WTF? It's the worst kind of NIMBYism. I want the school to go there simply to annoy you all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry PP, I'm the Kensington booster and I still think it reflects very badly on the Rock Creek Hills community that they are trying to mobilize against a middle school in their midst. Especially when it coming from the parents of the kids who would actually go to the school (circulating on feeder elementary PTA list servs.) I don't get the horror at having your lovely neighborhood "disrupted" ... by a school for your own kids. WTF? It's the worst kind of NIMBYism. I want the school to go there simply to annoy you all.

I think you're responding to my post above. I think there's mainly a lot of shock about the school proposal -- I know that's mainly my reaction. Apparently, this was a potential back-up site with another clear frontrunner that everyone was expecting, so no discussions had been held with the community. Then the council changed its mind four hours before the vote and voted on this site instead without much in the way of advance warning. There's a significant amount of process ahead where I hope that the community will be heard on this. I'm not against another middle school (even though we're years away from it in our household), and many families in the neighborhood would benefit in terms of convenience. But if you're from CCV or RCH, you know that this area is a very quiet, sleepy sort of neighborhood, and the prospect of a very large school on a relatively small lot with lots of bus traffic is a lot to wrap one's head around. Especially since it feels rather sprung upon everyone. This isn't like the purple line where there's been, effectively, years of notice to homeowners that it might be happening. I'm sorry you're so inclined to see all of us annoyed. Some may end up annoyed at the end of the day, but I think most people would say that they'd just like to be heard on this important subject before key decisions are made.

[Anonymous]

Garrett Park is in Kensington, no? I think that is a beautiful little neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Garrett Park is in Kensington, no? I think that is a beautiful little neighborhood.

Technically, yes, but those who live there consider Garrett Park a separate world. They are a little full of themselves at times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out Chevy Chase View in Kensington (20895). Large older homes that sell for $800k to well over one million. Very close knit community. Many of the residents send their kids to Holy Redeemer, which is right in the neighborhood. The local elem is Parkwood. The neighborhood pool is Cedarbrook. Very small hometown feel --- easy commute downtown.

I grew up in Chevy Chase View. It's a wonderful community. However, the Schools are Rosemary Hills, Westland and BCC. Not very good, that's one reason that a lot of kids go to Holy Redeemer. Also, many families are Catholic.

There are parts of Kensington that also go to Einstein. People on here will say that it's ok, but it's not. It's terrible. The rest of Kensington goes to Walter Johnson.
So, Kensington has a huge socioeconomic range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Check out Chevy Chase View in Kensington (20895). Large older homes that sell for $800k to well over one million. Very close knit community. Many of the residents send their kids to Holy Redeemer, which is right in the neighborhood. The local elem is Parkwood. The neighborhood pool is Cedarbrook. Very small hometown feel --- easy commute downtown.

I grew up in Chevy Chase View. It's a wonderful community. However, the Schools are Rosemary Hills, Westland and BCC. Not very good, that's one reason that a lot of kids go to Holy Redeemer. Also, many families are Catholic.

Rosemary Hills/North Chevy Chase/Westland/BCC are all very good schools. I really don't think anyone in that school pyramid has to worry about quality (and yes I know Westland is considered the weak link but I think that is partly an out of date view and partly due to the nature of middle schools).

I love Kensington. The only advantages I see to Bethesda are easier access to the metro (although I think MARC stops in Kensington, if you are going to Union Station) and parts of Bethesda are a little more walkable. Is KP the school with an arts magnet? I have friends who have been very happy there.