Living in close in Bethesda or DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are sending your kids to privates, I'd go with DC. Wouldn't even consider MD. If you are looking in AU park, it's a great neighborhood. Depending on where you'll be living, you'll be able to walk to stores/coffee shops and have a nice sense of community. And Turtle Park is great for kids. Plus the new pool at Wilson is supposed to be nice. Personally, I haven't even found the DMV in DC to be that bad.

Before I left my home in the South to attend Howard U, my father told me that D.C. was the armpit of the U.S. As a black person who lived in various parts of DC for a decade I feel comfortable confirming that dirty little truth, which you see so clearly with the local political scene, what passes for local culture, the searing de facto segregation, even the laughable inefficiency with which a minor snow day is handled. Bethesda is no paradise as the people are snooty and rude beyond belief but there are many amenities and it is calm, clean, and beautiful in a way that only a township established by educated Ashkenazim can be. Just check out the libraries in each place before you make your decision.

[Anonymous]

good news -- with a DC driver's license you can use Montgomery County libraries (also Arlington & Fairfax).

a DC resident who never goes to DC libraries, but has more library than credit cards

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On one side of Western Ave. the inhabitants eke out a desperate existence: starved of even basic services like running water or garbage collection, they rot and fester in their own feces. Criminal gangs and rats run riot, taking advantage of the post-apocalyptic anarchy to spray the area with bullets and hantovirus. An urban wasteland of boarded-up shops, set to the haunting backing track of wailing crack-whores.

On the northern side of the Avenue, a scene of idyllic bliss: neighbors stop to chat by white picket fences lined with roses: streets so immaculate you could eat your dinner off them, children running free safe in the knowledge that no harm could ever come to them, restaurants and shops tinkling with the happy laughter of their prosperous customers.

The AU area , Spring Valley, Kent etc is far less congested than Bethesda. Stay blocks west of Wisconsin to the Potomac . Search all the way down from Delcarlia to upper Burleith before the nice row/townhomes . Where the Georgetown U rentals/rich daddy owned students live.

However as a parent of older children I would recommend NOT buying in any location where they can get around sans parents. Huge drugs, drinking, hang out , hook up. That old adage "Do you know where your children are?" is largely ignored by many.

Don't ever assume your DC won't have special needs.

[Anonymous]

Now I'm really confused. If it's that bad why do so many people live in that area in really beautiful homes. It's not a townhouse, there is going to be a 2 car garage and a pretty nice yard, all we want is a safe area that was relatively close to work, close to the DC private schools and where the kids who go there live so my kids can have friends in their neighborhood, trash picked up, snow removed. Wisconsin ave seemed close, and there are a lot of cool shops, and a mall there so it just seemed "right". I made the tax comment, because I've learned that you pay taxes everywhere you go so I don't try to base my life decisions on taxes. Could these comments just be people's own personal aversions that aren't really facts? We could also move to Virginia, maybe Mclean, but that might really impact the commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are sending your kids to privates, I'd go with DC. Wouldn't even consider MD. If you are looking in AU park, it's a great neighborhood. Depending on where you'll be living, you'll be able to walk to stores/coffee shops and have a nice sense of community. And Turtle Park is great for kids. Plus the new pool at Wilson is supposed to be nice. Personally, I haven't even found the DMV in DC to be that bad.

Before I left my home in the South to attend Howard U, my father told me that D.C. was the armpit of the U.S. As a black person who lived in various parts of DC for a decade I feel comfortable confirming that dirty little truth, which you see so clearly with the local political scene, what passes for local culture, the searing de facto segregation, even the laughable inefficiency with which a minor snow day is handled. Bethesda is no paradise as the people are snooty and rude beyond belief but there are many amenities and it is calm, clean, and beautiful in a way that only a township established by educated Ashkenazim can be. Just check out the libraries in each place before you make your decision.

Bethesda is not a township. 75% of DC is an armpitdirty, people don't care about what it looks like, and the reason why we are "snooty" in Bethesda is because we care and when we see something that is dirty, overgrown, etc, BTW we don't call it snooty, we call it being a neighbor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Now I'm really confused. If it's that bad why do so many people live in that area in really beautiful homes. It's not a townhouse, there is going to be a 2 car garage and a pretty nice yard, all we want is a safe area that was relatively close to work, close to the DC private schools and where the kids who go there live so my kids can have friends in their neighborhood, trash picked up, snow removed. Wisconsin ave seemed close, and there are a lot of cool shops, and a mall there so it just seemed "right". I made the tax comment, because I've learned that you pay taxes everywhere you go so I don't try to base my life decisions on taxes. Could these comments just be people's own personal aversions that aren't really facts? We could also move to Virginia, maybe Mclean, but that might really impact the commute.

Is this the OP? Sorry, you've just stumbled into a long-standing "conversation" among people who live in the general DC/MD/VA area. People have their biases, and feel strongly about them. And yes, there is probably a grain of truth to much said in the previous posts, but on the whole, your experience living in the AU Park/Spring Valley area is not going to be that different from living in the Bethesda area across Western Avenue. Other than inherent differences in neighborhoods (what do the houses look like? are they close together or far apart? are there sidewalks? cul de sacs?) - all of which vary regardless of whether you are in DC or MD - the only differences you are likely to notice are government service-related, like trash pick up, DMV, taxes, 911 responsiveness, snow removal, and schools. If you asked most people 15 years ago (or anytime during the Barry administration), people would have told you that Montgomery County far surpassed DC in all of these areas. DC was poorly run back then. And Montgomery County is one of the nation's wealthiest counties, and quite organized. But the DC government has improved vastly over the past 15 years, with less improvement in the area of public schools (may not be relevant to you now, but as the PP noted you never know when you will need county services for your kids). And Montgomery County has being challenged by a number of factors - there has been a trend of lower-income people moving from DC to the burbs, stressing the County's services. So my sense is that the two governments are evening out. (If you had been here during the h1n1 outbreak last year, you would have found that DC FAR surpassed Montgomery County in terms of organization, public responsiveness, and receipt of vaccine, for example.)

My advice? If you really don't care about public schools and taxes, pick the neighborhood you like the best.

[Anonymous]

People in Upper NW can call Bethesda for ambulance service instead of the city 911, so you can cross that off the list of complaints.

The snow removal in the areas in question were far superior (all things considered) in DC than Montgomery County, so you can cross that off the list.

DMV - I received last week my notice for renewal, received the new registration today. Cross that off the list.

The fact of the matter is that DC, like most other urban areas nationwide, have experience a reinvigoration - a trend that will continue in the coming decades, as people become increasingly dissatisfied with suburban life and culture (or lack thereof).

The area in question, Spring Valley/AU is essentially an old suburban life but within the city borders, close to several DC Privates, but with good public school options.

[Anonymous]

OP, I love that area of NWDC and had family in Spring Valley for years. I currently live just north of you in Bethesda (about 30 seconds from the DC line). I think the neighborhoods are pretty much the same. Nice people, decent houses. Lots can be big and small. I laugh at the parking issue because my street is packed with cars every night, and I live nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

I know you said you want to go private, but I know enough families who ended up not being able to go that route for various reasons and were stuck with poor school choices because they lived a mile down the road. That would be my biggest concern. Oh, and it drives me crazy that none of the 'big' stores are anywhere near us so I have to go to McLean or Rockville for Target, Buy Buy Baby, etc. but that's not really a NWDC versus Bethesda thing.

[Anonymous]

Is funny, I live in DC and one of the reasons is because it is far away from the big box stores. Of course I still haul out to one of them on occasion (it only takes 15 min to get to the ones in VA) and every time I do am so happy they are not part of my daily life. So it depends what your cup of tea is.

My kids are in public, but I feel like I drive by a private school every 5 min. in DC. I'm sure Bethesda has them too, but would imagine the concentration of them in NWDC has to be, relatively speaking, incredibly high. If I was sure I wanted private, I'd likely choose DC for that reason as well.

Final point: I don't have teenagers yet but when I do I think I'd rather they could get around on their own v. my having to drive them or, worse, them drive themselves. Even pretty responsible teenagers are likely to be scary new drivers . But some NW DC areas have very little public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I love that area of NWDC and had family in Spring Valley for years. I currently live just north of you in Bethesda (about 30 seconds from the DC line). I think the neighborhoods are pretty much the same. Nice people, decent houses. Lots can be big and small. I laugh at the parking issue because my street is packed with cars every night, and I live nowhere near downtown Bethesda.

I know you said you want to go private, but I know enough families who ended up not being able to go that route for various reasons and were stuck with poor school choices because they lived a mile down the road. That would be my biggest concern. Oh, and it drives me crazy that none of the 'big' stores are anywhere near us so I have to go to McLean or Rockville for Target, Buy Buy Baby, etc. but that's not really a NWDC versus Bethesda thing.

Spring Valley is far tonier than any part of Bethesda. Although there are not a lot of kids.

[Anonymous]

cooler people in dc!!!!

[Anonymous]

Picking up trash on time has nothing to do with having the decency to respond when someone greets you. Don't start the BS, PP. Everyone knows that Bethesdans are uniquely rude, even for the tri-state area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is funny, I live in DC and one of the reasons is because it is far away from the big box stores. Of course I still haul out to one of them on occasion (it only takes 15 min to get to the ones in VA) and every time I do am so happy they are not part of my daily life. So it depends what your cup of tea is.

My kids are in public, but I feel like I drive by a private school every 5 min. in DC. I'm sure Bethesda has them too, but would imagine the concentration of them in NWDC has to be, relatively speaking, incredibly high. If I was sure I wanted private, I'd likely choose DC for that reason as well.

Final point: I don't have teenagers yet but when I do I think I'd rather they could get around on their own v. my having to drive them or, worse, them drive themselves. Even pretty responsible teenagers are likely to be scary new drivers . But some NW DC areas have very little public transportation.

The teen and tween issue isn't driving. It's access and free roaming. Same issue in close in Bethesda. Lots more happens pre-driving independence .

[Anonymous]

I live in DC and prefer it, but another thing to think about is jury duty. People who live in DC get called to do it constantly, and people who would be excused in other states end up having to serve in DC. It is a major PITA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in DC and prefer it, but another thing to think about is jury duty. People who live in DC get called to do it constantly, and people who would be excused in other states end up having to serve in DC. It is a major PITA.

This is such a good point. I got called every 2.5 years like clockwork when I lived in DC, and have lived in Montgomery County for years and JUST got my first summons. But, even when you are doing jury duty here, it is easier - you can drive and there is ample parking, and you can call in the night before and you might not be needed. In DC you go and wait four hours to find out you won't be needed.

And some of the cases in DC were pretty nasty - luckily I got picked for a dog bite case, but avoided a child abuse case that would have been awful to sit through.