Recommendations for DC area neighborhoods or towns

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved raising our kids in Cleveland Park. It ticks most of your boxes and is walking distance to several in-demand private schools (Cathedral schools, Sidwell, Maret, WIS, GDS.) There are no dead-ends for bike riding, but there are playgrounds and parks, and it's close to metro and walkable to restaurants and retail on both Wisconsin and Connecticut.

Cleveland Park is lovely but not at all diverse. A nonwhite person jogging would definitely be uncommon.

[Anonymous]

We live in AU Park and my kids walk to Sidwell. Awesome neighborhood! Hope you move here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Town of Somerset in Chevy Chase MD is all of these things. Neighborhood pool with swim team, walkable to metro, mature trees, sidewalks. Local elementary Somerset in neighborhood but lots of kids go there or private. Very family friendly.

This would be my recommendation based on your criteria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Town of Somerset in Chevy Chase MD is all of these things. Neighborhood pool with swim team, walkable to metro, mature trees, sidewalks. Local elementary Somerset in neighborhood but lots of kids go there or private. Very family friendly.

This would be my recommendation based on your criteria.

Fyi - Somerset has almost zero diversity. Almost 100 percent white.

[Anonymous]

Former Cantabrigian here. Definitely give Capitol Hill a good look. It's one of the closest neighborhoods to the Cambridge vibe, and is both very walkable and very kid friendly.

We're a few blocks North of the Hill near H St, which has more of a Central Square/Cambridgeport vibe, while the Eastern Market/Barracks row side of the Hill is more akin to Harvard Square. Most houses are brick and attached (e.g. triple deckers aren't a thing here), but even the large rowhouse are a bit more modest than, say, the South end of Boston would be. Your budget will go pretty far here as well

[Anonymous]

AU Park covers all your criteria. Would be a great fit for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Cantabrigian here. Definitely give Capitol Hill a good look. It's one of the closest neighborhoods to the Cambridge vibe, and is both very walkable and very kid friendly.

We're a few blocks North of the Hill near H St, which has more of a Central Square/Cambridgeport vibe, while the Eastern Market/Barracks row side of the Hill is more akin to Harvard Square. Most houses are brick and attached (e.g. triple deckers aren't a thing here), but even the large rowhouse are a bit more modest than, say, the South end of Boston would be. Your budget will go pretty far here as well

Lol, sure. Capitol Hill is great as along as you don't mind the crime and drugs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Cantabrigian here. Definitely give Capitol Hill a good look. It's one of the closest neighborhoods to the Cambridge vibe, and is both very walkable and very kid friendly.

We're a few blocks North of the Hill near H St, which has more of a Central Square/Cambridgeport vibe, while the Eastern Market/Barracks row side of the Hill is more akin to Harvard Square. Most houses are brick and attached (e.g. triple deckers aren't a thing here), but even the large rowhouse are a bit more modest than, say, the South end of Boston would be. Your budget will go pretty far here as well

Lol, sure. Capitol Hill is great as along as you don't mind the crime and drugs.

Oh yeah, sorry forgot to mention that people on this site have a very weird chip on their shoulder about the Hill. Ignore them, you're used to living in a city, and we're having so much fun without them over here!

[Anonymous]

CH does not have good public schools, nor good privates.

[Anonymous]

It's under budget, but consider Woodside Park in 20910.

[Anonymous]

^^^Silver Spring 20910

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Former Cantabrigian here. Definitely give Capitol Hill a good look. It's one of the closest neighborhoods to the Cambridge vibe, and is both very walkable and very kid friendly.

We're a few blocks North of the Hill near H St, which has more of a Central Square/Cambridgeport vibe, while the Eastern Market/Barracks row side of the Hill is more akin to Harvard Square. Most houses are brick and attached (e.g. triple deckers aren't a thing here), but even the large rowhouse are a bit more modest than, say, the South end of Boston would be. Your budget will go pretty far here as well

Lol, sure. Capitol Hill is great as along as you don't mind the crime and drugs.

Oh yeah, sorry forgot to mention that people on this site have a very weird chip on their shoulder about the Hill. Ignore them, you're used to living in a city, and we're having so much fun without them over here!

Families are leaving Capitol Hill because the drugs are getting worse. Not safe.

[Anonymous]

Frederick City!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When you say train, do you mean the train train, like the MARC in Kensington and Garrett Park? Or the Metro, which most of us call the subway?

I’ve lived in DC for 20 years and I’ve never heard anyone but out-of-towners call Metro the subway.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hello,

We are moving from Cambridge to the DC area for a work opportunity. I am looking for recommendations for DC neighborhood or nearby cities or towns. I would prefer not to be in Virginia but Maryland could be fine.

Budget: We can go up to 4 million for the perfect home. If we have to make a lot of concessions I’d rather go no higher than 3 if possible.

Preferences: Walkable neighborhood with sidewalks, family friendly, kid friendly, easy access to the train (ideally this means walking distance but could also be driving distance with parking). This is not a requirement but I also prefer established neighborhoods with mature trees.

I’d love to live in a place with a strong neighborhood association, and neighborhood events.

We will most likely do private schools regardless but a community with good schools is preferred.

I’d also really like easy access to restaurants and shops, and walkable proximity to a playground. I’m partial to neighborhoods with dead-ends or small parks that tend to accommodate kids riding bikes, neighbors being outside, etc.

Also, I understand that the higher income areas tend to lack racial diversity which is fine, but we are a mixed race family so I would prefer to not be somewhere people would call the police or post messages to next door over seeing a Black person jogging in the neighborhood.

Another former Cantabrigian here. Echo the previous Cantabrigian who said you need to adjust down your expectations for "walkability" here. The closest in feel is Capitol Hill, Georgetown, or Old Town Alexandria, but none of those match Cambridge in the other factors you care about.

Capitol Hill is a small pocket of walkability surrounded by... not. Not nearly as safe as Cambridge. People here can be dramatic, but the truth is if you live in Cambridge (esp. on a 4 million house budget you are likely in the very posh parts of Cambridge), you are used to a much safer environment than Capitol Hill. The constant petty crime (and sometimes not so petty) will put you off. Also like PPs mentioned, no good public or private school options (close by). Georgetown has similar limitations, it's a small pocket bounded by the river against Virginia on the south, and crossing into it isn't anything like crossing Charles right into downtown Boston. Toward the North/West density and walkability quickly drops off into either SFH neighborhoods with no sidewalks or a not so attractive stretch of Wisconsin (very busy and wide road) until Glover Park.

Old Town is very close to Cambridge in feel and I love that it spreads out farther than Capitol Hill /Georgetown. There is consistent walkability and density for a larger stretch and also offers the historic feel of Cambridge with its many landmarks and beautiful old rowhouses. At your budget you could get something amazing, but my worry is you will be disappointed by other things. School is an issue, and if your idea of a good private is BBN then Alexandria won't have something similar. There is also the more intangible factor that Old Town does not feel as diverse or cosmopolitan as Cambridge (and I suspect you might have something against Virginia already on the cultural spectrum?) Old Town also has two annoying issues: airplane noise, especially if you live in the southeast/historic district (where the best retail and housing options are), and awful sewer smell occasionally (look this up, it's due to combine sewer system and a sewer plant across the river).

None of the other neighborhoods mentioned above in NWDC or Chevy Chase (DC or MD) will get you the feel of living in Cambridge. At best they are walkable to just one pocket of retail/urban amenities, and then you are car-bound for everything else. Take the example of Somerset which was mentioned multiple times: it is indeed a very nice neighborhood but it's much closer to something like Brookline or Newton than Cambridge. It would be very very difficult to live a car-free life there (and I don't know anyone who does it), because though theoretically you "could" walk to downtown Bethesda from Somerset, you will end up driving due to distance and the inconvenience of walking. Unlike Mass Ave, Wisconsin is practically a commuter highway with fast moving traffic, and for large stretches it has no retail and/or very narrow sidewalks, making it not a very comfortable walking experience. You can't easily avoid it because the neighborhoods alongside Wisconsin are not connected the way you could avoid Mass Ave and get from say, Harvard Sq to Central or Porter Sq by talking the quiet residential roads on either side of it. Ditto for may of the other CCMD neighborhoods mentioned above. And yes, all these "nice" neighborhoods in CCMD are very white and homogenous. I found even at the upper wealth ranges of Cambridge (I'm thinking around Brattle, Avon Hill, Huron Village) there was more diversity in race and what people did for work.

This may sound picky but like you said, Cambridge offers an amazing lifestyle. We've tried very hard to replicate that here and haven't quite found it in this area. The good thing is you have a very high budget, and if you are willing to compromise on one or two of the criteria you listed, you can probably find something pretty good.