Why is Kensington so much cheaper than Bethesda and Takoma Park?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's further away from DC. And east of Rock Creek which is significant at rush hour.
Kensington is currently zoned for Walter Johnson which is considered by some (not by me, I DGAF) a "lesser" W school.
There are some cool restaurants here and there but the commercial area is divided by a busy 6 lane road.

Doesn’t most of Kensington go to Einstein?

It's split between WJ and Einstein.

[Anonymous]

The big difference is house sizes too. The small houses on the other side of the tracks are cheaper as they are very small, and feed into good schools but not W schools. Einsetin is a great school. We choose it over BCC specifically. However, now many of those houses are being torn down or remodeled to much bigger houses, which no land and they are going for over a million.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's further away from DC. And east of Rock Creek which is significant at rush hour.
Kensington is currently zoned for Walter Johnson which is considered by some (not by me, I DGAF) a "lesser" W school.
There are some cool restaurants here and there but the commercial area is divided by a busy 6 lane road.

Doesn’t most of Kensington go to Einstein?

It's split between WJ and Einstein.

the Southern part goes to BCC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

Yeah, "Kensington" covers a lot of ground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

But on the "poor" side of Kensington you need at least $700k for a decent sfh in good condition which tells you "poor" actually means UMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's further away from DC. And east of Rock Creek which is significant at rush hour.
Kensington is currently zoned for Walter Johnson which is considered by some (not by me, I DGAF) a "lesser" W school.
There are some cool restaurants here and there but the commercial area is divided by a busy 6 lane road.

Doesn’t most of Kensington go to Einstein?

It's split between WJ and Einstein.

the Southern part goes to BCC

Yes. And any of those boundary lines could change in 2027.

[Anonymous]

I love living Kensington.

Traffic is terrible. On average, commute to city is longer. Add 10 minutes from most of Bethesda or Chevy Chase, which adds up every day - and I live in the southern part.

Parts of Kensington are actually fancier than parts of Bethesda but, on average, Bethesda is fancier. Too me, the pricing discount makes sense.

Takoma Park is just not my vibe so I don’t know it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:….East of Conn is much cheaper but it feeds into the Einstein HS cluster, plus it’s also not easily walkable to the KP pool and the little restaurants (plays bowl, gelato, chipotle) on the W side of Ct Ave.

That’s not accurate. Most of the Town of Kensington is east of Conn Ave and it all feeds into WJ. Also, it’s the far more walkable side, with easy walking to brewery, Tacos Don Perez, farmers market, gym, MARC train station, etc.

[Anonymous]

A lot of people go to Kenmont pool, which is a lot of fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

The poor side is on the other side of the tracks. However most of the families are far from poor. It’s more diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

But on the "poor" side of Kensington you need at least $700k for a decent sfh in good condition which tells you "poor" actually means UMC.

Prices are way up. They aren’t decent for that price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

But on the "poor" side of Kensington you need at least $700k for a decent sfh in good condition which tells you "poor" actually means UMC.

Prices are way up. They aren’t decent for that price.

+1, below are some examples of what has sold in Homewood, a neighborhood “on the other side of the tracks” zoned for non-Bethesda schools. A small updated home is well over 700k and a larger updated home is over 1M.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3019-Fayette-Rd-Kensington-MD-20895/37297419_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3013-Homewood-Pkwy-Kensington-MD-20895/37297396_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

But on the "poor" side of Kensington you need at least $700k for a decent sfh in good condition which tells you "poor" actually means UMC.

Prices are way up. They aren’t decent for that price.

+1, below are some examples of what has sold in Homewood, a neighborhood “on the other side of the tracks” zoned for non-Bethesda schools. A small updated home is well over 700k and a larger updated home is over 1M.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3019-Fayette-Rd-Kensington-MD-20895/37297419_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3013-Homewood-Pkwy-Kensington-MD-20895/37297396_zpid/

That’s big. A lot are 1000 square feet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Which park of Kensington? The poor side or the UMC side? Bethesda is Bethesda and will always be expensive. I don't think that Takoma Park is expensive.

Schools and proximity to amenities and work centers are what generally makes places expensive.

I never knew there were “poor” and “UMC” sides of Kensington. I live just behind where the old White Flint Mall used to be—can someone advise if I’m poor or upper middle class?

But on the "poor" side of Kensington you need at least $700k for a decent sfh in good condition which tells you "poor" actually means UMC.

Prices are way up. They aren’t decent for that price.

+1, below are some examples of what has sold in Homewood, a neighborhood “on the other side of the tracks” zoned for non-Bethesda schools. A small updated home is well over 700k and a larger updated home is over 1M.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3019-Fayette-Rd-Kensington-MD-20895/37297419_zpid/

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3013-Homewood-Pkwy-Kensington-MD-20895/37297396_zpid/

Fair. I do think Kensington Heights and North Kensington are cheaper. Homewood is nice because it is walkable to the shops and restaurants and train station in Kensington so I think that drives up the prices a little.

Also your definition of "decent" matters. These houses are large for the area. You can get something well maintained for closer to $600k or less in North Kensington but it will be less than 2000 sq ft.

What is unfortunate is that you are paying so much and the middle and high schools are so poorly rated by staff and students.
https://sharedaccountability.mcpsmd.org/SurveyResults/content.php