Help: which area is better for families, Georgetown or Bethesda (downtown)?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The wfh spouse is right that it would be much more fun for him to live in Georgetown. But the commute to Farragut North and the one to Bethesda would be pretty awful compared to living in Bethesda.

If you really want to have one car, you have to live near a red line stop. The other person has to drive the kids. I don’t see how you could live in Georgetown happily without two cars so they can go in different directions each morning. Which is another problem about Georgetown - where to put the cars.

If you have one car in Georgetown, WFH spouse would probably end up driving two round trips a day to Bethesda for school pick up while the other parent uses the bus or something. That’s really, really a lot of driving. Traffic can be horrible. It would make it hard to enjoy walking to a cute lunch, if they even had time.

Maybe when the kids can drive, you move to Georgetown.

I live in Georgetown and work close to Farragut North. I walk there..my husband bikes. There are busses too. You absolutely do not need a car for this commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're only going to have one car, you need to live somewhere metro accessible, which GT is not. Live in AU Park, Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, etc.

I live close to GT university and Rosslyn metro is 12 min walk. If you are in East Village, DuPont would take you that much too. This an urban legend that GT does not have metro access. If you can walk 10-15 minutes you can reach one of the three metro stations that are close by from any point in Georgetown. In AU park you would need to walk the same amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're only going to have one car, you need to live somewhere metro accessible, which GT is not. Live in AU Park, Bethesda, Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, etc.

I live close to GT university and Rosslyn metro is 12 min walk. If you are in East Village, DuPont would take you that much too. This an urban legend that GT does not have metro access. If you can walk 10-15 minutes you can reach one of the three metro stations that are close by from any point in Georgetown. In AU park you would need to walk the same amount.

And just to add. We only have one car and rarely use it as we can walk/bike to pretty much all we need. But it would not work as well with kids in Bethesda. And I would not want them to have that commute so that I can live in a neighborhood I like better. We picked schools that are convenient from GT, as we decided to live there.

[Anonymous]

Live in walking distance to the school. You and your kids’ lives will be so much better.

[Anonymous]

I prefer. Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

How long are you staying here? If this is temporary, then I'd live close to your kids' school. If this is a permanent move, then I'd pick one to rent in and give it some time to decide where you want to live. Do your kids do lots of sports and what are they? You may end up spending a lot of time in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

All that matters when moving with tweens is their mental health. An hour on a bus and constant arguments about traffic will not promote that. I live in Georgetown and love it but would never send a child to school in Bethesda, even with a private shuttle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know both of these areas and hands-down Bethesda. I can't imagine why anyone would actually want to live in Georgetown.

Georgetown is crowded, full of tourists, parking is a nightmare, driving around is terrible, the people are stuffy and elitist, you're surrounded by people like RFK and his wife, and then on the other hand a bunch of spoiled Georgetown students. And then boatloads of clueless tourists. Everything is overpriced. And the crime is much worse. Why would anyone live there?

When is the last time you lived in GT? We were away for awhile too (left before the pandemic), and when we came back, it was not as safe feeling as before (e.g., some of the bums seemed more aggressive and would approach, whereas this had not been the case when we frequented before). I think this has gotten somewhat better in the last couple of years, but I would feel more comfortable with my teens roaming Bethesda on their own.

By "bums" do you mean the homeless people with serious mental health issues who the DC government has no programs in place for? Those people aren't bums, PP, they're some of the most vulnerable and neglected people in society. Just call them homeless or unhoused or the mentally ill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No doubt Bethesda. Best of both worlds

+1. I think that this is a no-brainer -- live in Bethesda.

Your kids will want to be near friends. And there are a lot more amenities in Bethesda that are useful for tweens -- namely a ton of sports teams in which to participate and their facilities. (I don't know of even a pool in Georgetown (except one public one), whereas there are tons of neighborhood pools in Bethesda.)

I have lived in Bethesda for 15 years, and our youngest is a 9th grader at a private school here. It's a really pleasant to live. I highly recommend 20816 for your zip code.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt Bethesda. Best of both worlds

(I don't know of even a pool in Georgetown (except one public one), whereas there are tons of neighborhood pools in Bethesda.)

I have lived in Bethesda for 15 years, and our youngest is a 9th grader at a private school here. It's a really pleasant to live. I highly recommend 20816 for your zip code.

OP here: Looking at the zip code map, looks like 20816 would be too far from a metro station and 20815 and 20814 would be the better targets - am I missing something? If we are living in Bethesda/CC, we probably need to be within 10 minutes walking (not bus or car) of the metro station, whether it’s Friendship Heights or Bethesda.

On the Georgetown pool, wonder if Yates is a workable option for families? But pool isn’t a factor in our decision.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt Bethesda. Best of both worlds

+1. I think that this is a no-brainer -- live in Bethesda.

Your kids will want to be near friends. And there are a lot more amenities in Bethesda that are useful for tweens -- namely a ton of sports teams in which to participate and their facilities. (I don't know of even a pool in Georgetown (except one public one), whereas there are tons of neighborhood pools in Bethesda.)

I have lived in Bethesda for 15 years, and our youngest is a 9th grader at a private school here. It's a really pleasant to live. I highly recommend 20816 for your zip code.

There are two pools in Georgetown and Francis pool in the adjacent West End is also easily accessible.
I would also advise people to look at the map and compare the size of the two geographical areas. Georgetown is tiny and dense so of course there will be less stuff but that doe not mean you cannot reach what you need easily, be it metro, pool or sports. In the end it boils down to whether one prefers more of a city life or is happier in a suburb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt Bethesda. Best of both worlds

(I don't know of even a pool in Georgetown (except one public one), whereas there are tons of neighborhood pools in Bethesda.)

I have lived in Bethesda for 15 years, and our youngest is a 9th grader at a private school here. It's a really pleasant to live. I highly recommend 20816 for your zip code.

OP here: Looking at the zip code map, looks like 20816 would be too far from a metro station and 20815 and 20814 would be the better targets - am I missing something? If we are living in Bethesda/CC, we probably need to be within 10 minutes walking (not bus or car) of the metro station, whether it’s Friendship Heights or Bethesda.

On the Georgetown pool, wonder if Yates is a workable option for families? But pool isn’t a factor in our decision.

There are two neighborhood pools available in the summer. For an indoor pool the closest would probably be at Jackson Reed high school. We never looked into Yates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No doubt Bethesda. Best of both worlds

+1. I think that this is a no-brainer -- live in Bethesda.

Your kids will want to be near friends. And there are a lot more amenities in Bethesda that are useful for tweens -- namely a ton of sports teams in which to participate and their facilities. (I don't know of even a pool in Georgetown (except one public one), whereas there are tons of neighborhood pools in Bethesda.)

I have lived in Bethesda for 15 years, and our youngest is a 9th grader at a private school here. It's a really pleasant to live. I highly recommend 20816 for your zip code.

The folks I know who live in Georgetown aren't concerned about a public pool. They go to the club.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:All that matters when moving with tweens is their mental health. An hour on a bus and constant arguments about traffic will not promote that. I live in Georgetown and love it but would never send a child to school in Bethesda, even with a private shuttle.

+1. Also think about after school events, gojng to friends houses, hanging out after school. Is your husband gojng to be schlepping them back and forth to bethesda for all this? This will not be fun for anyone. Plus Georgetown is not what it once was. It’s like tourists and teens flocking to brandy melville.

If you want to be in DC, something like si park or Cleveland park makes so much more sense.

[Anonymous]

On zip code, there are houses on 20817 that are within a 10 min walk of either medical center or bethesda I think. I don’t walk to metro but I can generally get there in about 10 minutes with a 5 minute walk to the J2 bus stop and then a 5 minute ride to medical center.