Town near D.C. metro area away from the rat race!

[Anonymous]

Shepherdstown yes. OTOH, it is canceled out by a pretty conservative county gov.

Shepherdstown ES is a 9 on GS (25% FARMS.) Shepherdstown MS is a 8. Not sure if the area goes to Jefferson HS (9) or Washington (8). It's standard-issue exurban goodness (not like the Yale/Jail thing that characterizes the student bodies of FCPS/APS/ACPS) that looks way better by virtue of being in W.Va.

Anything in Frederick County outside of Frederick City, NO NO NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO. The only thing Brunswick, Jefferson, New Market, etc., have is that it's not Thurmont. Well Brunswick isn't as bad as the others listed here.

Annierunnel is conservative by Murland standards. By White Yuppie MoCo standards, it's positively jackbooted thuggery there. But -- it voted for Question 6, which is something Prince George's cannot say of itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Savage, Elkridge, or Clarksville, MD.

All have good schools and moderate access to both Baltimore and DC. Not easy or close, but not way out, either. All are about 30 minutes to Silver Spring without traffic.

Clarksville is nice but savage and elkridge are a little rough in my opinion.

[Anonymous]

I've been to Ellicott City too and that seems nice. I too do not think DC is quite the place we want to raise children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shepherdstown yes. OTOH, it is canceled out by a pretty conservative county gov.

Shepherdstown ES is a 9 on GS (25% FARMS.) Shepherdstown MS is a 8. Not sure if the area goes to Jefferson HS (9) or Washington (8). It's standard-issue exurban goodness (not like the Yale/Jail thing that characterizes the student bodies of FCPS/APS/ACPS) that looks way better by virtue of being in W.Va.

Anything in Frederick County outside of Frederick City, NO NO NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO. The only thing Brunswick, Jefferson, New Market, etc., have is that it's not Thurmont. Well Brunswick isn't as bad as the others listed here.

Annierunnel is conservative by Murland standards. By White Yuppie MoCo standards, it's positively jackbooted thuggery there. But -- it voted for Question 6, which is something Prince George's cannot say of itself.

Asshole!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middleburg VA is (surprisingly) liberal (it voted 2-1 for Obama.) It does have a tinge of the tourist trap though ... and if you don't like horses, you might not like it.

+1 Love M'Burg! Gloriously away from the rat race, a fabulous place to raise a family.

+2
Our good friends moved out there last year and are living it so far. They don't commute that far in though.

I love Middleburg but it doesn't seem like a good place to raise kids. Are there many kids there? I thought it was mostly older people whose kids are grown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shepherdstown yes. OTOH, it is canceled out by a pretty conservative county gov.

Shepherdstown ES is a 9 on GS (25% FARMS.) Shepherdstown MS is a 8. Not sure if the area goes to Jefferson HS (9) or Washington (8). It's standard-issue exurban goodness (not like the Yale/Jail thing that characterizes the student bodies of FCPS/APS/ACPS) that looks way better by virtue of being in W.Va.

Anything in Frederick County outside of Frederick City, NO NO NO A THOUSAND TIMES NO. The only thing Brunswick, Jefferson, New Market, etc., have is that it's not Thurmont. Well Brunswick isn't as bad as the others listed here.

Annierunnel is conservative by Murland standards. By White Yuppie MoCo standards, it's positively jackbooted thuggery there. But -- it voted for Question 6, which is something Prince George's cannot say of itself.

Asshole!

Please, tell us again how you're sending your kid to Cardozo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middleburg VA is (surprisingly) liberal (it voted 2-1 for Obama.) It does have a tinge of the tourist trap though ... and if you don't like horses, you might not like it.

+1 Love M'Burg! Gloriously away from the rat race, a fabulous place to raise a family.

+2
Our good friends moved out there last year and are living it so far. They don't commute that far in though.

I love Middleburg but it doesn't seem like a good place to raise kids. Are there many kids there? I thought it was mostly older people whose kids are grown.

It's Loudoun County. Even the western parts are growing by leaps and bounds. The town itself is a neat gem, with some nice shopping, library, summer pool, etc., within walking distance. The downside is that the elementary school will probably be closing after this year and re-opening (hopefully) as a

As for my earlier post abut Yale/Jail: it seems the student bodies of MCPS, FCPS, APS, and ACPS are divided into two groups -- one that considers taking four AP classes in a year to be slacking off and the other that is largely poor, non-English speaking, and at risk of dropping out. This division into two extremes seems to be lacking in the exurbs, although as the area matures I suspect it will happen here too. If I'm an asshole for acknowledging the existence of a large underclass in this area, then so be it.

I'd put the high achievers of FCPS/MCPS/APS/ACPS against *any* student grouping in the world. But, this being America, we do underachieving like no one else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middleburg VA is (surprisingly) liberal (it voted 2-1 for Obama.) It does have a tinge of the tourist trap though ... and if you don't like horses, you might not like it.

+1 Love M'Burg! Gloriously away from the rat race, a fabulous place to raise a family.

+2
Our good friends moved out there last year and are living it so far. They don't commute that far in though.

I love Middleburg but it doesn't seem like a good place to raise kids. Are there many kids there? I thought it was mostly older people whose kids are grown.

I posted earlier. Our friends are actually in Aldie - next little town over. They don't live super close to other families because they wanted a large property/farm, but they have met friends at school, play sports, have playdates, etc. They seem pretty happy with the local elementary school, but it sounds like there is also a significant private school crowd out there too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middleburg VA is (surprisingly) liberal (it voted 2-1 for Obama.) It does have a tinge of the tourist trap though ... and if you don't like horses, you might not like it.

+1 Love M'Burg! Gloriously away from the rat race, a fabulous place to raise a family.

+2
Our good friends moved out there last year and are living it so far. They don't commute that far in though.

I love Middleburg but it doesn't seem like a good place to raise kids. Are there many kids there? I thought it was mostly older people whose kids are grown.

It's Loudoun County. Even the western parts are growing by leaps and bounds. The town itself is a neat gem, with some nice shopping, library, summer pool, etc., within walking distance. The downside is that the elementary school will probably be closing after this year and re-opening (hopefully) as a

As for my earlier post abut Yale/Jail: it seems the student bodies of MCPS, FCPS, APS, and ACPS are divided into two groups -- one that considers taking four AP classes in a year to be slacking off and the other that is largely poor, non-English speaking, and at risk of dropping out. This division into two extremes seems to be lacking in the exurbs, although as the area matures I suspect it will happen here too. If I'm an asshole for acknowledging the existence of a large underclass in this area, then so be it.

I'd put the high achievers of FCPS/MCPS/APS/ACPS against *any* student grouping in the world. But, this being America, we do underachieving like no one else.

This is a bunch of stereotypes under the guise of pseudo sociology offered up by some nut insecure about living in an exurb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Middleburg VA is (surprisingly) liberal (it voted 2-1 for Obama.) It does have a tinge of the tourist trap though ... and if you don't like horses, you might not like it.

+1 Love M'Burg! Gloriously away from the rat race, a fabulous place to raise a family.

+2
Our good friends moved out there last year and are living it so far. They don't commute that far in though.

I love Middleburg but it doesn't seem like a good place to raise kids. Are there many kids there? I thought it was mostly older people whose kids are grown.

It's Loudoun County. Even the western parts are growing by leaps and bounds. The town itself is a neat gem, with some nice shopping, library, summer pool, etc., within walking distance. The downside is that the elementary school will probably be closing after this year and re-opening (hopefully) as a

As for my earlier post abut Yale/Jail: it seems the student bodies of MCPS, FCPS, APS, and ACPS are divided into two groups -- one that considers taking four AP classes in a year to be slacking off and the other that is largely poor, non-English speaking, and at risk of dropping out. This division into two extremes seems to be lacking in the exurbs, although as the area matures I suspect it will happen here too. If I'm an asshole for acknowledging the existence of a large underclass in this area, then so be it.

I'd put the high achievers of FCPS/MCPS/APS/ACPS against *any* student grouping in the world. But, this being America, we do underachieving like no one else.

It's not your acknowledging the socio-economic diversity of NoVa schools, it's your racist and classist short-ahnd that makes you an asshole! Andy why does everyone need to pave over the beauty of Western Loudon County? Keep it rural, thank you!

[Anonymous]

I think the 22:57 poster had a bad experience in South Arlington years ago, and is now living out in a subdivision in Leesburg. It's fairly common for some people in Loudoun to argue that everyone who lives there is down-to-earth, and that those who live closer in must either be uber-rich or impoverished (and, invariably, unable to speak English). It's an exaggeration of something that has an element of truth to it, but it comes across as self-serving and, yes, racist. And the expiration date of this tired "Yale or Jail" line, which was used years ago to describe TC Williams, has long passed. It sounds wittier than "Yale, U. Va., JMU, VCU, NoVa, the military, a retail job, or the streets," but it's simply misleading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the 22:57 poster had a bad experience in South Arlington years ago, and is now living out in a subdivision in Leesburg. It's fairly common for some people in Loudoun to argue that everyone who lives there is down-to-earth, and that those who live closer in must either be uber-rich or impoverished (and, invariably, unable to speak English). It's an exaggeration of something that has an element of truth to it, but it comes across as self-serving and, yes, racist. And the expiration date of this tired "Yale or Jail" line, which was used years ago to describe TC Williams, has long passed. It sounds wittier than "Yale, U. Va., JMU, VCU, NoVa, the military, a retail job, or the streets," but it's simply misleading.

Yes I am that poster. FWIW, I don't live in a subdivision or HOA zone -- I live in an neighborhood with a higher Walkscore than most folks in uppermost NW, albeit minus the Metro (I do live within a few blocks of the Loudoun County Government Center which is the origin point for most buses.)

But hey, go ahead and dismiss my bad experiences as simply "me being racist" or "me being unlucky." Most who slink off to Ashburn/outer Fairfax just slink off the site entirely. Someone has to be moving to Loudoun, Frederick, etc. I seem to be the only one who admits it on this site.

There are people closer-in who aren't uber-rich or impoverished; they tend to live in condos or townhouses. My bad experience in South Arlington led my wife to put her foot down; she is NEVER going to live in a shared-wall situation. I'm more open to living in a TH or condo (even the dreaded closer-in), but I'm more open to staying married -- my wife had more exposure to our terrible neighbors in South Arlington since I was working from noon-8.

I also moved from the James Madison HS zone (which is pretty damn rich and pretty damn White) to the Tuscarora HS zone (which is poorer on aggregate and less White.) I had a stopover in Vienna on my way out here.) So simply dismissing me as racist/classist is a little facile -- if all I wanted was to be around high-achieving rich White folks, I'd have stayed in Vienna.

I got closer in six months to my neighbors in Leesburg than I did over three years in Vienna or six years in South Arlington. We're both happier here than we were in South Arlington and Vienna. Now, your experience may not work the same way, and there's many people for whom Loudoun doesn't work due to their DC-centric jobs/careers. It goes without saying that we could have done better research before deciding where to go in South Arlington.

White poverty has gone out to Winchester, Charles Town, Martinsburg, Hagerstown, Fredericksburg, etc. How is that inaccurate? Poor people closer in are non-White and tend to be non-native English speakers -- and for the most part, don't post on this site. We're like that 1932 Presidential poll where they called all the people who had telephones and predicted a landslide victory for Landon. (I won't address the fact that native-born White poverty will have different strategies/challenges than Black poverty, which has different strategies/challenges than immigrant poverty.)

I voted for Obama and acknowledge the existence of White privilege -- namely that on average, a White person is going to have an easier time doing the same things as opposed to a Black person (Shopping/driving/Presidenting While Black/Brown, for example.)

Finally, how do you (and others) suggest I should address/mention the diversity found in closer-in schools, as compared to the (relatively monocultural) Jefferson County WV schools?

[Anonymous]

If you want progressive, how about PG county? Mt Rainier, Hyattsville, College Park...

[Anonymous]

Not Yale/Jail. That's simply racist/classist and unoriginal. I think it suffices to say that ACPS/FCPS/ACS are simply more culturally and socioeconomically diverse, which is true and does not appear to cast a judgement based on race or SES.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Savage, Elkridge, or Clarksville, MD.

All have good schools and moderate access to both Baltimore and DC. Not easy or close, but not way out, either. All are about 30 minutes to Silver Spring without traffic.

I would remove Savage and Elkridge from that list.