Comparing Silver Spring and Arlington

[Anonymous]

I suggest you try out both commutes, too. I live in forest glen and my office recently moved to NOMA. The folks who live in Arlington complain about the commute. From forest glen it’s about 20 minutes on metro.

[Anonymous]

https://www.greatschools.org/maryland/silver-spring/932-Oakland-Terrace-Elementary-School/#Students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

Hi there SS hater! We are a $300k family with well over a million in our portfolio who have lived in SS for 20 years and never left it because we love it here. Could definitely afford to live somewhere else or to send our kid to private, but we've been more than satisfied with our schools. Our kids test regularly in the 97-99% on standardized tests so they must be doing something right!

Also have never experienced any crime in the 20 years we've lived here. I hear about some car breaks-ins every so often but often nothing is taken.

Love our neighbors who are diverse and down to earth and friendly. Love DDSS. Love the AFI and the theaters and the Fillmore and the farmers market and easy access to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

Love that PP is not a member of our community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The nicer parts of Silver Spring are about as good as South Arlington ascetically. Schools are comparable between the two with Yorktown being a little better than Blair but Takoma Park being better than any middle in Arlington. But the previous poster is correct Silver Spring is much bigger so it varies a lot. There are parts to avoid like Wheaton or White Oak

I grew up in Silver Spring and live in Arlington now, I still maintain some rental properties in SS. I will say Silver Spring to Arlington is a hard commute for about the last 5 years, between the increased population and the work on Rock Creek it can be miserable unless you live a block from a metro and work a block from the metro. Piney Branch is getting undrivable

It will get worse with all the new construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The nicer parts of Silver Spring are about as good as South Arlington ascetically. Schools are comparable between the two with Yorktown being a little better than Blair but Takoma Park being better than any middle in Arlington. But the previous poster is correct Silver Spring is much bigger so it varies a lot. There are parts to avoid like Wheaton or White Oak

I grew up in Silver Spring and live in Arlington now, I still maintain some rental properties in SS. I will say Silver Spring to Arlington is a hard commute for about the last 5 years, between the increased population and the work on Rock Creek it can be miserable unless you live a block from a metro and work a block from the metro. Piney Branch is getting undrivable

It will get worse with all the new construction.

Nobody goes there anymore; it’s too crowded.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

This is laughable! We and lots of very well educated people live in Silver Spring and think the kids get a good education. The kids' peers in these schools have the same values as us -I would not want my kids to go to a Bethesda/Chevy Chase school, and I can afford to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

This is laughable! We and lots of very well educated people live in Silver Spring and think the kids get a good education. The kids' peers in these schools have the same values as us -I would not want my kids to go to a Bethesda/Chevy Chase school, and I can afford to live there.

What “values” are those? Slumming it in Silver Spring, yet making sure others know you could afford Bethesda? All that suggests is that you like having more money than the other parents at your kids’ school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

This is laughable! We and lots of very well educated people live in Silver Spring and think the kids get a good education. The kids' peers in these schools have the same values as us -I would not want my kids to go to a Bethesda/Chevy Chase school, and I can afford to live there.

What “values” are those? Slumming it in Silver Spring, yet making sure others know you could afford Bethesda? All that suggests is that you like having more money than the other parents at your kids’ school.

DP here. Your post demonstrates the lack of exactly the sort of values I appreciate here among my neighbors in Silver Spring. No one's "slumming" it here in our well kept middle class neighborhood. People are friendly, down to earth, and look out for each other. We're not poverty stricken but on the other hand there's no race to keep up with the Joneses.

The only reason PP told you she could afford to live in more expensive neighborhoods if she wanted is you claimed no one sends their kids to SS schools except when they don't have enough money to move elsewhere or go to private. Which just isn't true. As those of us who actually live in SS know.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

This is laughable! We and lots of very well educated people live in Silver Spring and think the kids get a good education. The kids' peers in these schools have the same values as us -I would not want my kids to go to a Bethesda/Chevy Chase school, and I can afford to live there.

What “values” are those? Slumming it in Silver Spring, yet making sure others know you could afford Bethesda? All that suggests is that you like having more money than the other parents at your kids’ school.

DP. Is so much of your self-worth tied up in your zip code and net worth that you have to slam other areas where you’ve never lived, and consider yourself too good to live? Along with a little rebuke to “the Dems,” just for kicks and giggles? I guess you feel a bit better now? I don’t even live in MD, but your contributions here are pretty pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

Those places really are exceptionally inexpensive. I live in SS, and have rarely seen anything under $400k in the past few years,

At least the first linked townhouse is condo-style with dues over $300 a month. I used to live in one. They are nice, but the condo fee is significant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd check the crime maps. Crime has stayed pretty steady in Silver Spring but I think its been declining in Arlington. Your appreciation will be much better in Arlington than Silver Spring. Schools seem to be improving each year in Arlington while MCPS is a mess and Silver Spring is generally viewed as having the worst schools in the county.

I am always baffled by the appreciation argument. Arlington is so much more expensive that I doubt anyone who has bought recently will see much appreciation because the high prices + mortgage interest rate narrows the potential pool of buyers.

OP, I lived in DTSS for a few years prior to moving in Arlington. Just bought in N Arlington this year. The downtown area of silver spring is fantastic and you can find a relatively affordable home (though not cheap) zoned for a decent elementary school. I’ve also heard that Blair high school can be good. Both APS and MCPS have overcrowding issues. Ethnic food options are 1,000xs better than Arlington. It’s also much more diverse. And more dog friendly. However, taxes in Arlington are much better.

If you work in Silver Spring (you just say it is closer) you might also consider looking in Howard County. There are some great schools in HoCo and it is cheaper than MoCo and Arlington county.

Did you read the post? She works in NoMA, and wants a GOOD commute. Nobody would live in Howard County if they want a decent commute into downtown DC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd check the crime maps. Crime has stayed pretty steady in Silver Spring but I think its been declining in Arlington. Your appreciation will be much better in Arlington than Silver Spring. Schools seem to be improving each year in Arlington while MCPS is a mess and Silver Spring is generally viewed as having the worst schools in the county.

DA HECK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

Hi there SS hater! We are a $300k family with well over a million in our portfolio who have lived in SS for 20 years and never left it because we love it here. Could definitely afford to live somewhere else or to send our kid to private, but we've been more than satisfied with our schools. Our kids test regularly in the 97-99% on standardized tests so they must be doing something right!

Also have never experienced any crime in the 20 years we've lived here. I hear about some car breaks-ins every so often but often nothing is taken.

Love our neighbors who are diverse and down to earth and friendly. Love DDSS. Love the AFI and the theaters and the Fillmore and the farmers market and easy access to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods.

Love that PP is not a member of our community.

Really? You don't remember the turf wars of 2002? South Four Corners vs Forest Glen. Everyone met in front of Santucci's and had a knife fight, it looked like the video for "Beat It." There was also the DTSS-Woodside feud of 1994 in which four LL Bean backpacks were lost, RIP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. Thanks for your help. I’m trying to get a short commute to NOMA, so being near a metro (or being able to drive and park at a metro) is good, and I want good schools. I am open to suggestions about where I should be looking in Silver Spring.

This is near Forest Glen metro and zoned to Flora Singer Elementary:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/2629-Holman-Ave-20910/unit-2629/home/10957593

These are near Wheaton metro and zoned to Oakland Terrace:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/44-Pennydog-Ct-20902/unit-103/home/11116670
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Silver-Spring/10956-Rampart-Way-20902/home/11116496

Both schools have good reputations. Oakland Terrace is just starting a dual language immersion program there.

I lived two doors down from the Holman Ave. townhouse about 15 years ago. It's a nice, quiet area that backs up to trees and there's a small playground about a block away. You can walk to Forest Glen Metro in about 15 minutes, and it's only another 15-20 minutes or so to NoMa . I really like that stop as it's not too crowded and you can always get a seat on the train in the morning.