For Westchester New York Transplants Which neighborhoods are most similar in NoVA and MD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you grew up UMC, but you only have a MC budget for DC. Schools are much worse here than in those towns, but we don’t have the high taxes like Westchester does. I don’t think anything is really comparable here with the town center feeling. Maybe Vienna or DelRay.

An 850K house in this area signals a middle class budget?

Sadly, I'd say yes on that one. Maybe that's creeping up to UMC, but you wouldn't find a nice place to live in Scarsdale or Bronxville at that price, especially once you factor in the cost of property taxes.

This is what confuses me a bit about the budget. The wishlist vs. the budget may be pretty tough to find, but...you'd have the same thing in all of those tony Westchester towns on a 850k budget.

[Anonymous]

I’m from Chappaqua. The closest I’ve seen around here is Potomac. I didn’t like living there, so we purposefully didn’t buy in Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you grew up UMC, but you only have a MC budget for DC. Schools are much worse here than in those towns, but we don’t have the high taxes like Westchester does. I don’t think anything is really comparable here with the town center feeling. Maybe Vienna or DelRay.

An 850K house in this area signals a middle class budget?

Sadly, I'd say yes on that one. Maybe that's creeping up to UMC, but you wouldn't find a nice place to live in Scarsdale or Bronxville at that price, especially once you factor in the cost of property taxes.

This is what confuses me a bit about the budget. The wishlist vs. the budget may be pretty tough to find, but...you'd have the same thing in all of those tony Westchester towns on a 850k budget.

Because op doesn’t currently own a home in Westchester. She’s saying that’s where she grew up, and she wants a house/community similar to that. It just so happens that her budget is $700-$850k, which doesn’t really get her that down here. Hence pp’s point that she grew up in a wealthier environment than she can afford to buy into right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you grew up UMC, but you only have a MC budget for DC. Schools are much worse here than in those towns, but we don’t have the high taxes like Westchester does. I don’t think anything is really comparable here with the town center feeling. Maybe Vienna or DelRay.

An 850K house in this area signals a middle class budget?

Sadly, I'd say yes on that one. Maybe that's creeping up to UMC, but you wouldn't find a nice place to live in Scarsdale or Bronxville at that price, especially once you factor in the cost of property taxes.

This is what confuses me a bit about the budget. The wishlist vs. the budget may be pretty tough to find, but...you'd have the same thing in all of those tony Westchester towns on a 850k budget.

Because op doesn’t currently own a home in Westchester. She’s saying that’s where she grew up, and she wants a house/community similar to that. It just so happens that her budget is $700-$850k, which doesn’t really get her that down here. Hence pp’s point that she grew up in a wealthier environment than she can afford to buy into right now.

For that amount, might land something in White Plains or New Rochelle but not Bronxville, Scarsdale etc. So Rockville or somewhere out there in Va.

[Anonymous]

You could definitely find a nice house within that budget in Potomac. Also I would suggest the area in Rockville that feeds into Farmland elementary. That area is a little more expensive than potomac but gets you closer to Bethesda and equally as strong schools.

[Anonymous]

My husband is from Westchester (White Plains), and I’d say Vienna.

[Anonymous]

It still is just different for so many reasons. I am in my 40s and my mom is from Chatham, NJ and she STILL regrets that my sisters and I did not grow up in a “town” and she misses Belgian Block sidewalk curbs!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Vienna, Falls Church, Fairfax City, etc. in Virginia.

I live in Fairfax City and we definitely have a small town vibe in the middle of a giant county. My Mom jokingly calls it “Stars Hallow South”. She marvels at how we spend half the July fourth parade waving at participants that we personally know.

But the biggest question is where are your jobs? Do not underestimate traffic in this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You get Old Town or Takoma Park. That’s it. We were New England transplants that suffered through 4 years in Nova. We finally threw up the white flag and went home.

+1

There is virtually no charm anywhere in this area.

[Anonymous]

You grew up there. Prices in the DC area have gone up up up. Your budget isn’t high for this area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your problem is that you grew up UMC, but you only have a MC budget for DC. Schools are much worse here than in those towns, but we don’t have the high taxes like Westchester does. I don’t think anything is really comparable here with the town center feeling. Maybe Vienna or DelRay.

Schools are much worse where? They certainly aren't much worse in Fairfax or Loudoun County.

No offense pp, but I'd say the schools in places like Scarsdale or Bronxville are definitely better than the ones in Fairfax and Loudoun.

+1

People who have never been to Scarsdale or Bronxville have still heard of them from tv,movies,pop culture, etc. as being very nice.

Not true for Fairfax Co.

Such a weird flex. I'm on my 40s, well educated, well read, and well traveled, and I've never heard of Scarsdale or Bronxville. Not everyone is from the Tri-State region...

[Anonymous]

OP I’m from that area and we landed in Glover park dc. Upper NW has the same feel and architectural variation that I miss, but we couldn’t afford it. Architecture here is lacking but the neighborhood has that small town feel. If the weather were just better, I’d probably be quite happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It still is just different for so many reasons. I am in my 40s and my mom is from Chatham, NJ and she STILL regrets that my sisters and I did not grow up in a “town” and she misses Belgian Block sidewalk curbs!

You didn't miss anything. I grew up in a similar part of north Jersey. The township/borough system is a nightmare. NJ would improve dramatically if they consolidated to a county-based system like we have in the DC area.

My friends' parents pay 40,000 a year in property tax on a 3,200 sqft house valued at $1.2M. That's the reality of NJ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get Old Town or Takoma Park. That’s it. We were New England transplants that suffered through 4 years in Nova. We finally threw up the white flag and went home.

+1

There is virtually no charm anywhere in this area.

This is what people who either have no flexibility or can't afford better neighborhoods say to make themselves feel better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You get Old Town or Takoma Park. That’s it. We were New England transplants that suffered through 4 years in Nova. We finally threw up the white flag and went home.

+1

There is virtually no charm anywhere in this area.

Sorry but I do NOT agree with this, and I am very, very hard on the DC area. We have a lot of charming towns in the region. We also have a lot of modern urban and suburban areas. But so what?