Moving from Brooklyn to DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like a shepherd park or 16th street heights would be a great fit. A good amount of diversity, both racially and socioeconomic. People are very friendly in DC once you’re in the SFH neighborhoods. We live in AU Park and everyone says hi.

+1 to Shepherd Park. It's very much a kids-play-in-the-streets neighborhood, with families looking out for each other's kids. Tons of interracial couples. Historically (2nd half of 20th c.) it's been an important center for both Jewish and Black Washington.

The problem is that since it's entirely single-family, rentals come up pretty rarely. They do appear, however; I'd keep an eye on listings and grab an option if it comes up. While sales prices are rising here, it is still the sort of neighborhood where you can get a fair bit of house for your money compared to west of Rock Creek Park, if you decide to stay and buy. I see two rental listings right now, well within your price range:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1210-Floral-St-NW-Washington-DC-20012/476014_zpid/
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1433-Floral-St-NW-Washington-DC-20012/469626_zpid/

Virginia is a bit of a schlep from here, but certainly doable for visiting purposes. (I wouldn't want to commute.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

bainbridge1 wrote:Hi, I had posted over a year ago and this forum was invaluable so I am back to ask for your help. We are relocating from Bed Stuy (Brooklyn) to the DC area and need to make it happen before the school year starts. I'm kind of in panic mode because I haven't figured out what area to focus on and we are running out of time. Due to COVID, I have the ability to work from home so I don't have to worry about a commute. We would prefer to live in Virginia as that is where my family lives but we are open to DC/MD if the right fit. Initially, it was most important that we moved to a diverse neighborhood as we are a biracial family (I am Black and my husband is White/Jewish). However, my kids have been through the ringer not being in school for over a year and lacking friends. So honestly, I would prioritize a neighborhood where kids actually go outside and interact with each other. That is #1 for us right now. Our second priority are the schools. We did private school in Brooklyn but we really need a good public school that works well with kids with IEPs. Our third priority is diversity. Being African American, I don't want to be the only one on the block. However, I will also be happy with diversity in any form. We are looking to rent the first year and then will consider buying. I'd like to stay around $5k for rent but would be willing to go over for the right neighborhood. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Montgomery County has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country and its more common to see interracial couples there as well. The good public schools in Montgomery County are the best in the area. I’d avoid the Whitman HS district because of your concerns about diversity but I think you’d do well to check out homes in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS district and in the Walter Johnson HS district. Here’s a SFH that is within your budget that’s walkable to Bethesda shops and restaurants and Metro. Bethesda is not Brooklyn but it’s the nicest “urban” suburb in the area.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4525-Maple-Ave-Bethesda-MD-20814/37173966_zpid/

NP-correcting to say that Bethesda has a high concentration of Jews. NoVa has more Jews than MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Silver Spring? I hear good things about East Silver Spring elementary and kids roaming free. Likely to be diverse. IEP implementation will be a struggle, but it will be a struggle everywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In terms of chatty communities, DC and all the suburbs are not really like this. People will generally nod or give a weak hi passing neighbors on the street. Some neighbors that you like you will stop and chat. But it’s different than NY, so I’m not sure how long you’ve been away. People don’t really talk with strangers here like they do in NY.

They absolutely do in some DC neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

bainbridge1 wrote:Hi, I had posted over a year ago and this forum was invaluable so I am back to ask for your help. We are relocating from Bed Stuy (Brooklyn) to the DC area and need to make it happen before the school year starts. I'm kind of in panic mode because I haven't figured out what area to focus on and we are running out of time. Due to COVID, I have the ability to work from home so I don't have to worry about a commute. We would prefer to live in Virginia as that is where my family lives but we are open to DC/MD if the right fit. Initially, it was most important that we moved to a diverse neighborhood as we are a biracial family (I am Black and my husband is White/Jewish). However, my kids have been through the ringer not being in school for over a year and lacking friends. So honestly, I would prioritize a neighborhood where kids actually go outside and interact with each other. That is #1 for us right now. Our second priority are the schools. We did private school in Brooklyn but we really need a good public school that works well with kids with IEPs. Our third priority is diversity. Being African American, I don't want to be the only one on the block. However, I will also be happy with diversity in any form. We are looking to rent the first year and then will consider buying. I'd like to stay around $5k for rent but would be willing to go over for the right neighborhood. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Montgomery County has one of the largest Jewish populations in the country and its more common to see interracial couples there as well. The good public schools in Montgomery County are the best in the area. I’d avoid the Whitman HS district because of your concerns about diversity but I think you’d do well to check out homes in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase HS district and in the Walter Johnson HS district. Here’s a SFH that is within your budget that’s walkable to Bethesda shops and restaurants and Metro. Bethesda is not Brooklyn but it’s the nicest “urban” suburb in the area.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4525-Maple-Ave-Bethesda-MD-20814/37173966_zpid/

NP-correcting to say that Bethesda has a high concentration of Jews. NoVa has more Jews than MoCo.

Or to be more precise, more Jews live in NoVa than in the MD suburbs.

https://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/local-community-among-fastest-growing-and-largest-in-nation-study-finds/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

bainbridge1 wrote:OP here--it's funny you mention McLean. I did initially consider McLean because I went to little Langley and Langley High School. But after living in a neighborhood with so much socioeconomic diversity, I might feel like a fish out of water. Also, I am the type of person who says hi to pretty much every person I walk past in Bed Stuy. I feel like I would get some strange looks if I pulled that in McLean. But perhaps I am generalizing--if I am wrong, please correct me. Thanks again!

The people saying that McLean doesn’t have diversity don’t know McLean. McLean HS is 51% white. While it’s true that the population of Black students is low, it’s not clear to me that is the only diversity you value.
http://schoolprofiles.fcps.edu/schlprfl/f?p=108:13:::NO:0_CURRENT_SCHOOL_ID,P0_EDSL:030,0

If you are looking for a community that is more Black and more Jewish, Montgomery County is more likely a good fit. I would particularly look into the BCC cluster.
https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/regulatoryaccountability/glance/currentyear/schools/04406.pdf

In terms of chatty communities, DC and all the suburbs are not really like this. People will generally nod or give a weak hi passing neighbors on the street. Some neighbors that you like you will stop and chat. But it’s different than NY, so I’m not sure how long you’ve been away. People don’t really talk with strangers here like they do in NY.

Someone mentioned Takoma Park, but I don’t find it particularly friendlier than anywhere else, except that the historic district falls prey to a lot if gossipy behavior from a small number of annoying people.

I don’t find it a community that I particularly like.

+1 Not a lot of poor people in Mclean, but Mclean HS is very diverse. OP, if by diverse you mean majority African American (not really the definition of diverse, but whatever), then you should look at Shepherd Park.

[Anonymous]

OP, my suggestions are Shepherd Park/Wilson or the B-CC HS cluster.

[Anonymous]

I am Jewish, my husband is not. We just sold our DC home to move to Bethesda.

There had been an uptick in some scary crime that was happening directly on our block as well as in the surrounding area.

With our move we are definetly loosing some diversity and walkability - both which are super fantastic reasons for choosing where to live, but there are other factors to consider. We were able to buy a larger house with a much larger yard - which we value more now than we did Before Kid. And, the school district is fantastic - elementary all through high.

Your budget, commute, and what your desire in square footage will also really drive affordability and guide you as you look at certain neighborhoods.

[bainbridge1]

OP here
Just a quick thank you to everyone's input. It was very helpful.

And for the Bethesda-CC advice: it was not an area I was considering so thank you for adding that to my list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, my suggestions are Shepherd Park/Wilson or the B-CC HS cluster.

+1 Also I'd look at Cathedral Heights, CCDC, and Tenleytown. (Also feed into Wilson HS and Deal/Hardy MS)

[Anonymous]

It's really, really hard to get both the diversity you want and the schools having strong programs to deal with IEPs. You probably should figure out which is more important to you and then plan accordingly.

You should probably peruse the public school forums on DCUM and figure out which schools can best handle IEPs. DC public & charter schools are notorious for handling IEPs atrociously; your family will be viewed as "high maintenance" by school administrators.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shepherd Park
Mt Pleasant
I wouldn’t do Capital Hill with a kid that old unless you are 100% fine with private school once you hit middle school

I live on the Hill, have two middle schoolers, and know exactly two of their elementary classmates who did private for middle school. Everyone else went to Stuart-Hobson, Latin, Basis, Hardy, or DCI.

[Anonymous]

Del Ray!

[Anonymous]

Hello! Another potential Brooklyn transplant family here. I have to be in DC regularly for work but have never visited any residential neighborhoods and could use some advice. Person who originally posted about this, where did you end up moving? Do you like it? We really want a neighborhood where we feel safe letting our kids ages 8/10 explore/walk around a little, so low levels of crime but also low traffic/safe streets. Budget ~$6k for a rental and ideally we would like a small yard but it's not a complete dealbreaker. Any high level suggestions for where to start looking?

[Anonymous]

i think capitol hill/navy yard is a pretty good choice for nyc transplant families. maybe the mount pleasant area too. maybe arlington. a lot of other dmv neighborhoods are either not so heavily populated with families or can be culture shock as a first location for someone who is very used to a walkable urban area.