Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

Dude the point is there is a very very limited supply of houses under $1mil in N. and Central Arlington. It’s just not any more feasible a plan for many Hill families than “lottery into Latin!” is. Meanwhile yes, 20002 and 20003 have 100+ homes for under $1 mil on the market right now. (Granted that includes a bit of Eckington but we have the same conversations about that neighborhood here too).

We aren't trying to relocate the entire Hill to Arlington. And no one needs 100+ options to pick from. People just need one option that works for them. And I routinely see Arlington options that come up that are comparable to the Hill. Some are townhouses--like the Hill--and some are detached SFHs.

The big difference that people live on the Hill for years, tending to be transitory. People buy homes in Arlington and stay for decades. It's just a different market.

It's not that that hard to keep a search active on Redfin or Zillow and keep checking. Things do come up. It's not like the lotto where you only get one shot. And you're shopping locally, so it's not hard to come check out a property like it would be if you were relocating from farther way. You are vastly overselling the difficulty.

:roll:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

[Anonymous]

TAG only phases out at an annual income above $589,167 which might be you but it is not most of us even on DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

More people than you think will be able to qualify. Especially in the legal field, by the time the kids are in college a lot of people will have become in-house counsel or joined the government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd go sooner rather than waiting til the last minute. A big part of our social life in the burbs involves families we've met in rec activities. We've met more neighbors this way than almost any other way (except school). My youngest and now 3rd-grader has been on teams/done activities with many of the same children for 2 years now, so we've really built a village. That's harder as kids get older and rely on parents to get them to activities less.

Meh. Those villages you built kind of disappear as kids get older and settle into friend groups that then change a few times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

More people than you think will be able to qualify. Especially in the legal field, by the time the kids are in college a lot of people will have become in-house counsel or joined the government.

Yeah. We’re an SES lawyer and a doctor and easily qualify. Like, we’re doing fine, but if you’re not in private practice, $600K is a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go sooner rather than waiting til the last minute. A big part of our social life in the burbs involves families we've met in rec activities. We've met more neighbors this way than almost any other way (except school). My youngest and now 3rd-grader has been on teams/done activities with many of the same children for 2 years now, so we've really built a village. That's harder as kids get older and rely on parents to get them to activities less.

Meh. Those villages you built kind of disappear as kids get older and settle into friend groups that then change a few times.

This is very true. The dynamic shifts when kids start driving the decision about who they want to spend time with versus their parents’ friends’ kids. Theres often a significant difference.
Can we also just retire the “village” messaging?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

Again … many many Hill families don’t earn that much. If you do, god bless. Indeed you can move to North Arlington and just maybe stop talking about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

More people than you think will be able to qualify. Especially in the legal field, by the time the kids are in college a lot of people will have become in-house counsel or joined the government.

Yeah. We’re an SES lawyer and a doctor and easily qualify. Like, we’re doing fine, but if you’re not in private practice, $600K is a lot.

Right?? Not sure what that PP was thinking. The Hill is by and large not a super wealthy place, mansions on E Cap and all. The families I know facing down the middle school dilemma are like this:

- GS14 + nonprofit middle managememnt
- single parent GS 15
- Military + SAHP
- Professor + IT admin
- in-house lawyer + think tank
- journalist + artist

[Anonymous]

Simple. If you’re very unhappy with your DC public middle school options and can’t afford a private you move out of DC. Maybe you will need to live in a modest condo in the near burbs as a result, or go far out in the burbs to find a decent house. Perhaps you will even need to move to a different part of the country or abroad. Some of us bought fixers on the Hill 10 or 15 years ago, then put a ridiculous amount of sweat equity into them to afford to stay with older kids and teens. Our real estate choices have enabled us to swing parochial school if our MS charter options aren’t too hot. Our sympathy for those who didn’t plan as well only extends so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go sooner rather than waiting til the last minute. A big part of our social life in the burbs involves families we've met in rec activities. We've met more neighbors this way than almost any other way (except school). My youngest and now 3rd-grader has been on teams/done activities with many of the same children for 2 years now, so we've really built a village. That's harder as kids get older and rely on parents to get them to activities less.

Meh. Those villages you built kind of disappear as kids get older and settle into friend groups that then change a few times.

This is very true. The dynamic shifts when kids start driving the decision about who they want to spend time with versus their parents’ friends’ kids. Theres often a significant difference.
Can we also just retire the “village” messaging?!

Yes but by that time the kids aren’t really hanging out with their parents’ friends anyway-they’re doing their own thing. But the “supportive, family-like friend group” (or whatever you’d rather call the “village”, since you retired the term) of adults still exists. At least that’s how it’s been for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Simple. If you’re very unhappy with your DC public middle school options and can’t afford a private you move out of DC. Maybe you will need to live in a modest condo in the near burbs as a result, or go far out in the burbs to find a decent house. Perhaps you will even need to move to a different part of the country or abroad. Some of us bought fixers on the Hill 10 or 15 years ago, then put a ridiculous amount of sweat equity into them to afford to stay with older kids and teens. Our real estate choices have enabled us to swing parochial school if our MS charter options aren’t too hot. Our sympathy for those who didn’t plan as well only extends so far.

Your post is so gross.
Your sympathy only extends to parents who put in "ridiculous amounts of sweat equity" after buying a fixer upper 15 years ago and before having children, AND who are willing to "swing parochial". Every else, "sorry lazy godless loser, move abroad."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go sooner rather than waiting til the last minute. A big part of our social life in the burbs involves families we've met in rec activities. We've met more neighbors this way than almost any other way (except school). My youngest and now 3rd-grader has been on teams/done activities with many of the same children for 2 years now, so we've really built a village. That's harder as kids get older and rely on parents to get them to activities less.

Meh. Those villages you built kind of disappear as kids get older and settle into friend groups that then change a few times.

This is very true. The dynamic shifts when kids start driving the decision about who they want to spend time with versus their parents’ friends’ kids. Theres often a significant difference.
Can we also just retire the “village” messaging?!

Yes but by that time the kids aren’t really hanging out with their parents’ friends anyway-they’re doing their own thing. But the “supportive, family-like friend group” (or whatever you’d rather call the “village”, since you retired the term) of adults still exists. At least that’s how it’s been for us.

This is what happened for us. The kids have other friends now, but the parents still hang out. The kids politely tolerate each other when we're together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Something to consider is whether you want to rely on TAG or have in-state tuition for public colleges in VA or MD.

Most of us earn too much to quality for TAG by the time our kids are in college.

More people than you think will be able to qualify. Especially in the legal field, by the time the kids are in college a lot of people will have become in-house counsel or joined the government.

Yeah. We’re an SES lawyer and a doctor and easily qualify. Like, we’re doing fine, but if you’re not in private practice, $600K is a lot.

Right?? Not sure what that PP was thinking. The Hill is by and large not a super wealthy place, mansions on E Cap and all. The families I know facing down the middle school dilemma are like this:

- GS14 + nonprofit middle managememnt
- single parent GS 15
- Military + SAHP
- Professor + IT admin
- in-house lawyer + think tank
- journalist + artist

True. There are lots of multimillionaires but mostly educated upper middle class. Its surprising how family friendly this area is.

[Anonymous]

Post above about planning is simply honest. Unrealistic thinking doesn’t tend to pay off on CH where public schools go.