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getting priced out of dc--where to go?
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Anonymous
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hi folks:
single mom here looking for advice about moving out of the district. i live in a one bedroom with my dd and cannot continue to pay rent where i currently live (adams morgan/kalorama). i love city life, don't own a car and likely cannot afford one any time soon. i had hoped to be able to send dd to oyster-adams... anyway, my question is: what is good place for me to move? i want dd to go to a good school and i work in downtown dc. would love a location with a walking culture and someplace where i could live close to public transportation (ideally, metro). right now i pay $1500 and it's a little bit much. i don't know too much about maryland and virginia neighborhoods. i have considered some of the less expensive areas of dc (petworth, brookland), but safety is a concern for me as a single woman with a child (that i have to walk with to and from places, like school). suggestions appreciated! |
Anonymous
| rockville and look at MoCo's moderately priced dwelling unit program, and rent subsidy programs, depending on income. the new town center is great. fenestre apartments are walkable to metro and have rent subsidies if you qualify. |
Anonymous
| Agree with pp, that is a gem, and one of the best kept secrets. It has a main street old town feel, the summers are great (pool, out door plaza, trails), and there is a lot to do in the winter too (library, metro to Strathmore, Civic Center by bus, loads of shopping, movies). |
Anonymous
A little more about it, if you are interested. I believe the schools for the town center area are Beall ES, West MS, and Montgomery High, which has an IB program. Not the top schools in MoCo, but not the bottom, either. The town center has a fabulous new library, great restaurants, movies, Starbucks, Gold's Gym, a toy store, specialty shops, and there is a dry cleaners on the way to the metro station. There are older high rise condos there, called the Americana (monroe st.). Mostly owned by older couples, but many are rented out. I've seen some as cheap as $1,200 a month. There's a CVS in that area as well, and a Super Fresh has either opened or is scheduled to open. In the mean time, there is a Giant Food that would be a long walk away, but surely on a short bus route. The Ride On bus system is great, and you can go all along Rockville Pike for fabulous shopping by bus. The Woodley Gardens Park is about 2 miles away, on a bus route. I take my kids there all the time to play, with great playground equipment and large fields and woods. I'm seriously looking at that area myself. 
http://www.rockvilletownsquare.com/ |
Anonymous
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OP, I live in your current neighborhood and absolutely feel for you. We make a lot of sacrifices to live here, as well, and although new urbanist developments are onto something, there's no comparison to central, established, historic real-city neighborhoods.
So now we look at options. How soon will your DD start school? Can you hold on long enough for her to start Kindergarten, even if it means moving to a studio or English basement? As you probably know, if she starts as an in-boundary student, she's entitled to stay after you move. Traditionally, Eaton has accepted a good number of out-of-boundary students. It's a nice place. Is Columbia Heights more affordable for you? You're probably already familiar with the area's attractions and drawbacks. There's also Mt. Pleasant. I'm not a big Rockville fan, though I do like performances and classes at Strathmore. Silver Spring, on the other hand, seems to have a little more going on "downtown" and a well-planned, walkable concept. |
Anonymous
I'm one of the Rockville posters and agree that Silver Spring is more urban in feel. But unfortunately the schools there are not as good. |
Anonymous
| To me Silver Spring urban area feels like it is attached to DC. Rockville has a feel like its own community. |
Anonymous
True, that. Rockville was a very sleepy town, even 5 years ago. |
Anonymous
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Sorry that you have to move. I think that moving from Adams-Morgan to Rockville would be a big mistake if you like an "urban, walkable" feel. Yes, there is a tiny nugget of that in Rockville, but you will spent over an hour each way on your commute, losing time with your DD. As someone who did a distant suburban commute as a single parent, I can tell you that it's back-breaking. Takoma Park is a very nice community, progressive, walkable, right on the metro much further in, more affordable than Adams-Morgan, with a great neighborhood feel. There is cohesiveness, great kid-friendly atmosphere, and better schools than most parts of Silver Spring in general. Great compromise between DC and the outer suburbs.
Also, there are a couple of good schools in Silver Spring, such as Woodlin elementary in the Woodside neighborhood. There is some housing there that is less expensive than Kalorama. Good luck. |
Anonymous
| Takoma Park or Silver Spring would fit your criteria, OP, and are considerably closer in than Rockville so your commute would be considerably shorter. As 10:59 mentioned, a distant suburban commute is even tougher for a single parent. In Tk Pk or Silver Spring you could find an apartment in your price range within easy walking distance of Metro. Silver Spring offers a great Whole Foods within walking distance, as well as Mayorga and some other nice options. Takoma Park has good schools and a tremendous, supportive community. The food co-op and other good shops are within walking distance of Metro, as are some apartments. Takoma Park is exceptionally child friendly too. |
Anonymous
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Check out Greenbelt in Prince George's County
http://www.greenbelt.com/gcom/aboutgb.htm |
Anonymous
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better Greenbelt link:
http://www.greenbeltmd.gov/about_greenbelt/index.htm |
Anonymous
| TP has a bit of crime though, but it is a really interesting community. Very diverse. |
Anonymous
14:32 here. I suspect there's a tiny bit of code in this post.  Yes, there is some crime. Takoma Park borders both the District and PG County and perps tend to flee into those jurisdictions. If you take common-sense precautions, however, there's not a great deal of risk. It's such a close-knit community that people tend to watch out for one another pretty strongly. If you want close proximity to DC and some diversity, as well as affordability for renters, you're going to have some crime -- as I'm sure OP knows.
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Anonymous
| PG County single mom here. It's lovely in Mt. Rainier, and affordable, and you will have lots of single mom company. Our schools do not have a terribly good rep, but it varies by school and the test scores do not tell whe whole story. Mt. Rainier Elementary is great. |