If you had $1,000,000 budget for a home, work in DC and desire a short cummute, and cannot afford

[Anonymous]

If you had $1,000,000 budget for a home, have two children under 5, work in DC and desire a short commute, and cannot afford private elementary school, but perhaps will be able to swing private high school, what neighborhood in DC, VA, or MD would you choose?

[Anonymous]

Any neighborhood in N. Arlington would work for that budget. Specifically, I would live in Maywood, Cherrydale, Woodlawn, or Lee Heights. Even $1 million would not get you a new house, but it would get you something very nice.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I was thinking the same thing.

[Anonymous]

OP and that should be COMMUTE

[Anonymous]

Woodley Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have everything you could want: short commute, metro right there, walk kids to Zoo and restaurants, Oyster School, which has K-8 available now (fantastic school), Rock Creek Park, beautiful surroundings. For about $850k you can get a nice Wardman rowhouse with 3br, 3ba, deck, parking, walkable to metro and Zoo, in Oyster school boundary. We walk to Cleveland Park for other restaurants, walk along Rock Creek with our dog, and take the Red Line all over town in nothing flat. Seriously, this neighborhood is paradise if you are willing to plunk down $850k plus.

[Anonymous]

I would buy this house in Spring Valley, which is within the Mann boundary:

MLS DC6976218

possibly this one, also in Spring Valley / Mann

MLS DC6970709


Both of these strike me as well priced, possibly a bit underpriced, for the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

woodley/kalorama. all of the reasons already quoted above. single mom here with limited resources and i am about to smush myself and my daughter into a 1 bed in the nabe so that she can go to oyster. and i can get to and from work quickly to be able to pick her up/drop her off.

[Anonymous]

If you are moving from a condo or a rental situation keep in mind that your total operating costs can really go up once you buy a house. There are maintenance and replacement costs for things you never imagine on older houses. Lawn upkeep if you have a bigger lot. Bug service, gutter cleaning (though we do this ourselves), trash pick up, higher utilities you name it. We were very relieved that we bought below our means because even though we were used to a high monthly condo fee we were surprised at the house costs.

I would move to an area with good public elementary and high schools to protect against unexpected financial costs and the event you don't get into your favorite private school or the commute to that school doesn't make sense. Kensington is a nice area in MD. Arlington is also great.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for all of the input. What do you guys think of townhouses versus houses with more yard?

[Anonymous]

Close-in Bethesda is another great option (within 5-10 mins walking of Bethesda metro) (perhaps Cap. Hill too).

I like being not too vertical and having some yard to play in.

[Anonymous]

Woodley Park and Cleveland Park are much more enjoyable (restaurants, zoo, etc.) and convenient (Metro) neighborhoods than Spring Valley (which is built on a munitions dump) or Wesley Heights (which isn't), but Mann seems like an appreciably stronger school than either Oyster (which is bilingual immersion, but with overcrowded classrooms, overwhelmed staff, and sharply limited outdoor space) or Eaton (which seems marginally stronger than Oyster, but does not offer the Spanish immersion that Oyster does). You'd likely be happy in any of the three on balance, and just how that balance works out is a personal decision.

I don't know much about either Murch or the Friendship Heights area, but that sounds from second-hand information like another possibility to explore. Based on your criteria, I'd definitely go with Wesley Heights, Woodley Park, or Cleveland Park over AU Park/Janney or Chevy Chase/Lafayette. Don't know that anything else would even be on the table.

[Anonymous]

Friendship Heights/Brookdale. It's on the MD side of Western Ave, so if private school winds up being a no-go, MCPS is your default. Short walk to metro, doctors, restos & most shopping (Whole Foods is arriving in a year to the Wisconsin Place center). Four playgrounds are within a 5-10 min walk; 20 mins & a nice day will get you to Turtle park by foot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Woodley Park and Cleveland Park are much more enjoyable (restaurants, zoo, etc.) and convenient (Metro) neighborhoods than Spring Valley (which is built on a munitions dump) or Wesley Heights (which isn't), but Mann seems like an appreciably stronger school than either Oyster (which is bilingual immersion, but with overcrowded classrooms, overwhelmed staff, and sharply limited outdoor space) or Eaton (which seems marginally stronger than Oyster, but does not offer the Spanish immersion that Oyster does). You'd likely be happy in any of the three on balance, and just how that balance works out is a personal decision.

I don't know much about either Murch or the Friendship Heights area, but that sounds from second-hand information like another possibility to explore. Based on your criteria, I'd definitely go with Wesley Heights, Woodley Park, or Cleveland Park over AU Park/Janney or Chevy Chase/Lafayette. Don't know that anything else would even be on the table.

Make sure that you check out enrollments in all of the schools, available on line. Oyster is not overcrowded, it is sufficiently staffed up, it has nearly as much outside space as Mann. All of its outdoor space is newly set up with nice playground equipment, climbing wall, and play surface. The building is less than 10 years old, an does not include trailer space, Eaton is a very good school but is not "stronger" than Oyster, in test scores or reputation, and you would be hard-pressed to find someone in bounds for Oyster who would apply OOB to Eaton (or Mann, for that matter).

Murch is a good school and Friendship Heights is very convenient. OP might want to check out some of the homes there. It's a little less urban and a little less charming than closer in,

OP, to the rowhouse/single family question, I moved from an absolutely adorable single-family home in Montgomery County to my rowhouse in DC and I am so glad that I did. When you have children and a job, a lawn can feel like the enemy! It's amazing how much more work a detached house can be than a rowhouse. Best-case scenario is a rowhouse very close to a playground or other green space. That way, you get a "yard" but someone else has to maintain it.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

alexandria! del ray, rosemont, south old town, beverly hills...

[Anonymous]

If you chose a smaller house, would you be able to put them in private for middle school? There are a number of DC elementary schools with great reputations, but I am not familiar with middle school options. We are in one of the top elementary districts but we chose to go with a smaller house and are sending them to private from day 1. This is just meant to be another idea to consider and is not a judgment or advocacy piece.