What's wrong with Kensington?

[Anonymous]

I take the back ways but when you need to get on the beltway it is still harder than coming from CC, hence the cheaper prices for being "outside" the beltway. Location, baby.

I disagree with this. Kensington is just outside the beltway and we can get on it really easily. That said, getting to the Beltway is not the end all and be all. There are many of us that commute North or work at NIH or the Navel Hospital.

I grew up in Bethesda and now live in Kensington. I find that Kensington has the feel of Bethesda before it became the city it is today. I grew up in a a red brick home, and spent days on neighbors' porches or in backyards, riding my bike up and down the street, walking to the neighborhood pool and waiting for the ice cream truck on hot summer nights. Now we do the same with our kids in Kensington. The community here is very friendly and many are involved in local politics. I think we're trying to figure out how to keep our small town/historic feel, while making room for some development and better access to shopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I take the back ways but when you need to get on the beltway it is still harder than coming from CC, hence the cheaper prices for being "outside" the beltway. Location, baby.

I disagree with this. Kensington is just outside the beltway and we can get on it really easily. That said, getting to the Beltway is not the end all and be all. There are many of us that commute North or work at NIH or the Navel Hospital.

I grew up in Bethesda and now live in Kensington. I find that Kensington has the feel of Bethesda before it became the city it is today. I grew up in a a red brick home, and spent days on neighbors' porches or in backyards, riding my bike up and down the street, walking to the neighborhood pool and waiting for the ice cream truck on hot summer nights. Now we do the same with our kids in Kensington. The community here is very friendly and many are involved in local politics. I think we're trying to figure out how to keep our small town/historic feel, while making room for some development and better access to shopping.

I agree with this. I live in Kensington and I find that my commute is just as easy, if not easier, than it was when I lived in Bethesda. I don't use the Beltway all that often (only on the weekends and I am usually going north to visit friends in Columbia) so proximity to the Beltway isn't all that important to me. I take the Metro and live closer to the Metro than most people in Chevy Chase. Location is all relative to where you work so if you don't need to be inside the Beltway, do yourself a favor and take advantage of the cheaper prices that Kensington offers.

[Anonymous]

We've lived in Kensington for 5 years and there are pros and cons:

Pros
*Love the location - Close to metro, shopping, work (we work in MD), interstates, parks, walking/biking trails.
*While we tend to keep to ourselves, our neighborhood is very social and all the SAHMs hang out daily and seem close knit
*Lots of kiddies and young families moving to the area.

Cons
*School system our neighborhood feeds into (no school age children yet) is not the best and ALL of our neighbors send their kids to private school.
*Seems like more people are moving to this area and/or commuting because traffic just gets worse and worse and worse. The backup on Beach>Strathmore>Rockville Pike>Tuckerman>Old Georgetown is a pain in the ass both going to and coming home from work. It will only get worse once the new high rises and townhouses are complete. Connecticut seems bad in the morning too.
*No shopping and good restaurants within walking distance. What I wouldn't give for a place to go for a quick bite to eat. Savannahs is about it and the 2 times we've been there, drunks bellied up to the bar got into fistfights. Maybe a coincidence but we haven't been back.

[Anonymous]

*Love the location - Close to metro,

Not so much. Very little of Kensington is anywhere near Grosvenor. And, for those Parkwood residents, do you hoof it across Rock Creek Park on foot to get to to metro? Or bike? If you need to drive and park, then you're not "close" to metro.

[Anonymous]

Depends on what part of Kensington you are in. Some parts are really close to the Wheaton metro.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bump

What more do you want to know? I live in CCV and am happy to answer some questions if you have particular things on your mind. We're very happy there, though my commute to downtown has steadily worsened since we moved in a number of years ago. We're zoned for BCC (no school-age kids, so no personal experiences), love the Saturday farmers' market, can do all of our shopping very close to home, are close to Bethesda and Wheaton for huge restaurant selections, and many other things that make it a good place for us to live.

how do you get downtown? I assume you drive - I mean which roads, what time, and how long?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:bump

What more do you want to know? I live in CCV and am happy to answer some questions if you have particular things on your mind. We're very happy there, though my commute to downtown has steadily worsened since we moved in a number of years ago. We're zoned for BCC (no school-age kids, so no personal experiences), love the Saturday farmers' market, can do all of our shopping very close to home, are close to Bethesda and Wheaton for huge restaurant selections, and many other things that make it a good place for us to live.

how do you get downtown? I assume you drive - I mean which roads, what time, and how long?

It's not pretty anymore. I usually take Conn Ave down to Woodley Park, drop on to RCP, to Constitution to my office on PA Ave. It's 45 minutes (front door to parking garage) on a good day. On a bad day, it's 60-75 minutes. It has taken 90 minutes on days I don't care to remember. Alternative routes are Beach Drive and 16th Street. When I first started doing this over 5 years ago, my DH and I commuted together and left around 7:30 and sailed in, and sailed home around 6 p.m; 35-40 minutes each way. Now I go in later and leave earlier (daycare p/u, d/o) and so I risk getting stuck more as I'm traveling with all the other parents who just did school/daycare drop-offs as well. I've also done the drive to Grosvenor or Bethesda thing, park and ride. And I've done the bus/metro for a long stretch. All take around 45 minutes. It's just the variability on any one of those options that can kill a commute.

[Anonymous]

Per the above post, you may want to consider Georgia depending on where you live and where you work. I work near Union Station/Judiciary Square and I find 16th Street or Georgia to move much quicker than Connecticut. It takes about the same on Metro vs driving (45 minutes). But you have to live and work on that side of Connecticut to make it worth it.

[Anonymous]

Everyone who slams Olney on the commute to DC should read 13:51s post. Commuting to DC on Connecticut is bad. My commute from Brookeville down Georgia and 16th is 60 mins typically (although it was only 45 this morning b/c I left super early at 6:15). If you can afford the nice part of Kensington, then go for it (just avoid CCV unless you plan to send your kid to HR). If you can't afford $800k+ then you might want to consider Olney/Brookeville.

[Anonymous]

The "problem" with Kensington is that it is not considered to be upscale enough to compete with Bethesda/CC, it is not funky enough to compete with Silver Spring/Takoma Park, and it it not far enough out or affordable enough to compete with Gaithersburg/Germantown.

Tis a shame, as it is close in, the homes are beautiful, and the people are generally more grounded and nice than your average Washingtonian.