s/o Would you move to Ward 3 if money wasn't an issue?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved out of ward 3 to takoma park, and we are much happier here. HHI 350k.

What do you like better about Takoma Park, PP? Is it that people are generally nicer?

PP here. We were in Upper Cleveland Park, Murch elementary, by Van Ness metro. We actually really liked our neighborhood, but felt like we wanted to move somewhere with more of a "town" feel. So, we started looking in TP, and really liked what we saw. Bought an old house in the historic district on a very big lot, find it even more walk-able than our old neighborhood, and yes, the people are SO nice. Seriously. Everyone is SO.NICE. And, I'm pretty much the stereotype of an earthy-crunchy vegan, which I think has a lot to do with how much I love it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 neighborhoods

No, there isn't anything for us. I want a fully urban neighborhood with tons of theatre and museums within a few block walk. I'm not saying that we would be slumming in Ward 3, but Ward 2 is a much better fit for our family. And, yes, we could afford to live in Ward 3.

What museums are within walking distance of the theatre district in Ward 2?
The problem with Ward 2 (and we used to live in Logan Circle) is that the schools are iffy. Ross, which is the only arguably decent school that accommodates a small part of Ward 2, is too small to even accept siblings in the PK. Garrison Elementary is a big gamble. Unless you are willing to spend $$$ for private school at some point, most families leave Ward 2 by elementary school age.

Really? In the past year, we have visited - via foot - Portrait Gallery, American Art Museum, Building Museum, Spy Museum, Newseum, Woman's Arts Museum, American History Museum, Natural History Museum, Koshland Science Museum (the before-mentioned are all less than a 10 block walk),
National Archives, National Gallery of Art, Sculpture Garden, Native American Museum, Air and Space Museum, Corcoran, Freer, Hirshorn, Phillips Collection, and Sackler Gallery. We also have also walked to see many performances at the National Theatre, and some at the Shakespeare Theater, Warner Theatre, Discovery Theatre, and various Fringe Fest locations. All of those, except for the Discovery Theatre, are within a 10 block walk. There are many other museums and theatres within walking distance that we have not - yet - visited this year, as we frequent many of those above, but someday...

I completely agree about the school situation. Our child is currently in a great Charter, and we hope that between that and all of the extracurricular learning that she is getting from the neighborhood resources, we can piece together her education. I am carefully monitoring, however, and if necessary, we will just send her to private. I would rather not, but we can afford it if necessary (just as we could afford moving to Ward 3 if we wanted to, but we don't).

This is true if you live in Penn Quarter. The Smithsonians are too far to walk to for young children if you live in Logan Circle (but you could take buses down 14th).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ward 3 and like that my kids walk and take the bus to school (DCPS). It's a 5-10 minute commute to work. We are renting our house. Couldn't afford to buy here.
When we move, I'm opting for another neighborhood with more diversity.

Please explain.

[Anonymous]

Ward 3 is beautiful and I can see why some people love living there, but its too vanilla for me. My ideal DC neighborhood would be a home in the U Street corridor (with off street parking). I'm granola meets urban chic and still under 30 fyi. Being in walkable distance from a Whole Foods, more than one metro, and Ben's/Ben's Next Door would be awesome! My friends and I were leaving Lauriol Plaza last week and were joking how we'd all be in trouble if one of us lived in walking distance.

[Anonymous]

^^PP here. One thing I love about DC is that the charter school options can be the great equalizer in education. I want a strong academic program with economic and ethnic diversity for my children.

Takoma Park is great too! One of the few places where a homebirthing vegetarian doesn't stand out!lol

[Anonymous]

We live in Arlington and our children go to DC privates, so we are definitely considering moving to Ward 3. It's really a lot like Arlington - I think it's true what they say about Spring Valley or Wesley Heights being more like a suburb with a DC zip code. Ward 3 just doesn't feel very urban to me.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Ward 6, currently live in Ward 1, and have lived in Ward 2.

I have never even considered Ward 3 as a place I would want to live. Too rich and white for my taste.

Sometimes I do covet the big bungalows in Ward 5.

We can't afford private school, but luckily DC is at a charter. It would be awfully nice to walk 4 blocks to school, but I doubt whether that will ever happen for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 is beautiful and I can see why some people love living there, but its too vanilla for me. My ideal DC neighborhood would be a home in the U Street corridor (with off street parking). I'm granola meets urban chic and still under 30 fyi. Being in walkable distance from a Whole Foods, more than one metro, and Ben's/Ben's Next Door would be awesome! My friends and I were leaving Lauriol Plaza last week and were joking how we'd all be in trouble if one of us lived in walking distance.

I love this area of DC too and lived there for 11 years. I'm now 32, married, TTC and while I still LOVE the more urban feel of U St/Dupont, we just moved to the calmer Ward 3 and I'm really enjoying it. At least I can still walk to a Whole Foods and Starbucks - and it's a quick drive down Mass if I go through withdrawal! I can't imagine raising children in the hustle and bustle of U St.

By the way, the houses in Dupont and Kalorama are more expensive (per square foot) than anywhere else in DC. I love Kalorama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 is beautiful and I can see why some people love living there, but its too vanilla for me. My ideal DC neighborhood would be a home in the U Street corridor (with off street parking). I'm granola meets urban chic and still under 30 fyi. Being in walkable distance from a Whole Foods, more than one metro, and Ben's/Ben's Next Door would be awesome! My friends and I were leaving Lauriol Plaza last week and were joking how we'd all be in trouble if one of us lived in walking distance.

I love this area of DC too and lived there for 11 years. I'm now 32, married, TTC and while I still LOVE the more urban feel of U St/Dupont, we just moved to the calmer Ward 3 and I'm really enjoying it. At least I can still walk to a Whole Foods and Starbucks - and it's a quick drive down Mass if I go through withdrawal! I can't imagine raising children in the hustle and bustle of U St.

We're doing it. When I moved to this neighborhood 10+ years ago I wouldn't have thought it possible, but so far so good. DC attends a charter school, but I strongly considered Garrison.

I see more strollers around here every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 is beautiful and I can see why some people love living there, but its too vanilla for me. My ideal DC neighborhood would be a home in the U Street corridor (with off street parking). I'm granola meets urban chic and still under 30 fyi. Being in walkable distance from a Whole Foods, more than one metro, and Ben's/Ben's Next Door would be awesome! My friends and I were leaving Lauriol Plaza last week and were joking how we'd all be in trouble if one of us lived in walking distance.

I love this area of DC too and lived there for 11 years. I'm now 32, married, TTC and while I still LOVE the more urban feel of U St/Dupont, we just moved to the calmer Ward 3 and I'm really enjoying it. At least I can still walk to a Whole Foods and Starbucks - and it's a quick drive down Mass if I go through withdrawal! I can't imagine raising children in the hustle and bustle of U St.

By the way, the houses in Dupont and Kalorama are more expensive (per square foot) than anywhere else in DC. I love Kalorama.

I don't really get this pervasive idea. If you liked living in a more urban place when you didn't have kids, why wouldn't you with kids? We love being urban even more now that we have kids, and so do the kids!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ward 3 is beautiful and I can see why some people love living there, but its too vanilla for me. My ideal DC neighborhood would be a home in the U Street corridor (with off street parking). I'm granola meets urban chic and still under 30 fyi. Being in walkable distance from a Whole Foods, more than one metro, and Ben's/Ben's Next Door would be awesome! My friends and I were leaving Lauriol Plaza last week and were joking how we'd all be in trouble if one of us lived in walking distance.

I love this area of DC too and lived there for 11 years. I'm now 32, married, TTC and while I still LOVE the more urban feel of U St/Dupont, we just moved to the calmer Ward 3 and I'm really enjoying it. At least I can still walk to a Whole Foods and Starbucks - and it's a quick drive down Mass if I go through withdrawal! I can't imagine raising children in the hustle and bustle of U St.

By the way, the houses in Dupont and Kalorama are more expensive (per square foot) than anywhere else in DC. I love Kalorama.

I don't really get this pervasive idea. If you liked living in a more urban place when you didn't have kids, why wouldn't you with kids? We love being urban even more now that we have kids, and so do the kids!

[Anonymous]

I don't really get this pervasive idea. If you liked living in a more urban place when you didn't have kids, why wouldn't you with kids? We love being urban even more now that we have kids, and so do the kids!

Totally NP here. Lived in Kalorama Triangle-meets-Dupont for a few years pre-kids. Now live in Ward 3.

Here are some of the reasons I personally would choose my current block over my previous block, again, with kids:

- it's zoned for one of the 3 best elementary schools in the city.
- it's zoned for the best middle school in the city.
- most of the neighbor kids do go to these 2 schools, rather than being dispersed among 30 solid charters/private/parochial schools, so we have a true "neighborhood school" existence.
- I have parking right in front of my house for those times I feel like driving and buying a case of water or a 35-lb bag of dog food
- speaking of dogs, mine have a large flat fenced yard in addition to the sanctioned DPR dog park down the street.
- my kids also use that large flat grassy yard attached to my house in addition to the public parks around here.
- my kids learned to ride their bikes in the street in front of my house because there's not much traffic, unlike Kalorama Rd or Corcoran St.
- there is a gigantic DPR swimming pool .75 miles from my door that offers basically free lessons to DC residents.
- a far, far bigger cohort of SCHOOL-age kids here than the trendy areas of Wards 1 and 2 like Logan, Penn Quarter, Dupont, etc. Not stroller babies/toddlers, but real, live 10 year olds to play with.
- fewer men (and women) piss on my front fence or leave their single-sale beer cans in my front yard.
- I am still a 16 minute Red line ride to those museums that are the huge selling point for living "downtown." Previously it was a 9 minute ride, so.
- somehow, by dint of miracle, we live on an incredibly diverse block by every single measure except income and educational attainment.

I do love so-call Old City DC and know it well; I just prefer living up here for now with school-age kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I don't really get this pervasive idea. If you liked living in a more urban place when you didn't have kids, why wouldn't you with kids? We love being urban even more now that we have kids, and so do the kids!

Totally NP here. Lived in Kalorama Triangle-meets-Dupont for a few years pre-kids. Now live in Ward 3.

Here are some of the reasons I personally would choose my current block over my previous block, again, with kids:

- it's zoned for one of the 3 best elementary schools in the city.
- it's zoned for the best middle school in the city.
- most of the neighbor kids do go to these 2 schools, rather than being dispersed among 30 solid charters/private/parochial schools, so we have a true "neighborhood school" existence.
- I have parking right in front of my house for those times I feel like driving and buying a case of water or a 35-lb bag of dog food
- speaking of dogs, mine have a large flat fenced yard in addition to the sanctioned DPR dog park down the street.
- my kids also use that large flat grassy yard attached to my house in addition to the public parks around here.
- my kids learned to ride their bikes in the street in front of my house because there's not much traffic, unlike Kalorama Rd or Corcoran St.
- there is a gigantic DPR swimming pool .75 miles from my door that offers basically free lessons to DC residents.
- a far, far bigger cohort of SCHOOL-age kids here than the trendy areas of Wards 1 and 2 like Logan, Penn Quarter, Dupont, etc. Not stroller babies/toddlers, but real, live 10 year olds to play with.
- fewer men (and women) piss on my front fence or leave their single-sale beer cans in my front yard.
- I am still a 16 minute Red line ride to those museums that are the huge selling point for living "downtown." Previously it was a 9 minute ride, so.
- somehow, by dint of miracle, we live on an incredibly diverse block by every single measure except income and educational attainment.

I do love so-call Old City DC and know it well; I just prefer living up here for now with school-age kids.

When will you move to the burbs.?

[Anonymous]

She already has.

PP, you must not have lived in the section of Kalorama Triangle zoned for Oyster/Deal/Wilson. Much of it is, and we have lots of school age kids in the neighborhood as a result.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She already has.

PP, you must not have lived in the section of Kalorama Triangle zoned for Oyster/Deal/Wilson. Much of it is, and we have lots of school age kids in the neighborhood as a result.

It's actually the after-school job of Ward 3 kids. They circulate among the trendy neighborhoods of other wards so people who live there can report sightings. The tips are phenomenal.