Recommend your Bethesda/Chevy Chase Neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, how snobby do people get? Parked cars on the street is "trashy?"

+1. These are people who don't know what's important in life.

Seriously, what? I never said 'trashy,' but I think it's inconvenient, annoying and looks bad. I'd prefer to live on a street where people park in their garages or driveways. How is that different than any other housing preference?

[Anonymous]

avenel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:avenel.

Doesn't work with
- Price - up to about $1.4mm if move-in ready, around $900,000 - $1.1mm if needs work
Bonus - (1) easy/direct commute to DC for work, (2) proximity to shopping, restaurants, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We're looking to move and looking for suggestions. Criteria:

- Lot sizes in the 7,500 - 10,000 sq. ft. range so we can have a bit of a yard
- Streets - Prefer wider streets, at least wide enough for two cars to pass easily, prefer neighborhoods where people have garages and use them rather than park a bunch of cars on the street- Kids and kid-friendly (toddlers and young ES-age) - nearby park is a bonus
- Price - up to about $1.4mm if move-in ready, around $900,000 - $1.1mm if needs work

Bonus - (1) easy/direct commute to DC for work, (2) proximity to shopping, restaurants, etc.

We've considered:
- East Bethesda - I find most of the streets and lots to be claustrophobic - small lots, small streets
- Somerset and Chevy Chase West - not bad but expensive for what you get, some lots are pretty small
- Rollingwood - Not bad, maybe too far east for easy access to shopping, restaurants, etc? proximity to Candy Cane park is great.
- Neighborhood north of Jones Bridge between Conn. and Jones Mill (don't know the name)

thanks

Why are you so weird about the street thing? I can just imagine wanting a garage, though personally I couldn't care less. I cannot fathom why you would care whether other people use their garage or not. What is the deal? Are you such a crappy driver that you are scared of crashing into parked cars?

It looks trashy to park cars on the street. My mother in law also holds this belief.

Oh, well if your mother in law also holds this belief, then it must be true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Why are you so weird about the street thing? I can just imagine wanting a garage, though personally I couldn't care less. I cannot fathom why you would care whether other people use their garage or not. What is the deal? Are you such a crappy driver that you are scared of crashing into parked cars?

OP Here. Not sure why you care about what I'm looking for in a neighborhood, but it's not about driving through there. It's (a) a safety issue - safer for pedestrians and kids, especially if there aren't sidewalks, and (b) personal preference. When I look out my window, I like to see green yards and my neighbor's houses, not rows of cars. It looks more orderly.

If it is safety issue, then surely picking an area with sidewalks (like most of the town of cc) is more important than picking an area with no sidewalks but where people park in garages?

Generally speaking, places where people park on the street have a lot more social interaction than where people drive into their garage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try Woodhaven and also Kenwood Park. The entire Burning a Tree neighborhood too.

Much of Burning Tree will be out of OP's budget, won't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My god, how snobby do people get? Parked cars on the street is "trashy?"

+1. These are people who don't know what's important in life.

Seriously, what? I never said 'trashy,' but I think it's inconvenient, annoying and looks bad. I'd prefer to live on a street where people park in their garages or driveways. How is that different than any other housing preference?

Well the oppositive of "trashy" must be noveau riche. Truly the most charming parts of B/CC, the ones with the older clapboard and Queen Annes, etc. were all built without garages. It's all those new arrivals in the 40s and 50s who attached garages to what then were McMansions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hillmead in Bethesda fits most of your criteria. The neighborhood has very friendly people, lots of kids, lot sizes about 7000 sq ft and up, sidewalks on about half the streets, and most houses at least have driveways. There is a playground in the neighborhood, plus basketball court and tennis courts. There is a mix of new builds and older homes, so you should be able to find something within your budget quite easily. Good luck with your search!

I beg to differ and I live in the neighborhood. Streets are narrow, some houses have driveways though most don't have garages, lots of cars on streets, and people aren't that friendly. The park is definitely a benefit.

[Anonymous]

OP here, checking back in on post. Thanks to all who posted suggestions. It's helpful to brainstorm with others.

And big thanks to those who posted about CC Supermarket. We shop there frequently, and I'm definitely interested in the future of that area.

(And just to clarify, I'm not the PP who called the parking thing "trashy" or referred to their mother-in-law. It truly is just a personal preference - I like wider streets. If the street is wide enough, I don't care if everyone parks there. It's the narrow street and street parking combo that make me feel claustrophobic.)

[Anonymous]

OP, I am with on the wider streets. We live on one of the narrow streets in Chevy Chase (but not as narrow as Martisn Addition). Lots of cars on our block have been swiped or hit and the kids can't ride their bikes on the street. All I want is to move somewhere with an attached garage, too!

[Anonymous]

I think the Wyngate neighborhood fits your needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I am with on the wider streets. We live on one of the narrow streets in Chevy Chase (but not as narrow as Martisn Addition). Lots of cars on our block have been swiped or hit and the kids can't ride their bikes on the street. All I want is to move somewhere with an attached garage, too!

When I first moved here from New England I found the lack of driveways and garages jarring. I still don't understand how these can be left out!

[Anonymous]

Check out the neighborhoods along Mass Ave - Sumner, Westgate, etc. - the same classic colonials as in CC but most have driveways/garages and the streets are wider than CC also. 5 min from Friendship Heights metro, and it is a straight shot downtown via car on Mass Ave for commuting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out the neighborhoods along Mass Ave - Sumner, Westgate, etc. - the same classic colonials as in CC but most have driveways/garages and the streets are wider than CC also. 5 min from Friendship Heights metro, and it is a straight shot downtown via car on Mass Ave for commuting.

I've lived in both and like them both, but not sure they meet OPs street criteria. Good on schools and commute of course.

Westgate actually has very narrow streets and very few garages. Not much traffic though since you can't cut through from Mass to River (except by one pretty circuitous back way). Westgate feeds to BCC.

Sumner has a mix of narrow and wide streets but a lot of the houses have one car garages and many people use them for storage rather than cars so there is a mix of driveway and street parking. There is more traffic cutting through from Mass to Sangamore (heading to Macarthur). The amount of traffic will depend on the block of course. Sumner feeds to Whitman.

[Anonymous]

Rollingwood is great as is Dunlop Hills.