Moving to DC, will there be anything on the Market to buy?

[Anonymous]

SF is a good example, I think, of a city with sky high real estate and crappy schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, I hope you realize that these people posting 1) are trolls or 2) have never set foot in the neighborhoods you are considering or 3) both.

There are thousands of wonderful families who live EOTP, love where they live, and are figuring out schools just fine.

On the other hand: You are mostly right about school performance correlating strongly to HHI and parental education achievement, but that doesn't mean you can expect to throw your kid into any low-performing school and expect she'll be OK. You say you are familiar with troubled urban school districts. and I believe you, but when it's your kid who loses lots of instructional time because some of her classmates are extremely troubled, or who comes home stressed and worried because of what she witnesses in school, I don't think you'll just accept that she will be fine in the end because you read to her and earn an upper-middle-class income.

You are right that there are many schools in DC that are very underrated where your kid would probably get a good education (see: 20-page thread on Ludlow-Taylor). And good for you for not counting them out. But there are definitely seriously troubled schools in DCPS, and you can't blithely assume that your kid would be immune to their troubles just because she has a good home life.

I think that is what all those rabid posters were getting at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

OP here again. Thanks for all the advice. I'm done. I'll go rent in Potomac.

OP, you have been given lots of advice here, some of it unvarnished, but since you've done a ton of research already, you should have known what to expect from DCUM. Many folks have given you suggestions about neighborhoods in DC. We, who live here and have been in the trenches for years, have also pointed out that you don't want to overlook close-in MD and VA since you will have a child who will eventually go to school, and the school districts you mentioned are unlikely to change significantly over the next five years. But, you have that figured out, so what's the use belaboring that point?

If the post about being naive is the one you found the most insulting, then I suggest a little spine stiffening is in order before you move to the East Coast.

+1

If you can't handle DCUM, stay in the midwest. Trust me.

- former midwesterner who can handle DCUM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

On a side note. I think that people here put too much importance on what the school does and not enough on the parents. Every meaningful study of schools shows that as incomes of the students rise, so does performance, no matter what else is done. Most of the neighborhoods are rapidly gentrifying. I just think it's funny that people don't think that as the demographics change, the schools want. From what I've read about some schools in east MoCo, a good school can certainly turn into a mediocre one in that period of time.

This is so wonderfully naive--especially as it relates to DCPS particularly--that I don't know where to begin. I'll just say that I wish you the best with this line of thinking and that you might contemplate doing a little more research.

I really just came here to ask about inventory. But all I'm saying is that no one knows where these schools will be in 5-10 years, especially in a city whose demographics are changing rapidly. I've done a lot of research. The things I stated about parental income and school performance are incontrovertible. They are fact that has been proven over decades of study in numerous locations. Why would something that happens everywhere else in this country not happen here?
Maybe I'm naive, but I think a lot of things accepted as dogma, are not necessarily true.

I'm not trying to be mean or rude. I really appreciate the advice that everyone has taken the time to give. But that last post was insulting. I'm going into this with my eyes open. My job has included working with kids in a school system worse than DCPS.
I'm saying I don't know what will happen and am willing to accept some uncertainty. People on here who say they do know what will happen probably don't.

Not here.

The rich parents in DC just send their kids to privates.

They don't join in the journey of turning around the failing schools in their neighborhoods.

NP here. WTH? MANY MANY rich parents send their kids to publics in DC. Hence the need for redistricting...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would rent for a year just to get used to the market, and then start looking early spring next year. That's when the market is usually hot. Try to find in a good school district, since people kept getting burned by charters, and since you are having a child, you know that will be something to consider in the future.

BUT BUT BUT his dogs!

[Anonymous]

OP - welcome to DCUM. You get some good advice but the price for that is a lot of assaholic vitriol from anonymous psychos. The schools sitch IS tricky in dc tho.... A lot of neighborhoods that have been gentrifying or already way gentrified for many years still have problematic schools (maybe elem ok but higher SES kids start disappearing to either charters, privates or other areas by around 3rd grade. Maybe if there weren't so many charters in DC, and the choice was just in-bound school, private or move, the fast improvement of schools would in fact happen. But consider Manhattan which is WAY gentrified and expensive (understatement of century) - most of the public schools there are no great shakes either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - welcome to DCUM. You get some good advice but the price for that is a lot of assaholic vitriol from anonymous psychos. The schools sitch IS tricky in dc tho.... A lot of neighborhoods that have been gentrifying or already way gentrified for many years still have problematic schools (maybe elem ok but higher SES kids start disappearing to either charters, privates or other areas by around 3rd grade. Maybe if there weren't so many charters in DC, and the choice was just in-bound school, private or move, the fast improvement of schools would in fact happen. But consider Manhattan which is WAY gentrified and expensive (understatement of century) - most of the public schools there are no great shakes either.

Hey, NYC's public schools are head and shoulders above DC's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP - welcome to DCUM. You get some good advice but the price for that is a lot of assaholic vitriol from anonymous psychos. The schools sitch IS tricky in dc tho.... A lot of neighborhoods that have been gentrifying or already way gentrified for many years still have problematic schools (maybe elem ok but higher SES kids start disappearing to either charters, privates or other areas by around 3rd grade. Maybe if there weren't so many charters in DC, and the choice was just in-bound school, private or move, the fast improvement of schools would in fact happen. But consider Manhattan which is WAY gentrified and expensive (understatement of century) - most of the public schools there are no great shakes either.

Hey, NYC's public schools are head and shoulders above DC's.

That's not really saying much tho. I lived there for 14 years. My ex was a publics h.s. Teacher there. Everyone I know still living in NYC with kids sends their kids to private. It's crushing financially and they live in tiny apartments to afford it but they believed their public options were awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - welcome to DCUM. You get some good advice but the price for that is a lot of assaholic vitriol from anonymous psychos. The schools sitch IS tricky in dc tho.... A lot of neighborhoods that have been gentrifying or already way gentrified for many years still have problematic schools (maybe elem ok but higher SES kids start disappearing to either charters, privates or other areas by around 3rd grade. Maybe if there weren't so many charters in DC, and the choice was just in-bound school, private or move, the fast improvement of schools would in fact happen. But consider Manhattan which is WAY gentrified and expensive (understatement of century) - most of the public schools there are no great shakes either.

I think what people are reacting to is op's sanctimonious assertion that there is no school problem in dc and that parents' stress about it is utterly unwarranted.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are not concerned about the schools and are looking EOTP, you should look at the Hill. There are nice houses in your price range if you are not looking at Brent or Maury.

http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1323-S-Carolina-Ave-SE-20003/home/9914770

[Anonymous]

Actually this one is inbounds for Maury, although the block is ok, but not the nicest.

http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/320-16th-St-NE-20002/home/10115644

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

What do you mean west of "the park?"

Schools in DC are horrible unless you get into a charter school, and I think there is a whole thread on that. You are in la-la land with regard to the schools. But based on your ideologue, hypothetical rhetoric, I think you would fit in SE or NE PERFECTLY. The ideologue transplant. Perfecto - BINGO!

NP here. I think this poster is spot-on.

OP sounds like he has some ridiculous ideas, and nearly every PP has warned him he is wrong about schools magically becoming better in 5 years, but he is SURE HE IS RIGHT.

Good luck, OP. In five years you will be regretting your inability to listen to natives when you asked for advice.

There's zero inventory, and you'll either have to overpay, get VERY lucky, pay in all cash, or move here and rent for a while.

I'd tell you to move to MoCo or Arlington instead (seriously, the district isn't going to save you any commute time, it's just going to make both of you miserable), but hey, you don't need any real advice, you just need someone to tell you you're super right and already have the perfect idea for where to live.

P.S. Love that you are considering where to live more based on your two big dogs than your kids' educations. AWESOME.

THIS! Again, ideologue transplant WEIRDO alert.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Actually this one is inbounds for Maury, although the block is ok, but not the nicest.

http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/320-16th-St-NE-20002/home/10115644

I like that house, but worried about the neighborhood. I also like the South Carolina House a lot. My worry is that both will be gone within a week.

[Anonymous]

OP, welcome to DC! There's a nice house for @ $800k on Newton Street NE in Brookland with a ginormous yard that might work for you.

It should be zoned for Burroughs, which is a school that I think could improve quickly in the next few years for a variety of reasons. Also lots of charter schools and private schools nearby.

Good luck with the search.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually this one is inbounds for Maury, although the block is ok, but not the nicest.

http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/320-16th-St-NE-20002/home/10115644

I like that house, but worried about the neighborhood. I also like the South Carolina House a lot. My worry is that both will be gone within a week.

I live in that area-- the South Carolina house is in a nicer part of the neighborhood, but the 16th Street is IB for a far better school. You're correct that they both may go quickly, though. There's not a ton of inventory on the Hill at the moment.