Comparing Silver Spring and Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd check the crime maps. Crime has stayed pretty steady in Silver Spring but I think its been declining in Arlington. Your appreciation will be much better in Arlington than Silver Spring. Schools seem to be improving each year in Arlington while MCPS is a mess and Silver Spring is generally viewed as having the worst schools in the county.

I am always baffled by the appreciation argument. Arlington is so much more expensive that I doubt anyone who has bought recently will see much appreciation because the high prices + mortgage interest rate narrows the potential pool of buyers.

OP, I lived in DTSS for a few years prior to moving in Arlington. Just bought in N Arlington this year. The downtown area of silver spring is fantastic and you can find a relatively affordable home (though not cheap) zoned for a decent elementary school. I’ve also heard that Blair high school can be good. Both APS and MCPS have overcrowding issues. Ethnic food options are 1,000xs better than Arlington. It’s also much more diverse. And more dog friendly. However, taxes in Arlington are much better.

If you work in Silver Spring (you just say it is closer) you might also consider looking in Howard County. There are some great schools in HoCo and it is cheaper than MoCo and Arlington county.

Did you read the post? She works in NoMA, and wants a GOOD commute. Nobody would live in Howard County if they want a decent commute into downtown DC.

Hi, hater! Did you read the post? In the original post she didn’t say where she worked and responded after I posted. That said Marc train comes into union station which is one stop from NOMA so I wouldn’t be shocked if some folks did that commute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is OP. The linked houses look great to me. Why is this so much less expensive than what I've been looking at in Arlington and Vienna? What am I missing?

1. The schools are bad, very bad. Everyone avoids the Silver Spring schools unless they can't afford anything else.

2. The jobs are in DC and in VA. There are very few jobs in Montgomery County and none on the horizon. There are so many commuters from MD to VA now that its almost impossible. The reserve commute is wide open. This is hurting the east and west.

3. Taxes are more of a problem now unless you are super rich. MD and Montgomery County taxes are higher and now that you can't deduct them its a bigger hit. Hoping that the Dems will repeal the tax bill.

4. Crime. Poverty has been out of DC and landed in Montgomery County. There is a concentration of no to low income housing in Silver Spring. Gangs are active in Silver Spring, Wheaton and Gaithersburg.

5. County revenue is not healthy. The county is losing tax revenue, property values are stagnate, no new businesses or losing businesses, and the population is shifting to be poorer. This means that county taxes will have to increase or services will need to be cut.

1. Actually that isn’t correct. Schools are fine. Although not uniformly so. I actually have a family friend whose son chose to go to Blair over his neighborhood school B-CC.
2. If you work in dc the best commute option depends on where in dc. If you are on the red line between Judiciary and ft totten coming from NVA is not convenient. Transferring is a real time suck and not having to do that has real value. Or if you work in Shaw/U street/Columbia heights and drive NVA is also less convenient.
3. Agree that the SALT limitation makes MoCo less attractive
4. Poverty will never be out of DC because of the way they have chosen to concentrate it in large affordable housing communities (rather than smaller communities spread out throughout the city). To the extent that this is true I would say dc’s working class has moved to P.G. County because MoCo is really not that cheap.
5. I have no idea about the county taxes. I will say though I think taxes are going to go up throughout the region to deal with increased population.

[Anonymous]

This is OP. I appreciate all of the input. Only folks who know both Silver Spring and Arlington will be able to answer this but is Silver Spring thought of as “similar” (in demographics and school quality) to south Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase is thought of as similar to North Arlington (whiter, wealthier, schools with higher Great Schools ratings)?

The schools matter to me A LOT, and as much as I’m skeptical of the Great Schools ratings, it’s all I have to go on. They are generally good for Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair and James Hubert Blake are both 6s. Einstein is a 5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I appreciate all of the input. Only folks who know both Silver Spring and Arlington will be able to answer this but is Silver Spring thought of as “similar” (in demographics and school quality) to south Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase is thought of as similar to North Arlington (whiter, wealthier, schools with higher Great Schools ratings)?

The schools matter to me A LOT, and as much as I’m skeptical of the Great Schools ratings, it’s all I have to go on. They are generally good for Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair and James Hubert Blake are both 6s. Einstein is a 5.

I live in Arlington, but I grew up in Kensington. I don't think that South Arlington and Silver Spring are really that comparable. I think that BCC is similar to W&L. I would not send my child to BCC (my brother went there and it was a joke), and I wouldn't be thrilled to send my child to W&L. I would not send my child to Blair or Einstein or any high school in Silver Spring. There is just too much gang activity in SS for me to be comfortable with. It's pretty much impossible to get a SFH in S. Arlington for under $500k now, and there are plenty of places over $1m.

[Anonymous]

What’s BCC?

[Anonymous]

And is W&L Washington and Lee in Arlington? So PP, is Yorktown the only high school you’d be comfortable sending your kids to? That’s completely fine if that’s what you’re saying — I’m just trying to understand. This is OP and Yorktown isn’t within budget. I also don’t need a SFH, though. A townhouse would be great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I appreciate all of the input. Only folks who know both Silver Spring and Arlington will be able to answer this but is Silver Spring thought of as “similar” (in demographics and school quality) to south Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase is thought of as similar to North Arlington (whiter, wealthier, schools with higher Great Schools ratings)?

The schools matter to me A LOT, and as much as I’m skeptical of the Great Schools ratings, it’s all I have to go on. They are generally good for Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair and James Hubert Blake are both 6s. Einstein is a 5.

OP, in every single post on DCUM about Silver Spring, there will be those of us who are affluent, educated and very happy with the schools our children attend. There will also be people who don’t live in Silver Spring and are convinced that Silver Spring offers nothing but poverty and dodging bullets.
Silver Spring is much more diverse racially and economically than Bethesda and north Arlington. Great Schools scores are heavily correlated with income. DD attends a Silver Spring middle school that I think is a 6 or 7 on GS. She scores in 95th percentile on standardized tests. She is getting a great education. We have a combined 4 Ivy League degrees in our family. But posters who don’t live in Silver Spring will tell you that families like ours don’t exist in Silver Spring.
You will have to decide for yourself who to believe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I appreciate all of the input. Only folks who know both Silver Spring and Arlington will be able to answer this but is Silver Spring thought of as “similar” (in demographics and school quality) to south Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase is thought of as similar to North Arlington (whiter, wealthier, schools with higher Great Schools ratings)?

The schools matter to me A LOT, and as much as I’m skeptical of the Great Schools ratings, it’s all I have to go on. They are generally good for Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair and James Hubert Blake are both 6s. Einstein is a 5.

I live in Arlington, but I grew up in Kensington. I don't think that South Arlington and Silver Spring are really that comparable. I think that BCC is similar to W&L. I would not send my child to BCC (my brother went there and it was a joke), and I wouldn't be thrilled to send my child to W&L. I would not send my child to Blair or Einstein or any high school in Silver Spring. There is just too much gang activity in SS for me to be comfortable with. It's pretty much impossible to get a SFH in S. Arlington for under $500k now, and there are plenty of places over $1m.

Which part of Kensington? Also, if you grew up there and are over, say 35, you know damn well Silver Spring has changed a *lot* since your youth (and mine, on the mean streets of Bethesda). This whole area has. Frankly, you sound like one of the many snobs I know who live in Kensington and recoil in horror at being so close to SS. It's pretty unpleasant.

OP, we live in SS now, zoned for one of the elementariness mentioned here, and really love it. DH lived in Arlington while we were dating before we moved, and I think your comparison is not far off. Bethesda to me feels more organic than super-planned Clarendon, which always felt like EPCOT or something. DTSS is different than either--and honestly reminds me of what downtown Bethesda was when I grew up in the 70s and 80s.

As for schools, GS ratings aren't all you have to go on: find parents whose kids attend the schools and ask them. For example, my kid has never had more than 16 kids in his class. He was reading at a third grade level by the end of K. Parents I know are friendly, down to earth, and diverse in many ways: race, ethnicity, occupations. There are a good number of Feds here, and more than a few with doctoral degrees. Point being: it's not the wasteland PPs who have no clue what it's like claim it is. I have zero interest in my kids attending a school in which the vast majority are highly privileged. It's not real life and it's not good for our society to pretend that it is. I'm confident my kids are getting a good education where we are, and also that DH and I can build on what they learn in school to enrich them in whatever areas they want and/or need enriching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s BCC?

It's Bethesda Chevy Chase HS and it's in Bethesda, not Silver Spring. Both schools are great. Blair HS is considered the best HS in Silver Spring but some people don't like the diversity so misinformed people think it's a bad school. That's with any SS school for that matter. Anyway, Blair
does some really cool stuff and there's a good # of high achieving kids there, not gangsters like some people here want u to believe. Check this out: https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1058102998839316482?s=17

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s BCC?

It's Bethesda Chevy Chase HS and it's in Bethesda, not Silver Spring. Both schools are great. Blair HS is considered the best HS in Silver Spring but some people don't like the diversity so misinformed people think it's a bad school. That's with any SS school for that matter. Anyway, Blair
does some really cool stuff and there's a good # of high achieving kids there, not gangsters like some people here want u to believe. Check this out: https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1058102998839316482?s=17

DP. If I’m not mistaken there are some small areas in Silver Spring that are zoned for BCC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s BCC?

It's Bethesda Chevy Chase HS and it's in Bethesda, not Silver Spring. Both schools are great. Blair HS is considered the best HS in Silver Spring but some people don't like the diversity so misinformed people think it's a bad school. That's with any SS school for that matter. Anyway, Blair
does some really cool stuff and there's a good # of high achieving kids there, not gangsters like some people here want u to believe. Check this out: https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1058102998839316482?s=17

DP. If I’m not mistaken there are some small areas in Silver Spring that are zoned for BCC.

Yes, I think so too, right around Grubb Rd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s BCC?

It's Bethesda Chevy Chase HS and it's in Bethesda, not Silver Spring. Both schools are great. Blair HS is considered the best HS in Silver Spring but some people don't like the diversity so misinformed people think it's a bad school. That's with any SS school for that matter. Anyway, Blair
does some really cool stuff and there's a good # of high achieving kids there, not gangsters like some people here want u to believe. Check this out: https://twitter.com/MCPS/status/1058102998839316482?s=17

Yes, Blair is very popular among Silver Spring schools, and hard to get into if you don't live in-bounds. Wheaton and Einstein are growing in popularity too (and would have more affordable townhouses). We've been at Einstein for two years and are really pleased with it. Here's a sample of the work they've done on media literacy: https://youtu.be/nrvAR-ox9vo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP. I appreciate all of the input. Only folks who know both Silver Spring and Arlington will be able to answer this but is Silver Spring thought of as “similar” (in demographics and school quality) to south Arlington and Bethesda/Chevy Chase is thought of as similar to North Arlington (whiter, wealthier, schools with higher Great Schools ratings)?

The schools matter to me A LOT, and as much as I’m skeptical of the Great Schools ratings, it’s all I have to go on. They are generally good for Silver Spring. Montgomery Blair and James Hubert Blake are both 6s. Einstein is a 5.

I live in Arlington, but I grew up in Kensington. I don't think that South Arlington and Silver Spring are really that comparable. I think that BCC is similar to W&L. I would not send my child to BCC (my brother went there and it was a joke), and I wouldn't be thrilled to send my child to W&L. I would not send my child to Blair or Einstein or any high school in Silver Spring. There is just too much gang activity in SS for me to be comfortable with. It's pretty much impossible to get a SFH in S. Arlington for under $500k now, and there are plenty of places over $1m.

Are you kidding? BCC is a much better high school than W&L (or Yorktown).

[Anonymous]

OP - I would 100% go for W&L.

I cry when I look at the appreciation in Arlington for houses since 2005 compared to Silver Spring. Just cry. Houses that sold for 600K-800K in Arlington have sold for 1.2-1.6 M in the past year or two. Silver Spring in the 600-800K range is barely recovering to 2005 levels. There is nothing in Silver Spring to draw people in except DC getting expensive. Discovery is gone. There is nothing interesting on the horizon. The schools are the same as they have always been which is undesirable to many buyers. Arlington has the job markets in VA and DC. Appreciation on the 2M houses in Arlington very well may flatten out but there's still room for the 500K THs to appreciate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - I would 100% go for W&L.

I cry when I look at the appreciation in Arlington for houses since 2005 compared to Silver Spring. Just cry. Houses that sold for 600K-800K in Arlington have sold for 1.2-1.6 M in the past year or two. Silver Spring in the 600-800K range is barely recovering to 2005 levels. There is nothing in Silver Spring to draw people in except DC getting expensive. Discovery is gone. There is nothing interesting on the horizon. The schools are the same as they have always been which is undesirable to many buyers. Arlington has the job markets in VA and DC. Appreciation on the 2M houses in Arlington very well may flatten out but there's still room for the 500K THs to appreciate.

OMG. pls just stop. I have a guy at work who lives in Arlington who is planning to move out of there because of the high schools. OP, if schools are a priority for you, move to the Blair cluster in SS.