Capitol Hill families - If you moved to NW or burbs for school, do you have any regrets?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist.

As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.

There's some poster who is convinced there are >150 properties on the Hill for sale for less than $1m. That doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not going to waste my time checking. She has some crazy notion that there are endless cheap options on the Hill, but nothing at all is affordable in Arlington. (Of course her reference for Arlington is that nothing is listed the last week of July--literally the worst time to look for real estate in the DMV.).

“I don’t believe you and I’m not going to check but you’re wrong for sure.”

truly amazing

I checked. There is exactly 1 (one) 3 bedroom home on Capitol Hill under a million dollars. One. And the reason for the low price has mostly to do with the condition of the home. If you remove the filter for 3 bedrooms and choose 2 bedrooms and up, there are 5 homes for sale, and 4 of them are condos.

So whoever you are, stop being crazy and pretending there are tons of homes on the hill for sale for under a million. I wish there were- I would happily buy one!

Huh? You’re not using Redfin correctly or you have a very restricted definition of Capitol Hill. Try again because you’re wrong.

Signed, someone who will be selling a Maury-zoned house soon for around 900k.

NP. Out of morbid curiosity, I just looked on Redfin for 3 beds 2 bath on the Hill sold for under $1 million in the last 6 months. I came up with 7 properties, four of which sold for over $950k.

Who said we all live in 3br/2ba homes? And you’re probably not searching the entire SH/EH cachement (an extended definition of the Hill).

The reason this line of discussion came up here is to point out that “move to N Arlington where the schools are better” is not financially feasible for many Hill families facing down MS/HS (or upper elementary in the case of some schools). Many of us do not live in $1mil houses. Cashing out our home equity means either a) moving way out to Fairfax to get “good” schools or b) making a trade up to MoCo where it’s arguable whether the DCC HS are that much of an upgrade over waiting to see if something works out in DC.

Uhm, the EH boundary includes the entire Maury, Miner & Payne boundaries… That is way beyond even an extended definition of Capitol Hill. All the way out at like 24th & Benning?? No wonder people are saying CH real estate is cheap. CH means the Historic district + maybe out to the Starburst in NE & Congressional Cemetery in SE if we’re going with outer boundaries of neighborhood feel. In no world is 21st & anything “Capitol Hill.”

Most Payne and Maury families and many Miner consider themselves “Capitol Hill” families. And the situation is the same because we all face the same MS/HS dilemma. But sure, if you want to define away the problem, go ahead ….

“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill.

Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options.

Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following:
-Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses
-Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist

For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years.

You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about.

I think the author of this post (and the many other posts discussing Hill MS/HS) were likely thinking about people zoned for EH, SH or Jefferson. Which yes, includes up to 22nd. I’m zoned for Maury on the west end, and I certainly don’t think “gee I’d sure like to talk about MS with Maury parents, but only those who live west of 13th st.”

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist.

As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.

There's some poster who is convinced there are >150 properties on the Hill for sale for less than $1m. That doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not going to waste my time checking. She has some crazy notion that there are endless cheap options on the Hill, but nothing at all is affordable in Arlington. (Of course her reference for Arlington is that nothing is listed the last week of July--literally the worst time to look for real estate in the DMV.).

“I don’t believe you and I’m not going to check but you’re wrong for sure.”

truly amazing

I checked. There is exactly 1 (one) 3 bedroom home on Capitol Hill under a million dollars. One. And the reason for the low price has mostly to do with the condition of the home. If you remove the filter for 3 bedrooms and choose 2 bedrooms and up, there are 5 homes for sale, and 4 of them are condos.

So whoever you are, stop being crazy and pretending there are tons of homes on the hill for sale for under a million. I wish there were- I would happily buy one!

Huh? You’re not using Redfin correctly or you have a very restricted definition of Capitol Hill. Try again because you’re wrong.

Signed, someone who will be selling a Maury-zoned house soon for around 900k.

NP. Out of morbid curiosity, I just looked on Redfin for 3 beds 2 bath on the Hill sold for under $1 million in the last 6 months. I came up with 7 properties, four of which sold for over $950k.

Who said we all live in 3br/2ba homes? And you’re probably not searching the entire SH/EH cachement (an extended definition of the Hill).

The reason this line of discussion came up here is to point out that “move to N Arlington where the schools are better” is not financially feasible for many Hill families facing down MS/HS (or upper elementary in the case of some schools). Many of us do not live in $1mil houses. Cashing out our home equity means either a) moving way out to Fairfax to get “good” schools or b) making a trade up to MoCo where it’s arguable whether the DCC HS are that much of an upgrade over waiting to see if something works out in DC.

Uhm, the EH boundary includes the entire Maury, Miner & Payne boundaries… That is way beyond even an extended definition of Capitol Hill. All the way out at like 24th & Benning?? No wonder people are saying CH real estate is cheap. CH means the Historic district + maybe out to the Starburst in NE & Congressional Cemetery in SE if we’re going with outer boundaries of neighborhood feel. In no world is 21st & anything “Capitol Hill.”

Most Payne and Maury families and many Miner consider themselves “Capitol Hill” families. And the situation is the same because we all face the same MS/HS dilemma. But sure, if you want to define away the problem, go ahead ….

“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill.

Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options.

Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following:
-Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses
-Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist

For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years.

You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about.

You think a great deal of yourself. Thanks for confirming what we expected you were. And, yes, I think people who talk about moving to the burbs or NW include many people from Hill East, NoMa and the rest of the CH ES that feed to SH, EH, and ultimately to Eastern. The fact that you don't makes me wonder what you are doing here.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist.

As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.

There's some poster who is convinced there are >150 properties on the Hill for sale for less than $1m. That doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not going to waste my time checking. She has some crazy notion that there are endless cheap options on the Hill, but nothing at all is affordable in Arlington. (Of course her reference for Arlington is that nothing is listed the last week of July--literally the worst time to look for real estate in the DMV.).

“I don’t believe you and I’m not going to check but you’re wrong for sure.”

truly amazing

I checked. There is exactly 1 (one) 3 bedroom home on Capitol Hill under a million dollars. One. And the reason for the low price has mostly to do with the condition of the home. If you remove the filter for 3 bedrooms and choose 2 bedrooms and up, there are 5 homes for sale, and 4 of them are condos.

So whoever you are, stop being crazy and pretending there are tons of homes on the hill for sale for under a million. I wish there were- I would happily buy one!

Huh? You’re not using Redfin correctly or you have a very restricted definition of Capitol Hill. Try again because you’re wrong.

Signed, someone who will be selling a Maury-zoned house soon for around 900k.

NP. Out of morbid curiosity, I just looked on Redfin for 3 beds 2 bath on the Hill sold for under $1 million in the last 6 months. I came up with 7 properties, four of which sold for over $950k.

Who said we all live in 3br/2ba homes? And you’re probably not searching the entire SH/EH cachement (an extended definition of the Hill).

The reason this line of discussion came up here is to point out that “move to N Arlington where the schools are better” is not financially feasible for many Hill families facing down MS/HS (or upper elementary in the case of some schools). Many of us do not live in $1mil houses. Cashing out our home equity means either a) moving way out to Fairfax to get “good” schools or b) making a trade up to MoCo where it’s arguable whether the DCC HS are that much of an upgrade over waiting to see if something works out in DC.

Uhm, the EH boundary includes the entire Maury, Miner & Payne boundaries… That is way beyond even an extended definition of Capitol Hill. All the way out at like 24th & Benning?? No wonder people are saying CH real estate is cheap. CH means the Historic district + maybe out to the Starburst in NE & Congressional Cemetery in SE if we’re going with outer boundaries of neighborhood feel. In no world is 21st & anything “Capitol Hill.”

Most Payne and Maury families and many Miner consider themselves “Capitol Hill” families. And the situation is the same because we all face the same MS/HS dilemma. But sure, if you want to define away the problem, go ahead ….

“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill.

Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options.

Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following:
-Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses
-Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist

For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years.

You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about.

You think a great deal of yourself. Thanks for confirming what we expected you were. And, yes, I think people who talk about moving to the burbs or NW include many people from Hill East, NoMa and the rest of the CH ES that feed to SH, EH, and ultimately to Eastern. The fact that you don't makes me wonder what you are doing here.

Yup. No idea what I'm doing here, since I think folks who live on the Wharf (zoned for Jefferson) are about as relevant to OP's post as folks zoned for Shaw. Which is to say, they probably have some thoughts on their own neighborhoods vs the burbs, but those thoughts would not be responsive to OP's question.

[Anonymous]

I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist.

As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.

There's some poster who is convinced there are >150 properties on the Hill for sale for less than $1m. That doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not going to waste my time checking. She has some crazy notion that there are endless cheap options on the Hill, but nothing at all is affordable in Arlington. (Of course her reference for Arlington is that nothing is listed the last week of July--literally the worst time to look for real estate in the DMV.).

“I don’t believe you and I’m not going to check but you’re wrong for sure.”

truly amazing

I checked. There is exactly 1 (one) 3 bedroom home on Capitol Hill under a million dollars. One. And the reason for the low price has mostly to do with the condition of the home. If you remove the filter for 3 bedrooms and choose 2 bedrooms and up, there are 5 homes for sale, and 4 of them are condos.

So whoever you are, stop being crazy and pretending there are tons of homes on the hill for sale for under a million. I wish there were- I would happily buy one!

Huh? You’re not using Redfin correctly or you have a very restricted definition of Capitol Hill. Try again because you’re wrong.

Signed, someone who will be selling a Maury-zoned house soon for around 900k.

NP. Out of morbid curiosity, I just looked on Redfin for 3 beds 2 bath on the Hill sold for under $1 million in the last 6 months. I came up with 7 properties, four of which sold for over $950k.

Who said we all live in 3br/2ba homes? And you’re probably not searching the entire SH/EH cachement (an extended definition of the Hill).

The reason this line of discussion came up here is to point out that “move to N Arlington where the schools are better” is not financially feasible for many Hill families facing down MS/HS (or upper elementary in the case of some schools). Many of us do not live in $1mil houses. Cashing out our home equity means either a) moving way out to Fairfax to get “good” schools or b) making a trade up to MoCo where it’s arguable whether the DCC HS are that much of an upgrade over waiting to see if something works out in DC.

Uhm, the EH boundary includes the entire Maury, Miner & Payne boundaries… That is way beyond even an extended definition of Capitol Hill. All the way out at like 24th & Benning?? No wonder people are saying CH real estate is cheap. CH means the Historic district + maybe out to the Starburst in NE & Congressional Cemetery in SE if we’re going with outer boundaries of neighborhood feel. In no world is 21st & anything “Capitol Hill.”

Most Payne and Maury families and many Miner consider themselves “Capitol Hill” families. And the situation is the same because we all face the same MS/HS dilemma. But sure, if you want to define away the problem, go ahead ….

“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill.

Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options.

Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following:
-Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses
-Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist

For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years.

You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about.

NP. That's a straw man. The entire point of this conversation is to discuss school options for people in Capitol Hill elementaries that feed to Eastern, which is viewed by most as a non-starter. EH, SH, and JA are viewed as borderline by some, unacceptable by many (though a major reason they are deemed unacceptable is specifically because they feed to Eastern).

So excluding families zoned for Maury, Payne, Tyler, even Van Ness or JO Wilson (neither of which are on the Hill but feed to schools on the Hill) makes little sense. The conversation obviously includes people in Hill East and really anywhere in Ward 6 where the feeder schools might prompt people to move.

This isn't about who gets to claim they live on the Hill (no one cares!), it's about how families who move because they are dissatisfied with educational options on the Hill, which are accessed by people outside the strict borders of not only the historic district (which is quite small) but even the broader Capitol Hill area. All these families face similar issues, regardless of whether they live at 4th and East Cap or 9th and I St NE or 4th and L SE.

Or even those IB for Amidon-Bowen? I guess I just completely disagree. I don't think OP thought most people would regret leaving their less good elementary schools... They were wondering whether people would regret leaving their Capitol Hill neighborhood. Whether you actually live in that neighborhood and have that share experience with OP seems relevant. This isn't about exactly where the CH line is, but rather whether it is actually relevant to include schools and neighborhoods that no one would call Capitol Hill.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Most people on CH can’t afford to move or go private, so they are really stuck. However there are more charter high schools than the ones DCUM finds acceptable and many families I know send their kids to these high schools.

Total BS. Whether a family rents or buys on CH, the same money spent on rent and equity/mortgage payments could be spent on housing in the DC burbs. No middle-class family is stuck with mediocre or bad schooling options in Ward 6.

No, housing is relatively cheaper on the Hill. Many of us can’t trade up that easily.

Cheaper as compared to where? North and Central Arlington 3-bedroom houses and Hill houses are priced comparably (we've done lots of searching). Same with 3-bedroom rentals. Almost all of Fairfax and Falls Church and at least half of MoCo are cheaper than the Hill.

Not for schools that are clearly better.

NW DC, Arlington, Falls Church and MoCo zoned for the “good” schools have almosr nothing under $1m. 20002/20003 currently have 150+ 2br+ properties for under $1 mil. Fairfax is better but you start getting really deep into the burbs and trading off time for money.

This leaves families contemplating a move to the DCC or Richard Montgomery HS. At that point many Hill families will stick it out a bit longer to hope that Walls or McKinley or a cheaper Catholic HS will work out.

You keep saying this. But you've been told over and over again that things sell quickly in these areas so you just won't ever see lots of inventory at any price point. (At least not in the 7 years I've lived in Arlington.) There are never ever 150+ properties on the market in a single price range. You have to watch when things come up and pounce. It doesn't mean that there aren't options. It just means that they don't sit around.

This is not even remotely limited to Arlington. Houses in the Dc area sell fast. And i don’t know where you’re finding homes under 1 million on Capitol Hill. They don’t really exist.

As a final note- Arlington middle schools are not good.

There's some poster who is convinced there are >150 properties on the Hill for sale for less than $1m. That doesn't seem right to me, but I'm not going to waste my time checking. She has some crazy notion that there are endless cheap options on the Hill, but nothing at all is affordable in Arlington. (Of course her reference for Arlington is that nothing is listed the last week of July--literally the worst time to look for real estate in the DMV.).

“I don’t believe you and I’m not going to check but you’re wrong for sure.”

truly amazing

I checked. There is exactly 1 (one) 3 bedroom home on Capitol Hill under a million dollars. One. And the reason for the low price has mostly to do with the condition of the home. If you remove the filter for 3 bedrooms and choose 2 bedrooms and up, there are 5 homes for sale, and 4 of them are condos.

So whoever you are, stop being crazy and pretending there are tons of homes on the hill for sale for under a million. I wish there were- I would happily buy one!

Huh? You’re not using Redfin correctly or you have a very restricted definition of Capitol Hill. Try again because you’re wrong.

Signed, someone who will be selling a Maury-zoned house soon for around 900k.

NP. Out of morbid curiosity, I just looked on Redfin for 3 beds 2 bath on the Hill sold for under $1 million in the last 6 months. I came up with 7 properties, four of which sold for over $950k.

Who said we all live in 3br/2ba homes? And you’re probably not searching the entire SH/EH cachement (an extended definition of the Hill).

The reason this line of discussion came up here is to point out that “move to N Arlington where the schools are better” is not financially feasible for many Hill families facing down MS/HS (or upper elementary in the case of some schools). Many of us do not live in $1mil houses. Cashing out our home equity means either a) moving way out to Fairfax to get “good” schools or b) making a trade up to MoCo where it’s arguable whether the DCC HS are that much of an upgrade over waiting to see if something works out in DC.

Uhm, the EH boundary includes the entire Maury, Miner & Payne boundaries… That is way beyond even an extended definition of Capitol Hill. All the way out at like 24th & Benning?? No wonder people are saying CH real estate is cheap. CH means the Historic district + maybe out to the Starburst in NE & Congressional Cemetery in SE if we’re going with outer boundaries of neighborhood feel. In no world is 21st & anything “Capitol Hill.”

Most Payne and Maury families and many Miner consider themselves “Capitol Hill” families. And the situation is the same because we all face the same MS/HS dilemma. But sure, if you want to define away the problem, go ahead ….

“Most” Payne and “many” Miner… Probably the ones who live on or at least near Capitol Hill, or perhaps the ones sucked by real estate agents. It’s not defining the problem (which Ward 5 has as well) away to say that almost a mile from the Capitol Hill historic district does not equal Capitol Hill. Geographically Chinatown is closer to the Hill than 24th & Benning, that doesn’t make it Capitol Hill.

Also, when there’s a big discussion on whether people on the Hill could afford to sell their houses and move to Arlington, there’s obviously a huge difference in the answer for folks with houses in the Historic District ($1 million minimum with a few exceptions) and folks living out in an area where the average house seems to be $600K way on the other side of the Starburst. Defining everyone into Capitol Hill actually masks that people have very different options.

Newsflash, the list of people who care about the "historic district" designation includes the following:
-Septuagenarian and and octogenarian real estate agents who wear knits and ill fitting ankle length dresses
-Desperate people like you who want a cache that doesn't exist

For most families looking to buy homes for families the historic restrictions are a net negative. You seem sad and desperate. I'd also bet you $5k that you do not have and have not had school age kids at home for several years.

You really think the author of this post was asking if folks previously living at 22nd & Benning regretted that they moved to the NW or burbs? Sure. Whatever. We can talk about everyone EOTP having middle school issues... that's absolutely true. That's still not "Capitol Hill," which is what this post was actually asking about.

NP. That's a straw man. The entire point of this conversation is to discuss school options for people in Capitol Hill elementaries that feed to Eastern, which is viewed by most as a non-starter. EH, SH, and JA are viewed as borderline by some, unacceptable by many (though a major reason they are deemed unacceptable is specifically because they feed to Eastern).

So excluding families zoned for Maury, Payne, Tyler, even Van Ness or JO Wilson (neither of which are on the Hill but feed to schools on the Hill) makes little sense. The conversation obviously includes people in Hill East and really anywhere in Ward 6 where the feeder schools might prompt people to move.

This isn't about who gets to claim they live on the Hill (no one cares!), it's about how families who move because they are dissatisfied with educational options on the Hill, which are accessed by people outside the strict borders of not only the historic district (which is quite small) but even the broader Capitol Hill area. All these families face similar issues, regardless of whether they live at 4th and East Cap or 9th and I St NE or 4th and L SE.

Or even those IB for Amidon-Bowen? I guess I just completely disagree. I don't think OP thought most people would regret leaving their less good elementary schools... They were wondering whether people would regret leaving their Capitol Hill neighborhood. Whether you actually live in that neighborhood and have that share experience with OP seems relevant. This isn't about exactly where the CH line is, but rather whether it is actually relevant to include schools and neighborhoods that no one would call Capitol Hill.

^^ Sorry that should say less good middle & high schools (including SH, EH, Jefferson & Eastern).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

I love that you think JOW is not CH. You are all hilarious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

I love that you think JOW is not CH. You are all hilarious.

JOW catchment has higher property values than "Hill East". Shhhhhh, don't tell them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

I love that you think JOW is not CH. You are all hilarious.

I’m fine with considering it Capitol Hill. Just giving a nod to people who call it something different (there are actually NoMa signs now in part of the JO Wilson area). But the more important point is that I don’t really think it’s any different for this conversation about schools and moving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

I love that you think JOW is not CH. You are all hilarious.

JOW catchment has higher property values than "Hill East". Shhhhhh, don't tell them.

Oh ffs. This is just getting absurd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

You’re in the same boat with respect to MS/HS but your neighborhoods are by no means equivalent. Point is that it’s more of a loss to turn one’s back on certain CH addresses than others in adjacent areas when heading for Ward 3 or the burbs. _That_ is what is implied in the handwringing of the OP.

In other words, not all Eastern-zoned families would be giving up the same thing.

— NP who doesn’t even live in CH but visits and has eyeballs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

You’re in the same boat with respect to MS/HS but your neighborhoods are by no means equivalent. Point is that it’s more of a loss to turn one’s back on certain CH addresses than others in adjacent areas when heading for Ward 3 or the burbs. _That_ is what is implied in the handwringing of the OP.

In other words, not all Eastern-zoned families would be giving up the same thing.

— NP who doesn’t even live in CH but visits and has eyeballs

I have absolutely no idea where you’re getting that, but ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We lived near eastern market and had major angst about moving to nw when our daughter was 1. She is now 10. We lived in Shepherd park, next to rock creek park, have a great community, yard and love it! No regrets. Definitely feels more city than suburbs although different than Capitol Hill. But our needs have changed with kids and we’re closer to what we need.

If you’re going to move to a suburb, move to one with good schools, where the police enforce things like stop signs and insane drivers. I would sooner die than go to a totally mediocre school like shepherd park elementary/deal/JR while living in the suburbs, AND dealing with a full speedway situation with 16th St. Definitely agree Deal/JR Wilson is light years better than EH/SH/Eastern, but it’s not good enough to justify living in shepherd park. I’d rather move to Arlington or Bethesda or McLean or Fairfax than live by the polluted rock creek park with few few few restaurants and deal with insane drivers. Sorry. Not sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I also am completely confused why acknowledging that Eastern serves communities way beyond Capitol Hill makes me "think a great deal of myself." But you assuming everyone in every neighborhood wants to be described as living on the Hill & it is somehow insulting to say they don't... doesn't.

This all started with correcting the false assumption that everyone on “the Hill” can trade up for some 1.5 mil home in N Arlington as part of the Hill-suburbs migration OP is asking about. If your answer to that is “of course they can because the Hill is exclusively the historic district” then you don’t really have anything useful to add.

The rest of us understand that when we talk about “the Capitol Hill school situation” we are generally referring to kids zoned for EH, SH and Jefferson. I guess there’s some reason to quibble about the less central feeders (Miner, Van Ness, Amidon, JOW) but we are all truly in the same boat as far as school options here go.

You’re in the same boat with respect to MS/HS but your neighborhoods are by no means equivalent. Point is that it’s more of a loss to turn one’s back on certain CH addresses than others in adjacent areas when heading for Ward 3 or the burbs. _That_ is what is implied in the handwringing of the OP.

In other words, not all Eastern-zoned families would be giving up the same thing.

— NP who doesn’t even live in CH but visits and has eyeballs

Yes, it's obvious some of you who are posting don't live in or near CH.

Look, it is hard for someone who lives at 7th and Maryland NE (unquestionably Capitol Hill) to leave the neighborhood if they love the neighborhood. But what some of you who are obsessing about how certain things are "on the Hill" and others are outside an invisible boundary need to understand, is that the person who lives at 7th and Maryland NE is sad about moving away from not just the CH historic district, but a much broader area with a bunch of amenities and community that extend well beyond it. They are sad to move away from H Street, which is not "on the Hill" but is walkable from their house and includes a nice grocery store and a host of restaurants and bars and retail stores they enjoy. They are sad to miss out on walkability to Nats Park in the summer, which is in Navy Yard but the proximity of Navy Yard and its amenities is a huge benefit to people on the Hill. They'll also miss Union Market and the Angelika, being able to walk or bike or catch a bus into downtown or to the museums on the mall. All of this is part of what makes CH special. It's not about just living in a few square blocks of row homes.

They also have friends throughout the Hill *and environs* that will include people who live north of H, east of Lincoln Park, and south of Pennsylvania Ave. And those friends, they'll find, have the same concerns about schools (their kids are zoned for the same schools after elementary), the same reasons for loving the neighborhood, the same reticence to leave. They will spend lots of time at those friend's homes or meeting those friends in the neighborhood, even though they live "on Capitol Hill" and their friends live in NoMa, Navy Yard, and Hill East.

If you live in a suburb without the kind of walkability and density of the Hill, you may not get any of this. If the only places you can walk in your neighborhood are the surrounding streets, and going anywhere else means getting in the car whether it's 2 miles or 20 miles away, you might not get this.

No one who lives on Capitol Hill looks at people who live in Kingman Park or near Union Market or south of Eastern Market and thinks "oh those people's problems and attachment to this area are totally different from mine." Unless they are very dumb.