Why do some parents of DC private school children choose to live in the suburbs?
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Anonymous
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My commute from Arlington to downtown DC is shorter than the commute from Woodley Park to downtown DC, and I can beat your drive/walk/metro ride to Georgetown any day of the week. Most of the people I know who've moved from DC to the burbs have done so because the public schools in DC suck, not because they were desperate for a bigger house.
I doubt that. I can get downtown from WP (via metro) to Farragut North much faster than you can from Arlington. That commute takes about 6 minutes. I can get to Georgetown ( Rock Creek Pkwy) in 5 minutes (with no traffic lights). I don't have much desire to venture to VA, but I can get to National Airport in 12 minutes (also via RCK) with the possibility of only that one traffic light near the Kennedy Ctr. I can also get to Bethesda, DuPont Circle, Friendship Heights, Adams Morgan, etc. in less time than it takes you. Now what? Woodley Park's neighborhood public school is Oyster. Most of the people I know w/kids moved to WP specifically for this school. If they wanted a monolingual school, or to take their chances with a lottery for an immersion school in the burbs, they could have easily afforded to do so. Once again, my point is that no one who owns a home in WP (please note: I'm not referring to every neighborhood in DC) is being held hostage here. They live here because they want to, NOT because they have to. And the quality of life is pretty darn good over here. |
Anonymous
| And in WP, you also have the option of walking to the following private schools if Oyster is not your cup of tea: Maret, Aidan, Beauvoir, NCS, St. Albans, and WIS (upper school). |
Anonymous
Bullshit! I used to live in Adams Morgan right off Adams Mill Road (moved out shortly after waking up to the sound of gunshots just outside my window). I would routinely meet friends in Georgetown that lived in Rosslyn. They would ALWAYS beat me to G-Town. You're full of shit. And no one claimed you're a hostage in DC---just that DC is more dangerous than burbs. But hey, if you're willing to let your kids live in a place where there odds of getting murdered are several times higher than in the burbs just so you can think of yourself as urban, then more power to you! |
Anonymous
| Whoa--calm down little firecracker before you give yourself a stroke! I don't live in Adams Morgan off of AMR, but trust me, it takes 5 minutes OR LESS to get from my home in WP to Georgetown via RCP (exit on P St.). I really don't give a damn if you believe me, but you must drive like my grandmother if your friends from Rosslyn (ugh!) routinely beat you to Georgetown. I never hear gun shots in my neighborhood, so I can't comment on that (I guess RCP really provides a nice buffer). And whatever the odds, I bet your kids get murdered in your neighborhood (or die from meth or boredom) before mine. The fact that you think I live in DC so that I can think of myself as urban is stupid and laughable. Whether you like it or not, my commute to every desirable location is waaaaaay better than yours; I can walk to my DCPS and my kids will be bilingual (for free); and my neighborhood is wonderful and interesting. If you want to pick a fight over a DC neighborhood vs. wherever you live in the hinterlands, you need to pick another one. You have nothing on Woodley Park. |
Anonymous
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Re: OP's question.
What law states that families who live in the suburbs must justify why private school? |
Anonymous
Hinterlands? Really? Woodley Park isn't exactly Manhattan. And many areas in NoVA and MD have a lot more to do than than that hub of fun, Cathedral Ave. Crime notwithstanding, there's not a lot going on there outside of the zoo. It's obvious to most people why we choose to live across the City limits. The question should be, if you have kids, why on earth would you live in DC? The only possible edge DC would have for parents with kids in DC schools is proximity. But as several posters have pointed out, even that edge is not decisive. And BTW Rosslyn is a lot closer than 5 mins to DC. Check a map. |
Anonymous
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Hinterlands? Really? Woodley Park isn't exactly Manhattan. And many areas in NoVA and MD have a lot more to do than than that hub of fun, Cathedral Ave. Crime notwithstanding, there's not a lot going on there outside of the zoo. It's obvious to most people why we choose to live across the City limits. The question should be, if you have kids, why on earth would you live in DC? The only possible edge DC would have for parents with kids in DC schools is proximity. But as several posters have pointed out, even that edge is not decisive. And BTW Rosslyn is a lot closer than 5 mins to DC. Check a map.
You check a map. Besides Georgetown, Rosslyn isn't close to anyplace desirable. And the ONE desirable neighborhood it's near is (gasp!) in DC. Oh, the "hub of fun" WP is near is a little street called Connecticut Ave. Maybe you've heard of it? Besides the Zoo, WP is walking distance to two large hotels, tons of shops and restaurants, lots of embassies (that open their doors to the public every spring), the National Cathedral, and many neighborhoods that are destinations themselves (i.e., Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan, Cleveland Park). I notice that you keep comparing Rosslyn (or Arlington) to all of DC. I'm only talking about WP here, so pay attention. There are many reasons, as I've outlined above, to raise children in this neighborhood. If I wanted to be bored to death, I'd move into your neighborhood. I guarantee that when my children are teens, they won't be looking for things to do in NoVa or other surrounding burbs. Your kids, on the other hand, will be dying to hang out "in the city" (a real one). Just make sure they know how to carry themselves in this VERY dangerous and scary city, or else they will be easy targets. |
Anonymous
No, Lulu was in Bethesda on Bethesda row |
Anonymous
| I don't live in DC because I want a good public as a back up in case I can no longer pay 36,000 for three kids. Also both my husband and I grew up in this close in suburb. It's also near our country club so we can conveniently swim, play tennis etc. |
Anonymous
| What is so great about Woodley Park??? There's almost nothing there. And really, what true urbanite wants to live in DC? If someone's really looking for an urban experience, they move somewhere else. I find it truly bizarre for someone to be a city-snoot living in DC. It's provincial compared to what most people consider to be a vibrant urban city. 21:27--Get a fucking life! You sound like a true idiot. "well my kids will be playing in DC, blah, blah, blah." What are you, 12?!?! |
Anonymous
Except when people are stabbed in Woodley Park: http://www.wusa9.com/news/article/229887/158/One-Man-Dies-After-Double-Stabbing-at-Woodley-Park-Metro-Station |
Anonymous
Yes, and that happens ALL of the time in WP. I wish I could live in the suburban backwater where you live...where absolutely nothing.at.all happens. |
Anonymous
Written like a true adult! For someone who lives in the cultural wasteland that is Rosslyn (or whichever suburban hell you occupy), you certainly have a lot to say about this city. I'm really not interested in taking lessons about what is appropriately urban from someone who lives in the burbs. This exchange has been purely for my amusement--btw, thanks! I have done my time in a suburb, and frankly, I would have preferred to cut my wrist with a dull knife. Yes, I am a proud and committed city-snob who was born and raised in a major city (not DC), and I wouldn't have it any other way. Good luck to you in suburgatory! |
Anonymous
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Northwest DC is decidedly less urban than many of the close-in suburbs. It's basically more suburban than the suburbs with its leafy streets,lack of diversity, and snobby millionaires who pretend they are "urban."
Oh and my children are already teens who do go to school in DC and when they hang out in DC, it's in Georgetown or around U street, not Woodley Park. You really should try getting out of WP more and experience the full richness of the wider DMV. |
Anonymous
| sorry woodley park poster, but there is no way that you are getting to gtown in less than 5 minutes. i used to live right near the entrance to RCP and there is no way I ever got to gtown in 4 minutes. also - i'm no fan of the burbs either, but I can tell you that woodley is really not that exciting either. |