Moved to the burbs and hate it
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Anonymous
OP my words of wisdom are that you need to get to know your neighbors. Expect it to be a challenge in the years before your kids start at Westbrook (am I guessing correctly at your school district?). Start now and build your local village. |
Anonymous
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OP, I went through something similar 9 years ago. We lived 2 blocks from the metro in a fairly urban setting. I had a toddler when we left.
At the time, we thought, well, we aren't going to the bars anymore, and it would be so nice to have a backyard. Plus, so annoying to have the kitchen on the second floor (narrow, tall, townhouse) and our guests have no where to park (street parking by permit only). So we moved further out. I HATED it. Really, my bigges issue was my loss of identity/change in life stage. Baby #2 came soon after, and as years progressed, we enjoyed the community of our local pool, hours spent in the backyard, and the wonderful elementary school. Find a way to have those city moments - you don't actually need them 24/7. Also, you made it sound like you aren't working right now - you might be much happier going back to work and spending those hours in the city. |
Anonymous
| OP I know what you're going through. We started out house hunting looking at quiet neighborhoods like Kenwood and realized it wasn't for us. We replicated what we loved about city living (Logan Circle) and found the same thing in the "suburbs": walk to whole foods and library, 5 blocks from the metro, close to stores and the movies. Added bonus about living out here are better schools and a sense of peace and quiet. |
Anonymous
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Hi OP - maybe I can help. We live in Dupont Circle with 2 kids in elementary school. We have stayed in the city WAY longer than most of our friends. We love it and stay for all sorts of reasons. BUT we're about to have to go to the suburbs, too, for middle school. (Private is not in the budget for us). So, I think you probably just moved too soon. But you likely would have moved eventually. That seems to be what happens. Lots of people with young kids in this neighborhood, even with elementary-aged kids but people start to move away for middle school. So, maybe you can look at it as moving too soon, rather than as the move itself being a mistake.
Agree with all the PPs that you need to make friends in the neighborhood and you probably will be able to do that very easily once kids start school. But you're going to be fine. We'll probably be up your way in a couple of years 
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Anonymous
What hood? |
Anonymous
Any suggestions on how? Preschools you recommend maybe? Other activities? |
Anonymous
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OP, i hear you.
First, all these people complaining that where you live is basically the same thing as DC are clearly idiots. It may be the same as CCDC. But it's a very, very different lifestyle than Logan. When our first son was born, we got the idea that we should move to the close-in suburbs (we lived in a different state then, but think Chevy Chase kind of distance and lifestyle). We had been living in very urban areas for 15 years at this point, but thought we'd be ready. We felt lost and listless and like part of our identity was gone. We walked everywhere, but that was a very different type of walking than Logan Circle. We also hated our commutes. We also found that we didn't much connect with our neighbors - most of whom were older and more conservative (because the neighborhood was quite pricey, so most of our peers were priced out). So after two years, i came home and announced to my husband that i thought we should move back to the urban core and figure out school 4 years later when our son hit K. It was fantastic and made so much better sense for our lives then. Since then I was transferred back to DC. We knew it was shortterm, and we knew we were city people, so we came back to the Logan area. Lots of tradeoffs, but we really like it. No school options. Private isn't an option for us because they are all out past Cleveland Park - involving a lot of driving and defeating half the point of our nice urban lifestyle. This has been a great option for the last couple years before K. But, after this 2 year stint in DC, what we think is going to be our "compromise" is moving away from a major metropolis altogether - and move to a smaller less exciting urban city but move to a single family house. We've figured out that urban living is probably not going to work for our son forever (schools everywhere suck in cities), he really would love a yard, and we'd like to feel part of a community (like, the same kids knowing each other in the neighborhood all the way through HS). But we've also figured out that we abhor long commutes and the traffic of DC. My suggestion is to give where you live a try for two years and if you hate it, move to a different region. Life is too short to live somewhere you hate. |
Anonymous
Brookdale |
Anonymous
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OP, I hear you. In fact I think you live in my hood!
It has taken me FIVE years, but I have found my groove. I'm in a good book club, I regularly meet with a group of artistic/creative women to talk about our creative work. I walk to Friendship Heights (it's actually only a mile) for dance classes (for me, not the kids), walk to Tenleytown (also a mile) for sushi, the Wilson Pool and the great library (which MoCo residents can use), I go to readings at Politics & Prose (straight shot down Fessenden). Try to see yourself as in a quiet neighborhood in a larger metro area and not "in the burbs." And find like-minded people. Easier said than done, I know. But they are out there. |
Anonymous
| Op here. I think I probably live close to the Brookdale and other pp who just posted. If you have ideas in how I can get to know the hood please share! I'm on the Westbrook list serve but that's all I got so far. |
Anonymous
| Op here again. I really appreciate the feedback. It's very comforting to know others have felt this way and now have adjusted. |
Anonymous
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Why'd you move there OP? Schools, space, other?
We live in the same area and although we felt out of place at first have come to really like it. (granted, we live in the much more walkable part though.) If you go regularly to neighborhood spots like livingston playground, sweet teensy bakery, potomac pizza, chevy chase pavilion (great for riding up and down escalators/elevators with bored toddlers on a rainy day), ann's aquatics classes, you'll start to see the same families over and over and most people are very friendly. |
Anonymous
Not op. What area is this? |
Anonymous
Same area as OP, just closer to the FH metro. We sacrificed space and a yard to be closer in b/c it was non-negotiable for DH to be in a walkable area (he grew up in a pretty small apt in nyc and thought it was great). |
Anonymous
All those things. We needed more space do had to move, always liked this neighborhood and schools, close in but not as far out as Bethesda downtown. Are you in brookdske? I have not even sorted what the boundaries are for these neighborhoods |