Buying a House/Raising Kids/Education in DC vs. MD vs. VA

[Anonymous]

We are a family of four (two kids ages 4 and 1) who own a house in Petworth, Washington, DC. Our 4-year-old is at a charter that we've been happy with for PK, but is having administration drama. It also doesn't have any feeders and our in-bound schools for Middle and High get low GreatSchools scores. We own our house, but it is a starter home and not the house we want to be in forever. We want to have more space for our children and also want the house to have good public schools. We love DC, but the housing costs keep getting higher for neighborhoods with better schools, which is making us looks at Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Kensington neighborhoods. However, my in-laws are stressing that Virginia suburbs would be better because of all the public universities once our kids are college-aged. My in-laws happen to live in VA, go figure. I really like Maryland, but it does seem like the only great public university option is UMD. With tuition costs rising and rising, I do think they make a good argument. Anyone else having these debates or have any words of wisdom to provide to me? Even with DC's DCTAG program, that's a little promising, but hard to know if it'll still be in place 20 years from now or what the state of higher ed will look like.

[Anonymous]

I don't have advice, but will say that we are in EXACTLY the same boat. We want some more space, want guaranteed good schools (but happy with where we are for PK), and would prefer to stay in DC, but are told by some that VA is the place to go because of college... it's all just terribly stressful. Anyway, OP, right there with you and eager to read what others say.

[Anonymous]

Where is your commute(s)? If in DC, that would factor heavily into my decision, given increasing traffic gridlock.

We moved from MD to DC. Did not consider VA. We have no specific interest in our kid attending college in-state. Then again, one of us went out West for college, and both families have a tradition of going away/abroad for university for the experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of four (two kids ages 4 and 1) who own a house in Petworth, Washington, DC. Our 4-year-old is at a charter that we've been happy with for PK, but is having administration drama. It also doesn't have any feeders and our in-bound schools for Middle and High get low GreatSchools scores. We own our house, but it is a starter home and not the house we want to be in forever. We want to have more space for our children and also want the house to have good public schools. We love DC, but the housing costs keep getting higher for neighborhoods with better schools, which is making us looks at Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Kensington neighborhoods. However, my in-laws are stressing that Virginia suburbs would be better because of all the public universities once our kids are college-aged. My in-laws happen to live in VA, go figure. I really like Maryland, but it does seem like the only great public university option is UMD. With tuition costs rising and rising, I do think they make a good argument. Anyone else having these debates or have any words of wisdom to provide to me? Even with DC's DCTAG program, that's a little promising, but hard to know if it'll still be in place 20 years from now or what the state of higher ed will look like.

If the in-laws are (or would be, if they were closer) helpful, then it isn't crazy to factor that in to going to VA. My in-laws are in Kennsington. That was certainly a factor in us choosing MD.

[Anonymous]

Following this because we’re in a similar boat (kids with same ages) but bought in MD when our oldest was 2. Wishing we had stayed in DC a few more years for free PK. Just a heads up that MoCo schools are having all kinds of issues, especially at the elementary school level. A Johns Hopkins study showed that its elementary curriculum is basically a failure and they’re doing a painstakingly slow review to determine ext steps. All of this is making me wish we’d stated in DC. Did not consider Va.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of four (two kids ages 4 and 1) who own a house in Petworth, Washington, DC. Our 4-year-old is at a charter that we've been happy with for PK, but is having administration drama. It also doesn't have any feeders and our in-bound schools for Middle and High get low GreatSchools scores. We own our house, but it is a starter home and not the house we want to be in forever. We want to have more space for our children and also want the house to have good public schools. We love DC, but the housing costs keep getting higher for neighborhoods with better schools, which is making us looks at Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Kensington neighborhoods. However, my in-laws are stressing that Virginia suburbs would be better because of all the public universities once our kids are college-aged. My in-laws happen to live in VA, go figure. I really like Maryland, but it does seem like the only great public university option is UMD. With tuition costs rising and rising, I do think they make a good argument. Anyone else having these debates or have any words of wisdom to provide to me? Even with DC's DCTAG program, that's a little promising, but hard to know if it'll still be in place 20 years from now or what the state of higher ed will look like.

All of this is why we moved to Bethesda/CC/Ktown directly and skipped the middleman.

On the issue of college, if you are willing to limit your child's educational to opportunities to UVA you might as well move to MD, have a better quality of life, and plan on UMD as your in state option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is your commute(s)? If in DC, that would factor heavily into my decision, given increasing traffic gridlock.

We moved from MD to DC. Did not consider VA. We have no specific interest in our kid attending college in-state. Then again, one of us went out West for college, and both families have a tradition of going away/abroad for university for the experience.

But what does your kid want?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are a family of four (two kids ages 4 and 1) who own a house in Petworth, Washington, DC. Our 4-year-old is at a charter that we've been happy with for PK, but is having administration drama. It also doesn't have any feeders and our in-bound schools for Middle and High get low GreatSchools scores. We own our house, but it is a starter home and not the house we want to be in forever. We want to have more space for our children and also want the house to have good public schools. We love DC, but the housing costs keep getting higher for neighborhoods with better schools, which is making us looks at Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Kensington neighborhoods. However, my in-laws are stressing that Virginia suburbs would be better because of all the public universities once our kids are college-aged. My in-laws happen to live in VA, go figure. I really like Maryland, but it does seem like the only great public university option is UMD. With tuition costs rising and rising, I do think they make a good argument. Anyone else having these debates or have any words of wisdom to provide to me? Even with DC's DCTAG program, that's a little promising, but hard to know if it'll still be in place 20 years from now or what the state of higher ed will look like.

All of this is why we moved to Bethesda/CC/Ktown directly and skipped the middleman.

On the issue of college, if you are willing to limit your child's educational to opportunities to UVA you might as well move to MD, have a better quality of life, and plan on UMD as your in state option.

+1 Your kids haven't even entered kindergarten. I don't know why you'd use quality of state college as a key factor in your housing decision.

[Anonymous]

We stayed in DC. We valued the shorter commute and were happy with our IB school. Who knows what higher education is going to look like in 15-20 years, so it didn't seem to make sense to make housing decisions based on that. As we get closer to college, we can re-evaluate if necessary, but in the meantime, we like the short commute (walking to school and taking Metro to work) and our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your commute(s)? If in DC, that would factor heavily into my decision, given increasing traffic gridlock.

We moved from MD to DC. Did not consider VA. We have no specific interest in our kid attending college in-state. Then again, one of us went out West for college, and both families have a tradition of going away/abroad for university for the experience.

But what does your kid want?

Not the PP, but my kid is five. She doesn't really have an opinion on the issue. When kids are the age of the OP's, it doesn't really matter what they want. While the in-state higher education options might be relevant considerations, I wouldn't put them as anywhere near the deciding factor when choosing where to live with little kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Following this because we’re in a similar boat (kids with same ages) but bought in MD when our oldest was 2. Wishing we had stayed in DC a few more years for free PK. Just a heads up that MoCo schools are having all kinds of issues, especially at the elementary school level. A Johns Hopkins study showed that its elementary curriculum is basically a failure and they’re doing a painstakingly slow review to determine ext steps. All of this is making me wish we’d stated in DC. Did not consider Va.

So your kids haven't actually started at MoCo schools, right? There is a lot of a negativity on DCUM about the schools. But from our experience the first few years, we have been happy. And in talking to lots of neighbors who have/have had kids in the system from K-12, they have been pretty happy overall.

Obviously nothing is perfect, but I have not met anyone who says that they should have stayed in DC for the purposes of public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is your commute(s)? If in DC, that would factor heavily into my decision, given increasing traffic gridlock.

We moved from MD to DC. Did not consider VA. We have no specific interest in our kid attending college in-state. Then again, one of us went out West for college, and both families have a tradition of going away/abroad for university for the experience.

But what does your kid want?

Not the PP, but my kid is five. She doesn't really have an opinion on the issue. When kids are the age of the OP's, it doesn't really matter what they want. While the in-state higher education options might be relevant considerations, I wouldn't put them as anywhere near the deciding factor when choosing where to live with little kids.

I'm the PP and I agree. My kid is a similar age, slightly older. I'm more interested in fit. If the best fit is an in-state option, fine, although I would encourage my kid to spread her wings a bit and not shy away from looking in other areas of the country.

However, my kid is already set on going 3,000 miles away to college in CA. That's more than a decade away, so we'll see what happens. Right now, we live in an area that's a good fit for our family, allows a decent commute, and has viable school options (Deal/Wilson).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Following this because we’re in a similar boat (kids with same ages) but bought in MD when our oldest was 2. Wishing we had stayed in DC a few more years for free PK. Just a heads up that MoCo schools are having all kinds of issues, especially at the elementary school level. A Johns Hopkins study showed that its elementary curriculum is basically a failure and they’re doing a painstakingly slow review to determine ext steps. All of this is making me wish we’d stated in DC. Did not consider Va.

So your kids haven't actually started at MoCo schools, right? There is a lot of a negativity on DCUM about the schools. But from our experience the first few years, we have been happy. And in talking to lots of neighbors who have/have had kids in the system from K-12, they have been pretty happy overall.

Obviously nothing is perfect, but I have not met anyone who says that they should have stayed in DC for the purposes of public school.

I've said it so many times, and DH works in Fairfax. I can work anywhere. We are staying at DCPS pk4 through 12 for kid #1. Will probably stay for #2 also. Heck with the bigger place in FF. Love DCPS, love DC and our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

We're staying put in the city in an analogous situation. We bought in 2011 and with basement rental income we pay off most of our mortgage. We can comfortably afford two private school tuitions whereas in the neighborhoods mentioned by OP we would struggle. Giving the DCPS/charter lottery one last chance next year!

Conceivable we may move as we get a couple more promotions and could then comfortably live in upper NW or Bethesda or Arlington but not until then. Current HHI is $400k and potential to go up to $700k in next 4 or 5 years.

OP, most people make your choice to flee to the burbs as oldest approaches K. The ratio is shrinking as (1) commuting from burbs only gets worse with suburban sprawl, poor infrastructure, (2) more people, especially dual earners with jobs in/near the city choose city vs. suburb tradeoff, and (3) suburban school systems decline. Take a look at PARCC scores for top MCPS and DCPS and same demographics often have better scores in DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We're staying put in the city in an analogous situation. We bought in 2011 and with basement rental income we pay off most of our mortgage. We can comfortably afford two private school tuitions whereas in the neighborhoods mentioned by OP we would struggle. Giving the DCPS/charter lottery one last chance next year!

Conceivable we may move as we get a couple more promotions and could then comfortably live in upper NW or Bethesda or Arlington but not until then. Current HHI is $400k and potential to go up to $700k in next 4 or 5 years.

OP, most people make your choice to flee to the burbs as oldest approaches K. The ratio is shrinking as (1) commuting from burbs only gets worse with suburban sprawl, poor infrastructure, (2) more people, especially dual earners with jobs in/near the city choose city vs. suburb tradeoff, and (3) suburban school systems decline. Take a look at PARCC scores for top MCPS and DCPS and same demographics often have better scores in DCPS.

This. This gets lost in these discussions. Apples to apples demographic comparisons reveal comparable scores.