where to live on HHI of 170 so kids are economically in the middle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Old Georgetown Road neighborhoods in Bethesda

Second this. I'd aim for something that's in the Walter Johnson High School cluster. Less affluent than Bethesda Chevy Chase or Whitman, yet close to your private school and WJ is good in it's own right if you decide to go public. Our HHI is similar to yours and we are pretty much in the middle economically.

care to show any houses under 600K there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^
And still good public schools and easy to get to Bethesda under 30.

I am not sure that silver spring school pyramids compare to wooten, walt witman, mclean, marshall or madison. I know Montgomery Blair High School is above average but the elementary and mid schools are more often very poor.

People who don't live in Silver Spring, looking in from the outside think our schools are poor. I live in Silver Spring, and there are many good public schools in Silver Spring. They get mentioned over and over on the MD schools forum.

Too many Bethesda parents are talking out our their a....'s

[Anonymous]

I would look in Woodside, Woodside Park, Forest Glen.. all in Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County, VA. A lot of federal workers live in this area because of its very good public schools -- which will save you the cost of privates.

You can buy 1950s ramblers at good prices within your range in the McLean HS area of McLean, VA. There are a lot of families similarly situated in the McLean HS pyramid.

Not anymore, they are going for $699k last time I checked and most are being torn down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Town house is doable for us though I'd prefer a row house or small bungalow.

Re our budget. We can afford more than 600,000 except my dh is in the tech field and we are nervous about his long term viability (lots of agism in the industry - it is possible his earning potential will decrease radically in the future) plus my income (about 65 before taxes and benefits) is now going to childcare and preschool and will in the future be slated for education (private school and college savings).

Private school is mostly about the kind of education we want for our kids. We both went to not great (not terrible) public schools and did just fine, but I'd like my kids to have something different. My friends are in publics (mostly Arlington) and happy enough, but their kids are doing a lot of homework in early grades and confined to desks, and one boy, according to his mother, has come to hate writing and reading because he was pushed in it too hard too young (it is better this year because they are doing a lot of collaborative learning stuff, and he is super social and so liking school more); I have two very active boys and I just don't see it as a good fit for them right now. So we are doing Montessori-type education for a while. Plus, I want a place where they love to learn and am not so interested in academic achievement or test scores; teaching college, I see VERY little of any love of learning in my students who basically just care about grades. I do think our education system causes at least some of this. But it is likely we will cycle in and out of public and private as our fiances and inclinations change - I'd just like a house that gave us the option of private, which means 600,000 or less.

And I'd also like my kids not to be in neighborhood schools where kids have way more material possessions and vacations than they will ever have; my friends in Arlington public schools already face quite a bit of this - second graders with iphones etc. I am personally fine with being lower SES than others in my neighborhood - I love my career and life and don't feel, except for a house, like there is anything I want I can't have. I am not terribly social and don't crave fitting in. But I grew up in a small new-money town (oil money in the deep south) and dread my kids wanting things "everyone else" has that they won't. It sucked in jr. high!

Silver springs and Takoma are definitely neighborhoods we are considering - was just hoping for recommendations a bit closer to Bethesdsa/va since that commute can be a bear. The neighborhoods behind ballston also seems doable, though I'm hesitant to move to VA (somehow it feels more suburban than silver springs). I am not sure, commute-wise, if a neighborhood like rock creek forest (is that its name - right above Rock creek Park over the line from DC), for which I've seen some houses in our price range, is more commutable than Takoma (from Takoma, you can cut through the park from Aspen drive whereas I'd being stuck doing the east-west HYW from Rock Creek Forest) and I'm not sure if the neighborhood is, with just a couple of housing exceptions, above our pay grade.

AU park would be great but, I haven't seen a single house come on the market we can afford (have been casting around for last month or two).

Thanks everyone for helping me think this through!

OP, I live in East Bethesda, which sounds like one of the earlier neighborhoods a poster described. It is depressing to have your house considered a "tear-down." However, in Bethesda there are still some little nooks where this is not happening at such a rapid pace. Check out the area over near Montgomery Mall. Also pockets of North Bethesda between Old Georgetown and Wisconsin, and the area up near White Flint, which is going to be amazing in 20 years when all the development is finished. Also, Kensington is really lovely and I know some people who are sending their kids to Einstein and seeing great changes. I'd check out pockets of Wheaton as well.

That said, I'd like to ask if you are so certain about wanting to be "in the middle." I grew up in the "poor neighborhood" in an area much like Bethesda. My mother was divorced and bought a teeny tiny (800 square foot) house. I went to school with kids whose parents were well educated professionals, and it definitely motivated me to excel. Now my kids, ironically, appear to be in a somewhat similar situation. And I don't think it's a bad thing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Burke.

I don't think you can commute from Burke to Bethesda in 30 minutes.

I like the Forest Glen neighborhood, and the Rosemary Hills neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Then why r u sending your kid to private school? Send them to eaton. Plenty of kids of all classes there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Fairfax County, VA. A lot of federal workers live in this area because of its very good public schools -- which will save you the cost of privates.

You can buy 1950s ramblers at good prices within your range in the McLean HS area of McLean, VA. There are a lot of families similarly situated in the McLean HS pyramid.

Not anymore, they are going for $699k last time I checked and most are being torn down.

2009 called ...

[Anonymous]

I agree that it seems silly to go all the way to VA, when there are quite a few modest houses, especially outside the Beltway, in Bethesda.

http://www.thenellisgroup.com/homes/5912-Ryland-Drive/Bethesda/MD/20817/31242309/

http://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/6315-Lone-Oak-Dr-20817/home/10675713

http://www.drodio.com/maryland-real-estate/bethesda/9906-edward-ave-bethesda-md-mc8090817.php

http://capitalrealtynetwork.com/idx/mls-mc8082770-9807_belhaven_rd_bethesda_md_20817

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Old Georgetown Road neighborhoods in Bethesda

Second this. I'd aim for something that's in the Walter Johnson High School cluster. Less affluent than Bethesda Chevy Chase or Whitman, yet close to your private school and WJ is good in it's own right if you decide to go public. Our HHI is similar to yours and we are pretty much in the middle economically.

care to show any houses under 600K there?

Well under 600k for a house is tough, but there are plenty of very nice townhomes in the 600-700k range. If OP is happy with that she'd have a good deal of choice in WJ, especially in the Rockville/North Bethesda area. In Bethesda proper you'd be looking at a rambler in need of renovation in this price range.

[Anonymous]

The part of Chevy Chase east of Rock Creek Park should fit the bill. It's very centrally located too. There is a range of housing types and income. It is not the wealthy part of CC.

[Anonymous]

People love these schools and this house is a nice size. If you don't mind being close to the beltway, this would fit the bill: http://franklymls.com/MC8090817 I think it's walkable to Grosvenor metro too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then why r u sending your kid to private school? Send them to eaton. Plenty of kids of all classes there.

+100.... The private thing is counter to your whole point of not raising them to be entitled spoiled rich kids...

[Anonymous]

Maybe Homewood section of Kensington? Right off of Town of Kensington but Einstein instead of Walter Johnson so you won't have to pay the school upcharge you don't need. Great park, farmers market, etc.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't move to VA unless there was no other choice. At all. Ever.

As for McLean, the teardown houses are the ones with additions, starting at about $800k on the Langley side and starting about $700k in West McLean.

Don't do it.