Relocating - Searching for a neighborhood

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Arlington means no gay marriage -- plus there'll still be older folks who'll give them dirty looks.

For $900k, you can get something close to downtown Silver Spring. Maybe Shepherd Park, although Shepherd ES gets looked down on for some reason, despite having less poverty/at-risk kids than many raved-about schools on the Hill.

OTOH, the diversity there might not be what you'd like -- older Blacks and a sizeable more conservative Jewish community.

I live in Shepherd Park. I know a couple of gay couples with kids. There seems to be every race represented here and EXTREMELY friendly. I haven't met any of the conservative Jewish families, so I cannot speak to their attitudes. Shepherd ES has a great music program and seems to be well liked by our neighbors who children attend. You find everything in our neighborhood. We lived in AU Park before we moved here and LOVE it here. (and the houses are larger over here too!!)

[Anonymous]

Cap Hill in bounds for Maury or Brent would serve you very well until middle school. Both are diverse racially and in terms of family make up. Middle school you'll probably have to bail at 5th for Latin or BASIS. I agree Shep Park ES is great, but they might take away their Deal feed for middle school. Something to think about. Welcome to Washington!

[REALTOR4U]

I think you will find that the schools in Montgomery County are generally better than DC and are highly rated. Two of the best areas for schools on the County are in Potomac and Bethesda. Check out GreatSchools.net for more information.

[Anonymous]

Capitol Hill (Eastern Market) fits all of your criteria. It sounds like you would love it there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would suggest you have a look at Chancellor's Row in Brookland. It's a new townhouses community by EYA. They started to sell The people who bought there are very open minded progressive, lots of interracial families, lots of gays, mid 30s, lots of kids and many pregnant women. This community started to sell 3 years ago and there only few houses left to be built. We are Europeans and we recently bought there. We were impressed with the nice people who live there, with the potential for growth the area has, proximity with downtown DC, CAS beautiful campus buildings.

But the assigned schools are a.w.f.u.l. Op might luck out in a lottery, or he might not.

Moving from out of state I wouldn't sign up for that risk when I could pick from 10 other liberal neighborhoods for 900k.

[Anonymous]

Try Petworth. Leafy suburban feel, still kinda affordable, lots of families and Powell E'S has potential.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Eastern Market is very gay friendly, if that's the right way to put it. I have no idea how the school there is, but if schools weren't a factor, that would probably be the #1 spot for you. Maybe somebody else on here could tell you.

Forget chevy chase - that's just a bunch of snobs and not very progressive either. but nice.

silver spring is a lower echelon (sp?) than what you are looking for.

Wit your budget, I think you can do much better than takoma park too.

Disregard this entire post op. every sentence in it is wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Try Petworth. Leafy suburban feel, still kinda affordable, lots of families and Powell E'S has potential.

No. Powell is terrible and is the school of last resort (tho some attempt it for their 3 year olds in the Free!Daycare! Mold). Why would someone moving from another state purposely select a failing school when they can pick any address they want with a 900,000 budget?

[Anonymous]

op - some of these posts are from neighborhood boosters and you shouldn't necessarily believe them. a few neighborhoods mentioned have sub-par local schools (Columbia Heights, Brookland) and many of the others mentioned have what are considered good elementary schools but not very good middle school or high school options. if you really want to stick with public schools, definitely research the schools and don't trust these posters.

consider renting for a year before buying . . .

[Anonymous]

REALTOR4U wrote:I think you will find that the schools in Montgomery County are generally better than DC and are highly rated. Two of the best areas for schools on the County are in Potomac and Bethesda. Check out GreatSchools.net for more information.

Very little diversity in Potomac and Bethesda. There are other great schools in Montgomery County where you would feel welcome. I grew up in Potomac and would never move back there.

[Anonymous]

My sister and her wife raise their kids in Takoma Park. Your budget will get you something walkable to metro in TP or downtown Silver Spring (Woodside neighborhood) both of which are diverse and extremely gay-friendly, as well as having large and diverse Jewish communities. Plus great schools. Bethesda and CC are great but not exactly diverse or really gay-friendly, and 900k doesn't go far.

Obviously avoid VA at all costs.

[Anonymous]

OP, I think you may have mentioned you have a 7 year old, so middle school is not very far away. Think very carefully about the zoned middle schools. As some people note, Oyster is (currently) zoned for Deal, which is a very good school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Capitol Hill (Eastern Market) fits all of your criteria. It sounds like you would love it there.

The Hill can be quite sketchy and feels cut off from the rest of the city and other than Eastern Market, there's really nothing there worth seeing or doing. Unless you work there and long hours at that, I'd look elsewhere. DuPont is much nicer and has much more to offer. Cleveland Park is a good choice if you're looking for single family homes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Capitol Hill (Eastern Market) fits all of your criteria. It sounds like you would love it there.

The Hill can be quite sketchy and feels cut off from the rest of the city and other than Eastern Market, there's really nothing there worth seeing or doing. Unless you work there and long hours at that, I'd look elsewhere. DuPont is much nicer and has much more to offer. Cleveland Park is a good choice if you're looking for single family homes.

This post is hilarious! It would have been accurate in the early 90's. If you are moving back in time as well as to a new neighborhood, OP, pay attention to this poster.

[Anonymous]

REALTOR4U wrote:I think you will find that the schools in Montgomery County are generally better than DC and are highly rated. Two of the best areas for schools on the County are in Potomac and Bethesda. Check out GreatSchools.net for more information.

you are a realtor. Do you realize it is actually illegal for you to discuss schools being better?