600k HHI - Where should we live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

Why not stay in Petworth?

[Anonymous]

We live in Falls Church 22043, and our schools are both excellent and highly diverse, with most world countries represented.

[Anonymous]

We have a slightly higher HHI and have chosen to move to Capitol Hill. Close, walkable, good public elementaries. We plan to do charter or private for middle and high school though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I currently live in Petworth in DC with a toddler, and another one on the way. 600k HHI, no debt besides the mortgage on our current place (300k in equity). We are looking for a bigger house - need at minimum 2000 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, and 3 bathrooms. Here are our priorities, in order:

1. Public schools that are not nearly all (talking over 85%) white
2. Good quality of education at said public schools (through high school)
3. Relatively easy and relatively short (under 45 mins) commute via public transit to Farragut Sq area
4. Walkable neighborhood

Ideas of where to look?

Why not stay in Petworth?

Hi, OP back - first, to those of you criticizing or wondering about my motives re: diversity here, please look back a couple pages - basically, I grew up in diverse (racial and SES) schools, and think it was critical to my development/education and want the same for my kids. 15% non-white is likely too low to provide them with that experience - my preference is actually less than 50% white, but I don't know if that's reasonable to expect given my other goals (stated below). I understand that others disagree that this is valuable, but I would much rather that my kids go to a diverse school that isn't considered the absolute "best" in the area than one that has the best test scores/ivy admissions/whatever but is nearly all white.

All that said, I also want my kids to be able to attend a schools that is both safe and academically challenging for them. While I would be satisfied with our elementary school in Petworth, I'm worried that our middle/high school (MacFarland/Roosevelt) would not meet this criteria. And we really would like a bigger house before kid #2 arrives (not because we need a "nice house," but because I don't want my parents to have to sleep on a pull-out bed in our basement when they visit), so I don't want to move once and then HAVE to move again when my kids are a bit older.

So far, Shepard Park is pretty high on our list. Looked into areas zoned for Oyster Adams too but the houses don't really seem to be what we're looking for. Somewhat considering Chevy Chase MD - it has more diversity than I expected but it doesn't seem to be served by much public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Are you committed to staying in DC, or are you open to close-in suburbs with a reasonable commute?

If diversity is important to you, one thing to note is that Virginia suburbs, for instance, have much higher ethnic diversity than DC, including more Hispanics. In general, for much of the ethnic diversity you would have to move to the suburbs.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Here’s an article about Shepherd Park’s diversity, if you want to read more:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-shepherd-park-were-making-it-up-as-we-go-along/2017/08/25/acb4db8c-8766-11e7-a50f-e0d4e6ec070a_story.html?utm_term=.3662cd45c21d

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Diversity is important to me, and if I had your income, my first choice would be a path that included Deal and Wilson. I'd also consider TPES, Piney Branch, TPMS, Blair, and either Rock Creek Forrest, or Rosemary Hills/NCC leading to Silver Creek and BCC.

OP, THIS is the only option that fits your criteria.

Those are only decent if you get the magnet or CES, they are marginal otherwise

Not true. Those are schools your family will love. Also consider East Silver Spring / TPMS / Blair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22202
Oakridge/ Gunston/Wakefield

Can"t imagine making that money and buying a house in the Wakefield district. It's not a good school.

Wakefield is an excellent school. I would choose it over Wilson.

Excellent? Pretty strong word for such a poorly rated school. What makes it excellent?

[Anonymous]

Wanting a diverse neighborhood with a $600k income is Catch 22 because unless you go private, live in Shephard Park or Bethesda your kids are probably not going to be in the same socio-economic circles as the demographic groups you wanted them to get exposure to and it might have the undesired effect of making your privileged kids associate non-white kids with being middle and working class. Percentages are nothing more than numbers on paper - I would look and how integrated peer groups are at a school. From purely anecdotal experience it seems peer groups in places like Silver Spring are more diverse (ethnically and economically) than a lot of other places mentioned in this thread.

[Anonymous]

It might seem like an odd thing to do but you can get a good feel for the general vibe of a high school from its principal's Twitter feed.

Despite what OP said, Bethesda Chevy-Chase seems very diverse compared to other schools where $600k HHI isn't that abnormal:

https://twitter.com/bccprin?lang=en

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wanting a diverse neighborhood with a $600k income is Catch 22 because unless you go private, live in Shephard Park or Bethesda your kids are probably not going to be in the same socio-economic circles as the demographic groups you wanted them to get exposure to and it might have the undesired effect of making your privileged kids associate non-white kids with being middle and working class. Percentages are nothing more than numbers on paper - I would look and how integrated peer groups are at a school. From purely anecdotal experience it seems peer groups in places like Silver Spring are more diverse (ethnically and economically) than a lot of other places mentioned in this thread.

Unless you consider someplace like McLean which is much more ethnically diverse than one would think in the public schools, but not SES diverse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wanting a diverse neighborhood with a $600k income is Catch 22 because unless you go private, live in Shephard Park or Bethesda your kids are probably not going to be in the same socio-economic circles as the demographic groups you wanted them to get exposure to and it might have the undesired effect of making your privileged kids associate non-white kids with being middle and working class. Percentages are nothing more than numbers on paper - I would look and how integrated peer groups are at a school. From purely anecdotal experience it seems peer groups in places like Silver Spring are more diverse (ethnically and economically) than a lot of other places mentioned in this thread.

Unless you consider someplace like McLean which is much more ethnically diverse than one would think in the public schools, but not SES diverse.

It actually IS diverse SES-wise, it is just a different form of diversity. There are very few openly poor people in McLean but remember, close-in areas of McLean are full of relatively normal, modest-ish houses built in the 70s, and even brick ramblers built god knows when. Twenty, thirty years ago they were affordable to government workers and normal people, and even ten years ago a couple of, say, development workers or college professors could buy an older house in McLean. Then you have openly rich people who build 2 million + houses. And then there are apartment dwellers, not many but there are some.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wanting a diverse neighborhood with a $600k income is Catch 22 because unless you go private, live in Shephard Park or Bethesda your kids are probably not going to be in the same socio-economic circles as the demographic groups you wanted them to get exposure to and it might have the undesired effect of making your privileged kids associate non-white kids with being middle and working class. Percentages are nothing more than numbers on paper - I would look and how integrated peer groups are at a school. From purely anecdotal experience it seems peer groups in places like Silver Spring are more diverse (ethnically and economically) than a lot of other places mentioned in this thread.

Unless you consider someplace like McLean which is much more ethnically diverse than one would think in the public schools, but not SES diverse.

It actually IS diverse SES-wise, it is just a different form of diversity. There are very few openly poor people in McLean but remember, close-in areas of McLean are full of relatively normal, modest-ish houses built in the 70s, and even brick ramblers built god knows when. Twenty, thirty years ago they were affordable to government workers and normal people, and even ten years ago a couple of, say, development workers or college professors could buy an older house in McLean. Then you have openly rich people who build 2 million + houses. And then there are apartment dwellers, not many but there are some.

Socio-economic diversity were the poors are college professors. LOL. Exactly PP's point.

Another point is that how much are the students of different SES backgrounds socializing with each other and part of the same peer groups? Diversity is nothing but a paper stat if kids of different backgrounds in these schools stay isolated and only hang out with other kids from the same racial, ethnic and/or SES backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:22202
Oakridge/ Gunston/Wakefield

Can"t imagine making that money and buying a house in the Wakefield district. It's not a good school.

Wakefield is an excellent school. I would choose it over Wilson.

Excellent? Pretty strong word for such a poorly rated school. What makes it excellent?

Excellent teachers
Excellent facility
Excellent course offerings
Excellent basketball
Excellent performing arts ( partners with signature theatre )