People who moved from DC to Arlington / suburbs in general -- did things improve for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

PP, what are some of the disadvantages of leaving DC for you? Genuinely curious, not snark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

PP, what are some of the disadvantages of leaving DC for you? Genuinely curious, not snark.

DP, but for us the only downsides of leaving DC for Ffx are longer commute and missing our old neighborhood restaurants. And our commutes are via public transit (walkable at both ends), so we don’t spend any more time in the car. And restaurant-wise, we can eat perfectly well out here (contrary to stereotype, it’s not all chains) but few suburban restaurants seem to invest much in decor, so there’s a buzz/atmosphere that I miss.

[Anonymous]

We moved from Cleveland Park, DC to Westover, Arlington. Nothing really changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Glad that we moved to a house 1/4 mile across the DC line into Silver Spring.

Schools

if you were in bethesda/potomac/chevy chase it would be 6 fold even better, so there are always ways to improve

We're in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase school cluster (barely) so it's pretty good.
Our house is as far west as we could afford; trying to live the upper NW/Bethesda life on a Landover income.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve made the opposite move, and are much happier in NWDC. It’s more beautiful than NOVA, and we love our DCPS elementary school much more. Teachers and families are great, it feels much more personal. I think some DC schools got so much better that this stereotype about NOVA schools being the best seems really outdated now.

Straw-man argument. Everyone knows DCPS has some decent elementary schools but the quality drops off sharply in middle and high school. Wilson would be in the bottom 1/3 in APS and bottom 1/4 in FCPS or LCPS.

It doesn’t really, unless you’re comparing cumulative scores of non-diverse and diverse schools for some reason. Our friend’ kids are doing great in Wilson.

If your kids privileged background ensures their success no matter where they go to school, would you feel comfortable sending them to Roosevelt?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: They are not yet school age, no, but we have given quite a bit of consideration to our long term plans for schooling. Yes, I understand that may people leave as their children get older, but contrary to what people here would have you believe, it's by no means universal. We have friends and neighbors with older children who are staying in DC for the duration, whose kids are doing quite well, and whose advice we solicit. Is it the easy choice? No. But to paraphrase the other poster who is so offended by my opinion, sometimes it's not just about you or your family.

I really cannot even fathom the amount of arrogance and delusional self-importance that would lead one to conclude that living in DC and sensing your kids to public schools is somehow a great act of benevolence toward the other families. This attitude is frankly disgusting if we dig a bit deeper...no one needs you to ‘civilize’ their children with your presence.

"My kids are not yet of school age, but let me tell all you other school-age parents how disappointing and complacent it is that you strive to send your kids to good schools"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just to counter - we moved from intown DC to upper NW. If you can afford it - it's great. Feels like the suburbs up here with lots of trees and open space. Schools are good and it is great to have your kids be able to walk to school. Plus, no school buses which means your kids will go to school roughly the same time from elementary school through high school.

There are other areas like this across DC - the intense urban areas can be so much fun and yet so exhausting.

We basically did this. It's been great -- pretty quiet, feels safe, walk to school, etc. Which kind of just goes to prove that there is actually kind of a spectrum from "inner city dangerous" to "boring, bland, car-dependent suburbs." It's not a binary choice.

Yeah, I live in Glover Park and my DC is not filled with crime at all. My street is super quiet 24/7, and I hear the birds and wind. We walk in the trails and the kids in GP play outside together. Parking is a bitch but we have a Metrobus that runs through the neighborhood. There's a new TJ's within walking distance. I can be to Dupont in 15 minutes. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. It's funny... here on DCUM you either hear that DC's not a "real city" and it's so "suburban," but then others are saying it's a concrete jungle rampant with crime. Neither are true.

Glover Park is great, which I didn't realize until I moved away. The last 2-3 years have been rough (lots of businesses closing on Wisconsin), but I think with TJ's and the planned re-opening of WF, plus the Fannie Mae redevelopment, the tide looks like it's slated to turn.

I do wonder about that broader area (GP to, say, Tenleytown and Cleveland Park) in general and would love to get your opinion on it, DCUM. The mayor/her administration seems to want to stick a middle finger to ward 3 (Cathedral Commons' joke of a homeless shelter, the completely random and unsanitary COVID hotel on Connecticut, the story with Sedgewick Gardens) and I wonder if this will negatively affect the quality of life in the area if this continues.

We moved to GP with 2 kids (stoddert/hardy). Honestly, the area is the best place we've ever lived. Locally, our Wisconsin ave stretch was coming back (pre-covid) and the schools are fantastic. The broader Wisconsin ave area is only increasing in density (which I think is a good thing). Only crime seems to be occasional car break-ins. 3/4 bd row houses under 1M sell in <48 hours. Now in terms of politics, I think the bigger issue will be school over-crowding. Looking at the schools, too many people with kids are moving here. The city doesn't seem proactive about this. They need to either expand or build new schools soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

Please stop it with this BS. So sick of this, especially now as DC is functioning leaps ahead of VA (who couldn't manage C-19) and MD, due to the union.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

Please stop it with this BS. So sick of this, especially now as DC is functioning leaps ahead of VA (who couldn't manage C-19) and MD, due to the union.

Yes, DC schools seem to be more nimble re: response to the pandemic. It seems somewhat school and teacher-dependent, but overall most people seem happy with distance learning at our neighborhood school.

To be fair, one city is probably easier to manage than a whole state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

Please stop it with this BS. So sick of this, especially now as DC is functioning leaps ahead of VA (who couldn't manage C-19) and MD, due to the union.

Except it isn't and never will. Blips in VA and MD don't matter when DCPS is fundamentally a crappy system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve made the opposite move, and are much happier in NWDC. It’s more beautiful than NOVA, and we love our DCPS elementary school much more. Teachers and families are great, it feels much more personal. I think some DC schools got so much better that this stereotype about NOVA schools being the best seems really outdated now.

Straw-man argument. Everyone knows DCPS has some decent elementary schools but the quality drops off sharply in middle and high school. Wilson would be in the bottom 1/3 in APS and bottom 1/4 in FCPS or LCPS.

It doesn’t really, unless you’re comparing cumulative scores of non-diverse and diverse schools for some reason. Our friend’ kids are doing great in Wilson.

If your kids privileged background ensures their success no matter where they go to school, would you feel comfortable sending them to Roosevelt?

Shocked that it's crickets.

[Anonymous]

It's a big relief to live in a suburban jurisdiction where there are so many good public school options. When we lived in DC most of the parents sent their kids to cut-throat private schools or fought like crazy to get their kids into the one middle school and one high school considered acceptable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We’ve made the opposite move, and are much happier in NWDC. It’s more beautiful than NOVA, and we love our DCPS elementary school much more. Teachers and families are great, it feels much more personal. I think some DC schools got so much better that this stereotype about NOVA schools being the best seems really outdated now.

Straw-man argument. Everyone knows DCPS has some decent elementary schools but the quality drops off sharply in middle and high school. Wilson would be in the bottom 1/3 in APS and bottom 1/4 in FCPS or LCPS.

It doesn’t really, unless you’re comparing cumulative scores of non-diverse and diverse schools for some reason. Our friend’ kids are doing great in Wilson.

If your kids privileged background ensures their success no matter where they go to school, would you feel comfortable sending them to Roosevelt?

Shocked that it's crickets.

I live in DC and didn't respond because my oldest is in third and we're IB for Wilson, as probably many here are. I don't know anything about Roosevelt and not sure I've ever heard of it. Presumably it's in DC.

I think parental education level/resources matter for academic outcomes, as the data suggests. But I'd also want a decent-sized peer group of motivated students--especially those that look like mine (I'm not white). Wilson seems to have that.

We'll also look at Walls too, if my kids can cut it, and possibly Ellington (currently doesn't seem very strong for academic outcomes, but will watch for improvement in the next few years).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

Please stop it with this BS. So sick of this, especially now as DC is functioning leaps ahead of VA (who couldn't manage C-19) and MD, due to the union.

Yes, DC schools seem to be more nimble re: response to the pandemic. It seems somewhat school and teacher-dependent, but overall most people seem happy with distance learning at our neighborhood school.

To be fair, one city is probably easier to manage than a whole state.

I'm certain VA and MD have more IT and curriculum experts in the states, so it should have been easier to pull off. DC managed to deliver 100-page written curriculums for every grade in 6 business days, and continue to deliver them every 2 weeks. They have been nimble because they've been adjusting along the way, rather than VA who just threw up its hands.

I really don't care if your family wants to move to VA. I like VA and will probably retire there. But to use broad brushstrokes to denigrate DCPS and Wilson at this point is intellectually lazy at best, and dishonest and self-serving at worst.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP asked those who’ve made the move whether their quality of life improved, not for DC residents to interject with comments about whether they still like their DC neighborhoods. Obviously there is some confirmation bias to be expected, but the fact that the DC residents feel obliged to weigh in suggests they are a bit more anxious about their circumstances, particularly as Covid-19 makes living in less spaces more desirable, than they want to admit.

As someone who did move out of DC and has no regrets other than the shorter commute, I can attest to the fact that the advantages when it comes to privacy, additional space, and superior public schools quickly outweigh the disadvantages for most of us.

Please stop it with this BS. So sick of this, especially now as DC is functioning leaps ahead of VA (who couldn't manage C-19) and MD, due to the union.

Except it isn't and never will. Blips in VA and MD don't matter when DCPS is fundamentally a crappy system.

Blip. Sure, Karen.