Which neighborhood do I want to live in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you want public schools, I'd rule out NWDC. The school system remains corrupt - check out the recent massaging of test scores.

That leaves Bethesda & CC. Best for true 90s to 100 walk ability are FH/Somerset, FH/CC, Edgemoor, CC off Wisconsin close to Bethesda, downtown Bethesda if you will do a condo or townhouse (no single families except Edgemoor), or East Bethesda.

Someone erroneously posted about FH shopping. There is a Giant & a Whole Foods.

Most of these neighborhoods feed into BCC with exception of parts of Edgemoor, which go to Pyle. Pyle is much whiter than BCC. Look at stats on MCPS site. Edgemoor, while Democratic / liberal, also tends to be far snobbier than the other neighborhoods.

Suggest you walk these neighborhoods for a feel.

Re: Edgemoor -- is it true that there is a well know cancer cluster there? I had a friend looking for houses there and was told repeatedly by multiple people that it is known as a cancer cluster. I don't know if that is true or not, but am curious b/c I think it is a beautiful n'hood.

No, perhaps you are thinking of Spring Valley, DC. Google it. Very sad articles about health impact of the WWI munitions testing done there.
That is the only "cancer cluster" I've heard of. And re the UMC / LMC thread, for the life of me I don't understand why the UMC folk in Spring Valley don't just ABANDON their multimillion dollar homes and move to apartments, if need be. Isn't health the most important thing?

Anyway, back to OP's ?...I posted above...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

I don't know anyone who could afford a $5M house who would choose to live on Capitol Hill. We left the Hill as soon as we could afford a decent sized house elsewhere- same with most people we knew there. Sure, it's walkable if you don't mind getting mugged on occassion. The grocery stores there are the pits, the parks smell like urine and you'll find yourself constantly driving (or metroing) downtown for dr appointments, etc. The public schools aren't good and there is only one private, which may or may not be a good fit for your family.

Arlington (all of VA) tends to be more conservative and have less of an urban vibe, so I'd rule that out using your criteria.

I'm surprised Georgetown + private school isn't getting recommended more. That fits your criteria better than anything else. You'd probaly like Kalorama + private, but there aren't tons of kids there. I'd also look at Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase DC near Friendship Heights or Tenleytown, Chevy Chase MD in walkable areas like Somerset or the Town of CC and close-in Bethesda like Edgemoor (I haven't heard about the cancer cluster rumor???). Some areas of Palisades may also work for you too.

Arlington is more liberal than Montgomery....70 per cent voted for Obama.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

I don't know anyone who could afford a $5M house who would choose to live on Capitol Hill. We left the Hill as soon as we could afford a decent sized house elsewhere- same with most people we knew there. Sure, it's walkable if you don't mind getting mugged on occassion. The grocery stores there are the pits, the parks smell like urine and you'll find yourself constantly driving (or metroing) downtown for dr appointments, etc. The public schools aren't good and there is only one private, which may or may not be a good fit for your family.

Arlington (all of VA) tends to be more conservative and have less of an urban vibe, so I'd rule that out using your criteria.

I'm surprised Georgetown + private school isn't getting recommended more. That fits your criteria better than anything else. You'd probaly like Kalorama + private, but there aren't tons of kids there. I'd also look at Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase DC near Friendship Heights or Tenleytown, Chevy Chase MD in walkable areas like Somerset or the Town of CC and close-in Bethesda like Edgemoor (I haven't heard about the cancer cluster rumor???). Some areas of Palisades may also work for you too.

Arlington is more liberal than Montgomery....70 per cent voted for Obama.

+1. Not one of Arlingtons 36 precincts went red...not one. Not even the country club hills precinct which has an avg income of 400,000. That is about as liberal as it gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your budget for a house is $5M, why do you care about public school? Especially when you are prioritizing an "urban" environment with walk-ability as a factor. That neighborhood simply does not exist and you will have to trade-off a few items on your list. Send your kids to private school, you can certainly afford it, and then live in any of the desire-able neighborhoods within the city, because that seems to be what you want.

You are wrong. Neighborhood does exist - it's CCMD, Bethesda (Edgemoor, downtown or East Bethesda) and / or Friendship Heights / Somerset. And while $5M houses may not be the norm, who knows where OP is coming from? Plenty of $2M homes in those neighborhoods would be $5M in NYC.

[Anonymous]

Bethesda, Arlington, McLean etc are not very urban. Neither is upper NW DC. If I had OPs budget and wanted to live in an urban area I would look at Georgetown or DuPont Circle. For ES I would have no hesitation with DCPS (Hyde or Ross). Beyond that it might be private though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bethesda, Arlington, McLean etc are not very urban. Neither is upper NW DC. If I had OPs budget and wanted to live in an urban area I would look at Georgetown or DuPont Circle. For ES I would have no hesitation with DCPS (Hyde or Ross). Beyond that it might be private though.

DuPont Circle, yes, that's truly urban. Georgetown? Not so much. A big shopping street with tons of traffic, and rowhouses... not that different from Tyson's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

You are smoking crack. There are 70 restaurants in a short strip. There is retail. There is Cap bike share. There are tons of independent places--fat Shortys, java shack, Northside social, etc. there is a Metro station every few blocks. There are parks and schools walking distance. The last 2 years saw a huge revival. This is not the same place circa 2001 when it was just Market Common and Cheesecake.

PP here, no pipe in hand. Just out to Clarendon last week and I stand by my opinion that it has the atmosphere of an outdoor mall with a lot of generic stores. There aren't enough independents to overcome this. And the traffic on Wilson and Clarendon isn't pedestrian-friendly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

You are smoking crack. There are 70 restaurants in a short strip. There is retail. There is Cap bike share. There are tons of independent places--fat Shortys, java shack, Northside social, etc. there is a Metro station every few blocks. There are parks and schools walking distance. The last 2 years saw a huge revival. This is not the same place circa 2001 when it was just Market Common and Cheesecake.

PP here, no pipe in hand. Just out to Clarendon last week and I stand by my opinion that it has the atmosphere of an outdoor mall with a lot of generic stores. There aren't enough independents to overcome this. And the traffic on Wilson and Clarendon isn't pedestrian-friendly.

Where is a part of the city without traffic and cars? Dupont is pretty busy with lots of crazy taxis. If you want Urban/walkability-you generally have lots of traffic. DC doesn't have pedestrian city centers like Europe.

What are the independents in Georgetown ? The biggest neighborhood complaint is that there are all now big chain stores. Independents from the 1980s have disappeared.

If you don't turn off the strip-you are missing the mom and pop shops.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

You are smoking crack. There are 70 restaurants in a short strip. There is retail. There is Cap bike share. There are tons of independent places--fat Shortys, java shack, Northside social, etc. there is a Metro station every few blocks. There are parks and schools walking distance. The last 2 years saw a huge revival. This is not the same place circa 2001 when it was just Market Common and Cheesecake.

PP here, no pipe in hand. Just out to Clarendon last week and I stand by my opinion that it has the atmosphere of an outdoor mall with a lot of generic stores. There aren't enough independents to overcome this. And the traffic on Wilson and Clarendon isn't pedestrian-friendly.

Well, there are 12 foot sidewalks along Wilson and Clarendon on both sides, along the entire corridor. The speed limit is 25 mph, and there are tons of traffic lights. Is it ideal? No, but better than in Georgetown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If OP can afford 5 million, she can definitely afford CHDS and a nice place on East Capitol. I would not count the ability to walk to a Trader Joes or the outside mall that is now Clarendon a "walkable neighborhood" -- pretty generic and lame and surrounded by a lot of really busy roads.

You are smoking crack. There are 70 restaurants in a short strip. There is retail. There is Cap bike share. There are tons of independent places--fat Shortys, java shack, Northside social, etc. there is a Metro station every few blocks. There are parks and schools walking distance. The last 2 years saw a huge revival. This is not the same place circa 2001 when it was just Market Common and Cheesecake.

PP here, no pipe in hand. Just out to Clarendon last week and I stand by my opinion that it has the atmosphere of an outdoor mall with a lot of generic stores. There aren't enough independents to overcome this. And the traffic on Wilson and Clarendon isn't pedestrian-friendly.

Well, there are 12 foot sidewalks along Wilson and Clarendon on both sides, along the entire corridor. The speed limit is 25 mph, and there are tons of traffic lights. Is it ideal? No, but better than in Georgetown.

DC has urban, walkable neighborhoods, but does not have good public schools from K-12. Arlington has good public schools, but its more walkable sections indeed feel like an inverted mall.

Fight it out, you two, but neither of you will emerge a clear winner.

[Anonymous]

People have lost track.

Dupont--urban/walkable? Totally!

Dupont-- good public schools & tons of kids? Not.

[Anonymous]

This message board is insufferable from time-to-time.

The same usual tropes:

Capitol Hill is unsafe. Yes, parts are unsafe; parts are not.

DC doesn't have any good public schools. Simply not true.

Spring Valley is a cancer cluster...again, unsubstantiated. Look, I'm no defender of the Corps, but you can read the report for yourself. I'm an economist and read it with a critical eye out of curiosity. The usual commentary is completely off-base here. (Read it yourself, or ask me if need be.)

As for the OP, if her budget is really $5m, then this entire thread is useless. There are really only a few neighborhoods he/she should consider, and, frankly, they begin and end somewhere near Woodland/Woodley.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This message board is insufferable from time-to-time.

The same usual tropes:

Capitol Hill is unsafe. Yes, parts are unsafe; parts are not.

DC doesn't have any good public schools. Simply not true.

Spring Valley is a cancer cluster...again, unsubstantiated. Look, I'm no defender of the Corps, but you can read the report for yourself. I'm an economist and read it with a critical eye out of curiosity. The usual commentary is completely off-base here. (Read it yourself, or ask me if need be.)

As for the OP, if her budget is really $5m, then this entire thread is useless. There are really only a few neighborhoods he/she should consider, and, frankly, they begin and end somewhere near Woodland/Woodley.

This is a fact. Check the records.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This message board is insufferable from time-to-time.

The same usual tropes:

Capitol Hill is unsafe. Yes, parts are unsafe; parts are not.

DC doesn't have any good public schools. Simply not true.

Spring Valley is a cancer cluster...again, unsubstantiated. Look, I'm no defender of the Corps, but you can read the report for yourself. I'm an economist and read it with a critical eye out of curiosity. The usual commentary is completely off-base here. (Read it yourself, or ask me if need be.)

As for the OP, if her budget is really $5m, then this entire thread is useless. There are really only a few neighborhoods he/she should consider, and, frankly, they begin and end somewhere near Woodland/Woodley.

DC has good public schools. However, it has no good public high schools, and only one kinda OK middle school.

I wouldn't worry about dying from cancer if I lived in Spring Valley, since the boredom would get me first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
This is a fact. Check the records.

No, it's not. Saying it's so doesn't make it one.

Please produce the evidence of said fact. I'll wait.