Reply to Why stay in DC when none (yes, including upper NW schools) seem to compare to Arlington?????????????

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Living an hour closer to where we work results in 2 hours more quality time (read: not in a car) per day with our kids. Also, neither of us grew up in a suburban utopia. Honestly, on this site, "school rankings" seems to be another way of trying to keep your kids from hanging out from anyone who doesn't have your same lifestyle. I am perfectly okay with my daughter going to preschool with kids whose parents do not speak English and kids whose parents make half what we make in a year. Living in the suburbs doesn't save you from a life of juvenile delinquency and ennui. This board is proof enough of that.[/quote]

It's not a one hour commute to Arlington!  It's one stop from the metro outside of DC.  It takes a shorter amount of time to drive to Arlington then it does to Upper NW.  You can map it, and you will see that Arlington is closer than Upper NW.

So, it seems that people want their coffee shops and to not commute in trade of better schools.[/quote]

How long does it take you to get to work, door to door?  For me, it is less than 10 minutes walking.  More importantly, it is also less than 10 minutes walking to get to at least 10 museums on the weekends, many more can be reached in less than 20 minutes walking.  That isn't possible in Arlington. But, I'm not saying there is anything wrong with living in Arlington, do it if it works for you; it isn't the choice that I have made for my family.[/quote]

I'm the poster who originally posted about more quality time, and this was exactly my point - door to desk, for me, including dropping DD off at daycare, is 20 minutes, if we take the bus, and 45 if we walk, which we do, when the weather is nice. It's not a particularly short walk, but it's a nice way to start the morning and is something that would not be possible before we moved to the District. I work in Dupont and I live in Columbia Heights. We used to live in a good school district in MD and moved when DD was 18 months because it was important to us to have our life less spread out than it had previously been.  I'm well aware that there are a lot of vocal people on this board who are absolutely convinced that if you do not live in bounds for the JKLMM schools and do not strike it rich in the charter lottery, you'd better start paying for private school immediately or your kids are destined for a life of mediocrity, but I think that does a disservice to everyone for whom that's not an option. Are you suggesting that people who cannot afford to pick up and move to a better school district do not love their children?

School ratings are not the only measure for quality of life and not the only measure for quality of education. A child's education is a comprehensive thing and does not stop at the doors of the schools. The more time I have with my kid, the more I can participate in her education. I sure as hell wouldn't have been able to work full time and volunteer at her preschool living where we lived before. It just wouldn't have been an option at all. Now it is.

As for the Arlington-is-so-close evangelists, I'm glad you guys love where you live. I'm glad you want to spread the love, really. But not everyone wants what you want. Stop assuming that those of us who do not want to live in Arlington do not love our children. It's insulting and does you no favors.[/quote]

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