Reply to S/O: Most overrated neighborhood in the area?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]and just because I don't want you to think that I'm wrong when I categorize you as a "bigger house/lot" person.  I mean more than just that you wanted a bigger house.   If you live in Burke, you're more of a suburb person.  You couldn't pay me to live in Burke - that doesn't mean you're wrong, it means we want different things and most of the families I've met in Silver Spring want what we want which is why they love it.

The things you listed - "house size for the money", "upkeep of neighborhoods", "parks" and "pools" - as being "way better" in Burke than in SS are all things that don't matter nearly as much to us as walkability.

Although, I do have to say, we have a just under 2,000 sq ft updated SFH for under $500k, which is actually too big by our standards anyway.  And there are a ton of practically new playgrounds within a short walk from our house, Sligo Creek trail, lots of pools to join, and at least in our neighborhood, very mature flower-filled landscaping.  I can't say that SS is better than Burke, but I certainly don't find those things lacking in SS.

The other things you name - commute and schools, I find kind of questionable too to be honest.  How do you commute from Burke?  It does take me 45 mins to get to Capitol Hill door to door, but I don't consider that awful in this area for under $500k.  And on the few occasions when I drive, it's under 30 mins.  Schools are good and not so good depending and there's always the MOCO versus Ffx County schools debate, but our elementary school is an 8 out of 10 on greatschools and we're very happy with it.

I say these things not to denigrate your choice, but to one, say that I don't agree with your characterization of Burke being "WAY BETTER" in the areas you named at all, and to mostly say that your opinion on Burke seems to lie in the suburb/urban feel contrast that the PP pointed out.  From our perspective also having compared both areas, the "amenities" you pointed out as important are fairly comparable in Burke and SS.  The main difference is the suburban feel, which is what you went for (to avoid traffic and congestion as you said) versus the urban feel, which is what we wanted.  
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I'm the OP of the post you're responding to and I agree with your assessment overall. SS just felt very congested to us and I didn't really like the quality of the places I could walk to. I guess we just preferred less of a city vibe. We've lived on Capitol Hill (Barracks Row area) for 8 years (renting) and honestly, it's not very city-ish either once you get off of 8th street or Pennsylvania Ave. So you're right that we just have more of a suburbs preference than I'd like to admit! Our commute is easy because both my husband and I work untraditional hours. He works early and comes home early (Home by 3:30 most days) and I work part time in the middle of the day. So our commute to Capitol Hill from Burke/Springfield is 25 min. It seemed liked we'd have traffic any time of the day and lots of stop lights from Silver Spring (but not as bad during rush hour, though that isn't a concern for us) and we prefer driving to metro because of our hours.

But, yeah, my initial post was more combative than it needed to be, probably because of the vibe of the question. I have friends that live in Silver Spring who really like it. [/quote]

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