Reply to Is Arlington the Best Place to Live in the DC Area?

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[quote=Anonymous]It definitely depends on your commute. If you will be working more on the Maryland side of the city I'd say Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Bethesda would be better options.

Yes, there are city neighborhoods like Capitol Hill and upper NW that tick those boxes but you have to navigate the DC school system which has its challenges. All our friends who loved DC when they had little kids ended up moving to Arlington, Bethesda, or Silver Spring when they didn't get schools they wanted.

That said, I live in Arlington (and have previously lived in DC and MD) and like it for all the reasons you listed. We're in Ashton Heights in the center of the county, easy walk to two metro stations, central library, movie theater, gym, lots of restaurants, parks, art center, and my kids walk to middle and high school. With teens I really appreciate that it means less driving for me and they can easily find PT jobs close to home. Easy to metro into DC but it's also a really quick drive. Whenever we go to the Kennedy Center it makes me really happy to be reminded that we are a 10 minute drive away.

Yes, the schools have their challenges and are somewhat a victim of their success (overcrowding) but the issues seem to be the same issues in all the districts. One main difference of Arlington vs Fairfax schools is how they handle gifted services. APS really doesn't offer a lot, they are very anti-tracking so, in theory, gifted students are supposed to be getting more challenging work from their classroom teachers in ES and differentiation within the classroom in MS and then finally in HS they can take Intensified (aka honors)/ AP/IB classes. As you might expect, relying on individual teachers differentiating is pretty hit-and-miss. Still, my kids were both ID'd as gifted and seemed challenged and have done well in rigorous HS classes.  But, if you are looking for a pull-out gifted program, you'd want Fairfax where they have the AAP program starting in 3rd grade.

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