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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We moved from CC MD to Potomac last year.   For a 20% bump in price (from ~950 to ~1.15) we tripled our space (1900 to 5400 sq ft) and went from a 1/4 acre to three-acre lot.

Architecturally, we went from a dull upgraded 50's rambler in CC MD to a striking 70s modern house in the woods in Potomac.   No contest.

The other big plus is that we now don't waste our time pondering the expense and time commitment of a country house -- we wake up in the country every day.  And driving around the rolling hills and landscaped lots of Potomac is restful in a way the congestion of CC and Bethesda streets never was.

In practical terms, Potomac's not significantly further out - my new drive commute to Metro Center/DC is only 5-10 minutes longer (highways vs traffic lights).

As for 'walkability,' our experience was the "walkability" of CC MD and Bethesda was mostly a myth except for a handful of streets near Wisc Ave (i've actually never seen anyone but schoolchildren walk across Connecticut Ave).   [b]We walked nowhere. [/b]  And driving two miles into Potomac Village for shopping and services now is a lot easier than driving the same distance into (and parking in) congested Bethesda was.

Why the good values in Potomac?  A lot of original Potomac owners from the 1970s and 1980s became empty nesters -- and put their houses on the market -- simultaneously over the past decade, so that probably capped appreciation somewhat.   As did the buzz around supposedly 'walkable' neighborhoods and the trendy disparagement on sites like these about so-called McMansions (because somehow 4500 sq ft Potomac colonials on two acre lots are aesthetically objectionable and nouveau riche in ways that grotesque 5500 sq ft Bethesda McBungalows on a fourth of an acre aren't...).   I'm assuming that gap may right itself in the future, but even if it doesn't, we're happy to have the market's failure be our gain.  At essentially the same price point, living in Potomac is a lot better for us than living in CC MD was.

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I'm glad you found such a great house--it does sound terrific.  I love some of the modern homes there.

Re: walkability, it's not just about being able to walk for errands, but about having neighborhoods with sidewalks.  Much of Potomac doesn't have those.  I also see tons of people out walking in Bethesda and DTSS whenever I'm there, so clearly, people are walking.  Some people just don't like to walk in urban environments, which is fine, but that's not universal.  I lived on the Hill for years and walked everywhere (and took public transportation).

But, yeah, if being able to walk to stuff isn't a priority, and you don't mind a driving commute, there are great deals to be had in Potomac.[/quote]

Nearly all the people you see walking in downtown Bethesda or DTSS drove there.  Very little of Bethesda is walkable to downtown or Friendship Heights.  I always laugh at the Bethesda people bragging about walkability.  We lived on Capitol Hill for 10 years.  We could walk out our door and get to loads of restaurants, bars, groceries, etc.  That is walkable.  Some brick box on a side street that happens to have a side walk off of River Road is not walkable to anything that you actually want to walk to.[/quote]

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