Reply to Would you live in Takoma Park, MD with young family?

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[quote=Anonymous]Wow. Not sure what all the TP shade is about.

I grew up near TP and have family and friends who live there now with young kids. I also lived in SW DC, NW DC, Bethesda, Vienna and Arlington, at different points of my adult life, so I have some context.

Overall, TP is a great place to raise kids. There are a ton of families with there with young kids. Don't believe me, just drive by and around on a nice day.

TP checks most if not all of the basic boxes: good schools, good (enough) food options, close to city and metro, lots of parks, lots of kid centered activities, generally safe, access to affordable housing (in parts).

Assuming commute/family proximity are not an issue, I only see two areas where TP might not be a good fit for a young family:

1) If you are looking for a white/asian enclave.
 It seems on DCUM: white/Asian enclaves=good; areas w/ higher levels of black/brown folks=bad. TP is very diverse. Both in income class and racial/ethnic demographics. PoC make up between somewhere in the range of 50% of TP. Most homeowners are white, so if you are buying, particularly in the DT area, its pretty much a white enclave from a housing perspective-- less so on the outskirts of TP. If you are renting, its likely you will be part of a very diverse mix, and in many cases, if you are white, you will be a minority. The schools are very diverse, with a roughly 60/40 nonwhite/white split.

If this level of racial diversity bothers you in the least bit, then TP is not for you.

2) If you are looking for a high SES enclave.
Typically this goes hand in hand in white/asian enclaves in the DMV area. TP has a fair amount of middle/low income residents- most are PoC, but plenty of whites too. The schools FARMS rates straddle on being high, but not very high. Typically concentrations of kids from lower income families comes with lower test scores compared to white enclaves. This is true for TP.

Crime in TP is better than other parts of east MoCo, but higher than white enclaves like Bethesda simply due to proximity. Crime is pretty much a block by block thing- general rule is that the farther you live away from poorer parts of DC, PG, MoCo, the less crime you will experience (although I grew up in a TP hood right next to PG for 19 yrs and we never crime issues).  TP is definitely has more city-like crime (petty thefts, car break-ins), and is more similar to parts of NW DC like Shaw, from a crime perspective. This just means if you get yourself and home alarm system, lock your car, and employ other city/street smarts, you and your family will be fine. If any of this is too much to think about, then TP is likely not for you.

My best advice would be to drive in the neighborhood and actually speak to some families. They will give you better feedback than shade I see thrown on here at TP due to its racial/income demos. Hope this helps.

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