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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We're ready to put an offer in on a Dupont rowhome; trading off space to be near to everything and in-bounds for the school we want (2 adults 1 preschool aged kid).

The only thing that makes this a tough pill to swallow is seeing the giant, newly renovated homes in other neighborhoods (Capitol Hill, Columbia Heights, etc) for the same or less. We tried to love Georgetown but preferred Dupont/Foggy Bottom/West End more.

At the end, we feel the tradeoff for being in the neighborhood we want/near everything makes up for the lack of space, but maybe it's a mistake - anyone been through this? 
I keep telling myself we're being picky - this house is well within 'normal' size; everyone lived in smaller homes and managed just fine, etc. etc.

Current owners are moving to the suburbs with 3 kids, meanwhile.

[/quote]

You could also got a five bedroom in the suburbs for the same money but do you actually want to live there?? Don’t compare yourself to others or do what you think you’re “supposed” to do. [/quote]

+1. I also don't know if the cost/ space tradeoff is that stark - maybe if you're looking at more isolated parts of upper NW, but the ones close to the Metro (like actually close so you would use it all the time - &lt;.5 miles) are still very expensive for small homes. We moved to upper NW from Dupont, and I think what we ended up paying could have gotten us a somewhat comparable rowhouse property in Dupont - smaller lot for sure, and likely smaller yard and a bit less square footage, but not dramatically so. We decided to move but I think it would have been a reasonable choice to stay in Dupont.

One of the reasons we moved was we wanted to feel settled and able to stay here through middle school etc with roughly the same neighbors. I also felt like Dupont was very transient and many of the pre-kids amenities weren't attractive anymore. I know they just renovated a playground in Dupont, but there are so many great options up here - we sometimes go to several playgrounds in one day, go to RCP and Glover Park regularly, Hearst Pool, Wilson Pool (when it was open, rrr), etc. The lack of a library was also annoying - we use the one by us all the time. There are lots of block parties where we are now, which is a perk I didn't think of before. But again, totally reasonable to stay in Dupont and decide later if you want to move. You'll also be able to find more urbanist value type families if you stay there - it's a bit of a mix where we are now (people that like to do city/museum/public transit-accessed activities, vs those that drive everywhere and aren't really out and about in the neighborhood).

But I wouldn't say it comes down to the cost/sq footage tradeoff, unless you're talking about an isolated more suburban house in Barnaby Woods or Palisades/ Spring Valley or whatever (which is a different conversation, and we didn't consider those). AU Park used to be relatively cheaper per sqft, but that's starting to change - many properties seem to go for Cleveland Park/ Tenleytown prices now, esp those east of 46th Street. If you're ok with the area near the FH metro, those properties do tend to be priced lower.[/quote]

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