Reply to Please recommend your family friendly neighborhood with playground, metro and good schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel like a lot of people are telling OP about THEIR neighborhood without actually thinking about whether it's what OP is looking for.  OP is looking for 1) great schools, 2) close to DC, 3) a long-term home, 4) close to metro, and 5) walkable to a playground.  Budget appears to be open-ended, which I would guess means at least $1.5M. Some of these suggestions are absurd.  For example:

--Capitol Hill does NOT have great public schools.  They may be acceptable at the elementary level but nowhere near on par with many of the other places mentioned, and after elementary who knows.

--Ditto Del Ray and Rosemont.  These are nice places but NOT where you live if you can spend whatever you want.

--Mantua is NOT close to DC or a metro.  It's way the hell out in Fairfax--total suburbia.  Also largely not walkable to a playground.  THe houses are very 70s and affordable, not great at all.

--The area of Falls Church that is technically Fairfax County is VERY hit or miss.  All of the schools are Fairfax County so will be fine, but some of them have almost 50% non-English-proficient students, which obviously changes the educational environment.  Haycock is nice but it's very average for the area--again, not where you live when you're spending $1.5 million or more.

Agree with the suggestions for Falls Church City and anywhere in Arlington along the orange line.  Lyon Village is lovely but not so lovely as to justify the ridiculous hype and inflated prices, IMHO.  Many other great small neighborhoods fit all of OP's criteria and don't require a 2-year wait and a bidding war.         [/quote]

This is very good advice.  I've been house hunting for a while and use DCUM to vet neighborhoods, schools, etc.  One thing you learn quickly is that people tend to promote their own neighborhoods.  And it's understandable, in a lot of ways.  People pay a lot of money for homes here, and you want to be able to tell yourself that you made a good decision.   The two things I think people oversell most often are commute and schools.

With respect to commute, I think people say "door-to-door" when what they mean is "pull out of my driveway to pull into the garage" or "time actually on the metro."  And I think they generally refer to their best traffic days, and not the average, and often people don't mention if they commute during peak rush hour.

Schools are obviously subjective, but by and large, you'll find very, very few people who think that their schools are anything other than "great."  Of course most people have a vested interest in believing that, plus, my guess is that they're having a good experience and that's sufficient for them.  I think some people go in wanting the best school district possible, some just want a solid overall education and aren't worried if another district has somewhat higher test scores, and some value other factors outside of academics (such as diversity or overcrowding).[/quote]

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