Reply to Are Arlington Schools worth the huge mortgage I'm going to need?

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[quote=Anonymous]I live in Clarendon now. Some days I think my lucky stars I live there and other days I think it would be nice to live somewhere else - although I don't know where that would be. The commute to DC is a dream, which is a big deal to us. We have been on the other side of that with one-hour or more commutes each way. It would be difficult to go back to that.

Although Clarendon is becoming more family friendly it still falls short in the area of parks, public pools, and other amenities that I fantasize is easier to come by in other areas. There continues to be a slew of construction projects designed to bring more people in. Resources are seriously constrained - parking spaces, a seat at a restaurant, aisle space at Whole Foods. Even sidewalk space is coming up short as restaurants spill out further onto the sidewalk to accommodate waiting patrons. If you miss getting in on the early-bird registration for things like day camp and swimming classes, for example, you can forget it.

Clarendon tries to be both car- and pedestrian-friendly and ends up being friendly to neither. There are lots of blindspots in roadways caused by all the cars parked on the margins of narrow streets and confusion among both drivers and pedestrians about what those striped pedastrian crossings really mean. Most parking lots are more appropriate for prius than any family-sized cars except those with doors that slide back and forth. I shudder of the idea of my kids riding their bikes around the neighborhood. On the other hand, from a crime perspective, the area is very safe. Even the pan-handlers seem well-off. I got hit up for $5 bucks from one of them the other day. I guess it's also expensive to be homeless in Clarendon.

DC just started elementary school today and it seems fine. Arlington guarantees families with two working parents slots in the extended day program for elementary kids, which was important to us. Getting our young kids into an all-day daycare was a challenge and very expensive. We were lucky to get in and then just had to pay whatever they wanted. And pay and pay.  Once our kids are in school and out of that expensive daycare, maybe we can think about doing some much-needed renovations to our house. Our house is on the small side with more character than charm.

The bottom line for us is if we moved where would we go. If it is some place desireable, what would we have to do to get in. When we bought in Clarendon we certainly overpaid. The house needed fairly extensive renovations to it before we moved in. Closing costs were not inconsequential. Certainly if we made $500k a year. Not a big deal. But we don't. The positive thing for us when we are ready to sell is that many of our neighbors probably do.

We never considered living in MoCo because DH and I have always been earning higher degrees in VA university - me when we bought and DH is finishing up now. [/quote]

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