Depending on where in College Park you're looking, make sure to stop by on a Friday or Saturday night during the school year. Or a Thursday. Or...well, most days.

Some areas of College Park near the university are full of student rentals. And where you have students, you have parties.

Fortunately, the houses with students aren't hard to find. Just look for 1500 sf houses with 5+ bedrooms and at least four cars in the driveway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - seriously considering buying for budget. Currently live in a high crime neighborhood in DC, otherwise would stay.

My feeling living in the area is that I would rather live in Hollywood than Colmar manor or cottage city, and I would definitely not pick Edmonston. Those areas seem to me to have more crime activity but you should see if you can find crime data neighborhood by neighborhood because this is just my impression. I have several friends happy in Hollywood but I’m not sure how much it’s block to block and things like that.

Ha! That's hilarious. I lived in Edmonston for 15 years until very recently and it is so chill it has the least crime of any place around including nicer areas of Silver Spring and Tkpk. It's tiny and tucked away but situated in a fantastic location....

Maybe it’s block to block, but that shooting with the girl on the trampoline really freaked me out.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - seriously considering buying for budget. Currently live in a high crime neighborhood in DC, otherwise would stay.

My feeling living in the area is that I would rather live in Hollywood than Colmar manor or cottage city, and I would definitely not pick Edmonston. Those areas seem to me to have more crime activity but you should see if you can find crime data neighborhood by neighborhood because this is just my impression. I have several friends happy in Hollywood but I’m not sure how much it’s block to block and things like that.

Ha! That's hilarious. I lived in Edmonston for 15 years until very recently and it is so chill it has the least crime of any place around including nicer areas of Silver Spring and Tkpk. It's tiny and tucked away but situated in a fantastic location....

Anonymous wrote:What is so bad about Hollywood? Is it crime or just working class?

I'm sure it is fine but it just looks dumpy.
For the same price point you can live in other parts of CP or over at Berwyn Heights. BH is it's own municipality and the crime rate is pretty low.
I agree that Hollywood is better than Cottage City or Edmunston.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks - seriously considering buying for budget. Currently live in a high crime neighborhood in DC, otherwise would stay.

My feeling living in the area is that I would rather live in Hollywood than Colmar manor or cottage city, and I would definitely not pick Edmonston. Those areas seem to me to have more crime activity but you should see if you can find crime data neighborhood by neighborhood because this is just my impression. I have several friends happy in Hollywood but I’m not sure how much it’s block to block and things like that.

Thanks - seriously considering buying for budget. Currently live in a high crime neighborhood in DC, otherwise would stay.

I don’t really want to live in Hollywood because I have a higher budget, but for the money in our area I think it’s a great option.

What is so bad about Hollywood? Is it crime or just working class?

Anonymous wrote:Hollywood is a dump.

Starting to see $500k in Hollywood. It is gentrifying fast!

Anonymous wrote:Hollywood is a dump.

Yeah....not my favorite part of CP. I would move to Berwyn Heights before I bought in Hollywood.

Hollywood is a dump.

The neighborhoods in College Park can be very different.
I really like College Park Estates/Yarrow area but there are other nice parts of town.
Kids in College Park are zoned for 4 or so elementary schools, at least 3 middle schools and two different high schools.
Of the middle schools Greenbelt MS is probably the best. Both high schools are mediocre at best. Northwestern has a great Arts program and Parkdale has a good IB program but the rest of the students don't have as good of an experience.

Public schools in PG are a crap shoot. Elementary schools are generally fine. A lot of parents get their kids into specialty programs for middle and high school. College Park families get a set number of spots at College Park Academy which is a 6-12 charter school.
If your kids are high achieving and you are paying attention, they will get into decent/good middle and high schools.

I think College Park is great. Not as nice as MoCo or Nova, but also more affordable, and it is exciting to live in a place that is getting better so quickly. Prices have been rising and I expect to keep doing so fairly briskly until the Purple line and a few other developments open. Even more if the FBI headquarters ends up built on a lot right next to CP.

I love college park, but I’m biased because I live nearby. As far as I know, the best regarded public zone ES is still University Park. If you want to be in bounds to the best regarded zoned HS and you’re going to work in CP, you want to look at the Eleanor Roosevelt zone (Greenbelt).

Can anyone talk to me about moving in College Park? What are the pros and cons? How are the public schools?