Anonymous wrote:I took my little guy to Rock Creek Park today and was venturing through the upper NW DC neighborhoods (near AU) both to and from - what a great area! I loved the houses (Hallowen decorations were also very nicely done), and there were so many families out today, it was like a Normal Rockwell painting. But I know that those houses must be ungodly expensive, they must be AT LEAST 900K a pop, at least. So it made me wonder - do you need to have a mom/dad doctor/lawyer team to live there? Do you need to have a lofty inheritance? Because I'm sure you probably send your children to private schools as well? Just curious, what DOES it take to live there?

Do you mean like up Foxhall or Arizona to Loughborough/Nebraska and then by American University? Those homes [in Wesley Heights, Kents, Spring Valley] tend to be mostly north of $1 million [except the ramblers on Arizona which are more like $800] and many are multi-millions. Check out the thread "How old are you/where do you live etc..." There is a bit on this area and who lives/affords it. As for schools, almost all go private for MS/HS but there are decent elementary schools like Key, Horace Mann, and Janney if you don't want to immediately do priavte. I'd say it a mixed bag for elementary as to which people choose.

There are plenty of houses that go for less than 900K in that area, as long as you're willing to buy a smaller, simpler, less updated house. It's possible to buy houses in the 700s, although most are probably in the 800s. Occasionally, a smaller semi-detached, outdated house will sell under 700K. The majority of people are like us, who bought before prices peaked. A lot of people are 2-income couples who've saved a lot and can afford to buy for 800k. Practically all of my neighbors fall in the first group. They've owned their houses for a long time, are typical upper-middle income professionals with good, but not sky-high salaries, and send their kids to DCPS, even through high school. I do live in the more "modest" part of AU park, closer to Wisconsin Ave. than to Spring Valley, and a lot of the houses on this side are smaller and less expensive.

There are some beautiful homes in AU Park that sell for well over 1M - and some that sold this last year in the 700's.

About 3/4 of the kids in our part of the neighborhood go our local public elementary school - when you get to middle and H.S. it drops off a little. If you mean doctor in the medical sense - there are a few - a lot more PhDs in the community.

I took my little guy to Rock Creek Park today and was venturing through the upper NW DC neighborhoods (near AU) both to and from - what a great area! I loved the houses (Hallowen decorations were also very nicely done), and there were so many families out today, it was like a Normal Rockwell painting. But I know that those houses must be ungodly expensive, they must be AT LEAST 900K a pop, at least. So it made me wonder - do you need to have a mom/dad doctor/lawyer team to live there? Do you need to have a lofty inheritance? Because I'm sure you probably send your children to private schools as well? Just curious, what DOES it take to live there?