8 years?!

OP did you end up moving here?

Here is the link to that article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/in-pr-georges-takoma-park-has-a-lesser-known-lower-priced-alternative/2012/01/20/gIQAMgAiTQ_story.html

A lot of the houses in Mt. Rainier are much nicer than the one they photographed for the story.

You should also check back to this past Saturday's Real estate section of the Washington Post. They did a whole piece on Mt. Ranier.

OP, my family bought our house in Mt. Rainier 3 years ago. We have a 3 y/o and a baby. We love it! It has a lot of benefits of small town living, but so close to downtown.

As a pp noted, you'd want to make sure you situated yourselves to be on the part of the city that goes to Mt. Rainier Elementary, not Thomas Stone.

We know and love so many of our neighbors. Like we actually share meals and invite each other over, not just waive over fences. There is small but active group of parents with young kids who have a listserv, and use that to plan play groups.

The pool in Mt. Rainier is amazing, and a great source of connections with other local families.

You seem to be concerned about safety, but that is such a subjective issue. You may or may not "feel" safe, depending on what you're used to. Statistics are hard to interpret, since, like another PP mentioned, a lot of the crime is centered around the big apartment buildings, and not the streets with single family houses.

Joes Movement Emporium! Glut Co-op! There is a lot in Mt. Rainier that makes it a great place for my family. Its like an antidote to some of less desirable aspects of DC - we have diverse folks living in a more integrated setting, people don't talk so much about their jobs, there seems to be a more relaxed parenting style, easier to keep up with the Joneses, etc.

I'll try to check back in case you have any questions.

Current Mt. Rainier resident (though selling soon because of school issues, which I won't belabor) - we've been here almost 9 years. Crime in Mt. Rainier is mostly (stress on the word mostly) confined to the large apartment complexes (break-ins, muggings) and the town center area (crimes here are mostly public drunkeness, disorderly conduct), near the bus stop.

Outside of those parts of town, the majority of the crime is thefts from vehicles. To be sure, there are muggings, but those typically happen late at night (after midnight) (I base this on reading the crime reports from the city's Chief of Police: http://mrpdchief.blogspot.com/ ). I believe the arsons mentioned above were solved and I don't recall any recently. I regularly walk the dog in the neighborhood, walk to the bus stop to get to work, and take my son on bike rides through the area.

It is a safe neighborhood, but like any urban area, one should be sensical - i.e. don't go walking alone at 2 in the morning. As a general rule, streets on the north side of route 1 tend to be more desired than those on the south side (nicer houses, bigger yards, less cut through traffic).

We live in Mt Rainier closing in on 9 years and love it...for the past two years there have been several young families move into the area and a 1 and 2 couples that hope to start a family soon...which is why they moved here (affordability) in addition to the eclectic vide. It's a blue collar community, with a Mennonite undercurrent, a good mixture of African/Americans, Latino and Anglo coupled with several same sex couples w/kids.

Schools (Mt Rainier elementary versus Thomas Stone elementary) vary, the former has won national comps in non-conflict resolution whereas the latter is very overcrowded & dealing w/different issues (turnover of admin,etc)...no contest between the two...

Safety varies since every so often there is a mugging (usually riff-raff from DC) in the area, however I walk in the morning w/my daughter (8 months) where i meet others neighbors walking there dogs...same goes for nite, during which I see a few people running....

Let me put it this way, prior to living in Mt Rainier I lived at 16th/U Street before the area took off no one ever bothered me, after that I lived in Mt. Vernon before the convention center broke ground same result no one hassled with me..then I lived in cap hill and got mugged 3 times (2 w/a nut w/a gun)...now here. Bottom line is that it's safe but we do get occasion crime in the area...a majority of it use to be car thefts.

Fine if you are going to rent aplace, but not great to buy as the school are pretty bad.

Also in terms of safety they had a string of arson incidents last year.

Brooklander here, have friends in Mt Rainier. Think it is a great little area. For starters, PG Pool is in Mt Rainier!! Apart from that, a nice little downtown is developing with the Glut, Community Acupuncture, a vegan restaurant, Joe's Movement Emporium etc. It has a definite funky vibe and the housing stock and prices are great. The (professional) friends like Mt Ranier but their kids haven't hit school age yet. Think that is the major problem with Mt Rainier. You might want to consider Woodridge (DC) just across the line. In greater Brookland/Woodridge you have a lot more school options (though it's stressful for sure).

I live in Hyattsville, just next to Mr. Rainier and have many friends in Mr. Rainier. I do not know crime statistics of either, but newspapers share similar stories, regardless of county. PG Public is not fantastic, but some decent privates if you are interested that are not as expensive as MOCO / DC / VA. Let me clarify... elementary schools are improving with very active PTA's. Middle school is so-so, but I will not send my kiddos to the HS. The fantastic part of the neighborhood is the active community; pretty liberal...very involved

Why do you love your nieghborhood?
Is the nieghborhood safe?

I thought I replied to this earlier but don't see my post. I live in Mt Rainier and love my mieghborhood. But it is true that many of the kids at Mt Rainier Elem School are struggling with poverty and ESL issues. It was a great loss when CFMS left Mt Rainier for DC. Take a look at St Jerome's School 1.5 miles north on Rt 1. It's a good option if you can afford it.

bktodd3 wrote:My husband and I are thinking about moving to Mount Rainier to raise our 1 year old daughter. It seems like a perfect fit for us
However, while I've research as much as I can I haven't heard a lot of first hand accounts on what its like to actually live there, specifically in terms of safety precautions, etc...
I would really like to know what it's like to live there on a day to day basis.
Is it safe to walk at night? Run during the day? What sort of safety precautions need to be taken?
Any informations would help. Thanks!

I suspect it is what it is and you should hold no hopes or expectations that it might become sometihng that it is not currently.

To be honest, I had to look up this neighborhood. In general, PG county is a mess. Schools are not great, there is a ton of corruption in the most black leadership, etc. This neighborhood borders DC which isn't great. Looking on Google crime map there are several sex offenders, robberies, auto theft, etc. So you can make your own inferences as to the safety of the neighborhood.

My husband and I are thinking about moving to Mount Rainier to raise our 1 year old daughter. It seems like a perfect fit for us
However, while I've research as much as I can I haven't heard a lot of first hand accounts on what its like to actually live there, specifically in terms of safety precautions, etc...
I would really like to know what it's like to live there on a day to day basis.
Is it safe to walk at night? Run during the day? What sort of safety precautions need to be taken?
Any informations would help. Thanks!