It's hippie dippie NPR central. I feel it's very stifling.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:we paid $10k more than we sold our 3 bed one bath bloomingdale row house for a 6 bed, 5 bath house with a third of an acre and a garage. Can walk to metro and downtown TKPK. Miss our excellent charter school though. MCPS is disappointing.

+1

I don’t know why people think MCPS is so great. The population of students is great at some schools, the curriculum is dated and the teaching methods are as well.

I think it depends where you are and, on average, you are better off in MCPS K-12 than DCPS. It is pretty easy to get in a good elementary in DC (but it is also literally a lottery where some people get lucky and some people don’t), but it is slim pickings for middle and high school in DC unless you are in the Wilson cluster or get in to a handful of charters or selective DCPS schools.

Anonymous wrote:we paid $10k more than we sold our 3 bed one bath bloomingdale row house for a 6 bed, 5 bath house with a third of an acre and a garage. Can walk to metro and downtown TKPK. Miss our excellent charter school though. MCPS is disappointing.

+1

I don’t know why people think MCPS is so great. The population of students is great at some schools, the curriculum is dated and the teaching methods are as well.

we paid $10k more than we sold our 3 bed one bath bloomingdale row house for a 6 bed, 5 bath house with a third of an acre and a garage. Can walk to metro and downtown TKPK. Miss our excellent charter school though. MCPS is disappointing.

Yeah, we did it a few years ago. The property tax thing was a little painful, but used to it now. Echo what's been said about East Silver Spring and taxes--lower than Takoma Park.

I like SSIMS more than Takoma Park, too, but ymmv.

Yep came here to reply, look in ESS school zone.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably save some money by buying in East Silver Spring. You will be zoned for TPMS and Blair, but without the extra TP town taxes.

This. You might look to Silver Spring and Wheaton more generally. It doesn’t have the quaint feel of TP, but there’s more metro accessibility in Silver Spring at less competitive price points and lots of good neighborhoods especially between the DTSS and Forest Glenn metros. We just moved to this area and really like it. We literally doubled our square footage from our Brookland row house and it’s a brand new build with a garage, a yard, and a closer walk to the metro than our previous house (whenever that’s a thing we do again). We only paid $130k more than we sold our DC house for.

You can probably save some money by buying in East Silver Spring. You will be zoned for TPMS and Blair, but without the extra TP town taxes.

Did it 4 years back. Moved from Petworth. The commute is kind of a pain, groceries can be tricky without a car. However I'd do it over 100 times again. Not telling you anything you already don't know; neighbors are friendly, schools are great, space is nice.

Just be ready, it took us several offers to get a house. One house we were one of 20 bids, winning bid was all cash over asking and no appraisal or inspection.

What is your commuting plan. No sure your price range but the less expensive houses are much further from metro.

Anonymous wrote:As PP said, the tax differences between DC and Takoma Park can be quite sizable.

At least you get better schools with the property taxes.

As PP said, the tax differences between DC and Takoma Park can be quite sizable.

What are you afraid of?

Just be prepared for the extra $6-12K in property taxes that you will have to pay if you move into Takoma Park proper.

Anyone here who had made the move? We are in DC and trying to find a home but there is nothing in our price range that is decent. If we move it would be in the Takoma Middle & Montgomery Blair school feed. Homes are so much more affordable and you get a lot more property, a garage, etc.