The city proper has a small population, but it is a city!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, most people in DC do NOT drive but there is tons of traffic as it is a very large metro area and people commute in from the suburbs. It is not a small town at all. People stay in DC despite the schools for the shorter commutes, the walk ability, the Metro etc.

It depends on your perception. Having lived in cities all over the world, DC is small. You can walk from one end to another. There are less than a million people living here. It's hardly a city. Someone from NYC, Hong Kong, Mexico City might feel it was small. Someone from Duluth might feel it was huge.

Agree. As a city girl my whole life who has lived in several major metropolitan cities DC is not big city at all. Not a one horse town either but definitely not big city.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, most people in DC do NOT drive but there is tons of traffic as it is a very large metro area and people commute in from the suburbs. It is not a small town at all. People stay in DC despite the schools for the shorter commutes, the walk ability, the Metro etc.

It depends on your perception. Having lived in cities all over the world, DC is small. You can walk from one end to another. There are less than a million people living here. It's hardly a city. Someone from NYC, Hong Kong, Mexico City might feel it was small. Someone from Duluth might feel it was huge.

I've also lived in big cities in other countries, thanks. But what matters here is not just the population of DC proper since the whole metro area affects the traffic, which is quite bad...it takes a half hour for me to drop my son off at camp five miles from our house and another half hour for me to drive about 4-5 miles to my job, for example. That's what OP needs to know for her considerations of commute to school. Thankfully school is much closer to our house than camp is and I can take the metro to work after school drop off, so I don't have to deal with crappy DC traffic. The size of Mexico City or Lima or London are not relevant here.

The Metropolitan Statistical Area is over 6 million, which definitely affects traffic in the District proper.

Anonymous wrote:There are many schools, mostly charter, that are not very accessible by public transportation, so everyone drives to them. One of my biggest adjustments to DC was learning to accept this. And getting a driver's license. I will say however, for the hundredth time, it's messed up.

Also, if Garrison is that small, I'd think your kids might be fine there. Plenty of attention, I'd hope?

The attention will go to the 75% of the children who are not performing at the proficient level. Imagine a 3rd grade classroom with 20 children.
4 of them have learning disabilities and 15 are not reading at grade level.
After the teacher spends the required time to do all of the work required for the accommodations for the children with IEPs, where do you think the net focus of individual attention will be? The child who is not disruptive because they can sit at a desk and read a book or the child who is disrupting the class because they are still learning to read as opposed to reading to learn?

Don't worry about friends, by the way. Join the Y right next to you, and you and your kid will be assured to have friends nearby, and some of them will likely go to the school that they attend.

Anonymous wrote:There are many schools, mostly charter, that are not very accessible by public transportation, so everyone drives to them. One of my biggest adjustments to DC was learning to accept this. And getting a driver's license. I will say however, for the hundredth time, it's messed up.

Also, if Garrison is that small, I'd think your kids might be fine there. Plenty of attention, I'd hope?

There are a couple of HRCS's that aren't very accessible. The majority are. I don't drive, and I have spent years commuting to three locations of a charter school and have used public transit and my own two feet to get to all of them. Many people ride bikes too. The location OP's rental is very convenient to almost all HRCSs with just a quick bus or two or a good bike.

I personally wouldn't send my children to Garrison. It has been on the chopping block for years, and although the neighborhood keeps throwing energy at it enough to keep it open another year, DCPS clearly wants it gone and won't invest. If it were just the younger one, I would say you could go for a year or two, but honestly, just find a better option and stick with it.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, most people in DC do NOT drive but there is tons of traffic as it is a very large metro area and people commute in from the suburbs. It is not a small town at all. People stay in DC despite the schools for the shorter commutes, the walk ability, the Metro etc.

It depends on your perception. Having lived in cities all over the world, DC is small. You can walk from one end to another. There are less than a million people living here. It's hardly a city. Someone from NYC, Hong Kong, Mexico City might feel it was small. Someone from Duluth might feel it was huge.

There are many schools, mostly charter, that are not very accessible by public transportation, so everyone drives to them. One of my biggest adjustments to DC was learning to accept this. And getting a driver's license. I will say however, for the hundredth time, it's messed up.

Also, if Garrison is that small, I'd think your kids might be fine there. Plenty of attention, I'd hope?

Yes, most people in DC do NOT drive but there is tons of traffic as it is a very large metro area and people commute in from the suburbs. It is not a small town at all. People stay in DC despite the schools for the shorter commutes, the walk ability, the Metro etc.