Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi op. Lots of really good advice already. I can only speak to the MD/NW side as we bought in Chevy chase MD, but I did grow up in Westchester and know what you are describing.

Honestly, you are looking for a unicorn and you’ll have to decide what you can live with giving up. DC does have a different vibe than westchester but it is still very affluent, attending private school is a real thing, the county based schools can be very frustrating, and quite honestly, MD is really not convenient for day to day stuff: sports, grocery, stores, etc. Nothing is under a 20m drive and that gets tiring day in and day out.

You may not like the small town feel of Westchester, but there are some really sweet perks to having kids grow up there. I really think you’d be trading a lot for not much of a difference in mentality.

Definitely come visit and spend some time seeing if it’s the right place for you.

Best of luck!

Sorry, but this is not true in my experience. I live in Silver Spring, and can walk to loads of places in 10 minutes. I can drive to Takoma Park in 10-15 minutes. Kids' soccer practices/games are also 10 minutes away. There's a target on the DC/ Silver Spring, MD border

Again, I think this is very dependent upon where you’re placed in MD. My point was, and is, that while everything is accessible here, that is very city by city dependent, and it’s worth noting that it’s something to take into consideration.

Also, the feedback regarding commute is something to take into consideration, especially if you or your spouse are driving. DC has different rush hour times and traffic patterns than NY.

I’m from Westchester and lived and had friends in New Rochelle,
Eastchester Mamaroneck and Scarsdale. I also lived in Connecticut all towns were along Metro North.on the Metro North. When I moved to Morris Counry in NJ everything seemed like it was off a highway or a jug handle. There were some cute towns but we were closer to strip malls. Driving through Bethesda once my husband said Bethesda is more like Weatchester. NoVa is more like NJ. I find it hard to compare the areas in MD vs. VA to Westchester some of that vibe I wanted, some I was happy to leave. I only know the schools in one town we have lived in NOVA and they were fine. They were safe, diverse and our town had a mix of housing from apartment rentals, to townhomes, small lower income income housing, boxy cookie cutter homes to McMansions on 4 acres. As has been said the county teaches the same curriculum everywhere, so education depends on AP, IB, and tutoring. We drive to a park’n’ride to get to the train and then walk to work. All told 3 hours round trip. You’ll find more diversity way outside the beltway. You won’t find charm. Well, you can if you want small rooms and and closets on small lots. Westchester has a lot of diplomats we have a lot of people who work in the government but can’t share what they do. For years. I struggled to find a Westchester-like town here. There isn’t. Realtors told me to go visit the schools, which might be a little easier now than last year at this time. I think it’s the best way to see if what you are looking for and what is here will meet your needs and wants. We had to figure it all out in a weekend. If you can take way more time and ask lots of questions!

OP, honestly, you need to figure out your work commutes first, then look. That said, downtown Silver Spring sounds like it could be a good fit. I’m the pp who mentioned crime. In DC proper, there is an increase in car jackings, even during the day. In the close-in burbs, there are nightly gangs who rifle through cars that are unlocked. Recently a neighbor was held up at gun point by one. Didn’t even make the news. Occasional random house break-ins. Businesses and banks get burglarized, and there are bad gangs a la El Salvador that operate throughout the area, though predominantly in Wheaton, Aspen Hill, Gaithersburg and Germantown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget? Commute? Where in Westchester did you live?

This area just doesn’t have the town centers like Westchester does. And lots tend to be small, so you may have to look around for .25 acres if that’s important to you.

OP here. What does the area have instead of town centers? Strip malls?

We were in the Rivertowns, but looked all over Westchester and talked to people in Scarsdale, Bronxville, Rye, Mamaroneck, etc and it all seems to be the same. One exception is White Plains - we like that vibe a lot.

We're flexible on budget, finding the right area to live is more important. If it's expensive, we can just buy a smaller house. Hoping to stay under a million but could go up to 1.2. Commute under an hour.

I live in Westchester, in a river town, and you didn't look hard enough, OP. I work in another river town that is extremely diverse. Ossining, Peekskill, Yonkers- all river towns. I'm guessing those didn't even hit your radar. They all have million-dollar homes, btw.

OP. I skipped all the details of our Westchester experience as this post is on a DC board asking for advice about DC area living, but yes, they hit our radar. We've visited all of the places you listed and many more all over the county, talked to people who live there, etc. For various reasons they're not the right fit. For example, too far from NYC/long commutes (Ossining, Peekskill, and whole swaths of northern Westchester), too small and insulated (even Tarrytown is like 10K people), etc.

Ossining to Grand Central is 36 minutes on the express train. Peekskill is the next stop. How much faster were you expecting?
My point is you can't talk about wanting diversity, complaining about how Westchester has no diversity, when you chose not to move to a diverse location. They exist here.

Peekskill is not the next stop beyond Ossining. And even back in the pre-covid days, there was only 1 train that went express after Ossining, and it's not 36 minutes. Pretty sure it was at least 40. Realistically you're looking at most of the trains being 45-50+ mins from Ossining. Spent countless minutes of my life on that train, thanks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, OP, you’ve gotten a lot of good feedback, as well as some conflicting info about specific areas.

You’ve not mentioned commute. What is “not far” from DC to you? Would you drive or metro?

I think your biggest disappointment will be the school systems here, as well as the random crime.

How old are your kid(s)?

OP here. They are in early elementary. Most Westchester schools are really not great (despite their reputation), so I am confident I'll like DC ones more no matter where we end up. But I am concerned about the random crime. Can you say more? Where, and what kind of crime? Like, will someone break into my home in Silver Spring or attack me and my kids while I'm walking down the street?


Re: commute, I don't know, we haven't started researching this piece yet. Would want to be under an hour door to door and open to either metro or driving.

Silver Spring is pretty safe- l live in 20910. if you leave your car unlocked, people will rifle through. There's the rare burglary, but it's been at least 5 years since I can recall that happening.

As another 20910 resident, this. No one is going to attack you and your kids while you walk down the street. A house break-in is extremely unlikely. There aren't many parts of the DC area that are *that* unsafe, regardless of what people tell you on this board. We love it here.

FWIW, I grew up in Bethesda, which used to have more socioeconomic diversity than it does now. Even then, there wasn't much. But it's filled with international families, many of which have highly educated parents (who work at places like the NIH, World Bank, IMF, etc.). Plenty of them send their kids to public school, and plenty of white families in Bethesda like to brag about the "diversity" there, even while they're horrified at the thought of interacting with someone who is not white and who lacks a doctoral degree. So, yeah, avoid Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Potomac.

Silver Spring is ranked high among cities in the US for diversity:

https://wallethub.com/edu/most-diverse-cities/12690

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, OP, you’ve gotten a lot of good feedback, as well as some conflicting info about specific areas.

You’ve not mentioned commute. What is “not far” from DC to you? Would you drive or metro?

I think your biggest disappointment will be the school systems here, as well as the random crime.

How old are your kid(s)?

OP here. They are in early elementary. Most Westchester schools are really not great (despite their reputation), so I am confident I'll like DC ones more no matter where we end up. But I am concerned about the random crime. Can you say more? Where, and what kind of crime? Like, will someone break into my home in Silver Spring or attack me and my kids while I'm walking down the street?


Re: commute, I don't know, we haven't started researching this piece yet. Would want to be under an hour door to door and open to either metro or driving.

Silver Spring is pretty safe- l live in 20910. if you leave your car unlocked, people will rifle through. There's the rare burglary, but it's been at least 5 years since I can recall that happening.

The DC area anymore is really diverse across the board.

From my experience the difference is some places have community and convenience and others don't.

Once you get outside of The Beltway (I-495) commutes creep up because of the traffic that you have to move through on a daily basis just to get to the beltway.

Walkability to me is a big factor which is what Chevy Chase lacks, as does a a lot of areas of far northwest DC. Bethesda is much better and has two downtown entertainment areas, if you can find a house for sale downtown. Takoma varies in quality from Victorians to the edge of the ghetto but its all quite close together driving around, same goes for downtown silver spring. Old Town Alexandria is pretty but feels like a truck stop with Route 1 running through it. Reston is quite nice with parks and pools however its a lot of driving.

The Virginia close in suburbs in general tend to be a lot more driving with shops you regularly go to 2 or 3 miles apart. MD suburbs lack many chains and big box hardware stores that you find in a more suburban Virginia. Rockville Pike excepted but in general the area didn't get as much corporate investment.

I like to be within the beltway but I don't like to be too far from the beltway either which can be a problem in some locations in DC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a small town hick who's being remarkably picky for someone from a pretty run down area. Why not move back there then instead of dumping on high income areas that you CHOSE to move to? IDGI!

Yeah, boy, why wouldn't she want to move to your town??

My town isn't mentioned her, thank God for that.

NP here. You sound really fun and interesting. I'm sure you have so many friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a small town hick who's being remarkably picky for someone from a pretty run down area. Why not move back there then instead of dumping on high income areas that you CHOSE to move to? IDGI!

Yeah, boy, why wouldn't she want to move to your town??

My town isn't mentioned her, thank God for that.

Anonymous wrote:You sound like a small town hick who's being remarkably picky for someone from a pretty run down area. Why not move back there then instead of dumping on high income areas that you CHOSE to move to? IDGI!

Yeah, boy, why wouldn't she want to move to your town??

You sound like a small town hick who's being remarkably picky for someone from a pretty run down area. Why not move back there then instead of dumping on high income areas that you CHOSE to move to? IDGI!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you and the rest of DCUM will hate this, but if you really want economic diversity you can't also buy in the very top rated school zones. Rich people already did. That is the reality of the DC area. If you live in a top school zone with a million dollar house, where are your kids going to experience this diversity?

I'd consider: Rockville, as recommended; Annandale; Hyattsville, College Park, or Greenbelt (all close together); Bowie.

I live more than an hour outside DC because my spouse works in our town and our housing budget was too low for DC (so my commute stinks), but I send my kids to schools that are not the "best" in the county. They're still pretty good, but more diverse and in a walkable area near our downtown. There are always tradeoffs.

PS Silver Spring might work too.

OP. Yeah I didn't mention "top-rated" schools in my post, because I know that higher ratings don't mean better schools. This competition to "win" at school and get "the best" for your kid, whatever that means, is part of what I'm hoping to avoid. My oldest actually did better in a lower-ranked school before we moved to Westchester, and we liked it much better there too.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Budget? Commute? Where in Westchester did you live?

This area just doesn’t have the town centers like Westchester does. And lots tend to be small, so you may have to look around for .25 acres if that’s important to you.

OP here. What does the area have instead of town centers? Strip malls?

We were in the Rivertowns, but looked all over Westchester and talked to people in Scarsdale, Bronxville, Rye, Mamaroneck, etc and it all seems to be the same. One exception is White Plains - we like that vibe a lot.

We're flexible on budget, finding the right area to live is more important. If it's expensive, we can just buy a smaller house. Hoping to stay under a million but could go up to 1.2. Commute under an hour.

I live in Westchester, in a river town, and you didn't look hard enough, OP. I work in another river town that is extremely diverse. Ossining, Peekskill, Yonkers- all river towns. I'm guessing those didn't even hit your radar. They all have million-dollar homes, btw.

OP. I skipped all the details of our Westchester experience as this post is on a DC board asking for advice about DC area living, but yes, they hit our radar. We've visited all of the places you listed and many more all over the county, talked to people who live there, etc. For various reasons they're not the right fit. For example, too far from NYC/long commutes (Ossining, Peekskill, and whole swaths of northern Westchester), too small and insulated (even Tarrytown is like 10K people), etc.

Ossining to Grand Central is 36 minutes on the express train. Peekskill is the next stop. How much faster were you expecting?
My point is you can't talk about wanting diversity, complaining about how Westchester has no diversity, when you chose not to move to a diverse location. They exist here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you have kids? If not, Old Town (although I think the schools are fine, others will disagree)

. The schools are not good.

The elementary school for the SE quadrant is actually excellent