Anonymous wrote:Also can get a gorgeous townhome in the nice part of Kalorama for that price still but not a SFH

Avoid up and coming, transitional etc. b/c city doesn’t have their act together although the Attorney General is terrific

Crime is on the rise everywhere, but especially in "transitional" neighborhoods. I would avoid Logan Circle, Shaw, the U Street corridor.

Yes to upper NW for the proximity to decent public schools and most good private schools: Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Forest Hills are all within 15-20 minutes of the Wharf and Georgetown in medium traffic. You can get a 3-4 bedroom house on your budget that is walkable to shops and restaurants--though not one that is magazine perfect on the inside.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d look at Georgetown, Palisades and perhaps Cleveland Park. Cleveland Park would be best for when you have kids and is closest to many private schools.

The commute from Capitol Hill is awful, plus you should read all the threads on the crime there (we lived on the Hill but moved due to quality of life/crime issues). Logan Circle isn’t a good suggestion either, as you have to drive through town to get to Georgetown.

NOT Palisades (right under a flight path and in serious decline) and NOT Spring Valley (serious toxic dumpground, the only inhabited FUDS in America)

NOT suburbs (bad traffic, prices will soften)

Woodland, Woodley, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills, Wesley Heights — prices will keep going up
Georgetown is still great

I think DC is best for you but the advice re: “the suburbs” is untrue. The suburbs can’t be lumped together and the prices of SFHs will not soften in the ones that have always been desirable.

DC is a swamp; presinspect, test for mold and don’t buy a house with a crawlspace inside

Also can get a gorgeous townhome in the nice part of Kalorama for that price still but not a SFH

Avoid up and coming, transitional etc. b/c city doesn’t have their act together although the Attorney General is terrific

Glover Park, though good luck finding a house for sale at any price in that neighborhood these days.

Anonymous wrote:I’d look at Georgetown, Palisades and perhaps Cleveland Park. Cleveland Park would be best for when you have kids and is closest to many private schools.

The commute from Capitol Hill is awful, plus you should read all the threads on the crime there (we lived on the Hill but moved due to quality of life/crime issues). Logan Circle isn’t a good suggestion either, as you have to drive through town to get to Georgetown.

NOT Palisades (right under a flight path and in serious decline) and NOT Spring Valley (serious toxic dumpground, the only inhabited FUDS in America)

NOT suburbs (bad traffic, prices will soften)

Woodland, Woodley, Cleveland Park, Forest Hills, Wesley Heights — prices will keep going up
Georgetown is still great

Walkable to great shops and restaurants is Palisades all the way, but it puts the commute to the Wharf a bit further than the G'town campus. If DH bikes it is an easy commute along the toe path and DC side of the Potomac to the Wharf. Wesley Heights is very nice but not walkable to shops and restaurants, at least the Foxhall Road side isn't.

I think the obvious answer is Georgetown based on what you provided. It checks all the boxes.

Logan Circle could actually work well for commuting, since you can take the crosstown bus straight to G'town's campus or south to the Wharf. It's probably the best location for commuting with no car to both work locations.

North Cleveland Park, just the east side of Wisconsin southeast of the Tenleytown Metro (https://goo.gl/maps/Wn8Cz6uxJ5rhGf1A8), would give you a lot of house for the money, access to Metro for the Wharf commute, easy commuting to G'town, walkability to a ton of good school options, a Wegman's coming next year, and all the stores and restaurants of Cathedral Commons within a reasonable walk. Oh, and the emergency vet! Single-family detached or semidetached houses, reasonably dense but very leafy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What’s your tolerance level for crime and poverty?

+1 don't buy in dc. I just moved out of one of the most expensive neighborhoods that was "walkable" etc and people were (I am not exaggerating) getting stabbed, held at gunpoint, cars jacked, and accosted by homeless.

Not OP, but my family is newly back in DC after 10 years. We are temporarily in Kalorama, but looking to buy a condo elsewhere. What neighborhood did you just leave that was so bad?

Spring valley or Wesley Heights

It’s a beautiful place to live. Both neighborhoods have walkability to stores and restaurants, a car is most likely necessary for many trips, and it’s incredibly safe.

I’ve never once seen anything bad happen In my 10 years of living in Wesley Heights (will get a little more for your $ in SV)

I’d look at Georgetown, Palisades and perhaps Cleveland Park. Cleveland Park would be best for when you have kids and is closest to many private schools.

The commute from Capitol Hill is awful, plus you should read all the threads on the crime there (we lived on the Hill but moved due to quality of life/crime issues). Logan Circle isn’t a good suggestion either, as you have to drive through town to get to Georgetown.

Wakefield (UNW) tree-lined streets but walkable to short stretches of restaurants, bookstore, pharmacy, pool, large park. Good public schools.

10 minute drive to Georgetown, farther from Wharf - but easy access to metro line (red), you'd have to change to get to wharf.

You could get a SFH for under your budget.

This is OP:
Georgetown main campus. When the time comes, we’d be open to private or public school.