We bought in 2010. Renovated 4br 3ba for $550, nice yard, dead end for the kiddos, nice neighbors and no renters, so all yards are groomed. Equivalent houses in Arlington, where we also looked, were about $800k at the time, and the lots were smaller with houses much closer together.
We loved the house and the street, but had reservations about the surrounding neighborhood. Before buying, we took many walks through the parks and asked lots of neighbors with kids about their experiences, and then bit the bullet. I'm glad we did. Our property has appreciated more than I could have imagined, and our kids love the parks. We tore out what little chain link there was, and now there is none on the street.
I'm shocked by how quickly everything is changing, and wish the new builds were more attractive (but I feel that way about many of the new builds in all DC-area neighborhoods), but we leave the house unlocked, take lovely walks every day, have plenty of neighbors to look in on our cats if we're traveling, and our kids are safe riding their bikes on the sidewalks. It's certainly not our dream area, and we talk about moving up/out as our careers take off, but I'm hard-pressed to find a place that offers the amenities we have while still letting us save some money.

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

For the record, I live in a fairly swank NW DC neighborhood: there are still two homes with chain link fences around most of their lots. Two neighbors on our block discovered a chain link between their two fences when one was being replaced. Easy to figure out which homeowner had put up the first wooden fence to mask the chain link by the age of the fences (neither bordering neighbor lived there at time). We all speculated that the original neighbors could not come to an agreement on a mutual fence, so one just went forward with the wood to mask the chain link.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

This is true. There are neighborhoods inside the Beltway where new construction regularly is over 2 million now, but there may be an older home on the same block with a chain link fence. Live and let live.

Yes, "live and let live" was the intent of my original, olive-branch-extending post (at the top of this chain) but then someone had to come in here from PH and say that chain link appearances are now negligible.

There are still a lot of them. I agree PH only works for people who don't care much one way or the other about the appearance of neighboring properties or homes, or are simply prepared to take their own initiative when it does.

Thanks! We are in agreement! Virtual handshake.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

This is true. There are neighborhoods inside the Beltway where new construction regularly is over 2 million now, but there may be an older home on the same block with a chain link fence. Live and let live.

Yes, "live and let live" was the intent of my original, olive-branch-extending post (at the top of this chain) but then someone had to come in here from PH and say that chain link appearances are now negligible.

There are still a lot of them. I agree PH only works for people who don't care much one way or the other about the appearance of neighboring properties or homes, or are simply prepared to take their own initiative when it does.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

Pimmit Hills could use an HOA! Pimmit Hills is a weeping example of the good HOAs can do. Pimmit Hills would hit the jackpot if the residents ever would agree to organizing themselves into an HOA, or some other architectural review committee apparatus.

That could be said of any place including North Arlington, McLean, Vienna, Bethesda etc... but people like the freedom of doing what they want.

It's a little late for that, isn't it? If you want your neighbor to cut his grass more often, you can always ask.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

Pimmit Hills could use an HOA! Pimmit Hills is a weeping example of the good HOAs can do. Pimmit Hills would hit the jackpot if the residents ever would agree to organizing themselves into an HOA, or some other architectural review committee apparatus.

That could be said of any place including North Arlington, McLean, Vienna, Bethesda etc... but people like the freedom of doing what they want.

Perfect. Then you live there and love your property, and I will love my organized, HOA neighborhood. That is all we are saying. Why do you have to keep beating things into the ground telling those of us who believe like I do that we are wrong?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

This is true. There are neighborhoods inside the Beltway where new construction regularly is over 2 million now, but there may be an older home on the same block with a chain link fence. Live and let live.

Yes, "live and let live" was the intent of my original, olive-branch-extending post (at the top of this chain) but then someone had to come in here from PH and say that chain link appearances are now negligible.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

Pimmit Hills could use an HOA! Pimmit Hills is a weeping example of the good HOAs can do. Pimmit Hills would hit the jackpot if the residents ever would agree to organizing themselves into an HOA, or some other architectural review committee apparatus.

That could be said of any place including North Arlington, McLean, Vienna, Bethesda etc... but people like the freedom of doing what they want.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

This is true. There are neighborhoods inside the Beltway where new construction regularly is over 2 million now, but there may be an older home on the same block with a chain link fence. Live and let live.

Yes, to each her own. I won't buy in PH so it'll free up more properties available to those of you who want to live there. It's a deal!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

This is true. There are neighborhoods inside the Beltway where new construction regularly is over 2 million now, but there may be an older home on the same block with a chain link fence. Live and let live.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

Pimmit Hills could use an HOA! Pimmit Hills is a weeping example of the good HOAs can do. Pimmit Hills would hit the jackpot if the residents ever would agree to organizing themselves into an HOA, or some other architectural review committee apparatus.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million without HOA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Good luck finding a place without any chain links that is under 2 million.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists of pros and cons are helpful and illuminating to me, and helps me understand why people do buy there. For example, I do not care about SFH (and in fact, prefer TH over SFH for the yard/maintenance factor) so that wouldn't be a check in the plus column for me, to counterbalance the minuses. But I can see if people do want this, and that is fine, that this is a reason why they opt for PH.

I myself do continually drive down there periodically to check it out for myself after reading these posts, thinking, "Is there something I'm missing? Is it better yet?" Since I don't care about the SFH>TH issues, and a few other things, I myself feel more "bogged down" by the cons, such as the overall aesthetics. I found myself yesterday thinking, "What IS it with chain link and this neighborhood? What IS it? Was there a massive sale and everyone in the neighborhood all got it at the same time? This neighborhood needs an HOA to standardize these things." But then again, I realize some people don't like the militarism and homogeneity of HOAs, so I realize they may think my HOA TH devt is < than their PH home!

To each his/her own.

I think chain link was more or less standard when PH was built in the fifties, and since the original owners were all of modest means, chainilnk was default and never changed.

I would say that there are not very many chain link fences up anymore. There are some older original owners that have them but it is now the minority.

Sorry, but this is clearly subjective. Even saying there are not as many as there USED to be, it means little b/c it used to be on every house, right? So, again, I am the OP who just drove around there on Saturday, and, if I see even one house per block with chain link, that is way too much for me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Overall, it has been a great move for us. PH is a family-based neighborhood, lots of young families with small children in similar stages of life. I love the trees, the greenery and space in a location so close to DC. I choose to believe that things will get only better as people run out of affordable neighborhoods close to DC and continue to move in and expand/rebuild their houses. Once Tysons East metro opens, we will be able to walk to metro. My DH and DS will be able to walk to a park to shoot hoops or play soccer as much as they want. They can also walk one block to school.

I live in Pimmit Hills and am not a huge fan (I got the house/neighborhood with the husband and we haven't been able to agree on where we'd like to be). We have a toddler and I'm just having trouble finding the folks in a similar stage in life. Our immediate neighbors are nice enough, and we're friendly with a couple of them, but none of them have kids... we just don't have the setup where DS will be able to run across the street to hang out with his buddies. I often wonder if it's us... maybe it's the "con" of diversity that PP mentioned... I went to Olney Park a couple weeks ago around 5 pm and there were few kids DS's age and no one for me to talk to... so I'm still seeking.

The pros that PP listed are absolutely true though. the location can't be beat, it's a reasonable commute most anywhere.

We are at Olney Park pretty much every weekend, but in the morning session (between 10 am and 1 pm). You may reach out to folks via the listserv. Also, I found that one of the downsides of neighborhoods with substantial lots is that many houses will have enough space for a playset/swingset, which basically eliminates the need to go the park.