Anonymous
11/09/2018 11:17
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
After 12 years, we moved from Petworth to Shepherd Park earlier this year. In Petworth, we heard gunshots at night at least once every 5 to 6 weeks. After someone was shot in the alley behind our house, we called it quits and are so happy we did.
Anonymous
11/07/2018 11:08
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
We moved from Adams Morgan to Burleith. It's been a big change (mostly for my wife), but we've adapted. I enjoy the serenity of our neighborhood and Adams Morgan is a 12 minute Uber ride in the evening costing us $8.
None of our friends are nearby. DW's family is closer to us (in Bethesda). Work commutes to downtown via Metrobus are about the same. There's enough walkable stuff nearby on Wisconsin and in Georgetown to still feel connected to the city.
However, getting to the east side of the city is now easily 30-45 minutes via car. To get to my friend's house in Trinidad on the weekend takes me 35-40 minutes. That was surprising.
None of our friends are nearby. DW's family is closer to us (in Bethesda). Work commutes to downtown via Metrobus are about the same. There's enough walkable stuff nearby on Wisconsin and in Georgetown to still feel connected to the city.
However, getting to the east side of the city is now easily 30-45 minutes via car. To get to my friend's house in Trinidad on the weekend takes me 35-40 minutes. That was surprising.
Anonymous
11/07/2018 10:32
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
There are quiet spots on the Hill. Check out the "Place" street names -- the one-block long streets. Quieter than many suburban locations.
Anonymous
11/06/2018 21:10
Subject: Re:Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Anonymous wrote:If I had school locked down, I'd look at 16th Street Heights and Petworth too.
Elementary schools in 16th Street Heights (and many parts of Petworth) are pretty good.
Anonymous
11/06/2018 21:05
Subject: Re:Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Trust me until your jobs move you out to western Fairfax co. it will always be Waaaaaaaay better and cooler even if you are in a slightly more suburban part, proximity to cool shit is what's important and you will still have that!
Anonymous
11/05/2018 21:16
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:My wife and I did a gradual slide into suburban-style DC. We started out in Columbia Heights, moved to Glover Park, then to the Palisades, and last year moved to Deanwood.
I definitely miss being able to walk to restaurants, but finally being able to break the chain of 1BR apartments/condos and move up to a house was totally worth it.
We went from going out 3-4 times a week to maybe once or twice, mostly because of the (in)convenience factor of having to take an Uber or the Metro to be able to go to a sit-down restaurant, but that's really the only thing that got significantly less convenient. I do have to drive to the supermarket now, but the 1 mile drive takes about the same amount of time as the quarter mile walk to the Giant when we were in Columbia Heights, plus we can stock up more and make less trips in total because we're not limited to what we can carry in a small rolling cart. Having a car is so much easier here too, there's plenty of on street parking (hell, I even have a frickin driveway!) and getting to places outside of the city is a short hop on 295 instead of an awful slog through the whole damn city.
Also, having more space means spending a lot more time taking care of it, so a not insignificant amount of time we used to spend going out is now spent doing yard work and home maintenance, which honestly is probably better for our wallets and waistlines anyway.
In terms of community, Deanwood actually has the greatest sense of community of anywhere I've ever lived. From the moment we moved in we started being invited to neighbor's houses, whether it was for a BBQ or to watch a game, or just to hang out on someone's porch on a Friday night. When we went on vacation we got an unsolicited call from one of our neighbors who wanted to let us know he saw an unfamiliar person going into our house (it was the cat sitter) and wanted to make sure everything was OK. I know probably 50% or more of the people on my block by name and a good portion of the surrounding blocks as well. I don't think I knew any of my neighbors in Columbia Heights or Glover Park, and only a handful in the Palisades, and any that I did were certainly not because they reached out to me.
I love the peace and quiet (most of the year at least. July is like Chinese New Year at night) as well as the general greenness and the huge parks nearby (real parks too, with woods and trails, not just squares of grass!)
I'm definitely very happy with my move, but of course everyone's situation is different. You'd definitely want to take your daily commute into account, and your personal lifestyle as well. If you're the kind of person who never cooks at home or just has to be out at a bar several times a week, a move to somewhere like Brightwood is going to be way more inconvenient than to someone like me who is perfectly happy staying home most nights.
Thanks. Brightwood is one of the places we're considering. We actually almost never go out to eat--less than once a month--so it does seem weird to pay for the convenience of nearby restaurants. But I LOVE walking everywhere else, including twice a week to the WF down the street. And we do have a great, close community like the one it sounds like you have in Deanwood. Plus we have three (small) bedrooms, and a whole house to ourselves, which is plenty. So none of these things are really pressing. I would sort of like to have more room to entertain, bigger bedrooms for my tall kids, a larger garden. We are just weighing priorities at this point. And affordability is a major concern for us.
We're in the western end of Brightwood as well (just off of 16th NW). We moved here from the Kalorama Triangle, and before that, Columbia Heights. We got a little stir crazy from living in small apartments with no outdoor space and stressful street parking, so we semi-impulsively bought an attached house. I was very very concerned about moving what felt like so far away from downtown and... it's been fine. I bike to work downtown and its 20-25 minutes, Moreland's walkable for the neighborhood pub vibe (watching caps games, happy hour on the patio, etc...) and while the Safeway on Piney Branch is stunningly mediocre relative to WF, it's just down the street when I need something in a pinch. And if you jog/bike/like the outdoors, living directly adjacent to Rock Creek is a major bonus as well.
If you're looking up here to be close to a school that goes through HS, I'm guessing it's DCI. If so- there are a LOT of DCI / DCI feeder families who have bought up here recently, so you'd definitely have plenty of neighbors in the school community if that matters.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 19:57
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
I actually live in a suburban part and want to live in a dense more urban part. I need some signs of life!
Anonymous
11/05/2018 19:43
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
I went from Columbia Heights to Chevy Chase DC. I love it so much. Much quieter because there are no police sirens, no fireworks being shot at all hours from july - september but at the same time, much more lively. I'm actually closer to the metro and have more freedom to go out because it feels generally safer.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 17:08
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
We did it. I miss the old hood sometimes, but like OP, we weren't eating out much and definitely weren't using the bar scene much. Plus it was a challenge for friends to park to visit.
Now the kids love having a yard and autonomy to wander the neighborhood with their friends. We love the parking not only at our home, but at the stores and restaurants. Walkability is nice, but when you're in a very dense area, you HAVE to walk because parking is rough. I don't walk to the grocery store anymore, but I much prefer the ease of driving to one with plentiful parking and driving home to private parking plus plentiful street parking. we have a 24 hour cvs with a drivethrough pharmacy. It's far better than trying to walk to one in an emergency because parking is too difficult.
We're in Shepherd Park close to Walter Reed so we'll have that soon. For now, we can walk to Takoma Park and downtown Silver Spring. There are some restaurants a few blocks away on Georgia Ave, but not much that we frequent. We're also very close to the rick creek park trails, which we use a lot.
Of course we have a much bigger home with great spaces for entertaining. It's also nice for us to have a separate tv area and separate kids area. That way the tv area is nice and neat for family movie time. Plenty of bedrooms for guests. These are small things, but they do make the quality of life easier.
And the bus is much nicer than metro. Several bus stops going to and from the silver spring metro station if you need metro and don't want to walk.
We can walk to art class, karate, 2 farmer's markets, etc. So less night life, but walkable to the things our family uses.
OP, if you move, definitely move to a neighborhood with sidewalks and make sure your house has a front yard. My kids go to the front yard and neighborhood kids from all around meet up and play. This alone is worth it.
Good luck with your decision!
Now the kids love having a yard and autonomy to wander the neighborhood with their friends. We love the parking not only at our home, but at the stores and restaurants. Walkability is nice, but when you're in a very dense area, you HAVE to walk because parking is rough. I don't walk to the grocery store anymore, but I much prefer the ease of driving to one with plentiful parking and driving home to private parking plus plentiful street parking. we have a 24 hour cvs with a drivethrough pharmacy. It's far better than trying to walk to one in an emergency because parking is too difficult.
We're in Shepherd Park close to Walter Reed so we'll have that soon. For now, we can walk to Takoma Park and downtown Silver Spring. There are some restaurants a few blocks away on Georgia Ave, but not much that we frequent. We're also very close to the rick creek park trails, which we use a lot.
Of course we have a much bigger home with great spaces for entertaining. It's also nice for us to have a separate tv area and separate kids area. That way the tv area is nice and neat for family movie time. Plenty of bedrooms for guests. These are small things, but they do make the quality of life easier.
And the bus is much nicer than metro. Several bus stops going to and from the silver spring metro station if you need metro and don't want to walk.
We can walk to art class, karate, 2 farmer's markets, etc. So less night life, but walkable to the things our family uses.
OP, if you move, definitely move to a neighborhood with sidewalks and make sure your house has a front yard. My kids go to the front yard and neighborhood kids from all around meet up and play. This alone is worth it.
Good luck with your decision!
Anonymous
11/05/2018 16:48
Subject: Re:Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If I had school locked down, I'd look at 16th Street Heights and Petworth too.
Yeah, we looked at this one yesterday, along with 1/2 of the city. It may be a money pit but I loved it. https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1408-Kennedy-St-NW-20011/home/10017677
Not bad at all price wise and for what you get.
OP here: Totally agree. I’d be shocked if it went for less than 950k.
I would pay 100k not to have Kennedy st as my address, I can’t think of a worse part of NW and not many worse in all of dc
Anonymous
11/05/2018 15:54
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Anonymous wrote:I just walked down that block of Kennedy this weekend and was thinking how nice it is. That said, it's not convenient to anything you describe.
Morelands Tavern is down the block, which is great but you said you don't eat out much. If you're an athlete, it's very convenient to the Park for running, tennis courts, and a Cross-Fit studio. But there's no grocery store in walking distance (I think the closest would be Piney Branch Safeway which is a hike or a Latino grocery on Kennedy, which is actually pretty good but definitely not WF. There are buses that run down 16th and 14th frequently.
I vote that you should stay put; I like living up here, but it's really different than the Hill and that seems like you have a good thing going down there.
Another vote for staying. The walkability is worth it.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 15:50
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
OP, is there any way you could create more space with your current home? Built-ins, custom shelving in your closets and pantry, dedicated kids' study space with built-in desks, file storage, USB ports etc.?
Anonymous
11/05/2018 15:46
Subject: Re:Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Lots of folks (including us) left the Hill for Brookland/Woodridge/North Michigan Park. I was brokenhearted to leave the Hill for what felt like exile. But realistically we weren't dining out very often with little kids and I still used the car to get to Costco on the weekends. Now I love having a big yard, parking, and a lot more space (closets and a guest bedroom).
Anonymous
11/05/2018 15:39
Subject: Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
I just walked down that block of Kennedy this weekend and was thinking how nice it is. That said, it's not convenient to anything you describe.
Morelands Tavern is down the block, which is great but you said you don't eat out much. If you're an athlete, it's very convenient to the Park for running, tennis courts, and a Cross-Fit studio. But there's no grocery store in walking distance (I think the closest would be Piney Branch Safeway which is a hike or a Latino grocery on Kennedy, which is actually pretty good but definitely not WF. There are buses that run down 16th and 14th frequently.
I vote that you should stay put; I like living up here, but it's really different than the Hill and that seems like you have a good thing going down there.
Morelands Tavern is down the block, which is great but you said you don't eat out much. If you're an athlete, it's very convenient to the Park for running, tennis courts, and a Cross-Fit studio. But there's no grocery store in walking distance (I think the closest would be Piney Branch Safeway which is a hike or a Latino grocery on Kennedy, which is actually pretty good but definitely not WF. There are buses that run down 16th and 14th frequently.
I vote that you should stay put; I like living up here, but it's really different than the Hill and that seems like you have a good thing going down there.
Anonymous
11/05/2018 15:36
Subject: Re:Did you move from a dense, urban part of DC to a quieter part?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:If I had school locked down, I'd look at 16th Street Heights and Petworth too.
Yeah, we looked at this one yesterday, along with 1/2 of the city. It may be a money pit but I loved it. https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1408-Kennedy-St-NW-20011/home/10017677
Not bad at all price wise and for what you get.
OP here: Totally agree. I’d be shocked if it went for less than 950k.