Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver spring 20910. Very diverse, nice downtown with great restaurant variety, 15 minutes to downtown Bethesda with no traffic. You should be able to find a pretty nice place with your budget.

No. Traffic is horrible. It is 15 min with no traffic and can be 45 with traffic.

Huh? First, it depends where you live in Silver Spring. Second, you seem to be assuming OP will take the beltway, but anybody with sense takes University Boulevard or East-West/410.

I missed that you are empty nesters.

You won't get a two car garage unless you move pretty far out, which it doesn't sound like you prefer.

Here are some options for the kinds of things you can get in these neighborhoods:
Shepherd Park
https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1355-Kalmia-Rd-NW-20012/home/10021886
https://www.redfin.com/MD/North-Bethesda/11504-Stonewood-Ln-20852/home/10506602

Chevy Chase:https://www.redfin.com/MD/Chevy-Chase/8900-Clifford-Ave-20815/home/10698512

Bethesda itself:
https://www.redfin.com/MD/Bethesda/6205-Stardust-Ln-20817/home/10680715

Basically the takeaway is head east if you want diversity. Head north if you want a mansion looking house and two car garage. (And less diversity, but still, it's the DC area so it won't be lily white.)

Anonymous wrote:Silver spring 20910. Very diverse, nice downtown with great restaurant variety, 15 minutes to downtown Bethesda with no traffic. You should be able to find a pretty nice place with your budget.

Yes this. Or Shepherd Park if you don't have kids. Wealthy very diverse area.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver spring 20910. Very diverse, nice downtown with great restaurant variety, 15 minutes to downtown Bethesda with no traffic. You should be able to find a pretty nice place with your budget.

No. Traffic is horrible. It is 15 min with no traffic and can be 45 with traffic.

Agreed Rockville or North Bethesda are better options. Avoid the beltway.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silver spring 20910. Very diverse, nice downtown with great restaurant variety, 15 minutes to downtown Bethesda with no traffic. You should be able to find a pretty nice place with your budget.

No. Traffic is horrible. It is 15 min with no traffic and can be 45 with traffic.

Agreed Rockville or North Bethesda are better options. Avoid the beltway.

Anonymous wrote:Can someone describe the vibe of Bethesda?

Snobby, competitive, bland, and unfriendly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second downtown Silver Spring and surrounding areas

Lots of crime in silver spring these days.

It's a function of being close to DC. It would be nice if we could build a wall to keep DC people from coming here until DC figures out that catch-and-release isn't a viable strategy for dealing with criminals.

Dcsays the same thing about md. It would be nice if police agencies didn't act like competing fiefdoms

Check out the Kentlands. You can get a great house there for that budget. It's very safe, walkable, diverse (at least racially, not as much income wise, but that's true of many nice neighborhoods). It's also beautiful. Less than 30 minutes to Bethesda.

OP here. Thank you for the replies! It is helping us narrow the search area.

Anonymous wrote:I would just do Friendship Heights. It's not that diverse, but more so than Bethesda. And it's a quick metro ride or 5 minute car trip to Bethesda, depending on where you're going. There are decent restaurants in Palisades, CCDC, etc and FH should have more within a few years - the Junction is good for coffee/ casual food and a Trader Joes is coming soon. And you can walk to Whole Foods. The housing stock seems to be cheaper there than in adjacent neighborhoods.

It’s a retirement community in FH. OP if you want that kind of vibe it could be a good fit. There is next to nothing for walkable restaurants, you have to drive into downtown Bethesda or DC for any kind of dining or retail. I live here and it feels like a desert. Full of old farts and surrounded by medical offices.

Bethesda is racially diverse ( look at cluster going to Ashburton...) I often hear various languages spoken in my neighborhood during walks or playground but less economically diverse.

I live in Los Angeles but lived in Bethesda for many many years. You need to own and you need to befriend your neighbors and then all is well. It's a quiet, safe place.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Second downtown Silver Spring and surrounding areas

Lots of crime in silver spring these days.

It's a function of being close to DC. It would be nice if we could build a wall to keep DC people from coming here until DC figures out that catch-and-release isn't a viable strategy for dealing with criminals.

Anonymous wrote:Second downtown Silver Spring and surrounding areas

Lots of crime in silver spring these days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the west side of Rockville, and there are nice homes, good neighborhoods, and schools here

This would be one of my first choices.

And I know all about Bethesda.

I would also pick here and I live in Bethesda.