Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I 2nd the recommendation for renting for 3-6 months.

Here is what I would do. I would rent a place that is IB for Murch, Janney or Hearst. The new DC policy is that once you are IB, you are allowed to stay through the feeder pattern.

That way you have a path through what some may say is the strongest Middle School. (There is a lot of discussion across DC Public School Families on this topic).

Once you better understand DC, your commute, your family needs, what "Urban" means to you, find a house that works for you and your budget.

Good luck.

Note - this only applies to children in K and above. Not for children enrolled or PreK 3 or PreK 4.

We all know that they will pull the younger siblings in through preference and everyone will go to the same school.

Maybe, eventually. Depends on the school and whether OOB seats are offered.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I 2nd the recommendation for renting for 3-6 months.

Here is what I would do. I would rent a place that is IB for Murch, Janney or Hearst. The new DC policy is that once you are IB, you are allowed to stay through the feeder pattern.

That way you have a path through what some may say is the strongest Middle School. (There is a lot of discussion across DC Public School Families on this topic).

Once you better understand DC, your commute, your family needs, what "Urban" means to you, find a house that works for you and your budget.

Good luck.

Note - this only applies to children in K and above. Not for children enrolled or PreK 3 or PreK 4.

We all know that they will pull the younger siblings in through preference and everyone will go to the same school.

lizziewhit wrote:Wow... this is all so helpful! I feel like we have honed in on Georgetown b/c of its name familiarity. I like the suggestions of where we can get more bang for our buck. I will start looking around some of these other places. And I would like being near a metro (and had no idea Georgetown is not good for this). So again, thank you for your replies!

You didn't know there's no metro in Georgetown? So, before posting here, you didn't even look on Google Maps?

Anonymous wrote:I 2nd the recommendation for renting for 3-6 months.

Here is what I would do. I would rent a place that is IB for Murch, Janney or Hearst. The new DC policy is that once you are IB, you are allowed to stay through the feeder pattern.

That way you have a path through what some may say is the strongest Middle School. (There is a lot of discussion across DC Public School Families on this topic).

Once you better understand DC, your commute, your family needs, what "Urban" means to you, find a house that works for you and your budget.

Good luck.

Note - this only applies to children in K and above. Not for children enrolled or PreK 3 or PreK 4.

Honestly if you think Georgetown is "urban" - you should really consider other "urban" hoods like Cleveland Park, Chevy Chase DC, 16th Street Heights, and Takoma, DC. The later do not have really good public school options- but are on the border with Silver Spring and Takoma Park respectively and have a number of good private options. If you like these "urban" environments you can always move down the block and buy a house in MoCo for middle/high. Takoma DC has Sela PCS and is close to several other tier 1 charter schools, too in NE.

Hillcrest is the best bang for the buck!

I 2nd the recommendation for renting for 3-6 months.

Here is what I would do. I would rent a place that is IB for Murch, Janney or Hearst. The new DC policy is that once you are IB, you are allowed to stay through the feeder pattern.

That way you have a path through what some may say is the strongest Middle School. (There is a lot of discussion across DC Public School Families on this topic).

Once you better understand DC, your commute, your family needs, what "Urban" means to you, find a house that works for you and your budget.

Good luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not Georgetown. I'm not sure what you can even buy there for $1 mil, and getting around is a PITA due to lack of Metro. Go for something near the Redline, or Capitol Hill. $1.5 mil will get you a VERY nice house zoned for Maury or Brent.

It will get you a nice house. Not VERY nice. But it is in a way nicer neighborhood than Georgetown or Cleveland Park.

Depends on your preferences! An absolutely gorgeous, 3000 sq foot corner lot home in my Hill neighborhood sold for 1.3 mil recently. There are plenty of people who value historical details more than a newer construction SFH with a garage. 1.5 mil gets you a lot of house on the Hill for sure.

I love brents neighborhood. If we could move there, we would.

Have you been to DC yet and driven around? Looked at neighborhoods to determine if they feel right for you? Have you considered a temporary rental for a few months in order to take the time to find the right area for you? You said you honed in on Georgetown because of name familiarity which leads me to believe you haven't spent much time here. DC has a lot of great neighborhoods in different parts of the city that aren't well known. Also, commute is a huge factor around here...a terrible commute (even if actual distance is small) can really effect quality of life.

Personally, I live in AU Park. My best friend calls it "suburbia in the city" and she's right. But I like it because I have a nice house with a yard. I can walk to Tenleytown or Friendship Heights. My kid goes to good schools and we run into other families we know all the time. Most days it's fairly easy to drive/metro/bus to downtown. My H has a somewhat easy commute into VA for his job. Street parking is easy. With your budget you could find a nice home in this neighborhood.

Hyde-Addison is at Meyer this year which is not that close to Gtown. I'm not sure about when H-as renovation will be done but if you are not already living in Gtown I wouldn't move there and subject your kids to that commute. I think your best bet is to try to find something in bounds for Ross in Logan Circle. A house in your budget will be tough to find but maybe possible depending on how much space you need or you could buy a condo. If not then Brent on Cap Hill. Both those schools are great but don't zone to good middle schools. It's hard to find a good elem-high school path that feels urban. Walkable yes, urban (meaning lots of apartments and row houses, minimal detached homes with yards, lots of retail.restaurnts everywhere) no.

Anonymous wrote:

lizziewhit wrote:Why would someone say "Yuck" to Cleveland Park? I don't want to spin my wheels there if its truly that bad.

Cleveland Park is fine. People on this site can be terrible. You just need to tune out the nonsense and focus on people offering useful advice.

Re: Georgetown, the reason why there is no Metro there is that residents rallied to oppose public transportation in the neighborhood. Just...that's the kind of place Georgetown is. It's not anywhere I'd want to live -- too insular and too caught up in remaining insular.

That's a myth. I wouldn't consider opinions on neighborhoods from someone who believes in fairy tales.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-metro/2015/11/20/a1849734-8e6b-11e5-acff-673ae92ddd2b_story.html?utm_term=.d3627c70a027
"Georgetown could have had a Metro stop, the oft-told tale goes, but residents fought the plan out of fear that it would bring “undesirable” elements into their neighborhood. It’s the whack-a-mole of Metro myths — despite numerous debunkings, this one keeps popping up. Robert Pohl, author of “Urban Legends & Historic Lore of Washington, D.C.,” suggests that the story endures because it mirrors many locals’ views of Georgetown, the insular nature of that neighborhood and “the fact that they look down their noses at others in D.C.”

Some Georgetown residents did oppose the rail line — just as some Van Ness, Cleveland Park and Bethesda dwellers did. But resident opposition did not halt Metro’s plans for a Georgetown stop. Metro historian and George Mason University professor Zachary Schrag addressed this in his book “The Great Society Subway,” writing that it was a combination of geography and population that ultimately doomed the Georgetown station. The likely location at M and Wisconsin was too close to the Potomac River, posing significant engineering challenges. The construction wasn’t impossible, but the Metro was designed as a means to connect workers with jobs, and planners concluded that Georgetown lacked both the workers and the jobs to justify a stop.

It’s possible that Georgetown residents could at long last put this myth to rest. An ambitious $26 billion plan unveiled by Metro in 2013 calls for a stop in the neighborhood. And officials in Georgetown? Already on board."

lizziewhit wrote:Wow... this is all so helpful! I feel like we have honed in on Georgetown b/c of its name familiarity. I like the suggestions of where we can get more bang for our buck. I will start looking around some of these other places. And I would like being near a metro (and had no idea Georgetown is not good for this). So again, thank you for your replies!

So tell us where you will be working. The commute is a huge factor. Also how many bedrooms

Anonymous wrote:Republicans live in Virginia. Do yourself a favor and don't quote dictionary definitions of "urban" to those of us who actually live an urban life.

I don't know what this has to do with republicans, but PP very indirectly raised a valid point.

Parts of D.C. are no less urban than the inner suburbs. For example, I think AU Park makes a ton of sense for you. But it is no more, and in some ways is less, urban than downtown Bethesda.

That could mean you won't like AU Park, or it could mean you should also look at Bethesda.

I don’t think great schools is a good reference. Get onto the http://www.myschooldc.org website and look at school profiles. As a starter, families who are looking for public schools and can afford the real estate generally preference something in the Deal MS/Wilson HS feeder pattern.

This means less ‚urban‘ parts of the city. If you want urban as in more density, more diversity, closer to the city + good schools the choices are limited, particulate beyond elementary. Best options in that case would be DuPont Ciircle \ West End / Kalorama / Adams Morgan as was previously suggested. Your housing budget may get you a small townhouse - more likely apartment in those neighborhoods.