Anonymous wrote:I love our neighborhood in North Potomac. It's quiet, full of trees, and has plenty of cul-de-sacs for young kids to play safely in. We're about 2 mi away from Kentlands, which has great shopping and dining options. The one downside is the long commute to DC, but I WFH 100% and DH WFH 3 days a week (goes into northern VA the other 2), so that's not really a factor at the moment. If I'm looking for better retail, the Clarksburg outlets and Pike & Rose are only a short drive away.

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Anonymous wrote:We love Fort Hunt. It's a very pretty part of the area, with lots of access to trails, parks, the river, etc. The neighborhoods are older so big trees, sidewalks, mature landscaping. Lots of kids on bikes and basketball hoops in the street.

It has a great community feel. People are friendly and there are lots of opportunities to get involved, be it in youth sports, community theater, churches, the schools. Most neighborhoods have active pools, which are a lot of fun in the summer. The people we have met are generally very nice, low key, social, and not super competitive, which is not what we experienced in other parts of this area.

We love the proximity to Old Town and my commute into DC is truly not bad. It's also a pretty drive up the park way.

Some of the often-cited negatives have been fine for us. The Rt. 1 corridor is not the prettiest but it has the stores we need and all are accessible. Some people on here pan the schools but we have had a fantastic experience in elementary and our neighbors are happy with the middle or high school. My friends in other schools that are better scored on Great Schools actually seem to have had worse experiences.

The housing stock is on the older side but we find it charming and love our house and neighbors.

+1 to all of this in the Fort Hunt/22308 area! The Hollin Hall Village area is walkable to the grocery store, hardware store, bakery, small restaurants, the library, etc. The housing stock is older and varies from small ranchers to big new modern farmhouse style rebuilds. Nice neighbors and I like the schools. All of the big box stores like Costco and Home Depot are nearby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Woodacres

Definitely not!

Anonymous wrote:We love Fort Hunt. It's a very pretty part of the area, with lots of access to trails, parks, the river, etc. The neighborhoods are older so big trees, sidewalks, mature landscaping. Lots of kids on bikes and basketball hoops in the street.

It has a great community feel. People are friendly and there are lots of opportunities to get involved, be it in youth sports, community theater, churches, the schools. Most neighborhoods have active pools, which are a lot of fun in the summer. The people we have met are generally very nice, low key, social, and not super competitive, which is not what we experienced in other parts of this area.

We love the proximity to Old Town and my commute into DC is truly not bad. It's also a pretty drive up the park way.

Some of the often-cited negatives have been fine for us. The Rt. 1 corridor is not the prettiest but it has the stores we need and all are accessible. Some people on here pan the schools but we have had a fantastic experience in elementary and our neighbors are happy with the middle or high school. My friends in other schools that are better scored on Great Schools actually seem to have had worse experiences.

The housing stock is on the older side but we find it charming and love our house and neighbors.

Anonymous wrote:We live in Bradmoor in bethesda right by Bradley hills elementary. We walk to school, there are kids riding bikes to friends houses every day, people always out walking, a mix of new builds (but nothing insane because lots aren’t huge) and older homes, and we can walk to downtown bethesda through the back neighborhoods in under 20 minutes. And I know it’s controversial but we love living walkable to suburban hospital and have had to do so several times! And no, you don’t ever hear hospital noise

Anonymous wrote:So many great neighborhoods! This is such a great thread. We love our neighborhood, westover, for many similar reasons. Feels like a small town in many ways but with the ease of being close to everything. Walkable to shops, farmers market on Sundays, library, hardware store. Great access to trails, biking, parks. Kind and friendly neighbors and people are out and about a ton walking places so you get to know each other.

It’s a good spot and I loved reading about all the other great spots, this area sometimes doesn’t get enough credit. If you can find a good neighborhood and try to keep your world “small” (vs activities for kids in far flung places) you don’t experience some of the negatives like traffic etc. as much.

Anonymous wrote:Burke Centre area in Burke. Very down to earth, lots of military officer families, friendly. Kids can bike around to the basketball hoops and pools spread throughout the HOA area. And like the Burke Station person earlier said - unless you want to do a fancier dinner like at Tysons or need to go to the mall, about everything else is within 10 min or so and there’s not heavy traffic trying to get around.

Anonymous wrote:Burke Station Square!

It's a closed loop of a neighborhood, which means no through traffic, so kids ride bikes and play basketball in the street, cul de sacs do cook outs in the middle of the houses, etc. We have community events--a halloween parade and carnival, back to school donuts, end of school ice cream/popsicle party. The pool brings together all the local families in the summer. We have a tennis court, basketball court, and playground in our little community park. Neighbors wave and stop and say hi when they're walking. We have regular neighbor dinners on rotating decks.
My mom says it feels like her childhood when she comes to visit.

Beyond that, Burke is just a lovely little oasis from the crazy in the dc metro. Most people use the neighborhood public schools and are happy with them. Most families have "regular" jobs. There's a mix of retirees, young families, dual working couples and stay at home parents. I can go weeks without having to leave Burke/West Springfield to do anything--all my errands can be completed in a 10 minute radius.

I don't love the DMV, but I love Burke Station Square.

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Anonymous wrote:Capitol View Park/Homewood, which is 20910 or 20895, depending on where you live. Close to so much - it’s easy to get to downtown Bethesda or Silver Spring, two 495 exits, Rock Creek, walking distance to the elementary school, a reasonable walk to Forest Glen metro and also to downtown Kensington. There’s the various parades in Town of Kensington that are fun, Babycat Brewery, Old Town Market, some great independent shops interspersed with all the antiques. There are two great swim clubs nearby, Kenmont and Glenwood. Best of all, most of our neighbors are very down to earth and not overly competitive. Lots of trees. It’s a great place!

Hey neighbor! You’re so right. We’ve been here almost 20 years, and it’s only gotten better.

Anonymous wrote:We love Fairfax City! We're in Daniel's Run Woods, which is walkable to downtown Fairfax shopping, restaurants, and events/festivals, the elementary school and high school, and lots more. It also backs to a fantastic woods (Daniel's Run Park) which is great for running/walking/enjoying nature. There are great neighborhood events, a pool in the neighborhood, and it's really intergenerational.

Other nearby neighborhoods are Country Club Hills (across from Daniel's Run Woods) and Farrcroft (more expensive houses, closer to downtown).

Plus, Fairfax City has excellent and reliable trash pickup, responsive local government, fare free local bus service that will take you around the city and to the Vienna Metro, good schools, good playgrounds, housing for all stages of life, and George Mason University. We're close to the beltway and 66 to go into DC, and it's also easy to get out to the wineries in Loudoun County without having to live that far out.

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Anonymous wrote:We love living in Mount Rainier, MD. It’s genuinely diverse, relatively inexpensive and full of young families. People are friendly and present. We have great local amenities and it’s also pretty easy to get downtown.

Second Mount Rainier. Safe. Nice Neighbors. Diverse. Great community. The city infrastructure is practically be rebuilt right now too.