Anonymous wrote:I've lived in Shepherd Park, dtss, and takoma and they are definitely what you're looking for? But the commute. Don't kill yourselves for the commute, especially with an infant.

In your shoes, I would do sw or Delray. Sw, one of the older condo communities, rent a townhouse and see if you like it. We looked down there, and geographically it didn't work for us, but I really liked it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello - my husband and I (biracial late 30's AA/White) are looking to move to the DC/NOVA/MD area from NYC. We have a 3 month old daughter and are relocating due to me taking a new position. My job will be based near the courthouse area of Arlington and he will be working by Union Station. The question is where to live. We have a budget up to 900k to buy for the interim but would like to rent in a diverse area with a walkable downtown that will be comfortable for our family. For example we lived in Brooklyn for years then moved to Maplewood, NJ before our DD was born.
I hear good things about Takoma Park/Silver Spring Maryland but worry the commute would be too much. I would like to use the metro to get to work (the old NY'er in me).
Any advice would be great. And by diverse I mean yes all ethnicities but at least 10% AA middle/upper class.

Petworth. You can take Green/Yellow Lines at Petworth station to Orange Lines at L'Enfant and your husband can transfer to the Red Line at Fort Totten. For 900K you would have a bunch of housing options in the neighborhood. It's super diverse and new restaurants and retail are popping up all the time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You really need to look at the Hill. If you've lived in Brooklyn you're not afraid of walking so you could end up with a walk to Union Station and another to the orange/silver/blue for the commute to Courthouse. It's a wonderful community for families with plenty of walkable stuff.

Higher crime than where OP would have lived in Brooklyn. OP moved from the city to Maplewood- a charming safe small town in Essex Cty NJ near Millburn and the Oranges. OP got a typical small GOOD NJ school district. Maybe 5 schools in the entire district and OP would never have to think about charter school lottery, redistricting from Wilson [if in DC], S Arlington's -Alexandria school issues, etc. So Takoma Park is a bad commute for work but OP and Montco MD has income tax so OP could comfortably live in N Arlington, parts near Mclean or Mclean or City of Falls Church.

For people who lived in those little NJ towns with school districts dealing with the BS of MCPS/FCPS/DC etc is annoying at best.

Anonymous wrote:Hello - my husband and I (biracial late 30's AA/White) are looking to move to the DC/NOVA/MD area from NYC. We have a 3 month old daughter and are relocating due to me taking a new position. My job will be based near the courthouse area of Arlington and he will be working by Union Station. The question is where to live. We have a budget up to 900k to buy for the interim but would like to rent in a diverse area with a walkable downtown that will be comfortable for our family. For example we lived in Brooklyn for years then moved to Maplewood, NJ before our DD was born.
I hear good things about Takoma Park/Silver Spring Maryland but worry the commute would be too much. I would like to use the metro to get to work (the old NY'er in me).
Any advice would be great. And by diverse I mean yes all ethnicities but at least 10% AA middle/upper class.

Anonymous wrote:You really need to look at the Hill. If you've lived in Brooklyn you're not afraid of walking so you could end up with a walk to Union Station and another to the orange/silver/blue for the commute to Courthouse. It's a wonderful community for families with plenty of walkable stuff.

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Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:None of these areas people are listing are at least 10% AA middle/upper class. OP, that is a unicorn in VA and DC.

Crestwood is.

Shepherd Park too.

So is Colonial Village (across from Shepherd Park). We have quite a few biracial couples. 2 on my street alone.

Biracial is not the word most of you are looking for.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of these areas people are listing are at least 10% AA middle/upper class. OP, that is a unicorn in VA and DC.

Crestwood is.

Shepherd Park too.

So is Colonial Village (across from Shepherd Park). We have quite a few biracial couples. 2 on my street alone.

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Del Ray or Rosemont in the City of Alexandria.

Don't listen to those who would suggest Arlington. North Arlington is the whitest part of NoVa and very segregated; South Arlington is seriously unattractive. Coming from a cute town like Maplewood, you would wake up every morning and think you'd moved to a bad neighborhood in Union or Rahway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Del Ray or Rosemont in the City of Alexandria.

Don't listen to those who would suggest Arlington. North Arlington is the whitest part of NoVa and very segregated; South Arlington is seriously unattractive. Coming from a cute town like Maplewood, you would wake up every morning and think you'd moved to a bad neighborhood in Union or Rahway.

Parts of south Arlington are unattractive, as are parts of north Arlington. It helps to compare apples to apples. Arlington Ridge in south Arlington is just as nice as Country Club Hills in north Arlington. And closer to Metro, too. Aurora Highlands is very similar in housing stock to Ashton Heights/Lyon Park. Alcova Heights/Arlington Heights are equivalent to Madison Manor. And a large part of Barcroft is nicer than most of Arlington Forest (which spans both N and S). In general, Arlington's housing stock is seriously lackluster, especially compared to a place like Maplewood, NJ. But there are some neighborhoods that have lovely, older architecturally interesting homes alongside newer builds (which are nice, but maybe not what OP is looking for). It's not all ugly brick ranchers, though there are plenty of those.

OP, as others have noted, if you are looking for racial/ethnic diversity, you will be hard-pressed to find it in most north Arlington neighborhoods and schools. South Arlington is more racially/ethnically/economically diverse, as are the schools. If you want to be close to transit, you could do that in either part of Arlington. And there are neighborhoods that are walkable to shopping, libraries, community centers, etc. in many parts of Arlington. But nothing that looks like the downtown of Maplewood. And the urban parts of Arlington do not resemble Brooklyn at all. But we've been very pleased with the public schools here in south Arlington.

I think if you lived in DC, a commute to Arlington would be doable, but not from MD. That would be brutal. There are many neighborhoods in DC that better resemble both Brooklyn and Maplewood. And I think DCPS in most neighborhoods PP's have mentioned are fine, and the free Pre-K is a pretty big incentive. We chose Arlington for slightly lower taxes and a more favorable commute (at the time I was commuting within Arlington and my husband was splitting time between Fairfax and DC, near McPherson Sq). We started out renting and then bought once we'd settled on a neighborhood we loved (and still love). But I think we would have been happy in DC, too.

Good luck with your move!

Part of this post--the neighborhood comparisons--sounds like rationalization. I laughed.

Anonymous wrote:You can find what you are looking for in population in Colonial Village, Shepherd park or Takoma, but it's more suburban and the commutes will suck. You may way to check out Southwest Waterfront, at least for the short-term. Lots of diversity, in both race and income. More middle/upper middle AAs over here than on the Hill. Commutes to both Courthouse and Union Station would be relatively easy. Crime is low in most areas. Lots of families, especially younger kids. Parents are working on the IB school to make it a better option, to the point where the preK classes have now gotten popular. Lots of green space and near the water - not much around right now for shops or restaurants, but there will be a lot more options when the first phase of the Wharf opens in a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would consider Del Ray or Rosemont in the City of Alexandria.

Don't listen to those who would suggest Arlington. North Arlington is the whitest part of NoVa and very segregated; South Arlington is seriously unattractive. Coming from a cute town like Maplewood, you would wake up every morning and think you'd moved to a bad neighborhood in Union or Rahway.

Parts of south Arlington are unattractive, as are parts of north Arlington. It helps to compare apples to apples. Arlington Ridge in south Arlington is just as nice as Country Club Hills in north Arlington. And closer to Metro, too. Aurora Highlands is very similar in housing stock to Ashton Heights/Lyon Park. Alcova Heights/Arlington Heights are equivalent to Madison Manor. And a large part of Barcroft is nicer than most of Arlington Forest (which spans both N and S). In general, Arlington's housing stock is seriously lackluster, especially compared to a place like Maplewood, NJ. But there are some neighborhoods that have lovely, older architecturally interesting homes alongside newer builds (which are nice, but maybe not what OP is looking for). It's not all ugly brick ranchers, though there are plenty of those.

OP, as others have noted, if you are looking for racial/ethnic diversity, you will be hard-pressed to find it in most north Arlington neighborhoods and schools. South Arlington is more racially/ethnically/economically diverse, as are the schools. If you want to be close to transit, you could do that in either part of Arlington. And there are neighborhoods that are walkable to shopping, libraries, community centers, etc. in many parts of Arlington. But nothing that looks like the downtown of Maplewood. And the urban parts of Arlington do not resemble Brooklyn at all. But we've been very pleased with the public schools here in south Arlington.

I think if you lived in DC, a commute to Arlington would be doable, but not from MD. That would be brutal. There are many neighborhoods in DC that better resemble both Brooklyn and Maplewood. And I think DCPS in most neighborhoods PP's have mentioned are fine, and the free Pre-K is a pretty big incentive. We chose Arlington for slightly lower taxes and a more favorable commute (at the time I was commuting within Arlington and my husband was splitting time between Fairfax and DC, near McPherson Sq). We started out renting and then bought once we'd settled on a neighborhood we loved (and still love). But I think we would have been happy in DC, too.

Good luck with your move!