What about the Hyattsville Arts District (Hyattsville, MD for OP) as another option?

I really think you should rent first before committing to buy.

Oh, and you can buy a really cute house on the Hill for well within your price range.

I'm only two pages deep in the responses, but I can't believe no one is making the case for Capitol Hill. You'd be close to Gan Shalom. And there are parts of the Hill that are super close to the freeway. But most importantly (for you) it is walkable and has the best coffee in the city:

http://peregrineespresso.com/

I live in NE Capitol Hill, a block from H Street, and love it. And I do a reverse commute, though to NOVA. It isn't ideal but if you time it right it isn't awful.

OP, curious - have you posted on on fort greene babies or fort greene kids and asked the locals up their for their thoughts. There are lots of DC transplants up there who might have some less snarky bits of info since it's not an anonymous forum. Good luck.

I moved to DC ten years ago from Brooklyn. I live it Mount Pleasant and love it (although I'd love better retail options on Mt. Pleasant St).

I'd also suggest the Hill, near Eastern Market, or just south of H Street. Or Shaw, near 9th St.

9:16 here. Just realized that I completely forgot to answer your follow up question!

I've found awesome apartments on craigslist. The building I live in advertises there (though that's not how I found the place). There is a big book of apartments associated with the Washington Post, but it's going to be huge mega-complexes (that also advertise on craigslist) and not the unique and amazing places that will exist for rent by owner or in smaller buildings, etc.

Good luck, seriously.

Anonymous wrote:Oy.

I thought I was pretty clear that we are NOT trying to find Brooklyn in DC, but I guess no matter how carefully phrased, this thread will always devolve into "if you want NYC, stay in NYC." I under-estimated the potency of the word "Brooklyn"-- should have said we were moving from Topeka (with no offense intended to Topeka).

No, OP, it wasn't you. People here like to claim that their neighborhoods are the best, or are hipster-y, and it's almost like people are fighting fights from past threads. I promise, there are lots of really cool, bright, nice people in DC and in MD suburbs mentioned. Except for the Tenleytown Whole Foods, haha.

--Silver Spring previous poster

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Honestly, if I was facing the choice you're facing, I'd probably stay in Brooklyn. There's just no good solution.

Not an option. Opportunity we couldn't refuse.

This really comes down to a lifestyle question-- which sacrifices are we willing to make as a family. I agreed to move to DC, leaving all of our family and friends and a life we have built in the City over the past 11 years. In turn, Husband, who came home last night to tearful, despondent me, has assured me that he would live in DC and reverse-commute to make the transition more palatable for me (and him-- he's not keen on moving to the suburbs yet, either). Maybe a year of the killer commute will change our mind, but for now, it seems like the best choice for us. Just to be sure, though, we will visit Takoma Park and Silver Spring on one of our upcoming visits, and do so with an open mind.

Now for the next logical question: what are the best sites for finding rental listings?

In that case, what I would suggest is that you move to Columbia Heights or Mt. Pleasant. I admit I'm biased on this front - I live in Columbia Heights and love it. It's not Brooklyn, but as many people have already said, you're not going to find Brooklyn here. I live on 14th Street just north of the main commercial area. We have several really good restaurants, a couple of wonderful parks, several independent cafes (so you can shop around for that latte), extremely public transit accessible, and a pretty straight shot up to Columbia. Google tells me that in right now's traffic, it'll take around 45 minutes to get from my address to Columbia (but I strongly suspect that it would be closer to an hour all things considered).

For what it's worth, I love Takoma, but I wouldn't trade living in the city for it. It's gorgeous, but it's not urban. There are like 3 restaurants and very little to do outside playgrounds and getting on the train to go downtown. I've spent a lot of time out there with very good friends, and on the weekends (times when you'd be most likely to want to go downtown), there is almost always track work on the red line that makes Metro travel highly unpredictable. I have no idea how long that's going to be going on, but certainly is a thing that is annoying now.

Oy.

I thought I was pretty clear that we are NOT trying to find Brooklyn in DC, but I guess no matter how carefully phrased, this thread will always devolve into "if you want NYC, stay in NYC." I under-estimated the potency of the word "Brooklyn"-- should have said we were moving from Topeka (with no offense intended to Topeka).

Anonymous wrote:. Honestly, if I was facing the choice you're facing, I'd probably stay in Brooklyn. There's just no good solution.

Not an option. Opportunity we couldn't refuse.

This really comes down to a lifestyle question-- which sacrifices are we willing to make as a family. I agreed to move to DC, leaving all of our family and friends and a life we have built in the City over the past 11 years. In turn, Husband, who came home last night to tearful, despondent me, has assured me that he would live in DC and reverse-commute to make the transition more palatable for me (and him-- he's not keen on moving to the suburbs yet, either). Maybe a year of the killer commute will change our mind, but for now, it seems like the best choice for us. Just to be sure, though, we will visit Takoma Park and Silver Spring on one of our upcoming visits, and do so with an open mind.

Now for the next logical question: what are the best sites for finding rental listings?

OP: I think you need to rent for awhile. Columbia is a suburb of Baltimore. Traffic is bad. Very few people commute to Baltimore, and those that do (I did) hate it. Brooklyn is very different than DC. There are some places that might be a nice substitute, but do not fit well with a commute to Baltimore/Columbia. I think you need to feel out the situation, or get ready for sitting in a lot of traffic. Think about people moving to NYC who say...the marc train to NJ is not a problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Besides a longer commute, and nightmare traffic, what does Columbia Heights offer that Silver Spring doesn't? Columbia Heights has just as many chain stores and restaurants as downtown Silver Spring.

I completely agree. Also SS is not all chains. Many chains, yes, but independent shops etc. as well.

The 14th st strip of Columbia Hts is very commercial but the 11th st side is hipster heaven and might be what someone coming from Ft Greene is looking for. I don't think OP would like Silver Spring having lived in Ft Greene myself. Also she would want to off herself in Glover Park or upper NW.

I moved here from Park Slope and live near downtown Silver Spring. I'm also familiar with Columbia Heights.

There is no such thing as hipster heaven in the DC area. There are no hipsters.

If OP wants to duplicate NYC in DC, she should stay in NYC. There is nothing remotely comparable here. She has to make peace with that fact in order to move here and be happy.

Anonymous wrote:Columbia? I'd find a new fucking job.

Gosh, I get that posting on a public website is an invitation for snark, but I don't get why anyone would waste their time trolling listservs for opportunities to be a jerk. Welcome to DC!

Check this out.
http://www.livebaltimore.com/neighborhoods/list/

OP, the commute is what's going to kill you. I used to live in PG County and would go occasionally the mall in Columbia for kid stuff, and that drive sometimes took half an hour. Traffic in this area is highly unpredictable - which is to say that there are times when it's predictably terrible and other times when it's terrible at times when it should be good. The people who are telling you that your husband can drive to Columbia from Chevy Chase or Bethesda are out of their minds. The people who are telling you he could do it from Silver Spring might be accurate 1 day out of 5. Either way, those places are absolutely a recipe for you and he never seeing each other.

The MARC is not really a good option as the MARC station nearest Columbia is still about 15 minutes away, though I suppose it does depend on where in Columbia he'd be working.

I think you may have to suck it up and move to the suburbs. It's a lot easier to get to downtown DC than it is to Columbia. Honestly, if I was facing the choice you're facing, I'd probably stay in Brooklyn. There's just no good solution.