Anonymous wrote:You would hate it worse raising a growing child in a 800 sq ft home. I had one child in a 1300 sq ft home and nearly went nuts with the lack of space. Do you really want to raise your child in a closet?

Harsh. We have 2 kids in 1200 square feet and do just fine--as do many people throughout the rest of the world, including much of Europe. Maybe you own a lot of useless junk or are very messy?

In summary, after reading all these posts, I have arrived at a few conclusions:
1) I am so happy today, because I am NOT married to the OP. Can you imagine having to bang that?
2) Your poor DH and child. One poster said you should pack up, leave 'em, and move back to the city. I agree.
3) If you feel DC public schools are good, well, no.

Anonymous wrote:Come on back!

yes, please leave!!

Anonymous wrote:If your husband doesn't want to live in a small apartment in DC and raise your child in a transitional area, my advice is to dump him and follow your heart. Don't let the Applebees crowd tell you what's "right." You can always see your DC on weekends if DH agrees to bring DC into the city, which will keep you from having to see old people or their tacky Christmas lights (yuck).

teehee

If your husband doesn't want to live in a small apartment in DC and raise your child in a transitional area, my advice is to dump him and follow your heart. Don't let the Applebees crowd tell you what's "right." You can always see your DC on weekends if DH agrees to bring DC into the city, which will keep you from having to see old people or their tacky Christmas lights (yuck).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What's up with the knee jerk reactions that if you want to live in the city you're an irresponsible "hipster" and that all DC schools are automatically "bad"? Get over yourselves. The city has changed, people. The quality of life and the schools are better than they ever have been since I've lived here, and that's since 1994. But you wouldn't know about DC and its renaissance, because "the city" is automatically anathema to you.

Get a clue.

It probably originated from the same place that spawned the "you live in the suburbs, so you love Velveeta, Coldwater Creek, and Jesus" meme.

The knee-jerk reactions are triggered by the fact that the OP is clearly a jerk and possibly a troll. Her suburban neighbors should actually be delighted if she makes a bee-line back to Columbia Heights.

Anonymous wrote:What's up with the knee jerk reactions that if you want to live in the city you're an irresponsible "hipster" and that all DC schools are automatically "bad"? Get over yourselves. The city has changed, people. The quality of life and the schools are better than they ever have been since I've lived here, and that's since 1994. But you wouldn't know about DC and its renaissance, because "the city" is automatically anathema to you.

Get a clue.

It probably originated from the same place that spawned the "you live in the suburbs, so you love Velveeta, Coldwater Creek, and Jesus" meme.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My husband and I lived in a tiny 800 square foot condo in Columbia Heights for 10 years and I absolutely loved it – loved the neighborhood, loved the walkability, loved the people, loved running into friends everywhere, loved the feel of tons of stuff happening right outside my front door. Place was tiny but cozy and I loved it.

Then we had a baby and ran out of room.

We looked for over a year with a very low budget, and 6 months ago in the Maryland burbs we found a decent-sized place in great condition, a mile from a metro. And I HATE IT. I hate not seeing anyone on the street, I hate being in a silent neighborhood surrounded by car-choked streets, I hate being in the freaking car ALL THE TIME, I hate spending time on the stupid lawn, I hate f’ing pressure to decorate for Christmas, I hate having nothing but old white people as neighbors.

Is it insane to try renting out this place and moving into a rental back in the city? It has only been six months, but I just despair about spending years of my life in this place.

Everything about your post screams complete immaturity. Why on earth did you buy a place in the suburbs in the first place if you really want to live in a hispter neighborhood and pretend to be 23 the rest of your life?

Your poor child.

LOL. Not only do you think that ColHi is a "hipster" neighborhood (I swear, I haven't heard that word used correctly in 5 years), but you think the only people that want some REAL quality of life are pretending to be 23? If growing up means moving to the suburbs, kill me now.

+1. This has nothing to do with age. Some people just prefer the constant stimulation of urban life, while others like the relative peace and space of suburbs.

We all need to drop the notion that starting a family necessitates moving to the suburbs. First, who is to say that suburban life is better for the kids, especially in the preschool years? Second, haven't we learned by now that parents don't necessarily need to abandon what makes them happy in order to prove they are mature, responsible parents? Happy parents raise happy kids.

OP, give it another six months to see if you just need more time to settle in and make connections out there in the burbs. During that time, monitor Craigslist and figure out if your place can rent for enough to at least cover your mortgage, taxes, and other costs. If the numbers work and you still want to move back in six months, do it.

Personally, I live in a mostly gentrified part of Shaw. Prices have risen, but it is still more accessible than other parts of Northwest DC. Not sure how it compares to ColHi, but it is full of babies and toddlers these days. We have great playgrounds, organized playgroups, and easy access to mommy and me activities; my almost two year old DD has a play-based "class" or group activity of some sort just about every day. And we're near work, so both parents get home for dinner most nights, even if one heads back to the office afterwards. I don't think DD would be having nearly as much fun in the burbs, and I know I wouldn't be.

Anonymous wrote:OP, do you only have 1 kid and do you only plan to have 1? If so, move back. Seriously.

If you want 2 or more kids, I suggest finding a middle ground somewhere between completely urban and suburban.

somewhere between reminds me of Friends who live near the Braddock Rd metro station in Alexandria. Lots of families. Safe neighborhood. Walkable to Del Ray shops. Happy with local ES.

If she'd complained about black neighbors...

Bye, OP. We don't want you.
Love,
The suburbs

Anonymous wrote:
My husband and I lived in a tiny 800 square foot condo in Columbia Heights for 10 years and I absolutely loved it – loved the neighborhood, loved the walkability, loved the people, loved running into friends everywhere, loved the feel of tons of stuff happening right outside my front door. Place was tiny but cozy and I loved it.

Then we had a baby and ran out of room.

We looked for over a year with a very low budget, and 6 months ago in the Maryland burbs we found a decent-sized place in great condition, a mile from a metro. And I HATE IT. I hate not seeing anyone on the street, I hate being in a silent neighborhood surrounded by car-choked streets, I hate being in the freaking car ALL THE TIME, I hate spending time on the stupid lawn, I hate f’ing pressure to decorate for Christmas, I hate having nothing but old white people as neighbors.

Is it insane to try renting out this place and moving into a rental back in the city? It has only been six months, but I just despair about spending years of my life in this place.

Troll or stupid , I can't decide

Anonymous wrote:
My husband and I lived in a tiny 800 square foot condo in Columbia Heights for 10 years and I absolutely loved it – loved the neighborhood, loved the walkability, loved the people, loved running into friends everywhere, loved the feel of tons of stuff happening right outside my front door. Place was tiny but cozy and I loved it.

Then we had a baby and ran out of room.

We looked for over a year with a very low budget, and 6 months ago in the Maryland burbs we found a decent-sized place in great condition, a mile from a metro. And I HATE IT. I hate not seeing anyone on the street, I hate being in a silent neighborhood surrounded by car-choked streets, I hate being in the freaking car ALL THE TIME, I hate spending time on the stupid lawn, I hate f’ing pressure to decorate for Christmas, I hate having nothing but old white people as neighbors.

Is it insane to try renting out this place and moving into a rental back in the city? It has only been six months, but I just despair about spending years of my life in this place.

You have what I call, " First World Problems." You have the audacity to complain about living around old white people, but you're demonstrating your white privileged with this whiny post. Go get some real problems and learn to be grateful. I also had to laugh about the car choked streets. Most people in the burbs have driveways, carports, or garages. DC is the place with car choked streets.

Anonymous wrote:
My husband and I lived in a tiny 800 square foot condo in Columbia Heights for 10 years and I absolutely loved it – loved the neighborhood, loved the walkability, loved the people, loved running into friends everywhere, loved the feel of tons of stuff happening right outside my front door. Place was tiny but cozy and I loved it.

Then we had a baby and ran out of room.

We looked for over a year with a very low budget, and 6 months ago in the Maryland burbs we found a decent-sized place in great condition, a mile from a metro. And I HATE IT. I hate not seeing anyone on the street, I hate being in a silent neighborhood surrounded by car-choked streets, I hate being in the freaking car ALL THE TIME, I hate spending time on the stupid lawn, I hate f’ing pressure to decorate for Christmas, I hate having nothing but old white people as neighbors.

Is it insane to try renting out this place and moving into a rental back in the city? It has only been six months, but I just despair about spending years of my life in this place.

Not for nothing but, my parents raised my brother and me in 350 sq feet in NYC. And my grandmother lived with us! And we all loved it.

In my short time on DCUM I've come to the realization this place is filled with pretentious, entitled, overprivileged, snobby, and probably racist douchebags and douchettes. And oh yeah you're mostly white with HHI over a gazillion dollars.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think OP is a loser at all. My family wouldn't have been happy with her choice, either.

I don't know how to advise you, though, OP. Whether you should, at this point, move/sell/buy/rent out all depends on your financial bottom lines. You may find it's harder to get tenants for your suburban place, and they won't be willing to pay as much as you may need to rent a little something in a place you like better.

But kids + apartments = perfectly good. Works for a lot of us. The idea of families needing "SPACE, OMG!!" is very culturally defined, and OP should hear that plenty of us grew up in cities where urban apartment living is very normal.

+1
I grew up in Europe with 2 siblings in a ~1000 sqft apartment which was considered very large. My parents were the most modest and down to earth people ever - they would despise hipsters if they cared to learn who those were. It is totally possible to raise children in small (by American standards) apartments and preferring to do so doesn't make one immature or a irresponsible parent (what??).

It's not the lack of space that gives city parents - specifically, Washington, DC parents - the reputation for irresponsibility. It's the atrocious quality of schools. If DC schools were on par with neighboring suburban counties, no one would bat an eye on families with children living in apartments. It's hypocritical of you to pretend otherwise. Did your quaint European city had good schools or what?

Not all the schools are bad. There is no school in this area that I like better than my child's charter, and she will likely be there from 3 to 18.

That's silly. Have you visited every school in this area? Or were you simply trying to put together a convincing sentence?

There is no other Spanish immersion, expeditionary school with a sustainable focus in the area. It is perfect for us. And for the pp, we will have 5 years to see how the middle school/high school progresses, but given what I have seen so far, I have great confidence, and I am not overstating by saying that it is likely she will see it through.