Moving to DC or surrounding areas....where? (Silver Spring, Bethesda: apartments, condos)

[Sim]

Hello
I am a Professor of Psychology in Brazil. Having lived for 4 years in Massachusetts, I will be shortly moving back to the US, to live in DC, with my husband, who is an economist, my teenage daughter and possibly my college-aged son. My husband and I are both 42 ..My daughter is interested in pursuing a career in the performing arts /and or humanities; my son is a History major.

I have always been very involved in cooperative and community initiatives, (mainly in the areas of education, disability rights, animal protection and environment) having founded several associations, a cooperative pre-school and the local SPCA. We will be spending two years in DC (or neighboring areas) .

I´ve been trying to figure out where to live in DC or surrounding areas. I am looking for places that are culturally diverse, community-oriented, good for teens and pet friendly (I intend to bring my dogs with me).

We love hiking, so a place with nearby woods would be great, but at the same time, my kids won´t want to be hidden away in the woods.

We´re vegetarian, politically liberal, environmentally concerned, and like ahving easy acess to good movies, shows, bookstores and restaurants/ cafes. We´d love to have metro / bike acess into DC .

I´m having somewhat of a hard time figuring out the school system in DC/MD, especially. It seems almost as if all the more liberal/hipper places have pretty run down schools and I´ve been reading a lot about pretty disturbing data on the DC schools so that has us looking into areas like Bethesda, Silver Spring, Cheverly, Hyattsville, Dufief (but I don´t know where that is exactly), Takoma Park, Chevy Chase...but figuring out which kids go to which high school in some of the communities is rather hard. I´ve seen affordable housing in Silver spring , but is this a boring, artificial community in vynil siding?

What about Cheverly? Where do High School kids go? What about Takoma Park, as far as schools go?

Any ideas would be really welcome.

Si

[Ex-Ithacan]

Takoma Park is part of the Montgomery County school system. I really can't speak for the local schools there, but overall, the Montgomery system is quite good. I believe there arealso magnet schools not far away which might be a better challenge for your children. Try the Montgomery Schools site on-line for more info. Takoma Park itself is a pleasant, very liberal, politically active town. Some of the areas which border are a bit dicey, but that's life in the big city. I'm quite sure there's a Metro (subway) stop there also. You might try an on-line realestate search to see about housing affordability. Good luck in youor search for a new home & hometown.

[adh0789]

If your looking at schools stay out of DC and PG county Hyattsville is in PG county. Most Montgomery county schools are good but some arnt. Schools in Bethesda,Chevy chase are good, but for Siliver Spring it depends where you are in Siliver Spring. In cheverly most kids will go to Charles H. Flowers. Hyattsville would be Northwestern, Takoma Park would most likly be Blair. I think Bethesda and Chevy Chase would be BCC (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and I think 1 or 2 more are in that district. Most of the DC area is very diverse.

[takomaparkperson]

I live in Takoma Park, which is an eclectic, socially-conscious, progressive, liberal, etc... place. Lots of families and couples in their late 30s to 40s. Housing stock is from the 1920s-1940s, primarily. Prices have been high but are dropping a bit. A nice 2-3 bedroom bungalow might run between $550 and $700, depending on location and degree of renovations. The neighborhood has been steadily gentrifying for the past 10-15 years, which is good and bad. There are many government workers, teachers, professors, writers here, but they are being priced out of the housing market. The high school is Montgomery Blair, which is a magnet for math and science. It is huge and very diverse, but many kids do well there and some go on to top colleges. If Blair doesn't do it, there are some good private high schools around or you can investigate the other magnet programs.

Not too many restaurants or nighlife, but downtown Silver Spring is literally 5 minutes away (Borders bookstore, restaurants, some shopping). There are some great Indian restaurants nearby. There's a nice farmer's market every weekend in Old Town Takoma, many neighborhoods have active list servs, and most home are within walking distance or a short bus ride from the metro/Old Town. There is a bike trail through nearby Sligo Creek, which is a nice slice of woods that runs north/south throught the east side of town. There is a nice hiking trail nearby off of Dennis Road in Silver Spring, through what I think is called North Branch Park. The Washington Opera's adminstrative offices are in Old Town....

Particularly nice streets (in my opinion) Holly, Spruce, Park, Pine, Sycamore, Poplar, Hickory, Elm, Pine, Willow, top part of Maple (near Old Town, after it passes route 410, it is primarily apartments/condos and this is historically a high-crime area for TP).

Chevy Chase and Bethesda are (in my opinion) the polar opposites of TP, so if one appeals, the others probably won't. Kensington is in-between, with a very good public school (avoid Einstein HS, Walter Johnson is one of the top high schools in the country), a more yuppie population than TP, MARC access to downtown, close to Rock Creek Park, quick drive to downtown Bethesda for restaurants/shopping/bookstores. Also has a cute downtown area near the train station (but no metro (i.e. subway) access to DC). Home prices a little higher than TP, depending on the neighborhood.

[davidrosquist]

Silver Spring or Takoma Park should be the place for you. I live in the Four Corners area of SS and we love it. The Montgomery County Schools are rated as some of the best in the country. It's close to DC for commuting. The Sligo Creek Park has tons of trails. Most of the houses are older and charming, but usually on the small side and you tend to pay a little more for being so close to the beltway.

[my3sons]

You should definitely consider Cheverly. It is a close knit community with plenty of opportunities for involvement and activism. The town is on the Orange line of the metro as well as near the main routes of 50 and 295. It has relatively affordable housing for the DC market and the houses are cute 1950's era... lots of brick. The public high school is Bladensburg H.S. , but private school may be the best option. Or nearby public high school Roosevelt in Greenbelt has an outstanding Science and Tech program available to kids in Cheverly. Check out the cheverly website and the Cheverly Parents Resource Center website. Parents in the community will be more than willing to give you recommendations for schools.

Greenbelt is another place to look at. It has a Metro station and the town is self contained with schools, rec center, churches, movie theater, shopping, post office, lake with 1 mile hiking trail etc. They tend to be a liberal town with plenty of opportunities for community involvement. The town was built by president Roosevelt as a revitalization project or "green" city where people can work, live and play all in their own community. Very nice and also relatively close to Univ of Md.