DC Area Move (Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville: apartments, foreclosures, rent)

[crslnd]

I have been cruising the threads on here for sometime now and also cruising zillow for a bit. I will be moving to DC this spring probably in the April/May time frame. I will most likely rent for a little while, but intend to buy and my wife will be moving up later in the year. We're in the family starter stage no kids yet but planning for near future; we're looking single family home, good access to the metro, and we would prefer walkable grocery/restaurants, but not a necessity. Both will be working downtown/China Town area. The thing I know the least about is schools; obviously not an immediate need, but would prefer not be thinking about a move in 5 years if its time schools to play a role in our living arrangements. I would say 90% of the time our commutes will be via metro.

I lived in DC for almost year in 2008, however my life style and needs were significantly different at the time. I know my way around 'okay.'

We're definitely leaning Maryland, but not 100% not here to debate the pro's/con's of each side of the line.

My first area of interest in Hyattsville; I read conflicting reports of overpriced to still somewhat sketchy. Are zip codes within Hyattsville area that I should be more interested?

Rockville and Silver Spring are also areas I'm interested in; Rockville the distance of commute concerns me a little and silver spring seems to be more expensive.

College Park intrigues me and again I seem reports from overdeveloped to not there yet. I'm certainly not a UMD fan as I grew up in the Midwest, but I have always enjoyed college towns b/c of the diversity/activities going on. It seems like a reasonable commute and home prices seem a little lower than Rockville, silver spring, hyattsville. Are there areas of college park that I should be concerned about? In the Midwest in my experience college towns equate to good school systems; does this hold true in College Park?

[e2ksj3]

I can't speak too much for the other areas, but I recently moved to Northern College Park and love it so far and think it maybe a good fit for you. The neighborhood is really nice with a stock of older homes and the area is very diverse. We are within walking distance of MOMs organic store and a farmers market during the warmer months on Saturday, not to mention REI. We are walking distance to the Greenbelt Metro and MARC station and close to 495, 95, and the BW Parkway and I can get to the U-street corridor from my house within 25-30 mins via Metro with no transfers. There are a lot of parks and bike trails in the area and Lake Artemesia is close by. I'm starting to see a lot of younger folks move into the area along with immigrant families. The prices are very affordable (usually $300k or less for a single family home) compared to the rest of the metro area. The area is quiet and I haven't had any issues (knock on wood) since I have been living here, despite all the negative that I hear about Prince George's County.

I can't speak on the schools, but I've heard mixed reviews. I've heard some of the elementary schools are good or changing for the better along with some of the high schools like Roosevelt, but the system as a whole isn't so good. The university started a charter school to address the issue and I hear it is pretty good, plus private schools may also be an option.

College Park as a whole has a lot of development going on along with the whole Route 1 corridor, which there is a separate thread on tracking all the development. They are building a high end hotel with shops, housing, more restaurants, and a Whole Foods. The new Purple line light rail will connect New Carrollton, Silver Spring, and Bethesda and will run through the UMD campus. Hyattsville also has a lot going on with the Arts District. The FBI is also possibly looking at relocating to Greenbelt which may also spur more development. The area is definitely up and coming, but still pretty affordable. The city also has a grant for people who purchase foreclosures or previously rented homes and agree to stay there for at least 5 years,A smart place to live .

Good luck on whatever you decide

[crslnd]

thanks for all the info; that's a lot of what we will be looking for!

[DoughLow805]

To weed out the bad areas in Hyattsville, I searched by school zone for the elementary schools using University Park elementary and Hyattsville elementary. Those schools zones include the most desirable parts of hyattsville, university park, riverdale park, and college park for me. The only hyattsville zip codes to completely ignore for me was 20784. University Park elementary grades out as one of the best in PG and Hyattsville is changing quickly enough for residents who don't have kids at the moment to offer better education by the time their kids are school age.

There are a series of threads for the development in these areas, the topics overlap a bit. Prince Georges Plaza developments and the Arts District are in Hyattsville which is included in with a good chunk of the RT 1 development. Riverdale Park has Riverdale Park Station with the First PG County Whole Foods Plaza is another big piece in the RT 1 development. College Park has a variety of developments up and down RT 1 as well, the largest of which are hotels and apartments with ground level retail. Development in these areas shouldn't stop for a long time with the purple line coming. Soon the FBI will announce their location and it would appear Greenbelt is most likely.

[cjmeck]

Since you don't have kids yet you may not be aware of www.greatschools.com It is a website that is widely used by parents; each school gets a ranking (1-10; 10 being the best). Just plug in whatever high school feeds into the property you're interested in and it will tell you the school rating (which is pretty much based on test scores).

[crslnd]

Thanks for all the help everyone; the information is greatly appreciated.

[crslnd]

Originally Posted by cjmeck

Since you don't have kids yet you may not be aware of www.greatschools.com It is a website that is widely used by parents; each school gets a ranking (1-10; 10 being the best). Just plug in whatever high school feeds into the property you're interested in and it will tell you the school rating (which is pretty much based on test scores).

Thanks I will check it out