need all you input on best areas in MD! moving from SS MD! (Bethesda: cul-de-sac)

[marylander5]

Hi all! New user here - just discovered this website last night. Have been obsessively reading ever since! I have found this site to be both informative and entertaining! Here's my story and plea for help: Me and husband are in late 30s, mid-to-upper-income, have always lived in this area, but need to move from our current neighborhood in 20906. When we bought this "starter home", we weren't thinking about kids, schools, retirement, etc, we were just looking for a SFH that we could afford at the time and improve upon as money allowed. I would like your opinions on where you would prefer to move if you were in my situation. Here's what we need and want (not necessarily in order of importance):
(warning: slight sarcasm ahead)

- need to stay in the area near NW DC, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Potomac, NoVa. My husband is a remodeler, he currently works out a home office but needs to be close to these areas since that's where most of his clients live
- good school district: I am a SAHM with 3 children in grade school. My oldest (8) has developmental delays and receives special ed services in a public school setting and will require services for the rest of her life. She is already immersed in Montgomery County public school special ed services and so I believe we would like to stay in the county. My second child is currently in private school b/c I don't care for our neighborhood elem. school, middle school, high school
- safe area where I won't have to worry as much about my kids waiting at the bus stop one house away or walking two doors down to a friends house; where my neighbors don't honk at & try to pass my daughter's "short" bus as she' getting on (why are all the registered sex offenders located in my area?!)
- want a friendly community/neighborhood with lots of families and young kids like ourselves where neighbors talk to each other and don't speed down the street past your kids on their bikes!
- want a neighborhood that's not too snobby/uptight/spoiled rich kids in hs recreating with fast cars & drugs (I guess we're a little snobby ourselves b/c we do "go out" in Bethesda & still stay "Fredneck" for Frederick where both my sister and brother happily live just to give them a hard time(not that there's anything WRONG with Frederick, I know it's a wonderful place to live for some people, just wish it wasn't so far out...on the other hand I'm would not fit in in with the tanned, manicured, silicone-enhanced, size 3 wearing SAHMs in the richer areas of Potomac/Chevy Chase
- close to shops, restaurants, etc.
- don't like "cookie-cutter" homes (my hubby is a remodeler, after all ); need some space for the kids (big yard), could add on esp. if neighborhood allows. if we do more to our current house, we will outprice the neighborhood
- looking to spend $700, to 750,

Now, pkoons, puffer, and other experts, PLEASE advise: where would you move in my situation? I have frustrated myself by not making a decision; all my friends think I'm always looking for the "perfect" place to live and I need to finally decide on a few areas, at the least!
Thanks in advance!! & hope I didn't offend anyone!

[Kensington]

I live in Kensington and really love it. We have a very active Moms club. The homes in "Town of Kensington" are definitely not cookie cutter, it is zoned for Walter Johnson cluster, and I think you could find a nice house in your budget range. Parkwood and Chevy Chase View are both nice neighborhoods in Kensington as well. Chevy Chase View has bigger homes that are not cookie cutter style while Parkwood tends to be older capes. I know Parkwood would be well within your budget, I'm not sure about Chevy Chase View. Chevy Chase View is within BCC Highschool Cluster and Parkwood is in Walter Johnson cluster.

[katzenfreund]

A friend of mine lives in Kensington and loves it there, so I am seconding the other poster... lovely neighborhood and no cookie cutter houses!

[marylander5]

Thanks you 2 for your recommendation for Kensington! I have heard pretty good things about the area, esp. the neighborhoods that feed into WJ cluster. Any areas to avoid? I saw a few houses near historic Kensington along Artery, Kent and Frederick Rd - not sure if those streets would be too busy for us and I definitely don't want to end up in Einstein's cluster as things stand right now, but I guess there's no guarantee that cluster boundary lines will remain unchanged. Parkwood: I have heard good things about Parkwood (being filled with kids, etc.) just wish the houses and yards were a little bigger - guess we could add on (again!) I believe Parkwood Elem. school is pretty good, right? I couldn't find much in Chevy Chase view that wasn't too pricey, but I suppose I won't rule that neighborhood out as an option.
Thanks again for your input! More is welcome if you think of any!
Anyone else: favorite neighborhood(s) in Montg. Co. near DC not too urban, not too rural for a family?
Thanks in advance!

[Kensington]

Kensington-Parkwood Elementary has a good reputation. The school was remodeled just a few years ago so it is basically a new facility. As for areas to avoid, I would just make sure that you check that whatever house you buy is in the WJ or BCC cluster. I'd find an agent that has experience with selling houses in Kensington. They'll know exactly where the boundaries are. The neighborhoods that are zoned for Einstein are all nice, well-kept neighborhoods, just not a step up for you school-wise.

[walisa]

LOVE this thread, as we're basically in the same position as you--looking for a good home in Bethesda/Kensington/Rockvile in a similar price range. Perhaps similar to you, we want all the amenities of a new home (open floor plan, modern kitchen, 2 sink bathroom, etc), and all the "community" a suburbia cul-de-sac development offers (Sat night grill-outs, lots of kids around for sleep-overs, babysitting, etc). But somehow we also want the character of an older neighborhood, and, ideally, walkable to some retail. One solution: a renovated victorian or colonial in bethesda -- forget about it at below $1mil, I think. But to summarize what we think we've learned so far (interested in anyone correcting us on our conceptions here...):

PUBLIC SCHOOLS: the "4Ws" (Wootton, Whitman, Walter Johnson, and (?wheaton or Winston Churchill I forget)) & BCC are the best public high schools per our realtor; Apparently Richard Montgomery in Rockville is good. Haven't researched elementary schools, though...

NEIGHBORHOODS: Be interested in what you think of King Farm. We're going with our realtor in a few weeks -- certain neighborhoods are Richard Montgomery school district, and apparently there's mixed zoning with retail and whatnot. However, I'm unsure if its one of those developments where all the trees are shorter than me, and if it's a "choose between 8 house designs" kind of community...

Old Farm in Rockville ("Northern Bethesda") was a charming neighborhood our realtor showed us and that we're definitely interested in...We're going back there in a few weeks also. (We're looking at a March/April buying timeframe, to close in June). There were definitely "character" older homes there, walkable to the elementary school, and the community seemed to be centered around the local pool. Everyone's backyard had some kiddie sporting equipment in it, which we really liked...

Bethesda: We have yet to see anything in this area that we really liked -- mostly smaller houses (as in ~1800sq ft living space) that we couldn't bring ourselves to seriously consider. But we're still hoping...

Chevy Chase: Worse story than Bethesda. Housing <$1mil simply too small for us. Also, unsure if it's got true young "community" vibe -- kind of reminds me of the Boston suburb I grew up in, where there were lots of uber-rich older folks who begrudgingly passed tax hikes to keep up the schools, etc...

Kensington: We haven't seen any houses there yet, but are very, very interested in the area. This is why we'd love to hear how your search pans out! Will re-post once we go tour the areas some more with our realtor in the coming weeks!

[lovekensington]

We moved to Kensington in August and love it. My husband grew up in Bethesda and we're able to walk to the Metro, White Flint Mall, our neighborhood pool, etc. The houses were all built in the 1950's but are easy to make additions to. Garrett Park and Garrett Park Estates are both great neighborhoods and are in the Walter Johnson cluster.

Good luck!

[njmom8]

Hi everyone! Great info! We are moving to the DC area this summer from NJ. We are visiting in a couple weeks for the first time. I also am looking for (something similar to what I have now) a family friendly, walkable community w/ charming older homes and great schools...

Here are some questions:

Are all of the elementary schools in Kensington great? Is there any kind of downtown? Can people walk to school/ shopping/ library from home? Is there a town pool (public or private)? Are the people nice? There does not seem to be a whole lot on the market in the 700-850 range...

What is the feel of Bethesda? Is it really large? How is the downtown (usable shopping, city like restaurants)? Is it family oriented? Are most of the schools good? and is each "neighborhood" kind of like its own small town?

Have you checked out NW DC (palisades, au park, and chevy chase in DC)? What was the feel there?

Thank you for all your info....please update us on what you find...

[Kensington]

To answer the most recent postings,

There are 4 elementary schools that serve Kensington addresses. Kensington-Parkwood elementary and Rosemary Hills elementary feed into the best highschools out of the four. If you are looking in the over $600,000 range, all of those houses are going to be in the Walter Johnson (KP Elem)or Bethesda Chevy-Chase (RH Elem) highschool clusters. Kensington is very walkable with sidewalks everywhere. KP is definitely walkable from the surrounding neighborhood, but I'm just not sure where Rosemary Hills is located. There is a small downtown with antique stores, a few boutiques, and a couple of eateries, and a small train station with a commuter rail stop. There are many nice parks, and definitely "family friendly" activities like a labor day parade and festival and a 4th of July bike parade. It is definitely more suburban than parts of Bethesda and close-in Chevy Chase. There is no city pool, but there are private pools you can join. I think people are nice here, though I'm from the South, so to me people seem a little cold, but we have a block party every year in my neighborhood, we have an active moms club, and I've never had difficulty meeting people. This whole area is one big urban/suburban conglomeration, so I think you have to get out really far to have a real "small town" feel.

Bethesda is huge. The downtown is urban with highrises, fine dining, and good shopping. Montgomery Co. is very family friendly in general with lots of great community centers, activities and classes for kids, parks, etc. I would not consider neighborhoods of Bethesda like towns unto themselves. Shopping and restaurants are concentrated either near (or in) Montgomery Mall and then in downtown Bethesda. I would guess that most single family homes in the 750,000 - 800,000 range in Bethesda are not walkable to shopping and restaurants. All of the schools that serve Bethesda are considered good as well.

King Farm is a new development across from Shady Grove metro stop. It has new larger townhomes and condos. It is a new community so landscaping and such hasn't matured, and it is definitely new cookie cutter houses where people picked from a few different floor plans. Honestly though, I think the whole DC area is a bore of cookie cutter style houses, it's just that most of them are old so I guess that means they have "character". You'll have neighborhoods of cookie cutter style colonials, capes, and splits. It just depends on when the neighborhood was built. King Farm does have retail you can walk to, and they used to have a shuttle bus that went from the community to the metro.

As for NW DC, I think that out of palisades, au park and Chevy Chase, DC, I would pick Chevy Chase as the best for proximity to restaurants/shopping and ease of commuting into downtown. Chevy Chase, MD is great and has that same proximity (if close enough to the DC border) but also has great middle and highschools. The elementary schools that serve these areas in NW DC are the best in the District, but unfortunately, the middle and highschool situations are not that great.