Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We don't live in DC yet. I've accepted a job with a federal agency. I'm supposed to start my job in December or January. This agency has daycare, but we've been on the waitlist since May '10 and they don't think they'll look at the waitlist again until June '11 and even then, we're #63! I figure that I can't count on this working out for at least a year, even though it is a good and affordable option.
We're looking for temporary housing, but we plan to buy a house in a year or so.
A complicating factor? My partner is interviewing for a job in Baltimore but we probably won't know if that'll work out for at least another month, maybe 2. (Otherwise, he'll telecommute with his current job.) If he was certainly working in Baltimore, we'd live in Silver Spring and start investigating daycares there.
BUT, if he isn't working in Baltimore, I'm not sure if we'd want to be in Silver Spring. Seems like a pretty long commute if only 1 of us needs to work outside the home.
In the meantime, I'm putting my 2-year-old on a few waitlists near Foggy Bottom (Smithsonian, U.S. Kids, maybe Fingerprints and GW Bright Horizons - suggestions welcomed), but frankly, I'd rather not commute in with him and from what I've read on here, there are some downsides to downtown daycares. Plus, if the waitlists are over a year, what's the point of paying another waitlist fee?
Thus, we need to figure out what neighborhoods we might move to and start putting him on daycare waitlists there.
So, my question for you is: If you had a commute to Foggy Bottom and could choose your neighborhood based on daycare/preschool availability, but keeping in mind that a commute to Baltimore (thus access to the Red Line) may be in the works, what neighborhoods would you look at?
Other concerns:
- we have pets, including a senior dog -- thus, houses are better than highrises
- we're planning on only having 1 car
- we're moving from a very expensive place, so anything under $3000/month sounds like a deal to us
Have you considered Rosslyn, VA?
It's across the river from Foggy Bottom and has a stock of good townhomes. If you're going to work for Dept of State or USAID, they run a shuttle bus from the metro station to the main campus and FSI. We have a friend who's an FSO who lived in this area when she was state-side.
If it weren't for the Baltimore complication, I'd say anywhere along the Metro Orange line, with an emphasis on the Virginia Square area. There's a lot of single family homes and townhouses north and south of this corridor.
If you want to stay in DC, look near the Metro Red line, with an emphasis around the Cleveland park, Woodley Park, or Van Ness areas.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
