Where in DC with teens and a liberal attitude? (Washington: transfer, neighborhood)

[Sim]

Hi,
I´ll be moving to DC with my husband, college aged son teenage daughter & our dogs. I´m a Brazilian University Psychology professor and involved in activism in the areas of environment & education. We´re vegetarians, politically liberal, environmentally concerned. .. We´ve lived in London and in Massachusetts.

My husband will be working in the Foggy Bottom area of DC. My son will be going to college (where not sureyet), but the real issue seems to be finding a school for my daughter.

We´d love to find somewhere safe, culturally diverse, with easy acess to downtown DC, pet-friendly, with good places for hiking, and some nearby facilities like a farmer´s market would be great. I´d be OK with hiding out in the woods but of course the kids aren´t too keen on that. We loved the sense of community where we lived in Mass, even though it was a pretty conservative area. The kids went to schools that were ethnically diverse and we appreciated that. I´ve browsed the public school system in DC and it seems like a lot of people move out by the time their kids are in high school but maybe that´s a bad impression I´m getting. I keep reading about gangs run down schools and the like....so I´m wondering whether MD would be our only option

But I´d really not like to end up in a manicured artificial newly developed area, and also I´m concerned about the receptivity to foreigners. We felt very welcome in Massachusetts and our neighborhood, even though it wasn´t hip, was happy and supportive.

So, does that place (hip, community-oriented, liberal, with a good school for a teenager, access to organic foods, pet friendly and convenient to downtown DC & safe) exist outside my dreams???

Any ideas will be most welcome.- even the ones telling me places I want to avoid

Thanks!
Si

[dullnboring]

You may want to look into Takoma Park. There is more info about it in this forum that you can find. It is renowned as the most liberal part of the DC area and is located right on the border of DC in Maryland, with a Metro station giving you access to downtown DC in some 20 minutes (Foggy Bottom will be probably a bit more due to a transfer). It's an older diverse suburb with a community feel to it. I'm not sure about organic food and farmer's markets and the like, but I'd imagine just based on it's reputation that such things are there, and if not, then surely, they're within a short drive/ride away.

Arlington and Alexandria in Virginia are two places you may want to check out as well, both liberal and with easy access to DC, and actually, Arlington offers the quickest access to Foggy Bottom. The public schools in DC are not good. If you do choose to live in DC, the best public high school is Wilson so it's best to stay within it's boundaries. Generally though, most people who have the resources to do so, send their children to private school in DC, or move out of the city in order for their children to attend better schools in the suburbs. The school systems in Montgomery County, and Arlington are both well-renowned, as are Fairfax and Howard counties although those are a bit further out. There are some schools that are better than others within the school system which you can read up on (test scores and such) on the school board websites, but as a whole, they're great school systems.

You shouldn't have any problem as foreigners in any of these areas. The DC area is very multicultural and tolerant.

[cynchi3]

Hi Sim
i have lived in the washington metropolitan area for about 10 years now. I just graduated from AU in DC.
Dc is very diverse and for the most part everyone respects each other's opinions, whetther they are liberal or conservative. I never lived in the actual city, because it's too expensive for me. But there are great neighborhood surrounding the city. It all depends on what you can afford. I don't know about Virginia, but in Maryland, there are a couple places that you can look into. There is Bethesda which is right next to the city and has a metro stop. Bethesda also has a good public school called Bethesda Chevy Chase high school. They also have a farmer's market, and tons of great multi-cultural restaurants. Right next to Bethesda is Friendship Heights, which is part of DC, but is mainly suburbs. It's a nice area with some upscale shops. A little further away from Bethesda is the grovesnor area which gives you a 30 min metro commute to the heart of the city. Both areas are nice residential areas. Towards the other side of DC you can consider downtown Silver Spring. In general Montgomerty County (to which these cities belong to) have the best public schools in the area, with a very diverse student body. DC itself has crappy schools, I don't know how good Wilson is to be honest. If you are looking for diversity in public schools, DC falls short, for it is mainly blacks and hispanics. The schools in Montgomery County are really diverse for the most part, from asian, white, hispanic, blacks, and interacial students.
The Tenley town area in Washington DC is also a very nice area to live in
In all, the people here are nice. They mainly mind their own business, so don't think that they are rude if they are not heart warming people, it's just that they rather not be intrusive. It really all depends on what neighborhood you live in.
Well good luck and if you have any questions let me know