Takoma Park MD good for a young family? (Silver Spring, Langley Park: apartment, houses)

[Ed_McMuffin]

My wife and <1 year old son are looking to upgrade from our 1BR apartment in Courthouse. Our budget for a SFH will ideally be <$500k. We have often felt frustrated with the price of housing in the DC metro area, to the point that until recently we had given up on finding anything here and were looking at Richmond/Raleigh to raise our family.

We do like walkability and we're very much opposed to moving to the NoVa exurbs. I am of the thought that if you live in a metro area, the city center should not be too far away to visit easily on the weekend. We also really like green space/wooded areas. Basically neighborhoods like the Palisades and far NW DC are our dream neighborhoods, but obviously way out of our range.

A short commute is also very important to us. Right now we both work downtown.

So, after nearly giving up, we realized that housing in Takoma Park might be within our range, and I realized it is in MoCo, not PGC like I had always thought. This makes me feel better about the schools. We are also both very liberal so we like that about the vibe.

We drove through it Saturday and liked the feel of it. So my question is, are we missing anything? Is it a good area for people like us? Is it a good place to raise a family? Is it safe? Are the houses that are under $500k all in a 'bad part' of the neighborhood? Which areas of the neighborhood should we avoid?

Are there any other parts of the DC metro area we should be looking at? Our main concerns again are:

-Good public schools
-Green space
-SFH <$500k
-Safe
-Walkable

[DistrictSonic]

I can confirm that takoma park is a safe walkable community, with lots of green space.
With regards to the schools, as long as you stick to old Takoma area of Takoma park you are likely to be happy. Likewise this section is closer to the metro station.

I just did a search, some of the houses available under $500k are in the nicer part of Takoma Park. Anything close to Carrol Ave and West to Sligo is a good bet.

There is one bad elementry school in Takoma Park, and two good/decent ones. (Piney Branch, Takoma Park Elementry).

It is a beautiful community and in your budget. People fall in love with it for good reason, whether they be on the DC side with Takoma or in Takoma Park, MD.

[papichulo2]

its a good area piney branch is little rough but not to bad in downtown TP. its actually a really family friendy area all around.

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by papichulo2

its a good area piney branch is little rough but not to bad in downtown TP. its actually a really family friendy area all around.

Piney Branch is not so bad in the old takoma park portion. Again, as a general recomendation, just keep west of sligo river. Though the real issues are around the long branch.

They may also want to look into Silver Spring...There are some places in their budget there too in some decent neighborhoods.

[papichulo2]

Originally Posted by DistrictSonic

Piney Branch is not so bad in the old takoma park portion. Again, as a general recomendation, just keep west of sligo river. Though the real issues are around the long branch.

They may also want to look into Silver Spring...There are some places in their budget there too in some decent neighborhoods.

long branch is my hood but true

[bufflove]

One thing OP might be "missing" is the city property taxes (on top of the regular state/county property tax). You'll have to take that into your budget consideration. Generally, $500K is quite low for Takoma Park (avg. home is in the $650-750K range), so you will be making a sacrifice to get into that neighborhood for that price, e.g. a smaller lot or on a busier street, etc. Also keep in mind that Langley Park's poor reputation is well-earned, so avoid getting too close to University Blvd., if you can help it.

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by bufflove

One thing OP might be "missing" is the city property taxes (on top of the regular state/county property tax). You'll have to take that into your budget consideration. Generally, $500K is quite low for Takoma Park (avg. home is in the $650-750K range), so you will be making a sacrifice to get into that neighborhood for that price, e.g. a smaller lot or on a busier street, etc. Also keep in mind that Langley Park's poor reputation is well-earned, so avoid getting too close to University Blvd., if you can help it.

The weird thing about Takoma Park is while the typical home is up there, there are actually a good number of nice homes which are well located (meaning west of Sligo in old Takoma Park) in their budget.

Both Takoma Park and Takoma, DC are expensive though.

[bufflove]

Originally Posted by DistrictSonic

The weird thing about Takoma Park is while the typical home is up there, there are actually a good number of nice homes which are well located (meaning west of Sligo in old Takoma Park) in their budget.

Both Takoma Park and Takoma, DC are expensive though.

According to redfin.com 8 out of the 22 houses in Takoma Park <$500K, which isn't a terrible %, but my main point was that there will be options in that budget, but those options will be cheaper for a reason. Of those 8 <$500K:
2 are within 2 blocks of Langley Park
2 are in poor condition and back up to those massive power transmission lines that make up the southern border of TP/next to PG.
1 is in poor condition and backs up to a school
1 is on Carroll Ave (a pretty high-traffic street) and is unrenovated/no AC
1 is renovated, but directly on New Hampshire Ave
1 is in average condition, but is only within budget because it's much smaller than the avg TP home - only 960 sqft (cost is still over $450/sqft, so not really cheap even though it's sub-$500K).

Any underpriced home in TP will have multiple offers, as it should, so I just hope OP has their expectations in-check.

[Ed_McMuffin]

Thanks very much for all the good responses. Are there any other areas that people like us maybe should look at? I saw someone mentioned Silver Spring, but it is quite large. Any specific parts of that or other areas to consider?

[DistrictSonic]

Originally Posted by Ed_McMuffin

Thanks very much for all the good responses. Are there any other areas that people like us maybe should look at? I saw someone mentioned Silver Spring, but it is quite large. Any specific parts of that or other areas to consider?

Silver Spring is quite large, the area around downtown Silver Spring is not. There are two schools that are zoned for that area, namely where Sligo Creek and Woodlin Elementry, both of which are good. I am pretty sure there are a few houses in your budget in the area. But I will have to check. In general though the area Woodlin is zoned for, SW Silver Spring, may be a good fit. There are houses right at your budget level.