where to live in MD with family? (Silver Spring, Gaithersburg: crime, townhouses)

[banjoki]

Hello,
My family (2 kids, a 5 yr old and a newborn) is moving to Maryland in May as my husband will be working in Greenbelt. We are going down to buy a house in less than a month and have been doing a lot of online research but are still unsure where to live.

We're looking for the usual family-friendliness, access to parks, good schools, etc. We also highly value a walkable community, where there are places to walk to and is not completely car-dependent. A town with some kind of town center would be nice. We like to bike and so a bike-friendly place would be ideal. We also value places with community activities- farmers markets, moms groups, kids activities, etc.

We have focused on Takoma Park and close-in Silver Spring, but are wondering if we should expand our search as home prices are so high in those areas. (we can go as high as about $650k).

Any ideas for communities within a reasonable commute to Greenbelt?

Thanks!

[tercel95]

I definitely do not recommend Takoma park or Silver Spring for someone trying to raise a family. People swear they are not that bad but I can only see that when compared to the worst areas of PG county or DC itself. I think rockville or olney might be good for you. The schools are pretty good there. Rockville definitely has a more "walkable" community but Olney is a little bit quieter and cheaper...

[lscalder]

Try down town Silver Spring. Takoma Park is also a good option as well.

[Maya1212]

I live in gaithersburg - check out Hidden Creek. It definetly has areas to walk, and the town center where they always have stuff for kids. Rockville and Olney are also nice areas. You can catch metro from most locations.

[firefightermom]

I would not recommend Gaithersburg unless you aim for the 20878 zip code, which is also called North Potomac. The Hidden Creek townhouses are very close to both Olde Towne Gburg and Lakeforest Mall, which are not safe areas.

[Maya1212]

well, firefightermom, I am not sure where do you live but Hidden Creek is very safe area. And yes it is close to the Mall, but only people that were born in MD believe there are gangs here....funy.
Anyways - it's a great area to raise kids in my opinion

[firefightermom]

Originally Posted by Maya1212

well, firefightermom, I am not sure where do you live but Hidden Creek is very safe area. And yes it is close to the Mall, but only people that were born in MD believe there are gangs here....funy.
Anyways - it's a great area to raise kids in my opinion

Maya1212, I am only giving my opinion based on the fact that I lived and worked in the area for 9 years, and my husband grew up in 20886 and is still a county employee. We lived in 20876, which is what your ZIP is on your profile. Certainly didn't mean to offend you, but the OP deserves to hear everyone's opinion. It wasn't good enough to raise my kids, but that's only my opinion. Thanks for sharing yours. You should provide details as to why you think it's a safe community and a great place to raise kids.

I didn't mention gangs...but since you did, I found this very interesting report on gang activity in MoCo...it's a few years old, but gives an idea of the gang activity back then, which would have increased with time. There are maps showing risk areas towards the end, around page 37 or so. http://www.collaborationcouncil.org/publications/data/AssessingGangActivity0904.pdf (broken link). I wasn't born in MD, yet I believe there are gangs here. I guess I don't get your point.

The best thing anyone can do is request a crime report from the area...and I don't just mean the specific development, but major intersections and areas. Hidden Creek should be District 6 of the MoCo police... here's their website to look at the crime stats. MC Department of Police: 6th District

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by firefightermom

I would not recommend Gaithersburg unless you aim for the 20878 zip code, which is also called North Potomac. The Hidden Creek townhouses are very close to both Olde Towne Gburg and Lakeforest Mall, which are not safe areas.

OH PLEASE..you know you make it sound like most ofl Gaithersburg is Ghetto.

How the hell can you look at a ZIP CODE and rule out every single area within it?

Would love to hear from folks who live in Avalon Farms or off of Brink Rd responses to 'only aim for North Potomac'..eesh..both those areas I mentioned are way nicer than pats of Nort Potomac. And even Goshen Estates is nicer....and there are quaint communities inside of Washington Grove that just plain nice for raising a family. My good friend has 5 kids and live in there....

[firefightermom]

Originally Posted by tonyc

OH PLEASE..you know you make it sound like most ofl Gaithersburg is Ghetto.

How the hell can you look at a ZIP CODE and rule out every single area within it?

Would love to hear from folks who live in Avalon Farms or off of Brink Rd responses to 'only aim for North Potomac'..eesh..both those areas I mentioned are way nicer than pats of Nort Potomac. And even Goshen Estates is nicer....

No, you're the one who brought the word ghetto into it...

I have the right to my opinion, just as you do. The better schools for Gaithersburg are in 20878, which is how I based this opinion. Sorry you don't agree

[tonyc]

Originally Posted by firefightermom

No, you're the one who broght the word ghetto into it...I have the right to my opinion, just as you do. The better schools are in 20878, which is how I based this opinion. Sorry you don't agree

I'm going by your past threads; you will give folks the wrong impression of this whole area.

I DO agree with you about the schools though, you won't get any complaint from me there. But you keep putting down the area and generalizing.