DC area moms: where do you live?

[mamica]

My cousin's dh got a new job in DC so they will be moving out there in a few months. I'm helping her with some research about the area, and I thought I would start here. They have 2 dc, so good schools are a priority. They are in a 4 bedroom house about 3000 square feet, and they are thinking they might have to downsize depending on what real estate is like.

Where do you live? What areas do you recommend that are nice, family friendly, etc? Northern Virginia or Maryland? Is DC itself even an affordable option anywhere? My cousin is a SAHM, but her dh will be working right in DC, so access to public transportation and major roadways will be important. What is the housing market like right now?

[bsr8j]

My wife and I live in Centreville, VA, which is in Fairfax County. Both Fairfax County and Montgomery County (in Maryland) are known for their great schools. Loudoun County in VA also has great schools.

The real estate market here is down just like most places. But being "down" in Northern Virginia doesn't mean cheap. If they want to get a 4 BR 3000 sq. ft. house in Fairfax County in a good neighborhood, they're probably looking at anywhere between $500,000 and $700,000. For the most part, the closer they move toward the city, the more expensive the houses are going to be.

I'm not sure where they're moving from, but they need to prepare themselves for the traffic here. Even if you live close to major roadways (66, 495, 95, Route 7) or the Metro, the commutes here are pretty horrendous. I work in DC and live about 35 miles from my office. I leave at 5:45 in the morning so that I can get there in under an hour. Otherwise I'd be spending most of my life in my car.

[Cam&Clay]

We live in Herndon, VA, which is also in Fairfax County. What I like about Herndon is that it is a town within the county, and it has more of the feel of a small town even though we are fairly close to DC. Herndon is very close to all of the major roadways and has a great community center.

I am a teacher for Fairfax County Public Schools, so I feel our schools are superior, of course!

Real estate is down but very expensive here. My family in other parts of VA cannot believe that I live in a $500,000 house, and it's not anywhere near a mansion!

Hope this helps!

Susan
DS 10/98
DS 12/07

[egoldber]

We are also in Fairfax County, but closer in. We live close to the 66/495 interchange. The market here is definitely down, but still very, very expensive. We are actually considering making a pretty major downsize and moving even closer in to DC. DH spends a lot of time in DC and I would like to be in walking distance to metro/grocery/restaurant/library. But his commute into the city is only about 25-35 minutes from where we live now.

My older DD is in the Fairfax County public schools. I like her school overall, but we had an issue with her teacher this year, so its all in what hand you are dealt, KWIM? The FCPS system is HUGE and there is a large amount of variability in the quality of the various schools.

I would not recommend moving into DC unless they are prepared to commit to private school. The DC schools are seriously underfunded.

[mom2binsd]

My best friend lives in Falls Church in a very nice middleclass neighborhood and although their schools are supposed to be great...they have ended up sending their boys to a Catholic school even though they are not the least bit Catholic or even religious..they just found that their school wasn't going to offer what they needed and had been performing worse and worse in the last five years...like anywhere else...within all school districts there are pockets of great, good and not so good....they love living where they are as the commute into the city isn't too bad and Metro access is easy and I'm always so envious of all the great shopping and other attractions nearby.

[LarsMal]

I grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, and there are some great schools in that area. Thing is, you pay for it! DH and I lived in a community- walking distance to the Metro, and DH worked downtown. I think his commute was about 45 minutes to an hour. We sold our 2000 sq ft townhouse two years ago for close to 600K. I know prices have gone down some since we left, but it's still pricey.

We are moving back to the metro DC area in the next 6 months or so and we're looking out in Loudon County. It's pretty far out, but you get a lot for your money- especially right now. Good schools, great communities, but the commute/Toll Road is a big negative.

One of the reasons we've decided to stay on the VA side, though, is because of the great choices for state schools. I know college is still 15 years away for us, but it's something to think about if they plan on being in the area/home for the long haul.

[lowrioh]

OK, I know a lot of people are going to disagree but I would tell them not to ignore Prince George's county.
We've lived in Cheverly for almost 6 years and LOVE it. It is in Prince George's county about a mile from the DC line. The great thing about Cheverly is that it is extremely family friendly, VERY close to the city, directly on a metro line, affordable and doesn't have a lot of the traffic congestion of other areas. There are a lot of SAHMs and the local playground is always full of kids. There are a good mix of homes ranging from 1930's bungalows to big +3000 sq ft homes built in 2000. Right now the most expensive house in town on the market is a 4 bedroom 3.5 bath house for $450K.
The big negative is the schools. Many people in our community send their kids to the local elementary school or try to get their kids into the County run K-6 Montessori or French Immersion programs. The local middle and high schools are pretty bad but there are many "magnet" programs that are good. There are plenty of options for private schools as well (which people can afford because they have a smaller mortgage payment).
Other family friendly towns with schools that are OK in PG county are Greenbelt (what they call Old Greenbelt is my favorite), College Park and University Park.
Good Luck,

[caribbeanmama]

We live in Arlington County (VA) and we ABSOLUTELY love it here. Since Arlington is so close to DC, it definitely feels more citylike than suburbia, particularly along the Metro (subway) corridors. There are many, many quaint residential neighborhoods in Arlington, however. I love it here because DH's commute to his office is like 15 minutes tops (seriously).

Arlington Public Schools are consistently ranked top in the nation, yes the nation. DH is a product of private school education all his life and he is totally comfortable with sending our kids to APS. In particular, we are sending our DS to an elementary school which has a Spanish/English immersion program which is nationally recognized. To have this kind of program in our own backyard is truly phenomenal!

The one thing I don't like about Arlington (and DC area as a whole) - COST!!! It is very expensive to live here. Basically, you don't get much in Arlington in terms of houses. Homes are basically small, old and expensive. A 4 br, 3,000 sq. ft. home in Arlington? Yikes, your cousin may be looking at a starting price of at least $900,000 plus. This would NOT be a newer home at all, perhaps a pre WWII or 1950's home. We live in a tiny home with only two bedrooms. We plan to add on to the house at some point in the future when we really need that third bedroom for DD. This is what a lot of people do here in Arlington. If we were not in Arlington, I would live in the City of Falls Church. HTH!

ETA that Arlington is in VA, of course, as well as the City of Falls Church :-)

[dcmom2b3]

Living in a home that I purchased long before DH and DD were even a twinkle in my eye, as the saying goes.

Executive summary: look to the close-in burbs like N Arlington for a balance between commute, housing cost, and school quality. Best yet, rent something for a while and get a feel for how the whole package works for you.

I love living in the city because everything is so close, though I'll admit that it has become a love-hate relationship now that the school vs. commute question comes into play. Traffic in the metro area is awful at rush hour, can be bad at other times, too. But the schools . . . ARGH.

Public schools in DC aren't uniformly bad, BUT in general the districts with the best public schools are also the most expensive neighborhoods (go figure). In addition, there are charter schools all over the place, some well regarded, others still unproven. It's a fragmented system and therefore difficult to make educated choices, or generalized recommendations. Which is why I need a glass of vino when even considering the topic.

Key Elementary and Horace Mann Elementary are very well regarded -- they serve the Georgetown, Spring Valley, AU Park and Glover Park neighborhoods, I think. Note that none of these neighborhoods have easy subway access, only busses.

There are plenty of excellent, good, and just mediocre private schools in the city, pre-K through 12. But you're looking at a $15-30k per school year, and in many cases an insanely competitive application process.

Real estate prices haven't bottomed out here, but I think that in desirable neighborhoods there won't be any fire sales. Just off the cuff, I think that 2000 sq ft of un-renovated SFH space in a good schools, public trans accessible area in the city is going to run $950K or more.

[M&Mmom]

Just wanted to put in my .02. I grew up in Reston, VA (Fairfax Co) and it was okay. Planned community and all that. When DH went back to grad school he went to George Washington. We stayed with step mom in Rosslyn, VA which was fabulous. Very trendy, could walk across the bridge to Georgetown and 2 blocks to metro. the only downside was living with step mom in a small condo. They were doing a lot of building when we moved so prices may be pretty high there now. After ~4 months we found a house in Wheaton, MD and I loved, loved, loved it. We were a little further out from DC than we wanted to be but we got a 3 bedroom house with a finished basement and an adorable neighborhood. Downtown Wheaton was sooo cute and very ethnic and we were still in walking distance to the metro. We only had one car the whole time we lived there and that was really just so we could travel around a bit on the weekends.