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Follow up question on where to live

darkskyydarkskyy member
in D.C. Area Babies

I posted a few days ago, but I have things narrowed down a bit more now, and I change my grad school plans.

We live in the NYC area, but DH just got a job in DC. The grad school program I'm now hoping to get into is at University of Maryland College Park.

We THINK we want to live near Silver Spring, but we don't really know the area.

Is that a reasonable choice for a young family? What surrounding towns are also good options?  We'll be renting til I'm done with school, since we are losing money on the sale of our current house. So we want "affordable" - which I know is a relative term. Any specific parts of town to avoid? DS will end up in starting kindergarten while we still live there, so public schools are important.

 

 

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Re: Follow up question on where to live

  • pgros005pgros005 member

    Silver Spring can be a dicier part of the area; that's just my opinion. We looked there as well, and it just didn't feel right. My husband and I live in Derwood, which is a tiny "town" right next to Rockville. I like it. I would also avoid Gaithursburg. Derwood/Rockville/Bethesda/Chevy Chase/Potomac all have fabulous public schools. The last 3 on that list are a bit expensive, but I don't know how rents are around there. 

     

    Silver Spring, I find, also has a lot more busy streets to deal with. In the end, though, I'm sure you'll find nice places any where. I would try to find places with decent metro access- especially if YH is working in DC. My DH and I both work in Rockville and we still have a 25 minute commute.  

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  • JtaxsonJtaxson
    Can't help too much because we are in va suburbs but we have friends who live in Bethesda, Chevy chase and silver spring. The public schools are better in Bethesda and Chevy chase but the area is much more expensive because of this. There are good areas with good public schools, especially elementary, in silver spring but you have to look more closely. Try starting your search on feedback from dcurbanmom.com or citydata.com
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  • ncarverncarver member
    We live in Olney and love it. Great schools and a very nice community. There are many nice parts to Silver Spring though too, just look around and check out the stats for the neighborhood schools wherever you look. Silver Spring is huge!
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  • JayMoonbeamJayMoonbeam

    We live in North Bethesda. I agree with pgros005 in that Rockville, Potomac, North Bethesda, and Bethesda have excellent schools. Silver Spring should also have fairly good schools, depending on the area as it is a large town.

    Here are a couple of resources you might find helpful:

    https://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/

    https://www.publicschoolreview.com/county_schools/stateid/MD/county/24031 

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  • JRWies22JRWies22 member

    I just saw your post after stumbling across this board.  I'm not sure if you still need any assistance but I'd be happy to help if so.  DH and I rent in Rockville (about 1 mile south of Gaithersburg) and we both work in Greenbelt (near College Park).  I cannot speak enough about Montgomery County!  Silver Spring is huge and has pockets of both good and bad areas.  You definitely have to be selective on where to choose in the area.  I don't know much about schools as we are only at the TTC stage.  If time allows, I would HIGHLY recommend talking to a realtor.  Thats what we did when moving to DC metro from Ohio and it was a huge help in finding the right place fast.  

    I can sympathize with the struggles of moving!  Feel free to message me if I can offer any assistance.  

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  • TinaMabelTinaMabel member

    Not sure if you still need info, but I grew up in PG county, went to UMCP for undergrad, and lived in Takoma Park (overlooking Sligo Creek - literally 5 minutes away from downtown Silver Spring), and now live in northern VA.  Since graduating college I've always worked in downtown DC and commuted via train.  The previous posters are right.  Silver spring is a pretty big town....there's downtown Silver Spring, and the suburb like areas.  The suburb areas are a toss up; even some of the nicer looking areas have some sketchy people.  I absolutely loved living in Takoma Park (not to be confused with Langley Park)...the Sunday afternoon walks along Sligo Creek with the dog were great!  But I can't speak for the quality of their school systems.

    But FWIW, I don't think you should count Northern VA out.  If you stay near the metro https://www.wmata.com/rail/maps/map.cfm? (i.e. Braddock Rd., King Street, Eisenhower) your husband can take the metro to work, you can always metro to UMCP (they have a shuttle that goes from the metro to campus every few minutes), and I've heard that those areas have great schools.  I've heard particularly good things about the schools in the Del Ray area of Alexandria (near Braddock Rd. and King Street metro stations).

    ETA:  I was born in NYC and all of my extended family still lives there :-)  So I still visit from time to time...

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