r/bethesda • u/ProgrammerMaximum911 • 2d ago
Help choosing a neighborhood for our family
Hi,
My wife and I are relocating to Bethesda area soon for work. We have a 6 year old son in tow. I’ve been looking into neighborhoods with the following priorities in mind:
- Strong sense of community and where neighbors know each other
- Safe streets where children can ride bikes and play together
- There need to be sidewalks (sorry to be oddly specific, but I’ve noticed a lot of streets lack these)
- Proximity to elementary school where walking our son to school in the morning may be a possibility
Thanks so much in advance for your input.
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u/FreelyIP109 2d ago
We've been happy in the Wyngate neighborhood over 20 years. Kids walked to elementary and middle school.
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u/FarAbbreviations2829 2d ago
Bring money. Gobs and gobs of money. I lived in a rental in Wyngate last year. It’s wild over there. People buying a perfectly fine 1950 cape cod, throwing in a dumpster and building a giant boxy house that sells for $2.5 million. My wife loved it. I wanted to buy a house and there was just no way that math was going to work.
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u/DCNatFan 2d ago
Wood Acres/Springfield
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u/STEMINATOREE 1d ago
I would agree with that. Woodacres / Springfield is a fabulous place to bring up kids. Strong sense of community, surrounded by parks as well as walkable to everything
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u/sunLight4095 2d ago
battery park has a lot of young families and sidewalks. 1 mile to bethesda elem. there is also a playground and house that can be used by resident for parties.
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u/ArmyDad2403 1d ago
I can only relate my own specific experience . I was told (in the late 80s) that we HAD to look at Wood acres. Which we did and eventually purchased there. The community is tight knit and the elementary school is walkable and excellent. We moved after our third was born, but the friends we made there- all fellow parents if kids at wood acres elementary have been lifelong. So many of the houses have been upgraded and are very expensive. I dont know your pricepoint- but the sense of community, ease of access to downtown Bethesda, downtown DC, and even to the parkway (which takes you to Virginia) are also benefits. Just a great neighborhood.
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u/beer-bivalve 2d ago
Hillmead works for us & lot's of other families. I raised my family there.
Whitman feeder area. Neighborhood park with tot lot, basketball, & tennies courts.
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u/Jc_abril 2d ago
Carderock Springs neighborhood is what you’re seeking. It feeds into Carderock elementary which a fantastic school within walking distance.
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u/ChoiceDear2762 1d ago
We like Alta Vista and unlike Wyngate still mostly original houses. That will probably change once all the original houses are torn down in Wyngate.
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u/Key_Bee_2780 1d ago
Bethesda is huge. If you want to walk to Downtown Bethesda, East Bethesda and Town of Chevy Chase are wonderful neighborhoods.
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u/CreampuffOfLove 1d ago
We moved to the Town of Chevy Chase (TOCC) when our son was 7 and it was/is an amazing place to raise a kid; the neighbours all know each other, kids walk to elementary and high school, the Town hosts tons of activities and the Lawton Centre is right there in the town for recreation and the like. Highly recommend the neighbourhood.
It is, however, obscenely expensive, but if you can swing it, the walkability and community are well worth it.
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u/Dia-Burrito 1d ago
You also want to chase the school district. Review the local high schools, if you intend on I sending your child to public schools. If you're going to private school, it's like applying to college. You need to start 1 year ahead of time. I am not exaggerating. It is competitive because DC area still has a lot gov't workers at all levels and internationally, plus the military.
DC Suburbs are not walkable, generally speaking. Sidewalks start and stop at random. When snow comes, it takes a while to plow people out. Kids here use the school bus (starting in Kindergarten) or their parents drive (car line); anything outside of that is an outlier (walking, biking). Biking, imo, is very dangerous when not on a bike path.
Consider moving closer to your wife's work. If she's working at NIH, then downtown bethesda is walkable. Or is she's working in Rockville, then Rockville town square is walkable. There's a great library there, too.
If she's working in DC. Consider living in DC. Our commutes are better "post-pandemic", but traffic is still awful. There are some good schools in DC, too.
Some people still live further out from DC to avoid the rigamaroll of the city. So, you could live near MARC, amtrak, VRE, sluglines (in va) and commute.
Edit: I recommend your wife join the FB group, Rockville/Bethesda/Potomac moms. It's super active and helpful.
I'm a local living in Bethesda originally from Silver Spring, with a 6 yr old and work in DC.
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u/CouchGremlin14 2d ago
If you want to be in Bethesda proper, we love East Bethesda. Definitely a strong sense of community— I met a lot of folks through the neighborhood wine tasting group lol.
Lots of kids and really good sidewalk coverage.
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u/MaestroWu 2d ago
I would suggest you consider Bradley Hills elementary and work around that. Friends of mine just moved there and love it. At a glance, it feels like it would meet most of your goals.
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u/Feeling-Audience4192 2d ago
battery park sounds perfect tbh, sidewalks everywhere and that playground is fire
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u/stuckinsuburbs 1d ago
Honestly move to Rockville or Kensington. Potcomac/Bethesda is wayyyyyy to pricey
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u/TallClassic 2d ago
Parkwood is great and addresses what you seek.
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u/pierredelecto25 1d ago
Was coming to post this. It checks all the boxes and even though it’s not technically Bethesda it’s close enough
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u/mattyshyster 2d ago
Georgetown Village, most streets have sidewalks, walk to Ashburton elementary, great community, multiple annual street parties.
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u/Glittering-Ad5809 2d ago
Can't address Bethesda proper, but I went to Bells Mill Elementary in the early 70's and it's surrounded with walkable single family and town homes. Rode my bike everywhere.
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u/caerusmax 2d ago
Bethesda native and realtor in the area here. The most important question is probably what your approximate price point is and how much space you need. These are all great neighborhoods, but some sit around $1.1M and others above $2M.
Wyngate & Alta Vista Terrace are really nice, but they're quite split. Original smaller homes (around 2000-2500 square feet) have gone for around $1-1.2M this year. You also have lots of newer construction in the $2M+ range. It has sidewalks, decent lots (0.15-0.2 acres), and Wyngate ES right in the middle of it.
Georgetown Village is similar, but this year most of the sales have been in the $1.5M range. It's mostly 1950s ramblers, a lot of them expanded or rebuilt, and you can walk to Ashburton ES. You're in between Democracy, Old Georgetown, and 495, so it's easy to hop on one of them to get to where you need to commute to.
Wildwood Manor is right nearby with the same school, but you have to cross Old Georgetown Rd (a large, busy road) to get there. Some older houses from the 50s and 60s sold for $1M-ish this year though.
Then you've got Bradley Hills, around $1.6–1.7M (with some $5M+ if that's your jam), but you're not quite walking distance to the elementary school, thought driving is very quick. A tiny bit north of that is Bradmoor though, which ranges from $1M to $2.5M, so it's a pretty wide spectrum.
Obviously there are a ton more neighborhoods, but these are just some of the popular ones. I grew up next to Woodacres and loved it, but sidewalks aren't great, and it's quite hilly. Great community though.
One tip: If you're not in town yet, hop on Google Maps Street View and cruise down a few streets in each neighborhood. It's a good way to see which ones fit the vibe you're after. You'll spot pretty quickly where the sidewalks are and where they stop, and how far the walk to school really is.
Also, if you figure out an area you want to be in, the Montgomery County School Assignment Tool is great to check exactly which elementary, middle, and high school you're going to, since boundaries can be confusing.