Moving to Bethesda or Silver Spring???? (apartment complexes, renting, house)
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Help! I will be moving to the Silver Spring / Bethesda area June 2008 and I am not certain as to where I should live. I know that Bethesda is an expensive area and I have been advised that SS is just as nice but inexpensive. What areas within SS should I stay away from? I also have two school age kids so it is important that I get in a good area that has great schools...
Any advice from all the DC/Maryland folks?
What areas are best?
How are the schools (elementary and middle)?
What schools would you recommend?
Crime?
Cost of Living?
Employment?
Bethesda has better schools, but if your kids can get into a magnet school or you can afford private school, then it won't really matter anyway. The downside to Bethesda (I had 4 cousins at BCC) is that there is a money /snobby culture in a lot of the schools and neighborhoods.
I find Silver Spring to be more real and grounded, but the schools have some shaky reputations. There are many nice homes in Silver Spring that are much cheaper than Bethesda and comparable. The only areas I would avoid are the apartment complexes really close to the DC border in downtown SS (names escape me off hand) as that area is a bit shady, but that is changing quickly. It sounds to me like you'd be happier further away from downtown Silver Spring and closer to the Bethesda/SS divide (410 and Beach Drive area comes to mind).
In any case, you can't go too wrong in Montgomery County schools so don't be paranoid. This isn't Compton or Harlem.
Thank you~This is great info. I have been looking at the schools report cards and the magnet schools in SS aren't all that good either. A private school unfortunately is not an option so I must rely on public or magnet for a good education for my kids. I have read several of the reviews for the middle schools within the SS area and it seems that they are just OK schools and fighting is a bit much. I don't want to be in a money driven area but I do want somewhere nice, safe and of course great schools for the kids.
I think finding somewhere near the Bethesda/SS border would be more suitable. Between Bethesda and Silver Spring would they both be comparable in regards to having something to do as a family and as a single adult. I am a city girl (from CA) but moved NY and now in ATL. So I need to be apart of the city life; I don't want to be somewhere the atmosphere is very quite. Your thoughts?
Silver Spring is very urban and a good area. You are right there near the metro, so you can get to the action (downtown) under an hour. Plus downtown SS is now a hot spot for nightlife and activity. Montgomery County schools are some of the best in the nation. You'll be fine.
I've been told (and GreatSchools.net backs it up) that Woodlin is probably the best elementary in the SS area; the best middle school would be Takoma Park (not really SS but close). Middle school is probably the tougher situation in SS, but what the above poster said about magnets is true. In any case, if you go to Montgomery County Schools (Division of Long-range Planning) you will find a locater which will tell what address feeds into what schools; there are also maps of school boundaries if you look at the links at the left (Department of Planning and Capital Programming). Good Luck!
re: magnet schools; some of the magnets draw from the entire county. These are small programs embedded in a larger school, so statistics for the school as a whole are not indicative of statistics for the magnet itself.
I went to Takoma back when it was only 7-8 (I think it is now 6-7-8), and the only thing that was bad was that it was extremely overcrowded; in the intervening decades, the building was razed and completely rebuilt, and presumably has greater capacity. I don't remember any real issues with safety/fighting, although the school has probably been redistricted since with the opening of SSI in the old Blair building and the annexation of the remainder of Takoma Park into Montgomery.
I'd suggest you look at The Claridge House apartments in Silver Spring.
I used to live there and noticed that the kids who lived in the building went to Bethesda- Chevy Chase High school. I assume that would mean that, even though it's mailing address was in SS, the school district was Bethesda.
Either way, it's worth a look, clean, no crime, and a lot less than what you'd pay in Bethesda or CC.
Thank you~This is great info. I have been looking at the schools report cards and the magnet schools in SS aren't all that good either. A private school unfortunately is not an option so I must rely on public or magnet for a good education for my kids. I have read several of the reviews for the middle schools within the SS area and it seems that they are just OK schools and fighting is a bit much. I don't want to be in a money driven area but I do want somewhere nice, safe and of course great schools for the kids.
I think finding somewhere near the Bethesda/SS border would be more suitable. Between Bethesda and Silver Spring would they both be comparable in regards to having something to do as a family and as a single adult. I am a city girl (from CA) but moved NY and now in ATL. So I need to be apart of the city life; I don't want to be somewhere the atmosphere is very quite. Your thoughts?
Kensington is a good compromise in cost and the schools that it feeds into. If you can afford 20852 (Rockville/North Bethesda) Walter Johnson High School is excellent. It is not the city. But the "city" does not have good schools. If you want "city" and good schools then live in Chevy Chase but it is $$$$$!
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