A reader writes:
My husband may be transferred to the Washington, DC, area. Do you know of any crunchy-con friendly neighborhoods around the District? Ideally we'd like to be able to garden in our backyard, but I'm excited about the idea that we might live in a place where I could go walking with our kids as part of daily life. But everything is so expensive there! I hear that Northern Virginia is more family-friendly, partly because of homeschool laws, and partly because of taxes. I guess we'd rent first.
Me, I don't know. I haven't lived there in 13 years. Readers?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Oh, I forgot. Bowie schools are the best in PG County, which means they're pretty bad. But homeschooling is easy, and there are lots of homeschoolers. There are also a lot of private schools if that's your preferred route.
Does anyone have information about Brunswick, MD?
I live in Falls Church city which is a fabulous place to live in - close to Tyson's Corner, 2 metros, Trader Joes, great Saturday market, freeway access, lots of cool ethnic restaurants and some of the best schools in the state. I have really enjoyed northern Virginia, land of great wineries and Skyline Drive hikes. That said, I am *moving* to Maryland - much closer to the District (where I work) cuz of the commute and the need to be back at my daycare by 6 - pretty hard when one is driving back into Virginia on those awful bridges. If anyone wants to buy a 2-bdrm condo in FC, let me know!
The Peoples Republic of Takoma Park is beats all DC locales for crunchiness, believe me but the prices for homes are a little high. I'm looking at the city of Hyattsville which has taken on an art district and is really coming up in terms of coolness. There's a bunch of homeschooling Catholics there who are trying to draw in like-minded folks to form an unofficial and supportive community.
I notice hardly any one on this blog is suggesting folks come live in the District!
Although a couple others have mentioned it here, I'm surprised more haven't recommended Hyattsville, Md. There is no other suburb that combines affordability, walkability, and crunchiness like Hyattsville. The only caveat is that the crunchy cons are overwhelmingly Catholic there -- just a smattering of Evangelicals and Eastern Orthodox. Lots of homeschoolers but also two large parochial grade schools and DeMatha Catholic H.S.____See the link above for a summary of community features that would be of interest to at least some crunchy-cons. In brief, though, if you'd like to live in a small town that is 1 mile from D.C. and has two Metro stations in its 2 square miles, yet also two branches of the Anacostia River (the American Discovery Trail and East Coast Greenway wending their way through more than 200 acres of parkland), and purchase a Victorian or Craftsman home in its National Historic District for half the price of less charming homes in other inside-the-Beltway areas, this could be the place for you. ____Hyattsville, because of the qualities above and its "front-porch" neighborhoods, has become sort of a collection of intentional communities, most of them pretty crunchy. Whether lib or con, though, the shared values are that community life and family life are pre-eminent values that take precedence over the usual Washington status obsession. If you're a crunchy con, there are everything from daily Mom's walks along the river to book clubs, prayer and scripture study groups, evening prayer and potluck get-togethers, active listservs, home-schooling co-op, shared deliveries from CSAs and other organic produce, dairy and meat producers, co-operative gardening and home-improvement projects, etc., etc. ____The crunchy Catholic community in Hyattsville has been written up this year in the Building Catholic Communities Initiative newsletter and InsideCatholic.com, and is growing steadily in spite of the current real-estate slump (which hasn't effected Hyattsville as much as most other areas). ____Check out the Web page and click on "Home" to get my contact info if you'd like to learn more ...
SOrry, for some reason my name and Web link didn't publish in the last post. Trying again here ... -
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.