Moving to the Area - Help with Neighborhoods

King Farm in Rockville. Walk to Shady Grove metro, parks, pools, shopping...We love it! Apartments, townhomes, condos and single family homes (renters and owners.)

I would recommend the King Farm community. It's a great community for kids and parents of kids. They have two great parks with playgrounds, tennis courts, picnic tables etc. They also have 3 pools, one of them is indoors. There are a few stores within the community supermarket, coffee shop, icecream shop, beauty salon, a couple of restaurants etc.- but not much more than that. The good thing is that is is within walking distance from the Metro ( red line Shady Grove station) and there also are shuttles that go to and from the metro which is great on cold or hot days. You'll probably be able to find a house or townhouse for rent there but they also have nice spacious apartments and condos. Just be aware that different parts of King Farm are under different management so all the rental listings may not be in one place.Try apartmentguide.com. I just moved from an apartment at the "Huntington at King farm". My husband and I bought a house nearby but I really do miss living there. Good Luck.

I love Woodmoor. It's a really great neighborhood in Silver Spring, tucked behind Four Corners (University and Colesville). It's got a real community feel with lots of young families and a great support system. The neighborhood association organizes lots of annual events (like Octoberfest, July 4 parade, Christmas events, fundraisers for local people/charities in need, etc.). I belong to the moms yahoo group for Woodmoor and every time someone has a baby they organize a few weeks of meals from other families in the neighborhood. I know that there are some rentals available right now. I'd suggest getting in touch with Judy Hanrahan (wasn't my agent, but I've heard that she's great and is the most knowledgeable person around about Woodmoor). Don't have her contact info, but I'm sure she's findable on the web.
Good luck!
A.

Hi A.!

I hope your move goes well. You might try looking in the downtown Silver Spring area. My family is in a similar situation. My husband is working in DC and we travel everywhere using the metro system. He commutes on the Silver Spring metro and it is reasonable commute time. My family just moved from an apartment into a home recently (renting) and there seems to be quite a few options in the area. Also, it is close to the Olney area. I believe both Olney and Leisure World are Silver Spring addresses. Also, we learned that the Montgomery School system is a good one. My daughter is now 28 months old and I've taken her to lots of great kid friendly events/programs in the area. The newly renovated Silver Spring downtown area has lots of family friendly events scheduled throughout the year. We are already preparing for the Halloween event they host every year.

Anywhere near downtown Silver Spring is great. There are families everywhere and plenty of cultural things to do and metro accessible if you're going to be walking with a stroller a lot. On the other hand, Takoma Park is simply a microcosm of every other gentrified area in metropolitan Washington. There are unsafe areas and underperforming schools in any city. Takoma Park has an outstanding library, it's beautiful (especially in the fall), and some of its areas are, I believe, preserved history districts. There is lots of new development, but an "Old Town" area of TP, RIGHT NEXT TO A METRO, with shops, yoga studios, floritst, etc. Since your husband works in DC, it wouldn't be a bad idea to be as close to Washington as possible. Rockville and Gaithersburg are areas that relatively far without a car. Good luck!

Hi A.,
I live in Kensington and it is a great area. We are near Rock Creek park with lots of walking/biking trails. We have lots of little parks in the area. I unfortunately am not the best expert on moms groups because I work and don't get to participate in those, but I am sure there are a few (I know that a LaLeche group meets here). Kensington is a couple of miles away from 2 parking metros. It's probably a 10 minute drive from Olney (and Leisure World specifically). It's a small little area that is very quiet and safe and most people don't know about it unless you are familiar with the area. Almost all of the rentals will be homes, not apartments. We are only a few minutes from the beltway and a straight shot into DC for driving (Kensington is about 5-10 miles out of the DC line). Olney is actually a nice area and so are parts of Rockville and Silver Spring...but you have to be a little more careful of the part. Good luck!!

Just like your other poster, I am incline to vote for my own neighborhood - King Farm in Rockville MD. Now that I have my own child, I can truly appreciate this great community and all its amenities. We are across the street from Shady Grove metro (which is the red line and it takes you straight into DC). There are lots of rental properties in the area (apt. or townhomes). We love going to the new park (huge playground, dog park, tennis courts, bball courts, etc). There are two swimming pools and a shopping center. Lots of community events and LOTS of children everywhere.

The Kentlands/Lakelands area is very nice. Lots of kids, easy walking to shops. http://www.kentlandsusa.com/ The nearest Metro is Shady Grove.

Good luck!

Hello A.,

Takoma Park has some nice parts, but mostly it's not the best place to live. The schools aren't that nice and putting your child into a stroller and walking to things may be a challenge. Takoma Park is in two counties PG and Mongtomery and you need to be careful where you live. There is a lot of crime. Try Silver Spring, there is a nice metro station there. A major redevelopment/rehab of the city has been done and there are wonderful things there. You can pretty walk to everything, but it's probably about 20 minutes to Olney where your dad lives. The rents aren't too incredibly high there either, they will be soon as my redevelopment gets under way. But there are you right near Kensington which has a fantastic children's library. I live in Rockville and my community is right on a metro line as well, the ares is also great and my neighborhood has a small shopping center about a 1/4 mile from my house. It's great. Rockville is another good option and there are tons of rentals there. Other options are Wheaton and Kensington, both of which are on the metro. Good luck in your search and welcome to the area.