Ask the Realtor

-Dear Darrell:

I picked up a copy of The Georgetowner last weekend, and once again began to think about moving to the city from our home in the suburbs. I love the energy of the city and think I would love living in D.C., but we have a one-year-old and another child on the way. I worry that living here will be difficult for the children, and that the cost of owning real estate in D.C. is way more than where we now live. This isn’t exactly a “real estate” question, but I would appreciate your thoughts.

— Melissa H, Gaithersburg, MD

Dear Melissa:

Great question, and a very difficult one, because the choice of where to live is based on so many case-by-case variables. In principle, I believe very strongly that children can thrive in the city environment, and in some ways the city model is more like small-town living than suburban life is. In Georgetown, for instance, there is a town center, and one can walk to the post office, the library, parks, schools, tennis courts, restaurants, and the town “stream” (i.e. the Potomac). Kids still play on various sports teams and belong to youth clubs — two which come to mind immediately are the Jelleff Boys & Girls Club and the Guy Mason Park rec center complex. Imagine living on R Street, rolling out of bed, and taking the kids across the street to Rose Park to run in the fields, play on the playground, hit a tennis ball or hike down to Rock Creek Park to throw rocks in the stream. The about-to-open renovated Georgetown library is two blocks away. There are French, Turkish, Korean, and Egyptian restaurants — not to mention Ledo’s Pizza — a stone’s throw away, and countless other restaurants within a few blocks. It’s an easy stroll to a showplace Safeway, and there is the easy access to the museums, monuments, galleries and music venues of downtown D.C.

Then there are the properties themselves: one-level, two-level, three-level row houses, condos and co-ops, many with decks, patios or back yards. With a little work, I believe you can find a property which would suit your family.

In general, the prices are likely to be higher than suburban property, but the tradeoff is the community, more time off the roads, less money on commuting costs, less stress, and easy access to the incredible variety of life in the city. I’ve described Georgetown above, but same applies to numerous other communities all over D.C.

Obviously I can’t tell you that your children would be content in the District, but my guess is that if you are content here, they will be also. Children learn from their environment, and they will certainly learn things peculiar to city life, things which I believe will enrich their lives in a very special way. And, of course, yours too!

Darrell Parsons is the managing broker of the Georgetown Long and Foster office and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity regulations. Have a real estate question? E-mail him at darrell@lnf.com. He blogs at georgetownrealestatenews.blogspot.com.