That s a really hard question, because there are around 5 million people in the area, so there are hundreds of different neighborhoods. It depends on your budget, whether you want to live in the city, suburbs, or country, where you plan to work, etc.Here are some resources:Mastering DC : A Newcomer s Guide to Living in the Washington, DC Areahttp://www.amazon.com/Mastering-DC-Newco��http://www.washingtonpost.com/real-estat��http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/neigh��
The nicest parts of town and the most upscale, family friendly suburbs tend to be along the left hand part of the red line (metro)-- Chevy Chase, Bethesda, and so on. You might check out Rockville and the northern parts of Bethesda, around the Grovesnor Strathmore station--good schools, good public transportation, safe. You might also check out silver spring. In general avoid the Southeast and especially the Southwest quadrants of town.
My personal opinion where a family decides to live in the Metro DC area should based upon (i) where does the Dad and/or Mom work bec commuting during rush hour requires much patience and personally once you move into the area and become familiar with the bottlenecks when looking for new jobs, one begins to know what areas you favor as closer your work is to home can make a difference; (ii) Equally importance is school system as Arlington County VA, Fairfax County VA and Montgomery County MD are among the best in the country and county websites also indicate SAT and SOL scores when the choice comes down to specific neighborhoods. Of course, these 3 jurisdictions are also the highest priced which is why people then to live farther out bec bigger homes for same amount of money...Note the closer your home is to walking distance of a Metrorail location, then the price will also increase.Hope the Above Info Helps!
Bethesda, Silver springs is nice too, also Alexandria,VA is 15-30 mins from DC and also the suburbs along the metro orange line in VA are very nice, plus cheaper taxes in VA, (Ballston, Falls Church, Rosslyn). but as far as DC goes is mostly the northern areas towards Maryland, stick to NW DC and you should be ok.
Explore the links at www.dc.gov for city information. You can find out about city services, contact city officials, what the city has to offer. The following link breaks down each area: http://www.culturaltourismdc.org
Move to Alexandria. It s really close to D.C. and very nice for families.
move to DC but go to Adams Morgan neighborhood or mayb the Georgetown area?