The one thing that drives housing decisions more than any other is the search for good public schools. Parents will go to the ends of the earth to get their kid into a school they hear is the best for science / art / foreign language / getting into the Ivy League (just look at the Post article about this year's lottery for DC schools having the highest number of applicants it has ever had). We spent some time having fun with the lifestyle search over on Homesdatabase.com that lets you into the 'softer' side of real estate decisions. Using the slide bar function we set the 'schools' category all the way to high and came up with a few choices in the coveted Oyster, Kent Gardens, and Stone Mill Elementary Schools.
For the urbanites, Oyster-Adams is the bilingual school everyone wants to go to and we found this 2 bed, 2 bath on Fairmont for $489,000 and another 2/2 for $400,000 on Columbia Road. Over in Maryland if you want your cherubs going to Stone Mill Elementary there's a 3 bed, 4 bath for $395,000 on Sawdust Circle or one for $559,900 on Fallsgrove Drive. If the French immersion school in McLean called Kent Gardens is what you're looking for, then how about a 3 bed, 4 bath for $535,000 on Montcalm or a 4 bed, 2 bath on Strata for Street for $625,000.
· D.C. Public Schools lottery reveals more demand than ever [WaPo]