What’s up everyone
This year, in 2023, niche.com gave North Bethesda the #1 ranking for the best place to live in Maryland, the #1 Best Suburb to live in the Washington DC area, the #1 Best Place to live in Montgomery County and ranked it #8 for the Best Suburbs to live in the whole country- as well as some other #1 rankings so I think its worth giving it its own video.
Today is all about North Bethesda. The good, the bad and the ugly. And stay tuned until the end where I will reveal one thing about North Bethesda that you would only know if you live here.
So let’s dive right in!
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North Bethesda is located in Montgomery County MD with a population of 50,695.
North Bethesda is a great gateway if you are moving out of the city but don’t want to be too far.
1- Location
So my first pro about living in N Bethesda is the location.
North Bethesda is located between Bethesda and Rockville and 11 miles north of Washington DC.
You’re within 15 minutes of downtown Bethesda and 15 minutes from Potomac. And if you wanted to go north to Gaithersburg, it would take you around 20-25 minutes by car.
You also are within 15 miles to Reagan airport, 20 miles to Dulles airport and 30 miles to BWI airport.
2- Commute/Metro
Which leads me to my 2nd pro which is the commute.
Unlike Potomac or Kensington, North Bethesda has several metro stops. The first being North Bethesda which used to be called white flint. Then you have Grosvenor-Strathmore and finally you also have Twinbrook metro. They are all on the red line which brings you directly into DC so your commute into the city is much easier than if you lived in Potomac or even parts of Rockville.
If you prefer to drive, The commute into D.C. will take around 20-25 minutes depending on the time of day and where you are going in the city.
3- Things to Do
Moving onto things to do in North Bethesda. Like I said, you’re super close to Bethesda and Potomac but you don’t need to leave N Bethesda to find great restaurants and entertainment.
If you’re into the arts, you don’t have to go far. Strathmore mansion and arts center presents more than two dozen exhibitions each year that feature local, national, and international artists. And the Strathmore music center has amazing concerts all year around including Live From the Lawn on Wednesdayshttps://www.strathmore.org/
And don’t forget about Pike and Rose- a newer shopping area in N Bethesda that is outdoors and offers a plethora of choices for entertainment. You have Pinstripes, a super fun bowling alley with cocktails, Bark Social- a park where you can bring your dog and have a drink as well as so many great restaurants, shops and an Ipic movie theater.
Some of my favorite restaurants in Pike and Rose include Summer House, Julii, Botanero & Melina.
And as far as amenities, the closest grocery stores are Whole Foods, Harris Teeter, Balduccis and Giant.
For parks- you’re about 10 minutes from Cabin John regional park which has playgrounds, tennis, ice skating, hockey and a super cute train for the little ones. You also have several smaller local parks nearby
4- Jobs
Another reason people migrate to North Bethesda is for the many job opportunities. Between the National Institute of Health, the Marriott headquarters and Lockheed Martin, all of which are based in N Bethesda, there is a lot of employment. And those are just the big companies. Don’t forget about all of the opportunities at pike and rose that we spoke about!
5- Schools
Onto the public and private schools. The public schools in North Bethesda are very highly rated. Walter Johnson high school has an A+ grade from niche.com and was raked 15th within all of Maryland by US News and World report and #7 in Montgomery County. North Bethesda middle school is ranked #5 in Montgomery County and #12 in Maryland by US News & World report.
You also have very highly rated private schools in North Bethesda which include Georgetown Prep school for boys, Holton Arms for girls, Rochambeau and several more.
Obviously, schools are very personal to each child so definitely check them out yourself but you will have a lot to choose from without traveling very far!
6- Diversity
Best Neighborhood gave North Bethesda a diverse score of 99 out of 100 which makes it much more diverse than other US cities. I’ll put a link to the diversity map in the description so you can check it out for yourself. https://bestneighborhood.org/race-in-north-bethesda-md/
Cons
1- Expensive https://www.bestplaces.net/city/maryland/north_bethesda
The first con about living in North Bethesda is the cost of living. Although it is less expensive than its neighbor, Bethesda, esp when it comes to housing, it is still very expensive.
Bestplace.net gives North Bethesda an overall score of 139 compared to the US average of 100 and a score of 203 for housing compared to the US average of 100.
The nice thing about N Bethesda is you do have a good mix of condos, apartments and single family homes so you have a wide range of home prices.
For single family homes, the median home price is around 850k and for the bigger homes, prices can run up to 2.5 million.
It is definitely more urban than North Potomac for example where it is mostly single family homes.
2- Traffic/Parking
Another con is the traffic. North Bethesda is pretty congested and traffic and parking can get really bad. But like I said, you do have metro access so it’s not a big deal.
3- Weather
I’m putting weather in the con list since it’s still summer here and brutally hot and humid. And buggy. And hot. And humid. It’s gross.
BUT- the other 3 seasons are delightful! Especially the Fall when all of the leaves change colors. In the Spring, you’re just a quick ride away from the stunning cherry blossoms and the winters here are not too bad. Maybe one or 2 snow storms. They seem to get less and less frequent as the years go on. We do have allergies here in the spring – esp pollen- so be prepared for that.
There’s not really much more negative stuff to say about N Bethesda which is prob why niche.com gave it the Best Place ranking for 2023.
So onto my inside info…Up until the 1980’s, North Bethesda didn’t exist. It was simply Rockville. And even today, if you look at tax records of North Bethesda homes, they will still say Rockville. But somewhere along the way, developers and residents preferred the name North Bethesda because it associates itself with the fancier Bethesda over Rockville. Rumor has it realtors started calling it North Bethesda to inflate the housing values, but honestly we dont have that much power. North Bethesda isn’t the only city in disguise, North Potomac is really Gaithersburg but don’t tell anyone who lives there that.
I’m just joking. (Not really)