Bowie rocks! Why isn't it more popular?

[Anonymous]

We did this for a while and then moved. The commute sucks (was going to Bethesda); if it gets backed up there are no back roads to take. The public schools suck. You need to budget in private school, and then it's not such a bargain.

[Anonymous]

It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The commute is a lie. My coworker lives in Bowie, and she says that 50 is a mess.

+2

and that's the answer to your question, OP. It's not "more popular" because it takes over an hour to get to DC and back during rush hours. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

That's not what people find in Bowie. Semi-urban?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it's a small middle class section of a community that is surrounded by large pockets of working class/lower class people who don't have the same resources, and this can cause some stress and conflict. The more uniiform people's lives are, the nicer the community. If you are living in chaos due to economics, you bring that into your community- and the higher functioning people have to just live with it.

+1

Nailed it.

Same could be said of the inner suburbs - where there are knock downs becoming shiny new houses, next to sh*t shacks.

[Anonymous]

The commute is a major part. Bowie isn't particularly close to DC and that is where a lot of people have jobs. I know, I know, not everyone works in DC but a lot more people work in or near DC than in or near Bowie.

[Anonymous]

We lived there many years, and I agree with OP. 30-40 minutes to union station is realistic, even at rush hour, provided your neighborhood is close to 50 and not buried in north Bowie. I worked near the White House and it was obviously another 20 minutes to get from capital hill over to the White House at rush hour, so an hour for me. (But it takes me an hour from MoCo now too.). We moved because the middle and high schools are not good, and we had enough kids that it made more financial sense to spend on house rather than private school (and even the private school options there are not great).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

um you realize that very soon "most people" in this country will be minorities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it's a small middle class section of a community that is surrounded by large pockets of working class/lower class people who don't have the same resources, and this can cause some stress and conflict. The more uniiform people's lives are, the nicer the community. If you are living in chaos due to economics, you bring that into your community- and the higher functioning people have to just live with it.

This is total nonsense. We have to live with... what, exactly, in PG? What kind of "chaos" could there possibly be in Bowie? What on earth are you talking about with "stress and conflict?" Are you guys so fragile that you cannot bear the thought of living in an adjacent neighborhood to... gasp... poor people? What kind of ridiculous bullshit is that? You guys realize that most of the working class and poor people in this area are completely and totally normal and law-abiding, right? Also, none of this seems to impact Washington, D.C., which is full of homeless people and crime. That is much more "stress and conflict" than what people in Northern PG are experiencing.

And let's not pretend that Virginia and Montgomery County are heaven. I lived in Montgomery County, and where I live now is nicer. My coworker lives in Alexandria and has been hearing gunshots during the night. And let's not pretend that there aren't pockets of working class people throughout the region. And there is NOTHING wrong with that. All people deserve to live in safe communities with decent schools.

I live adjacent to Bowie, in Lanham, an arguably "poorer" community, and let me tell you guys a little secret: it's pretty damn nice, and cheap. My house, which is beautiful and would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars more in almost any part of the surrounding region, is paid off. Our area is quiet and has little crime, and is getting more stores and less crime with each passing year. I take the MARC train to my job in DC and get to work in 35-45 minutes, stress free, metro free, every day. And there's a MARC stop in Bowie too. I pay for parochial school tuition, and my child is in a class with 12 other kids, which is not bad at all. I get to fully fund my 401k and 529 and go on vacation. I have a degree of financial freedom at my 140k hhi that most of you dream about.

And you know what else? People in PG County are more friendly and courteous than anywhere else in the region. It's not some sort of utopia but it's pretty pleasant for a densely populated suburb. And yes, the vast majority of people are black and Hispanic. I guess if you don't want to live in a majority minority neighborhood, you are getting what you want elsewhere. I call the prices you are paying the "black people tax." But let's not pretend that where you live is actually better, it's not. There is no chaos here. Just a Wegmans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

That's not what people find in Bowie. Semi-urban?

Not semi-urban it said Semi-urban sprawl. Nice way of saying strip mall lined arteries filled with low income type retail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

um you realize that very soon "most people" in this country will be minorities?

But most of them can't afford and or have the credit for the McMansions in Bowie.

[Anonymous]

Shhhhh. We don't want too many people to know how wonderful Bowie is. The homes in my neighborhood are large and less than 20 years old. The demographics are 55% AA, 40 % white and 5% Asian. Our ES and MS score well (9 or 10 ES, 7 or 8 MS on great schools
). On one side of me is Crofton and the other Upper Marlboro. Neither is scary and there is no tension. I have a flexible schedule, but I can get to DC or Baltimore via train with ease and I think 30 to 40 minutes on most days to Union Station dounds right. I never knew this place existed because as soon as you meet someone from this area they tend to say negative things about Prince George's County. The Wegmans and soon to be Harris Teeter are the icing .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It depends on if Bowie has what the person is looking for. Most people aren't looking for semi-urban sprawl with poor schools and minority majorities.

That's not what people find in Bowie. Semi-urban?

Not semi-urban it said Semi-urban sprawl. Nice way of saying strip mall lined arteries filled with low income type retail.

Yes, because there are no strip mall lined arteries in NOVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Realizing they could never afford the SFH of their dreams in Fairfax, my best friend just moved with her family to Bowie, and I'm so impressed. I'd been there all of maybe twice in my life but I was so blown away. They got a gorgeous cape on a leafy, tree-lined street for just under $300K. The house is totally renovated, and the lot is massive. Many of the neighbors have already been over to say hi, and one even brought welcome cookies (that doesn't happen in Fairfax). They say the drive is 30-40 minutes door-to-door into Downtown DC with minimal traffic on 50, and apparently there's a pretty decent public elementary school. There's plenty of shopping and dining nearby.

I'm super critical and didn't ever think I'd like anything in PG County, but Bowie is a hidden gem, and it's so affordable. Why isn't it more popular? I feel like nobody really considers Bowie when they're house hunting, and I'm not sure why.

We live in Fairfax County, and we had several neighbors bring us welcome cookies. We also get much better schools and a much higher ROI than you'd get in Bowie. I understand why people who can't afford to pay NoVa or MoCo prices might look there, but calling it a "hidden gem" is pushing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Realizing they could never afford the SFH of their dreams in Fairfax, my best friend just moved with her family to Bowie, and I'm so impressed. I'd been there all of maybe twice in my life but I was so blown away. They got a gorgeous cape on a leafy, tree-lined street for just under $300K. The house is totally renovated, and the lot is massive. Many of the neighbors have already been over to say hi, and one even brought welcome cookies (that doesn't happen in Fairfax). They say the drive is 30-40 minutes door-to-door into Downtown DC with minimal traffic on 50, and apparently there's a pretty decent public elementary school. There's plenty of shopping and dining nearby.

I'm super critical and didn't ever think I'd like anything in PG County, but Bowie is a hidden gem, and it's so affordable. Why isn't it more popular? I feel like nobody really considers Bowie when they're house hunting, and I'm not sure why.

We live in Fairfax County, and we had several neighbors bring us welcome cookies. We also get much better schools and a much higher ROI than you'd get in Bowie. I understand why people who can't afford to pay NoVa or MoCo prices might look there, but calling it a "hidden gem" is pushing it.

Yeah, the idea that people in the more affluent neighborhoods aren't friendly is a myth. We live in AU Park and our neighbors have brought us cookies, homemade hummus, wine, and other treats. We get invited to block parties, birthday parties, bbqs. I don't know about NoVA, but I'm sure there are friendly people as well, just like in Bowie.