Are there neighborhoods that you believe will spiral in the next ten or twenty years?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.

Ah, former Silver Springer and was going to say pretty much all of MoCo besides maybe Bethesda. Just poor county leadership and zero job growth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.

There's always been crime there. I don't think it's gotten worse than anywhere else

[Anonymous]

What happened with Dale City, Lake Ridge, and Woodbridge?

I remember or maybe I am imagining it that we were rooting for their growth in the 80s and 90s and then they all became rather undesirable. What happened? I feel like crime rose so quickly or news worthy crime was that it then mellowed out and is back up again.

[Anonymous]

This is a really cool thread, OP I appreciate you for making it. The best way to tell which areas are declining are by talking to boots-on-the-ground folks who live in those areas, so I am sure this will be a valuable resource for folks looking to move into the DMV area.

Personally I see MoCo declining. Many posts have already mentioned that it has declined heavily in the past 20 years. This can already be seen via the school rankings which have fallen dramatically on GreatSchools/USnews in the past 5 years, as well as the lack of economic growth and new businesses in the area. Thrive (if it is followed) will also contribute to the problem. I’ve lived in MoCo for 5 years and while places like Potomac and Bethesda are still desirable for now, I think that crime will creep inwards there. Potomac and Poolesville might be safe since they’re too rural to have the high density issues that other areas in MoCo like Silver Spring have faced.

[Anonymous]

Kensington, which has been declining for a long time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kensington, which has been declining for a long time.

Which is sad. It’s a fantastic area and in the middle of so much. The county has done nothing to nurture the neighborhood business in the historic area. Nothing. And that’s true of so many parts of MoCo. Where is the economic growth, the draw for businesses that keep adjacent neighborhoods vibrant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kensington, which has been declining for a long time.

This is a good one! Very true! I tend to forget about Kensington. I feel like the decline of Kensington drove North Potomac and North Bethesda’s development.

[Anonymous]

I don’t see how Kensington is declining. Building tons of houses in that neighborhood off Cedar I think it is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington is on downslope

I agree with you. There are too many people pushing too many things so that nothing is getting done. Plan Langston Blvd has been pushed aside for Missing Middle Housing which will have limited benefit. Meanwhile, every corridor is being stuffed with dense housing and CAFs. We are waiting for our twins to finish fifth grade at one of the elementary schools and then are moving to McLean. You get more land and house for the money and it is just a nicer group of people. We also have the option of getting kids into TJ and better middle and high school classes.

Arlington fell for the Amazon deal hook, line, and sinker and now Amazon is laying off people, not sending its top earners to the area, and probably will have a different business model by the time Virginia Tech and George Mason produce all the new grads who are slotted to work for Amazon. The loss of the commercial and hotel tax base is also showing up in higher property taxes.

+1. Arlington is definitely on the decline. Dense low-income housing and a sketchy Amazon deal are a good reflection of why it's headed in the wrong direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hoping not Silver Spring because we recently moved here. But the crime in downtown has given me some pause.

There's always been crime there. I don't think it's gotten worse than anywhere else

Please reach out to Jawando and other reps. The Council is budgeting now and they have not identified public safety as a priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t see how Kensington is declining. Building tons of houses in that neighborhood off Cedar I think it is

I ageee that Kensington is vibrant. Some things close and other things pop up, like the great pizza place and the relatively new playa bowls. One thing it needs is a better bus line to metro. We bought on the bethesda side to take advantage of the buses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How much lower can Herndon go?

People once said that about Springfield mall…

How is that area now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parts of DC that clawed their way toward gentrification but can escape the crime

Reston that feeds into South Lakes High School

Areas around Tysons Corner where Fairfax County wants to dump more affordable housing due to Silver Line extension.

Disagree about south lakes. That area of reston is great — close to the lake, shopping, now metro, jobs. The people who don’t like south lakes HS are the ones scared of diversity. But it’s a great are that will continue to attract.

I wonder about places like Logan circle. Not as fun as other places in the city, close to the spreading camps of in housed and, if you don’t need to be downtown 5 days a week, what’s the point. DC just does not have a vibrant downtown—there are much better parts of the city to live in. The Gallery place neighborhood is also starting to look sketchy again so wondering if that will spread outwards towards some of the expensive condos.

I have friends who are moving away from Logan Circle due to crime and they say they know others in the neighborhood who are also leaving.

I agree that recently gentrified neighborhoods will decline if they can’t get crime under control. For those who say “ACKSHULLY, crime is down” nobody who lives in the District believes that. In most areas, it depends on what kind of crime you’re talking about and I also don’t know anyone who trusts the DC Police official statistics. I strongly suspect that the *distribution* of crime has changed — e.g., Van Ness now vs. 5 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Connecticut Ave is getting more ghetto by the week. Ever since the initial lockdown and the resettlement of so many former inmates and shelter dwellers. Now the proliferation of nuisance buildings with dysfunctional new residents.

The number of ambulances lining Connecticut every night says a lot about who’s living in those buildings now vs a decade ago. The sidewalks used to be a path for young professionals and now they’ve been replaced by people wearing pajamas outdoors, mentally ill people wandering into traffic and my favorite, women pushing toddlers in strollers at 11 pm wearing slippers

[Anonymous]

DC + most of MoCo.