Detailed reasons for why you wouldn't live in Prince Georges County...

[Anonymous]

I wrote this before a couple days ago... I was totally adamant that we wouldn't live in PG county even though DH works there, and after one year of hunting through tiny shoebox houses in NOVA we finally looked at a few houses in PG county and that was it.

If I had 800k to spend on a house, would I live in PG county? No, but that's not my situation.

The house we bought cost 360k, but it is 3k square feet, built in 2003, has a 2 car garage, a big kitchen, walk-in closets, a walk out basement, a nice yard, a fence, a deck with a gazebo, and a view of a small pond. I don't even know how far out I would have to go to get those things in other counties. Within 5 miles there is a Wegmans, a Target, a Costco, JC Penney, 495, 95, the Marc train, and the New Carrolton metro. Within 10 miles, there's IKEA, and a mall with Macys. The neighborhood school is rated 6 on greatschools and last year was 7. Nearby is a Montessori school and French Immersion school, and the neighborhood TAG school, if we can get into those. We don't eat out so we don't care about that. You have to do what's right for you.

[Anonymous]

Congrats 18:00 (are you the OP?) I am glad you found something that is right for you/your family. What part of PG did you move to?

[Anonymous]

I live in Hyattsville 20781 in the historic area just adjacent to the arts district town houses and shops. My neighborhood is great! Go to the playground on Gallatin near 42 Place around 3:30 on a day with nice weather and there will be tons of college educated SAHM'S and their children there. The neighborhood is diverse about 60% white 40% minority with people from a variety of backgrounds. Everyone that I know uses private school. Actually, all the kids that I know walk to St. Jerome's. The surrounding county leaves a lot to be desired and much of it can be described as downright ghetto! PG has a bad reputation for a reason. Individual neighborhoods within the county can be nice though. You have to be OK with private or charter schools. If you can be happy with a neighborhood and 6K school, then you can be happy on the cheap here. This Victorian could use some work but is in a good spot http://www.trulia.com/property/3105470936--Hyattsville-MD-20781

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW Hyattsville (east more than west) and College Park are nice neighborhoods with a lot of diversity. The new Arts District in Hyattsville has some good restaurants and very nice neighborhoods of new condos and older single family homes. It has a s ort of Takoma Park feel to it and the people are nice. I don't know about the public schools, but there are some good privates that won't break the bank.

This - much really has rondo with local neighborhoods. As a prior "urban dweller" who lived in Chicago and DC for many years, I initially missed the "restaurants and shops". Then I realized that without them, I spent less time shopping and spending money. My neighborhood relationships actively spend time with each other; many casual family dinners, co-ops, seasonal neighborhood crawls, etc. essentially, we have made a lot of our own fun and have lifetime relationships to show for it. Besides, something good must be going on in northern PG, Whole Foods will be opening.

[Anonymous]

I have lived in PG County for 20 years and I can say that most of what you've ready above is misinformation from people who have never lived in the area and many have never even been in PG County. While the schools are not as good as the wealthier counties, there are some schools within the county that are respectable. Yes, not on the level of the other counties, but still respectable. The county really has four very different regions that have different characteristics. The area inside the beltway, with the exception of a few pockets, is where the high crime statistics come from. But once you get outside the beltway, the amount of crime is not that different from many of the other counties. Outside the beltway you have three distinct areas, North PG (including Laurel, Beltsville, Greenbelt and Bowie), Central PG (Upper Marlboro, Lanham, Landover, Mitchelville) and Southern PG (Camp Springs, Suitland, Clinton). Northern PG is much more like Howard County, it is more suburban, slighty more diverse of race and a bit more upper income. Central PG has a higher density of African American including some of the wealthiest and more exclusive predominantly AA communities but also having a number of lower income neighborhoods (quite a mix). Southern PG is slightly more rural and conservative than the rest of the county.

As the one PP pointed out, PG County has more reasonable housing prices compared to the rest of the area. Just look through DCUM and you'll see so many complaints about how you have to have unusually high incomes to live "middle class" lives in the other areas and you'll see where the regional inflation is. There is a premium for living in NoVa and Montgomery County. Housing prices and COL is generally more reasonable in PG County and there isn't nearly as much difference (other than schools) as residents from those areas think.

As I said, I've lived in PG County for 20 years and have many friends in NoVa and MoCo and frankly, their lives and ours are not that different other than I have about 1000 sf more for the same price as they have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:lousy schools and crime.

This. When we looked, we found some amazing neighborhoods in PG, but the schools and crime led us to choose MoCo. When you consider cost of living p,us cost of supplementing educational services, it was cheaper to,stay in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Because the last time I lived there, it was near an elementary school (in PG Takoma Park) and the police kept disrupting my sleep by having drug raids around the school, and my friend who I was renting a room from had to take a loss in a hot market to sell her very lovely home because it was in PG not Montgomery Takoma Park. Bad investment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Congrats 18:00 (are you the OP?) I am glad you found something that is right for you/your family. What part of PG did you move to?

No, I'm not OP. We are moving to a newer subdivision in Lanham-Seabrook. I looked very carefully at crime statistics and schools. There's a lot of petty crime in some of Lanham, but not where we're going, and not much more than what you'd find in Silver Spring, where we live now.

[Anonymous]

I've lived in University Park for nearly a decade and like PG County a lot. Less crowded metro trains, easy access to parks and the Bay, diverse community. I am white but have always lived in towns and city neighborhoods that are racially and economically diverse and I like being in a "majority minority" county. Public transportation is good, the arts options are growing, and there are many lifelong locals still living here who make it feel like a real community.

The only thing I will say is that the schools are not good: even the top-tier elementary school here is comparable to the bottom 1/2 of Montgomery County schools, and the middle schools and high schools are just bad (with the exception of one highly competitive magnet program). Kids weren't on the radar when we moved here or we might have prioritized space and neighborhood less and settled for something smaller in Silver Spring. However, we only have one daughter so it's feasible for us to send her to a local private school; with more kids I'd be hesitant unless you knew you were planning to go private.

[Anonymous]

The people on this forum are afraid of Black people. They talk about PG under the guise of "bad schools," etc. in order to avoid saying it plain and clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because the last time I lived there, it was near an elementary school (in PG Takoma Park) and the police kept disrupting my sleep by having drug raids around the school, and my friend who I was renting a room from had to take a loss in a hot market to sell her very lovely home because it was in PG not Montgomery Takoma Park. Bad investment.

Didn't the PG side of Takoma Park move to Montgomery County ten years ago? The town is now completely within Montgomery Co.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DCUM skews weathy. People on here like Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW DC, and North Arlington. If you can't afford these areas (and most mere mortals can't), you're in trouble, because everywhere else is in the ghetto or the dreaded "exurbs." If you say you're happy living in these other areas, you are lying.

LOL. You're a moron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The people on this forum are afraid of Black people. They talk about PG under the guise of "bad schools," etc. in order to avoid saying it plain and clear.

Give the benefit of the doubt. I'm black but would never live in PG. I considered it, but couldn't justify been exposed to crime or sending my children to underperforming schools. Would you trade off your peace of mind over a cheaper mortage? I rather buy a small house in a nice neighborhood with good schools than live in fear of a burglar in a bigger home. Of course, it could happen anywhere but in PG the probability is much higher. No, thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM skews weathy. People on here like Bethesda, Chevy Chase, NW DC, and North Arlington. If you can't afford these areas (and most mere mortals can't), you're in trouble, because everywhere else is in the ghetto or the dreaded "exurbs." If you say you're happy living in these other areas, you are lying.

LOL. You're a moron.

I'm not PP that you are responding to, but how is this sarcastic comment moronic? PP was just pointing out the prevailing wisdom on this board that anywhere other than the wealthiest enclaves are not worth considering, even though there are plenty of great places to live in this area.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't consider it because of the schools. One of my good friends from work lives there in what seems to be a very nice predominantly African-American upper middle class neighborhood. Her home is lovely and newer and bigger than mine, but she also has to pay to send her two daughters to private school.