Ft. Washington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ft. Washington (now... not 20 yrs ago) and have for over a decade. My neighborhood is 60-65% Black and the rest are a mix of Filipino (high population of Filipino in Ft. Washington), Korean, White and Latino. Our children's preschool is majority white and Filipino and maybe 20% Black (probably due to no aftercare with 12pm pickup times). Just want to correct the 100% Black perception which is inaccurate. Schools suck...for elementary the best option is Potomac Landing Elementary and that isn't saying much. Most of my neighbors send their kids to private school (independent and parochial) and can more than afford to do so.
No I do no like the stores/services available in my community, I buy everything in Old Town which is not far. I like my neighbors, I like my home, I like the affordability, I like the location to close-in NoVa and DC employment. Crime has not been an issue in my neighborhood. The most we have had over the years is someone leaving a car unlocked and having a Garmin or cell taken. No breakins, home invasions, rape, robbery, blah blah blah. I do not feel unsafe here...you use common sense as you have to do in every neighborhood in this metro area.
There has been an uptick in interest that I have noticed from people that are priced out elsewhere and I have noticed many new families moving here that you would not normally expect to see doing so. You will get better info by going to the City-Data forums and search Fort Washington and see discussions by others who have recently been considering it or have recently moved there.
No, it is not going to be a choice for everyone but there are families of more backgrounds that are making a home here. It is further out, but take a look at Accokeek as well.
If you are not talking to anyone that has LIVED here within the last 5 years (and the last 2 years has seen a major demographic change), you are not getting accurate info.

THIS is an informed poster. I currently live in PG county and work in NE DC. These parts of the Washington, DC area are changing rapidly and significantly. So for you to get accurate information, you need to speak to someone who actually lives (or at least works) in the area that you are interested in. CURRENTLY. Not 10 years ago...

[Anonymous]

I live in Lanham Seabrook in PG county (very close to Bowie). There are a lot of nice areas in PG, including in Upper Marlboro, Bowie, Hyattsville, Greenbelt, and probably a bunch more. I feel like the Bowie/Mitchellville area has a lot of advantages that Fort Washington does not. Some better schools (at least you can send your kid to public elementary), easier access to shopping and dining (annapolis and its awesome mall are 20 minutes from my house), closer to public transportation and better routes into DC. My neighbors are mostly black or asian and they are... normal. No "culture shock," no problems. Black people are NICE. I've seen people behave in a much more courteous, respectful manner in this area than I do in the rest of the metro area. The other day I saw a gentleman stop what he was doing and help an older disabled lady put her groceries in her car. I never saw something like that in Montgomery county, and I lived there for years.

Fort Washington's advantage is that it is closer to Virginia if you work there, and since they are going to expand Indian creek highway or whatever it's called the traffic might be a bit relieved, and with the casino and outlet mall at national harbor there may be possibility for growth and more shopping and dining options. It feels a lot more like the country down there, and more isolated, and there's a lot of newer housing stock. The schools also seem like a no-no. It might be a very good investment to buy there in the long run. Accokeek is also nice but I don't think it's in PG County.

[Anonymous]

It's Indian Head Highway, and yay if it going to be expanded because the traffic along there is awful. They should also look into synchronizing the traffic lights. And Accokeek is in PG.

[Anonymous]

Have we forgotten that National Harbor is right there also?

[Anonymous]

no chance I would ever live there at any price. crime statistics are different from per the PPs and the schools are two good enough reasons for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have we forgotten that National Harbor is right there also?

Have you been to National Harbor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no chance I would ever live there at any price. crime statistics are different from per the PPs and the schools are two good enough reasons for me.

Post the stats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in Ft. Washington (now... not 20 yrs ago) and have for over a decade. My neighborhood is 60-65% Black and the rest are a mix of Filipino (high population of Filipino in Ft. Washington), Korean, White and Latino. Our children's preschool is majority white and Filipino and maybe 20% Black (probably due to no aftercare with 12pm pickup times). Just want to correct the 100% Black perception which is inaccurate. Schools suck...for elementary the best option is Potomac Landing Elementary and that isn't saying much. Most of my neighbors send their kids to private school (independent and parochial) and can more than afford to do so.
No I do no like the stores/services available in my community, I buy everything in Old Town which is not far. I like my neighbors, I like my home, I like the affordability, I like the location to close-in NoVa and DC employment. Crime has not been an issue in my neighborhood. The most we have had over the years is someone leaving a car unlocked and having a Garmin or cell taken. No breakins, home invasions, rape, robbery, blah blah blah. I do not feel unsafe here...you use common sense as you have to do in every neighborhood in this metro area.
There has been an uptick in interest that I have noticed from people that are priced out elsewhere and I have noticed many new families moving here that you would not normally expect to see doing so. You will get better info by going to the City-Data forums and search Fort Washington and see discussions by others who have recently been considering it or have recently moved there.
No, it is not going to be a choice for everyone but there are families of more backgrounds that are making a home here. It is further out, but take a look at Accokeek as well.
If you are not talking to anyone that has LIVED here within the last 5 years (and the last 2 years has seen a major demographic change), you are not getting accurate info.

Very accurate and honest post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have we forgotten that National Harbor is right there also?

Have you been to National Harbor?

Outlet mall opening there soon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's Indian Head Highway, and yay if it going to be expanded because the traffic along there is awful. They should also look into synchronizing the traffic lights. And Accokeek is in PG.

Oops you are right! My bad! I don't know why I keep thinking that Ft. Washington is the southernmost part of PG.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you are going to live in Fort Washington and send your kids to private school, you are not saving any money. Before you buy in the area, do a little research on the private school options. At least you get a tax break on your mortgage.

[Anonymous]

I lived there for three years recently.

Ft. Washington is a pretty safe area in my opinon. Fort Washington is also getting it's own police department soon as well. It's pretty rural in comparison to many areas around DC and shopping is very limited. It is majority black, but there is a sizable white and Asian (mostly Filipino) population. If you go to the mini hospital they have there, you'll even see everything is translated to Tagalog.

It's decently priced as far as homes but housing is even cheaper as you go out to St. Charles County. Traffic is rough because there are limited transit options and tons of people are flocking to live in St. Charles.

Shopping sucks, terribly which is one of the reasons we left. I don't know why more stores haven't opened there. I really believe it's an untapped goldmine. But as others have said, there is a huge luxury outlet mall opening at the National Habour, so the shopping issue should get much better soon.

Schools, I'm not sure. I don't have school aged kids.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, crime in Ft. Washington is much higher than the MD average...http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/md/fort-washington/crime/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, crime in Ft. Washington is much higher than the MD average...http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/md/fort-washington/crime/

Different websites will say different things. According to the website you posted Silver Spring, MD has less crime than Ft Washington, MD.

But according to this website, Fort Washington has less than violent crime than Silver Spring.

http://www.bestplaces.net/crime/city/maryland/silver_spring

Therefore I'd be skeptical of what either of these websites have to say.

[Anonymous]

Also, OP I too would recommend you go over to city data forums. It's better for you to get opinions of people who've actually lived or live there.