I will never be able to afford a house in Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op can afford Arlington. I bought a house recently with a substantially lower salary, but...it’s in south Arlington. Most commercial areas in DC (Farragut Sq, Navy Yard, Metro Center etc) are a 30-45 minute door to door commute away depending on transfers.

Ok we all no south Arlington is not the Arlington people are interested in.

Which is fantastic because it’s a great place to live but not as expensive as other areas in Arlington.

But that is changing daily despite the ACB efforts to ghettoize Columbia Pike

Do you mean giving poor people a place to live?

Poor people already have plenty of places to live in Arlington and are given great access to education and services. You really need to understand what the housing policies are doing in Arlington to reduce the equality of services now provided. Recently the poor people have been rented migrants that Arlington specifically brought here because there were not enough residents to fill two buildings.

I have similar stats to the Op except I can’t even afford a condo at the moment and
am renting A small townhome that is dubbed a condo. I can’t afford a down payment yet and the mortgage plus the monthly condo fee anyway - p

- PP is correct - low income people in Arlington are well taken care of. If you add up all the benefits across the board - housing, food, medical -they would get close to 80k - that’s not money they earned, that’s benefits they receive include rent help. Then most of these people work so now most of their basics are covered so any remaining income they make - goes to pay household expenses but a lot of times those are covered as well. So even the poor in Arlington get at least a lower middle income elsewhere life. The new apartment buildings for low income families far surpass our rentals outdated 80s appliances and decor. And then there is the short sightedness of putting poor people in high income areas with no plans or help for them to save for the future so perpetuating the cycle.

- the OP could afford a town home in South Arlington at this point that is slightly bigger than her current condo since she already said a home at the price point $765k is too much so I am assuming $150K less could be doable

- there are slighty bigger and better condo choices in South Arlington but most people in N Arl consider S Arl pretty much a hell hole

- the costs of maintaining an older single family home is more expensive than OP realizes - older sfh housing stock left in Arlington that could be considered
More affordable

- yes lots of people were mislead by realtors during the bubble to buy overpriced condos and this still is going on now - condos won’t appreciate as fast

- truth - $170k is part of the middle class for Arlington Co - not upper middle class- just middle class. People might not believe that or like it but it doesn’t make it less true

- Arlington Co housing prices have forced out a good portion of the middle class

[Anonymous]

Parts of South Arlington are great. Arlington Ridge, Columbia Heights, Penrose, Arlington Heights, Fairlington... there are a lot of options if you just get over the NA 50 divide.

[Anonymous]

If you add up all the benefits across the board - housing, food, medical -they would get close to 80k

Citation?

[Anonymous]

Arlington is overpriced. We moved into falls church near the beltway and are happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parts of South Arlington are great. Arlington Ridge, Columbia Heights, Penrose, Arlington Heights, Fairlington... there are a lot of options if you just get over the NA 50 divide.

I’m in much despised by DCUM Green Valley- perhaps what the poster above you was referring to when they called South Arlington a “hell hole.” I honestly just have to laugh. Hell hole? In what universe? Take a drive through some areas of Baltimore and you’d be grateful to live anywhere in Arlington. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors. I walk to Shirlington, the dog parks, and the bike trail. A living hell indeed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Parts of South Arlington are great. Arlington Ridge, Columbia Heights, Penrose, Arlington Heights, Fairlington... there are a lot of options if you just get over the NA 50 divide.

This must have been written by someone who doesn't live in South Arlington. Arlington Ridge is upper middle class. Homes there have been over $1M for years. Go west from Arlington Ridge Road, down the hill into Long Branch Creek and you'll have lots of apartments some condos (which look like apartment buildings from the outside) and some duplexes. East of Arlington Ridge Rd is Aurora Highlands and upper middle class at this point, due to Amazon HQ2. I like Fairlington, but friends who live there tell me that families with kids usually move for more space before kids are in high school, so nice community for young families but it won't last. I'm not familiar with Columbia Heights or Arlington Heights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

If you add up all the benefits across the board - housing, food, medical -they would get close to 80k

Citation?

I make $60k and would love to know what I can get in Arlington that I can’t get in Fairfax County (which isn’t much sadly)...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parts of South Arlington are great. Arlington Ridge, Columbia Heights, Penrose, Arlington Heights, Fairlington... there are a lot of options if you just get over the NA 50 divide.

I’m in much despised by DCUM Green Valley- perhaps what the poster above you was referring to when they called South Arlington a “hell hole.” I honestly just have to laugh. Hell hole? In what universe? Take a drive through some areas of Baltimore and you’d be grateful to live anywhere in Arlington. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors. I walk to Shirlington, the dog parks, and the bike trail. A living hell indeed.

Green Valley (Nauck) is great. Yes, more crime than other parts of Arlington but not unsafe for your every day resident. Some of the duplexes there have less than desirable layouts that are essentially 6, half floors, but they are well built and I believe they are poised for continued appreciation over the next decade with the arrival of Amazon and the proposed development along S Four Mile Run.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Parts of South Arlington are great. Arlington Ridge, Columbia Heights, Penrose, Arlington Heights, Fairlington... there are a lot of options if you just get over the NA 50 divide.

I’m in much despised by DCUM Green Valley- perhaps what the poster above you was referring to when they called South Arlington a “hell hole.” I honestly just have to laugh. Hell hole? In what universe? Take a drive through some areas of Baltimore and you’d be grateful to live anywhere in Arlington. I love my neighborhood and my neighbors. I walk to Shirlington, the dog parks, and the bike trail. A living hell indeed.

I made a pretty penny off my townhouse right on the edge of Green Valley & Columbia Heights. The new Pupatella really cements it as hell, indeed.

[Anonymous]

Yeah me either and I lived right through it.

[Anonymous]

DC has rent stabilization and MOCO and VA plenty of deals in new developments and rental building under a certain income.

Why buy a used beat up house?

[Anonymous]

https://housing.arlingtonva.us/income-rent-limits/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cry me a river, OP. Neither could we so we moved to a more affordable area (state actually). The area is outrageously expensive but nobody owes us anything.

This is so helpful. Glad you took the time to post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Let’s say we can add 20% more housing. It will still not meet demand. And therefore we will still have high prices.

Supply, demand.

The jobs need to be more spread out then, both at the national and regional level. Move more federal jobs to Fairfax, Gaithersburg, Frederick, and Fort Meade. The schools in Gambrills, Odenton, Crofton, Arnold, Severna Park, Davidsonville, Edgewater, Urbana, and almost all of Howard County are much more desirable than the vast majority of schools in Arlington as well. There’s lots of amenities in this region besides DC: Frederick, Annapolis, Baltimore, and Columbia. Some of these places are near MARCs and the metro as well, so if one spouse works in one place and the other works in DC, they’d still have easy access to it.

You can't force companies to locate in specific locations.

Yeah, and they're proving to want no part of MD, for the most part. You may love all those towns in Frederick and Howard County, but the corporate development is all being driven along that Arlington-Fairfax-Loudoun Co line. MD and VA used to be neck and neck in terms of economic development. Now the gap is so wide it'll likely never be closed.

[Anonymous]

If we are all WFH how does Maryland vs VA matter for middle class folks?

I mean a middle class man with SAH wife making 150k with three older kids might have 3-4 cars in driveway and pay not much MoCO tax anyhow. Between college deductions, mortgage write off dependents and lower tax bracket might cost more tax wise in VA.

Add in higher mortgage and slightly higher property tax for sale size house may be a loss

It is only a slam dunk 100 percent high income folks in Va