What is the most overrated area (neighborhood, town, etc) in the DC metropolitan area?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me that any place is fair game on a thread like this. The market reflects the actual consensus as to an area's value at any point in time, so all you're left with is a bunch of people expressing their personal views about places that didn't meet their expectations for one reason or another.

The real question is why the Pimmit Hills people go bat-shit crazy whenever someone points out why they don't like it. The reason why there are so many "haters" is that, whenever anyone compares it to another place in less than glowing terms, the Pimmit Hills posters declare all-out nuclear war on the other place. They seem to crave attention, but they also make enemies very quickly.

There aren't any "Pimmit Hills" posters as a group. There are just people expressing their point of view. I live in PH. Every time I get asked about the neighborhood, or every time I comment here, I list what I think are its good qualities, and I usually point out it isn't uniformly pretty or manicured. I think people like me feel compelled to chime in when someone calls the neighborhood a dump or a shitshack central. I don't think that's an unreasonable reaction.

They are jealous of the insane appreciation you're going to realize.

No kidding. And they don't have to put up with over the top neurotic neighbors in order to do so!

[Anonymous]

We were over in Pimmit Hills today looking at a few listings today and now understand why many people are not fans,

Looked at this house first: http://franklymls.com/FX8293066. Big house on a nice corner lot. But it's two of three times bigger than any other house on the block, and the house across the street had crap everywhere on the front porch, spilling out onto the front yard. Pass.

Then we looked here: http://franklymls.com/FX8245699. This is a smaller lot than you'd think from the picture. And the yard next door is largely paved over. It looked as if the owner operates a commercial business from his home. Pass again.

So, not jealous but not very interested, either. Some places do need an HOA to keep them from looking trashy. This is one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chevy chase, MD and DC

CC, MD used to be nice (speaking as a third gen. resident of Martin's Additions). Now there's constant construction, no old trees and it's inhabited by undesirables that all think they're going to be on Meet the Press this Sunday. The small town feel of the neighborhood is pretty much gone and has been replaced with garage-front Ryan-ish homes that end up being for sale every few years.

Sounds like an improvement.

Since you're probably one of the many transplants from NY and NJ that have moved in, sleeping indoors and not under burlap tarp is more than likely an improvement to you.

And BTW, nice Mercedes...try parking it in the garage once in a while, we're not impressed anymore. It's a "C" class for Christ's sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We were over in Pimmit Hills today looking at a few listings today and now understand why many people are not fans,

Looked at this house first: http://franklymls.com/FX8293066. Big house on a nice corner lot. But it's two of three times bigger than any other house on the block, and the house across the street had crap everywhere on the front porch, spilling out onto the front yard. Pass.

Then we looked here: http://franklymls.com/FX8245699. This is a smaller lot than you'd think from the picture. And the yard next door is largely paved over. It looked as if the owner operates a commercial business from his home. Pass again.

So, not jealous but not very interested, either. Some places do need an HOA to keep them from looking trashy. This is one of them.

Most of the small homes will be torn down in the coming years as the original owners sell because they can't weather the 20% tax increases every year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Chevy chase, MD and DC

CC, MD used to be nice (speaking as a third gen. resident of Martin's Additions). Now there's constant construction, no old trees and it's inhabited by undesirables that all think they're going to be on Meet the Press this Sunday. The small town feel of the neighborhood is pretty much gone and has been replaced with garage-front Ryan-ish homes that end up being for sale every few years.

Sounds like an improvement.

Since you're probably one of the many transplants from NY and NJ that have moved in, sleeping indoors and not under burlap tarp is more than likely an improvement to you.

And BTW, nice Mercedes...try parking it in the garage once in a while, we're not impressed anymore. It's a "C" class for Christ's sake.

Sorry I will tell the nanny to park her c class Mercedes out back

[Anonymous]

... and replaced with the most gawdawful monstrosities a handyman turned architect can dream up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have to say Pimmit Hills. From what I had read on DCUM, I was expecting a slightly less charming version of Del Ray. When we visited to scout out the area, we were, quite frankly, disappointed. The older homes look like they could be in a trailer park and the new houses look like what you'd find in a middle-class subdivision in Anywhere USA. On the plus side, there are sidewalks, but they didn't seem to lead anywhere. It really does look like the type of neighborhood in Kansas City or Memphis you see on Cops (my husband and I burst out laughing realizing we were both humming the "Bad Boys" song as we drove around).

You have no idea how wonderfully located we are in Pimmit Hills. We are in the middle of EVERYTHING. And I can walk to tons of shops and more parks than I can count. And soon the metro (or I can drive there in 5 minutes or less - and the bus is in front of my house).

But you got me with the "Bad Boys" song from cops LMAO!! I guess I can see how the tiny houses and chain link fences here, like in a photo without any pretext about where we are, could give that impression.

Look, I don't know Fairfax that well, but we drove around long enough to know Pimmit Hills is not in the middle of anything except some major highways. I think we would have come across anything similar to Mount Vernon Ave. but it just was not there.

I think you have a rigid perception of what you were expecting to find. There was many ways to define everything. Del Ray is very nice and cute, and Mount Vernon is a cool street for a stroll. But the thing is, when it comes to daily needs of typical families, it's not about organic butchers or Cheesetique or acupuncture places or vintage boutiques. It's about grocery stores (Safeway, Trader Joe, Whole Foods), supermarkets (Target, Walmart), regular stores (Tysons), schools, parks, playgrounds, buses, metro, hardware stores, unsexy, unglamorous things you use on a daily freaking basis. Through that lens, I'd say PH checks all the boxes, plus an easy commute to DC.

From Del Ray you can get to all of these amenities in less than 10 minutes, but nice try.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would have to say Pimmit Hills. From what I had read on DCUM, I was expecting a slightly less charming version of Del Ray. When we visited to scout out the area, we were, quite frankly, disappointed. The older homes look like they could be in a trailer park and the new houses look like what you'd find in a middle-class subdivision in Anywhere USA. On the plus side, there are sidewalks, but they didn't seem to lead anywhere. It really does look like the type of neighborhood in Kansas City or Memphis you see on Cops (my husband and I burst out laughing realizing we were both humming the "Bad Boys" song as we drove around).

You have no idea how wonderfully located we are in Pimmit Hills. We are in the middle of EVERYTHING. And I can walk to tons of shops and more parks than I can count. And soon the metro (or I can drive there in 5 minutes or less - and the bus is in front of my house).

But you got me with the "Bad Boys" song from cops LMAO!! I guess I can see how the tiny houses and chain link fences here, like in a photo without any pretext about where we are, could give that impression.

Look, I don't know Fairfax that well, but we drove around long enough to know Pimmit Hills is not in the middle of anything except some major highways. I think we would have come across anything similar to Mount Vernon Ave. but it just was not there.

I think you have a rigid perception of what you were expecting to find. There was many ways to define everything. Del Ray is very nice and cute, and Mount Vernon is a cool street for a stroll. But the thing is, when it comes to daily needs of typical families, it's not about organic butchers or Cheesetique or acupuncture places or vintage boutiques. It's about grocery stores (Safeway, Trader Joe, Whole Foods), supermarkets (Target, Walmart), regular stores (Tysons), schools, parks, playgrounds, buses, metro, hardware stores, unsexy, unglamorous things you use on a daily freaking basis. Through that lens, I'd say PH checks all the boxes, plus an easy commute to DC.

From Del Ray you can get to all of these amenities in less than 10 minutes, but nice try.

Yes, but if you care at all about how your kids get educated, you can't send them to school there. PH isn't perfect, but it definitely serves a really good function.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:... and replaced with the most gawdawful monstrosities a handyman turned architect can dream up.

Same mid range builders as Arlington and McLean . Troll harder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Pedestrians in the city have gotten so arrogant. They often cross in the middle of the street, don't pay attention to no-walk signs, and check their text messages as they walk. The self-absorption rate is very, very high.

You're the one driving the two-ton death mobile. It's YOUR responsibility to make sure you don't hit any pedestrians.

And slow down, asshole.

[Anonymous]

The Hill is pretty good damn overrated. Too many olds and strollers to dodge every day and not enough high rise housing stock for singles. Shitty transit access, too, as compared to the "mid-city" area.

[Anonymous]

West of the Park is pretty god damn overrated too. Again, too many olds and too many women who are too scared to venture outside of NW so they cluster West of the Park.

Also, anywhere along the Red Line is overrated until they get that piece of shit working again, which will be never.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... and replaced with the most gawdawful monstrosities a handyman turned architect can dream up.

Same mid range builders as Arlington and McLean . Troll harder.

Haha. Right. You can't seriously be asserting that the average/mode new builds in PH are comparable to those in Arlington or McLean. I am quite sure that the community feel and proximity to things residents need are why people like living there. I would never argue this. But one needs only to drive through a few blocks to realize immediately that the majority of updated/replaced homes are not "mid range" by most definitions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... and replaced with the most gawdawful monstrosities a handyman turned architect can dream up.

Same mid range builders as Arlington and McLean . Troll harder.

Haha. Right. You can't seriously be asserting that the average/mode new builds in PH are comparable to those in Arlington or McLean. I am quite sure that the community feel and proximity to things residents need are why people like living there. I would never argue this. But one needs only to drive through a few blocks to realize immediately that the majority of updated/replaced homes are not "mid range" by most definitions.

Stanley Martin, ANV, NDI and others build the same mid level homes in McLean, Arlington and Pimmit Hills. I can school you with examples. I live in McLean and see them all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:... and replaced with the most gawdawful monstrosities a handyman turned architect can dream up.

Same mid range builders as Arlington and McLean . Troll harder.

Haha. Right. You can't seriously be asserting that the average/mode new builds in PH are comparable to those in Arlington or McLean. I am quite sure that the community feel and proximity to things residents need are why people like living there. I would never argue this. But one needs only to drive through a few blocks to realize immediately that the majority of updated/replaced homes are not "mid range" by most definitions.

Stanley Martin, ANV, NDI and others build the same mid level homes in McLean, Arlington and Pimmit Hills. I can school you with examples. I live in McLean and see them all the time.

And Vienna. I am talking mid range level.