I will never be able to afford a house in Arlington

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the OP’s complaint really undercuts the “missing middle” housing in Arlington. Middle that is missing doesn’t want to live in a condo/stacked flat/duplex/townhouse. They want a SFH zoned to a GS 9 or 10 ES in walking distance to Metro. My kid wants a pony. Can’t have one because we live in a SFH in Arlington. Choices. That’s what OP has. Truly poor people don’t have choices, and it’s those individuals who need housing options N of Lee Hwy, since there are none currently.

You do realize that if you put the poor people both of Lee Highway, it and the schools will become less desirable. With APS no longer viable, the more affluent are sending kids to private schools and do not have to live in Arlington.

Further as the stock of single family homes shrinks, only the affluent will be able to afford them as tear downs. If you are middle income, yiur best Hope is a townhouse or two bedroom condo or rental.

Sorry, but adding some low income housing N of Lee Highway won’t change the schools so that they are undesirable. There is space for those kids, and going from 0-5% Farms to 10-15% will not hurt rich kid’s education and socialization. It will help it. Schools don’t become “undesirable” until they get over 40% Farms, which is basically most of south Arlington. No one will concentrate low income housing north of lee highway the way it has been done around 50 and the pike.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So the OP’s complaint really undercuts the “missing middle” housing in Arlington. Middle that is missing doesn’t want to live in a condo/stacked flat/duplex/townhouse. They want a SFH zoned to a GS 9 or 10 ES in walking distance to Metro. My kid wants a pony. Can’t have one because we live in a SFH in Arlington. Choices. That’s what OP has. Truly poor people don’t have choices, and it’s those individuals who need housing options N of Lee Hwy, since there are none currently.

You do realize that if you put the poor people both of Lee Highway, it and the schools will become less desirable. With APS no longer viable, the more affluent are sending kids to private schools and do not have to live in Arlington.

Further as the stock of single family homes shrinks, only the affluent will be able to afford them as tear downs. If you are middle income, yiur best Hope is a townhouse or two bedroom condo or rental.

WTH? We should more evenly spread low-income housing throughout the county instead of concentrating it in only a few areas.

[Anonymous]

It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

The appeal of Arlington is location.
In 10 years I have put 45k miles on my car. And that includes family trips, driving to work, etc.
Everything is close, Uber to nats or caps games or theatre. Walk to eat and shop. It is just that urban walkable aspects.

Agree if you live far from the orange line corridor it is a waste of money and a typical suburb of dc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

The appeal of Arlington is location.
In 10 years I have put 45k miles on my car. And that includes family trips, driving to work, etc.
Everything is close, Uber to nats or caps games or theatre. Walk to eat and shop. It is just that urban walkable aspects.

Agree if you live far from the orange line corridor it is a waste of money and a typical suburb of dc.

I agree the appeal of Arlington is location, but for me it is the proximity to work and thus the shorter commute time (I cannot flex my hours to go to work early and leave by 3pm). I couldn't care less if I can walk to restaurants or shops. I could walk to 2 restaurants in South Arlington, and I could walk to the grocery store, but I drive to the grocery store because I can't carry home everything I buy for my family. And in 5 years in this neighborhood, the two restaurants haven't interested me enough to try them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

And you just described 99% of the DC area.

Take your pick of sh1tty suburb options. I'll take the one that is close to everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd move to a lot of other places in America before I'd buy a home in Arlington.

If only more people agreed with you. Unfortunately, they don't. Hence the price of housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

And you just described 99% of the DC area.

Take your pick of sh1tty suburb options. I'll take the one that is close to everything.

Yeah agree. And it's not like DC itself is all that attractive. Once you get outside Georgetown, parts of Cap Hill and some of those sprawling colonials in upper NW - the rest of the city is butt ugly. A lot of so-called "hot areas" are basically Starbucks, CVS and a bar or two. And please don't try to sell me on the beauty of a renovated rowhouse. It's still a rowhouse: none of the space of a SFH, none of the charm of a Brooklyn brownstone. But it clearly has world class cultural venues, and it's the place to be for any number of careers. I don't know why the poster thinks it's "bizarre" to want to buy a house in Arlington. There's always going to be a pull to live nearby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

And you just described 99% of the DC area.

Take your pick of sh1tty suburb options. I'll take the one that is close to everything.

Yeah agree. And it's not like DC itself is all that attractive. Once you get outside Georgetown, parts of Cap Hill and some of those sprawling colonials in upper NW - the rest of the city is butt ugly. A lot of so-called "hot areas" are basically Starbucks, CVS and a bar or two. And please don't try to sell me on the beauty of a renovated rowhouse. It's still a rowhouse: none of the space of a SFH, none of the charm of a Brooklyn brownstone. But it clearly has world class cultural venues, and it's the place to be for any number of careers. I don't know why the poster thinks it's "bizarre" to want to buy a house in Arlington. There's always going to be a pull to live nearby.

Agree somewhat. Georgetown, admittedly attractive SFH neighborhoods in NW and a few historical neighborhoods like Dupont and a very small part of Capitol Hill, are nice. Sorry but I feel most of Capitol Hill looks like rundown parts of York or Reading. Most of DC really is ugly and depressing IMO. Petworth? Yuck. Columbia Heights? Yuck. SE? Hideous.

I do love the small historical towns outside the immediate area like Annapolis, Middleburg, Fredericksburg, and of course locally Old Town, which is wonderful. But immediate DC 95% of the area is completely charmless, including my neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should this be true?

Because it’s true in every other developed country. In fact, people of various incomes are actually able to live in the city and have all those things most developed countries. I think a better question is, why do posters here for more entitled to significantly appraised property values than someone else feels to a normal and simple lifestyle within a decent commuting distance from work?

This is just not true about other developed countries - where is this utopian place where everyonr can have a SFH 20 mins from downtown? US city real estate is actually cheap compared to other major cities because US has so much land - places like Hong Kong, London, etc is worse than New York.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s bizarre that well paid people in here are sad that they can’t live in Arlington. Arlington is not even that nice. It’s like a lower middle class person whining about not being able to live in Woodbridge or Manassas. A bunch of crappy places full of uninteresting architecture and no character. Be glad you aren’t tied to them via a mortgage.

And you just described 99% of the DC area.

Take your pick of sh1tty suburb options. I'll take the one that is close to everything.

Yeah agree. And it's not like DC itself is all that attractive. Once you get outside Georgetown, parts of Cap Hill and some of those sprawling colonials in upper NW - the rest of the city is butt ugly. A lot of so-called "hot areas" are basically Starbucks, CVS and a bar or two. And please don't try to sell me on the beauty of a renovated rowhouse. It's still a rowhouse: none of the space of a SFH, none of the charm of a Brooklyn brownstone. But it clearly has world class cultural venues, and it's the place to be for any number of careers. I don't know why the poster thinks it's "bizarre" to want to buy a house in Arlington. There's always going to be a pull to live nearby.

Agree somewhat. Georgetown, admittedly attractive SFH neighborhoods in NW and a few historical neighborhoods like Dupont and a very small part of Capitol Hill, are nice. Sorry but I feel most of Capitol Hill looks like rundown parts of York or Reading. Most of DC really is ugly and depressing IMO. Petworth? Yuck. Columbia Heights? Yuck. SE? Hideous.

I do love the small historical towns outside the immediate area like Annapolis, Middleburg, Fredericksburg, and of course locally Old Town, which is wonderful. But immediate DC 95% of the area is completely charmless, including my neighborhood.

Exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why should this be true?

Because it’s true in every other developed country. In fact, people of various incomes are actually able to live in the city and have all those things most developed countries. I think a better question is, why do posters here for more entitled to significantly appraised property values than someone else feels to a normal and simple lifestyle within a decent commuting distance from work?

This is just not true about other developed countries - where is this utopian place where everyonr can have a SFH 20 mins from downtown? US city real estate is actually cheap compared to other major cities because US has so much land - places like Hong Kong, London, etc is worse than New York.

Problem is white people call everything not NW cap hill these days.