The answer to being priced out of Bethesda, Kensingston, Silver Spring, Takoma Park, North Arlington, and Potomac is not to move to other areas and try to outprice THOSE areas so that the people who currently live in them won’t be able to afford them in the future. If you’re looking to move to somewhere because it has a lower COL, that’s absolutely fine and reasonable. Just don’t move to these areas if you are only doing so because you are seeking selfish wants, such as insane appreciation that other gentrified areas saw. Move to these areas and promote integration and quality standards of living among people of various different backgrounds, much like what you see in Columbia over in HoCo. |
Ruthies All Day Former execUtica chef of Liberty Restaurant group |
In the case of Arlington, the County is developing hundreds of new affordable housing units along Columbia Pike. They will have to import people to fill the units just as they had to import people from DC to put in its homeless shelter. |
It occurred to me recently that the reason this will not happen anytime soon is for other reasons, mostly political and some funding related. Maybe it will change with redrawn districts in future elections and younger buyers, but it will still take time. All of the younger buyers are there because they are burdened with the loans that they cannot pay back, and the rising health care costs that were reasons the ACA was established anyway. |
I think your post is internally inconsistent. It's true that young people with student loans (like me) cannot afford $$$ areas but that's how gentrification happens, and I find PG extremely appealing. It has a ton of middle class and upper middle class black families, which I view as a plus. I bought in Anne Arundel county instead for water access, but if I had it to do over again I'd be shopping in PG. I think it has a very bright future. |
| Invest in ghettos like south Arlington but live in the the north |
| Anything along or near the VA beltway between Alexandria and Tysons (e.g., Rose Hill, Franconia, Springfield, West Springfield, Burke, Annandale). |
Anne Arundel County is appreciating a lot, too. Odenton and Crofton are jumping up in value, in part because of their proximity to Ft Meade, Baltimore, and the MARC as well. The water access parts of AA County are a bit slower though, because NIMBYs there are afraid of changing things up. |
You're quite right. As it happens, I've been lucky enough to have my property value almost double in AA, but still, I think PG has even more upside. |
This! And straight shot to Amazon! |
| Kensington and silver spring |
As a former PG resident that paid $10K a year in county taxes, you would feel differently if you had children and saw what little those taxes did for your home, your appreciation, or your community. I do believe that it will happen eventually; but not before the racists die off and folks your age actually get into government and begin instituting the political change. Until then, it is gaming and segregating. The other path is a more empowered community. That can 100% help, but you have to have people that will engage in that way. I speak from experience. I have lived in several counties around the beltway. PG gets away with a lot of misappropriation, and until commercial investors truly trust the landscape, it will be a gradual build. There is not a singular whole foods in SoPG. THat should tell you something. It will happen -- but generational disparity is getting in the way. You need change in the cover and the grassroots. Until then, this is the path, or local leadership change. YOu need informed voters for that. It can be done, but the trajectory is different, despite the clear appeal of the location and practicality of it all. Exhibit A: https://wholefoodsinpg.com/ |
that is ... not how the economy works. sorry. |
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I don't know as much as I should about PG, even though you and I most likely share a Congressman. I'll spend some time learning more. |
Highly likely. She lives in a gentrified area and was elected by gentrified. She will follow the progressive directive: do as I say, not as I do. |