Why is everyone in Takoma Park weird?

[Anonymous]

Takoma Park has always been like that. It attracts the local NPR weirdo crowd, lots of "artist" types and leftie activists. Just how it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you new to the area? They don’t call it the People’s Republic of Takoma Park for nothing! It’s definitely the “crunchiest,” most left-leaning close-in suburb of DC. It’s attracted people like you describe for 2+ decades at least.

Trust fund babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes? Takoma Park if for the rich, aging, hippies who lean far left. They have to live somewhere and the country club folks in Chevy Chase are just as glad it’s not with them.

Most of us younger than 60 can't afford to live there.

Takoma Park is cheap for the DC area. There are condos for sale under 200k and SFH for sale starting in the 600-700k range.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TP is where aging ANC Commissioners move when they get older and finally realize density sucks.

+1 This made me lol because my former GGW in human form neighbor now lives there.

+2. Same.

[Anonymous]

Cheap real estate and proximity to the city attracts bohemians

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes? Takoma Park if for the rich, aging, hippies who lean far left. They have to live somewhere and the country club folks in Chevy Chase are just as glad it’s not with them.

Most of us younger than 60 can't afford to live there.

Takoma Park is cheap for the DC area. There are condos for sale under 200k and SFH for sale starting in the 600-700k range.

Nope. Wheaton, Outer Silver Spring/ MoCo is cheaper. Which is why we live there.

From redfin: "The Takoma Park housing market is somewhat competitive. Homes in Takoma Park receive 4 offers on average and sell in around 8 days. The median sale price of a home in Takoma Park was $775K last month, up 50.5% since last year. The median sale price per square foot in Takoma Park is $384, up 26.1% since last year."

[Anonymous]

Takoma Park is only 43% white (per the 2020 census), so the impression that it's a town filled with only white hippies is not accurate!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The vast majority of TP are upper middle class, liberal families who work regular jobs as feds, lawyers, academics, etc. Just normal people. However, the people that dominate city politics and have the tjme and energy to engage with the City Council are the older aging hippies who are sometimes ridiculous. But it’s not at all representative of the community as a whole.

Signed TP resident of 15 years

This is true and false. Those white collar families chose to live with the hippies because they enjoy it and mostly agree with them.

Disagree. We largely agree on national political issues but less so on local issues. Many of us support upzoning and the older TP folks are mostly staunchly opposed.

White collar families choose TP because the schools are good, there is a cute, walkable downtown area, it’s close to DC, neighborhoods have a community feel and it’s more affordable than Bethesda with more diverse housing stock.

I'd be opposed to that too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park is only 43% white (per the 2020 census), so the impression that it's a town filled with only white hippies is not accurate!

OP went to an event in Takoma Park for people who are old white hippies and then wondered why everyone in Takoma Park is old white hippies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Takoma Park has always been like that. It attracts the local NPR weirdo crowd, lots of "artist" types and leftie activists. Just how it is.

Nah, those days are over. Pretty incomed crowd now. Nicer cars, renovations. Actually saw a Vineyard Vines shirt the other day in TP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Went to a talk the other day in TP. I dunno, the entire audience seemed a little ‘off’ for lack of a better way of describing it. Basically, they seemed like the types to wear khaki pants, tie dye shirts, and Velcro sandals (with or without socks). Older guys with long gray haired ponytails who seem like they want to be Willie Nelson I guess? One of the ladies was raging at ordinances requiring grass to be cut and that perhaps the city should do away with that and allow lawns to grow as much as wanted to help the pollinators. Why is the general makeup of TP super white and all kinda hippie ish? Is that the identity of the town? I dunno how else to describe them…..maybe as town full of really old Phish fans?

What was the talk about? The specific topics you mentioned - loosening restrictions on grass height and growing native plants is a huge movement at the moment. "No mow May, etc." It's not just TP, though certainly liberal leaning places are more apt to lean into this, but it isn't necessarily a liberal specific trend. In fact, it's a sort of conservative thing to be anti government restrictions on what you do with your yard.

[Anonymous]

I lived in TKPK for years. We moved out of state. The weirdest thing to me was always how obsessed people from Takoma Park are about living in Takoma Park. It is some weird superiority. They also all believe they live in some super diverse bubble but all the homes are now selling for well over 1M so.... a lot of white liberals who are delusional about what TKPK has become.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I lived in TKPK for years. We moved out of state. The weirdest thing to me was always how obsessed people from Takoma Park are about living in Takoma Park. It is some weird superiority. They also all believe they live in some super diverse bubble but all the homes are now selling for well over 1M so.... a lot of white liberals who are delusional about what TKPK has become.

So where are the Millenial/Gen Z who would've been buying in Takoma Park 20-30 years ago currently buying/living?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in TKPK for years. We moved out of state. The weirdest thing to me was always how obsessed people from Takoma Park are about living in Takoma Park. It is some weird superiority. They also all believe they live in some super diverse bubble but all the homes are now selling for well over 1M so.... a lot of white liberals who are delusional about what TKPK has become.

So where are the Millenial/Gen Z who would've been buying in Takoma Park 20-30 years ago currently buying/living?

Cheverly, Mt Rainier, Hyattsville

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in TKPK for years. We moved out of state. The weirdest thing to me was always how obsessed people from Takoma Park are about living in Takoma Park. It is some weird superiority. They also all believe they live in some super diverse bubble but all the homes are now selling for well over 1M so.... a lot of white liberals who are delusional about what TKPK has become.

So where are the Millenial/Gen Z who would've been buying in Takoma Park 20-30 years ago currently buying/living?

Cheverly, Mt Rainier, Hyattsville

Literal war zones. They should move to Western MoCo