Since the Lafayette Thread was Removed

[Anonymous]

I live wotp, I am risk averse. When we bought a house when pregnant, a priority was an acceptable school for our children at least through elementary because we could not afford private and we did not want to have to move in 5 years for a variety of reasons including expense. That was 10 years ago. At that time, Deal was considered a marginal middle school by many.

There were many fewer charters and even fewer HRCSs. I had tutored at Bancroft in the mid 90s at part of a program with my then law firm, I loved the neighborhood but there was no way I was sending my kids there.

I don't think that wotp is the only responsible choice and I think there are many more good choices in this city than there were 10 years ago. If we were looking for a home in DC today we would have more choices now than we did then.

Most of my peers at work (I am a fed) live in Virginia or Maryland for the schools. Living anywhere in DC to raise kids attending public school raises a lot of eyebrows, but fewer today than a decade ago.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I live EOTP and my house cost $350,000. Can I really get a house in a school WOTP in a good school district for the same price? Screw hipsterdom I would totally do that, if only for the yard. That's what you guys are saying, right? No difference?

Um, yeah. You are not "confused." You know damn well that most houses EOTP cost more than $350k. But thanks for the sarcasm, it really helps support the image as EOTPers as smug and insufferable.

I don't think I'm the one being insufferable. I don't know what bubble you guys are in, but almost all of my neighbors who chose to buy unrenovated, livable homes when we bought ours paid between $350k and $415k. Perhaps there were homes WOTP in that price range but I doubt it. There weren't even homes in Shaw, Mt P, Bloomingdale, Eckington or H St (now NoMa) in that price range. I know bc I looked. I was simply making a point that different people
Have different financial abilities. It's not all about lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused. I live EOTP and my house cost $350,000. Can I really get a house in a school WOTP in a good school district for the same price? Screw hipsterdom I would totally do that, if only for the yard. That's what you guys are saying, right? No difference?

Um, yeah. You are not "confused." You know damn well that most houses EOTP cost more than $350k. But thanks for the sarcasm, it really helps support the image as EOTPers as smug and insufferable.

+1

Maybe we can send all the rude EOTP and WOTP parents to Maryland and DC would be much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

Sure there are, you just might not want to live in an apartment.
https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/3900-Tunlaw-Rd-NW-20007/unit-303/home/35634009

It's not just about affordability but also the choices you make surrounding them. Which is fine. But don't assume all people WOTP are rolling in cash or that they aren't making the same tough choices you are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

I bought my house in north Petworth (nearly Brightwood) in 2010 for $390k. True, houses around me are now going for mid-$500's-low $600's (renovated, which ours is as well), but we bought at the top of our budget. There are a lot of neighborhoods east of the park that are still relatively affordable, but no way could we have purchased west of the park or even further south EOTP. If you think house prices are truly comparable, you're fooling yourself- what you're doing is comparing the most desirable neighborhoods EOTP with the less desirable neighborhoods WOTP, which is totally unfair.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

I bought my house in north Petworth (nearly Brightwood) in 2010 for $390k. True, houses around me are now going for mid-$500's-low $600's (renovated, which ours is as well), but we bought at the top of our budget. There are a lot of neighborhoods east of the park that are still relatively affordable, but no way could we have purchased west of the park or even further south EOTP. If you think house prices are truly comparable, you're fooling yourself- what you're doing is comparing the most desirable neighborhoods EOTP with the less desirable neighborhoods WOTP, which is totally unfair.

On average houses WOTP are definitely more expensive, no doubt. And on average income levels WOTP are also higher. But once you start drilling down from there, you will find that many families on both sides of the park have had to make the same choices based on their income, the ages and numbers of their kids and their commutes -- and made different choices. There are lots of families who own or rent apartments WOTP because of the schools whose incomes are not super high. There are also a lot of families who simply bought before the prices skyrocketed. And there are plenty of families who wanted a single family house and a yard for their kids so they chose EOTP. The point is that the stereotypes which seem simple from far away just don't hold up when you start to break the populations down.

[Anonymous]

I think there are a lot of pretty insufferable people all over this city. EOTP people assume that WOTP are rich snobs. WOTP people assume that EOTP are hipsters who care more about brunch than having a good public school. Everyone scoffs at people who made their housing decisions assuming that their kid could get into one of the HRCS, since that's about as much of a pipe dream as anything ever was.

Me, I rent EOTP. We could rent WOTP, probably for less money, but I like where I live. The future stereotypical WOTPers who live in my neighborhood (white people with little dogs who make a lot of money) are the worst part about it, and it's not all of them either.

People set up their lifestyles based on a variety of things. For us, it's important that I can walk my child to school and then walk on to work. I couldn't do that if I lived in Chevy Chase or Tenleytown and most likely, I would end up driving because the bus combination for school --> work, even if school was walkable, would probably take longer. I hate driving in general and don't want to pay $12/day to park my car at work. If we moved WOTP, we would still live in an apartment, so the yard argument doesn't really fly.

That said, if we moved over there, we would be closer to 2Amys, which would make DH pretty happy.

All this petty stereotyping and griping about other people's choices is depressing. Everyone is doing the best they can for their families. No need to be smug or petty about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

I bought my house in north Petworth (nearly Brightwood) in 2010 for $390k. True, houses around me are now going for mid-$500's-low $600's (renovated, which ours is as well), but we bought at the top of our budget. There are a lot of neighborhoods east of the park that are still relatively affordable, but no way could we have purchased west of the park or even further south EOTP. If you think house prices are truly comparable, you're fooling yourself- what you're doing is comparing the most desirable neighborhoods EOTP with the less desirable neighborhoods WOTP, which is totally unfair.

On average houses WOTP are definitely more expensive, no doubt. And on average income levels WOTP are also higher. But once you start drilling down from there, you will find that many families on both sides of the park have had to make the same choices based on their income, the ages and numbers of their kids and their commutes -- and made different choices. There are lots of families who own or rent apartments WOTP because of the schools whose incomes are not super high. There are also a lot of families who simply bought before the prices skyrocketed. And there are plenty of families who wanted a single family house and a yard for their kids so they chose EOTP. The point is that the stereotypes which seem simple from far away just don't hold up when you start to break the populations down.

I'm the pp that you quoted and I totally agree. I just wanted to point out that the stereotypes are really flying both ways and that the basic premise- that real estate and incomes are higher WOTP on average is completely accurate (but seems to be disputed above).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm the PP with the 350k home. I appreciate the clarification from the other posters. I was merely trying to point out that for those of us who can't afford the 700-800--and there are many in my hood--there is no "choice." This thread makes it sound like its a lifestyle choice to live one place or another when in fact it often is an economic decision to live in the home that is affordable to you. This feud makes it sound like everyone is choosing between a detached home in Tenleytown and a 4-story Victorian in Mt Pleasant.

I bought my house in north Petworth (nearly Brightwood) in 2010 for $390k. True, houses around me are now going for mid-$500's-low $600's (renovated, which ours is as well), but we bought at the top of our budget. There are a lot of neighborhoods east of the park that are still relatively affordable, but no way could we have purchased west of the park or even further south EOTP. If you think house prices are truly comparable, you're fooling yourself- what you're doing is comparing the most desirable neighborhoods EOTP with the less desirable neighborhoods WOTP, which is totally unfair.

On average houses WOTP are definitely more expensive, no doubt. And on average income levels WOTP are also higher. But once you start drilling down from there, you will find that many families on both sides of the park have had to make the same choices based on their income, the ages and numbers of their kids and their commutes -- and made different choices. There are lots of families who own or rent apartments WOTP because of the schools whose incomes are not super high. There are also a lot of families who simply bought before the prices skyrocketed. And there are plenty of families who wanted a single family house and a yard for their kids so they chose EOTP. The point is that the stereotypes which seem simple from far away just don't hold up when you start to break the populations down.

I'm the pp that you quoted and I totally agree. I just wanted to point out that the stereotypes are really flying both ways and that the basic premise- that real estate and incomes are higher WOTP on average is completely accurate (but seems to be disputed above).

Right. But the PPP (before you) was saying that it's all an economic choice and not a lifestyle one - but, in fact, you cant separate the two. For $350K you CAN buy WOTP, you just don't want to because living in a cramped apartment isn't as nice as living in a SFH when you have kids. Totally valid choice, but it is a lifestyle choice. People with bigger budgets are still making the same choice.

[Anonymous]

It's not rocket science to know that houses in different areas of the city go for different prices, nor that some individual properties are more or less affordable no matter where they are located. What was off-putting about the now-deleted thread was the poster's attitude that the people on the west side of the city were simply not cool enough for her or her kid, but that she also wanted to send her kid to school over there to take advantage of the better educational opportunities.

Everyone I know WOTP used to live EOTP - in Adams Morgan, Logan, U Street, Mount Pleasant and downtown. It's not like they've been magically transformed into Lululemon-wearing douchebags by moving a few miles. Either they were insufferable before they moved (like the OP of the other thread), or they're just as down to earth in Tenleytown as they were in Adams Morgan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not rocket science to know that houses in different areas of the city go for different prices, nor that some individual properties are more or less affordable no matter where they are located. What was off-putting about the now-deleted thread was the poster's attitude that the people on the west side of the city were simply not cool enough for her or her kid, but that she also wanted to send her kid to school over there to take advantage of the better educational opportunities.

Everyone I know WOTP used to live EOTP - in Adams Morgan, Logan, U Street, Mount Pleasant and downtown. It's not like they've been magically transformed into Lululemon-wearing douchebags by moving a few miles. Either they were insufferable before they moved (like the OP of the other thread), or they're just as down to earth in Tenleytown as they were in Adams Morgan.

Probably this.

[Anonymous]

Can I also point out that the $350K WOTP condo posted upthread comes with an $888/month fee, which makes it significantly more expensive than PP's $350K EOTP house?

[Anonymous]

Not if the condo fee includes taxes and utilities. Then it is not necessarily more expensive as owning a home and taking care of a yard has its own costs.

[Anonymous]

This thread no longer has any relevance. It jumped the shark yesterday. And, yes, I'm old enough to have watched Arthur Fonzerelli actually jump the shark.