Bowie rocks! Why isn't it more popular?

[Anonymous]

Yes! It's amazing to hear the white relatives who come to visit and their comments on my neighborhood. Such raw prejudice:

"Your grocery store is a little run down."
Well, if by run down you mean has mostly black people.

"You must have a lot of crime here. I see bars on the windows."
Not really if you look at the stats. One neighbor decided they wanted bars.

PG has such little traffic compared to the rest of the region. Such a wonderful thing for those of us who live here.

so happy for you. it's for some people, it's not for others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People aren't racist in Bowie like they are in Nova. I mean, look at the obnoxious people in this thread; it's ridiculous.

I grew up in Bowie in the 80s-90s. What you say might be true now, but absolutely was not true when I was growing up (and Bowie was about 90% white). Many of my friends' parents (and my own) said vile thing about other races, particularly black people (the "n word" was thrown around freely). Those people likely all fled when the demographics started to change, so it's probably correct that people in Bowie aren't racist these days.

Why did Bowie stay majority white for so long? All of PG was ~90% white until they started busing in the early 70s...was Bowie not impacted by busing as much as the "Heights" areas?

I too grew up in Bowie in the 80s and 90s. I am AA and was one of the only AA families on our block at the time. I went to public schools in Bowie from 5th-12th grade. Bowie was moderately impacted by the bussing. At my elementary school, I was the only AA child in my class that was not bussed in from lower income communities inside the beltway.

The whites who stayed in Bowie through the 90s were people who either 1. could not afford to leave so though they were racist, accepted living amongst blacks or 2. recognized the excellent quality of life they were afforded. The moms were SAH, dads were fed employees with a pretty decent commute and they had a nice life. Membership in swim clubs, nice family vacations, rec league sports, etc. It was a suburban middle class dream.

My parents still live in Bowie and things got really rough there during the recession. Property values went way down and things were tough for years. I believe they are starting to rebound. Their neighborhood stayed pretty much the same while others did suffer.

The commute to DC is IMO better than it is from most all of outer Fairfax because Bowie is simply closer, miles wise. For example, Chantilly to the White House is 25 miles and Bowie to the White House is only 18. At the height of rush hour, 7 miles is HUGE. If you work near Union Station or anywhere Chinatown/Convention Ctr/etc, you really can get to work in 45 mins max. My dad does this daily and has for 20+ years.

I think whites are eventually going to gentrify and take PG over because the infrastructure is great, roads are decent and there is a lot of good housing stock with great lots. Nice parks and schools ripe for turnaround. The living is too good for whites to cede it completely over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, and to add, I guess that there is an insinuation here that it is hypocritical to live in a poor area but not send your children to public schools, and... that's really bizarre. I am willing to pay money for a better school experience just like the people all over the region, with smaller classes, less testing, language immersion, and aspects of character education and Christian education incorporated into the curriculum. Nonetheless it was a decision I agonized over quite a bit, until I decided it was worth it to try preschool and see if it was a good experience or go back to the public school. DH also very strongly preferred the Catholic school. But our neighbors' children have attended public school and I am very impressed at how poised and polite they are. I am making this area work for me and it is working very well.

It's not.

It is, however, hypocritical, to sing praises to your community and then spend money to isolate your child from the children of its members.

NP, but the private schools in PG County have students who live in PG County. How is it isolating? Are Bethesda parents who choose private schools but nevertheless enjoy their communities also hypocritical?

[Anonymous]

I cringe every time I see a thread on Bowie (or even PG).

If you don't want to live here, then don't. Frankly, I don't care. But if you don't live here and haven't lived here in a decade or more, then don't talk as if you *know* Bowie.

I live in Bowie. It's the best option for me. And yes, it's a better option than MOCO or NOVA. For where I work in D.C., the commute is much better than I would find in MOCO, NOVA, Howard, or Anne Arundel County. And I have public transit options for days I don't want to drive. There's MARC, which is convenient to my home and work, and there's Metro bus to Metro.

My neighborhood is solidly middle class. It's not "rough." There is none of the "tension" that the other PP went on and on about. Good, nice, friendly people all around of a variety of different ethnicities, ages, and backgrounds.

Money is not the reason I chose Bowie over MOCO or NOVA. My commute would have been much worse in both those locations. And Metro has its issues. At least where I'm at, I also have the option of MARC.

Now, of course, I can't walk to work. And that would be great, but I don't want to live in a condo in D.C., and I can't afford an entire house within walking distance of my work. I don't even think there are even townhouses available there anyhow. Most of the housing within walking distance of where I work comes in the form of condos. I could afford a condo, but it doesn't work for my needs.

So keep squabbling about "my hood is better than yours" and so on. It really makes most of you sound rather juvenile and certainly superficial.

As for commute, you really can't discuss commute "to D.C." from any area in the region without saying specifically where in D.C. There are parts that are more accessible from MOCO and parts that are more accessible from PG. It really depends where in D.C. you work.

[Anonymous]

How long is the commute from Bowie to L'Enfant? Looks like you would metro from New Carollton?

[Anonymous]

People get stabbed at the Towne Center on the reg.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People get stabbed at the Towne Center on the reg.

Citation, please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long is the commute from Bowie to L'Enfant? Looks like you would metro from New Carollton?

If you are driving, you're looking at a 45 minute commute. It's not awful and better than the commute there from most of Fairfax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How long is the commute from Bowie to L'Enfant? Looks like you would metro from New Carollton?

The drive is ok, but in your case I would think you would be better off with somewhere close to the green line, maybe college park or greenbelt? Then you'd have an easier metro option.

[Anonymous]

Are we talking Ziggy Stardust era?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People get stabbed at the Towne Center on the reg.

No they don't! Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lanham is a real ghetto. Far worse than Bowie! Omg, you couldn't pay me live there!!

Such hyperbole. Me thinks you don't know much about ghettos. That's a good thing. But please stop talking about things you no not.

Signed,

Not a PG resident

me grew up in Lanham so me thinks me knows what me is talking about. get me?

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, and to add, I guess that there is an insinuation here that it is hypocritical to live in a poor area but not send your children to public schools, and... that's really bizarre. I am willing to pay money for a better school experience just like the people all over the region, with smaller classes, less testing, language immersion, and aspects of character education and Christian education incorporated into the curriculum. Nonetheless it was a decision I agonized over quite a bit, until I decided it was worth it to try preschool and see if it was a good experience or go back to the public school. DH also very strongly preferred the Catholic school. But our neighbors' children have attended public school and I am very impressed at how poised and polite they are. I am making this area work for me and it is working very well.

It's not.

It is, however, hypocritical, to sing praises to your community and then spend money to isolate your child from the children of its members.

We do that all the time in DC. For those who cannot afford private or want to say, I support public schools, we Send our kids to niche charters like YY, Lamb, and CMI. These schools have small class room sizes, active parents, foreign languages in elementary, and the ability to dissuade disreputive/underperforming students to leave. We call them public because they are paid with our tax dollars and not our after tax income. But, we all know that most, if not all,are just low-rent private schools paid with tax dollars. Schools without the headaches of traditional public schools. Win-win for us.

[Anonymous]

I think fewer people are looking to move to Bowie than Montgomery County, Arlington, FFX county, etc because of job centers. There's more job centers west and north-west of the city, so more people are tying to live there. A lot of the people living in Ashburn or Chantilly are only commuting to Fairfax or Herndon. East of the city, there's not as many options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think fewer people are looking to move to Bowie than Montgomery County, Arlington, FFX county, etc because of job centers. There's more job centers west and north-west of the city, so more people are tying to live there. A lot of the people living in Ashburn or Chantilly are only commuting to Fairfax or Herndon. East of the city, there's not as many options.

I have a friend who moved to Bowie because of the nature of her work. She wanted to be in close proximity to DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. Her profession allows that flexibility. Damn, I wish I had gone into healthcare. Such flexibility.