Reply to DC housing priorities and the dearth of 'family housing'

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[quote=Anonymous]When I was in my 20's I moved to DC for the career opportunities and fun it offered. Over the past 9 years I got married and now we have a dear child. I'm even trying to become a fan of our local football team, though it's tough work. In short, we like DC and want to stay to raise our growing family.

That's where housing enters into consideration. I hear much discussion in some circles about the influx of condo and apartment units coming online in DC currently, and projected into the future. These units will be necessary to house the 1,000 people or so who move to the District each month. That's great for younger folks who, like me, are seeking out DC for the opportunities and fun.

However, now that I'm older and have a family I'm beginning to notice that not all new housing is created equal. It seems developers construct one bedroom condos/apts at the expense of 'family housing' in this area. By 'family housing' I'm talking about town/row-style homes with 3 beds/2 baths on a negligible yard.

Doubtlessly condos/apts are more profitable for developers than 'family housing' so that's the reason they are not being constructed.

Anyway, it's frustrating for folks like us who have young families and want to stay in the area but are priced out because the existing (small) stock of family housing is too high to afford (particularly when factoring the need for private school in many instances).

I suppose we could pack into a condo but let's face it, DC is not New York. It would be tough to justify a New York-like existence with DC amenities (as good as they are). Additionally, I suppose we could move out to Aldie, but frankly we can live in the suburbs anywhere, and sitting in traffic around here is obviously miserable.

One way around this issue would could be to incentivize the creation of more family housing. What are local governments doing to ensure that not just more "housing" is created in general terms, but that more [u]family housing[/u] is created in their jurisdictions specifically? Or am I to believe that DC is not interested in retaining young families?[/quote]

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