Reply to What is the most overrated area (neighborhood, town, etc) in the DC metropolitan area?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Overrated is relative to the absolute nature of the 'rating.'  I.e., hard for a crappy neighborhood to be 'overrated' because it's not rated highly to begin.  On the other hand, Georgetown, which is a beautiful area and loved by people that like historic architecture (and are tolerant of row homes ... many are not), has a very high absolute 'rating' and as such is more prone to assertions that it is 'overrated.'  I.e., it's actual appeal to many is far less than its reputation.  [/quote]

You're contradicting yourself, and in doing so making my point.

Gtown having a "very high absolute rating" implies that Gtown is liked by many. You then say it's overrated and that its "actual appeal to many is far less than its reputation," as if this is some wisdom beyond impeachment. It's not.

If you're trying to say that "for every generally well-regarded area, there are always many people who don't like that area," then we agree. But this is content without substance. 
[/quote]

Wrong.

Assume a widget has a "rating" of 10 as measured by some arbiter of widget quality (the reputation maker) but the totality of potential buyers think that widget is really only an 8, as compared to other widgets.  On the other hand a different widget has a rating of 5 by the same arbiter, while the market of potential buyers thinks it's actually a 4.  In this case, the first widget - the 10, but really an 8 - is MORE OVERRATED (see: post title) than the second widget.

The degree of "over"rating is relative to the absolute value.  No doubt that Georgetown is liked by many ... many more than like lots of other areas ... but if every potential DC buyer were asked whether they believed Georgetown's actual attraction justifies the hype (from e.g., national reputation), those buyers probably would say no.  As such, Georgetown is a legitimate candidate for the "most overrated area."[/quote]

Your undergraduate training in economics, perhaps bolstered by a seminar in logic, is fraying at its ends. I was about to reply along the lines of "Who is this arbiter, what does he use as inputs to his rating technology if not popular acclaim, etc.," but that benefits no one, ourselves included. That you can conceive of a model to rationalize your arguments does not mean your arguments have any worth. [/quote]

Ok, this is fun.  Please define "most overrated" for me.

Detach yourself from your personal feelings (insecurity) about your neighborhood and point out specifically where the 'model' is flawed.  So far, all I've read from you are ad hominem arguments (logic 101) and some crafty prose, despite fairly vacuous arguments.[/quote]

I was sincere: this may be fun for us (it is), but the others are probably ready to banish our IP addresses. So, I'll be brief.

First, it is not insecurity about my neighborhood. I do not live in Georgetown. I am the commenter (from 04/03/2014 08:29 ) saying that I couldn't afford what I wanted in Gtown.

Your talk of this arbiter as if it exists, let alone that it exists exogenously. I think the best proxy for your magical ratings arbiter is "the market." What does it say? Prices of homes in GTown are high and increasing, regardless of how you cut the data. That says demand is high. That says lots of people want to live in Gtown and are willing to pay the price, which is high relative to other areas (again, regardless of metric). If lots of people were unwilling to pay the price for Gtown, prices would not be so high, so I don't understand what you mean by "people view it as overrated." If they'd viewed it as overrated (here meaning the asking price is too high), then the price wouldn't be so high. That's how markets work. This whole exercise is nonsensical when viewed in terms of an objective criterion of "overrated." The only meaningful interpretation of the discussion is in terms of personal preferences, and the resulting claims are not particularly insightful. [/quote]

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