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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’ll bite because I already was someone who only has to go into the office 1-2 days per week prior to COVID. Back in 2012 we moved outside the beltway to western Fairfax because we could get a bigger house. Bang for your buck right?! And I “only” needed to go in once or twice a week so the commute “wouldn’t be so bad.”

I was only 12 miles from the office (commuting within Fairfax County), but as more land got developed and people bought homes further out, the traffic got worse and worse. My 35 min. commute creeped up so that 7 years later it was taking me 50 min. in the morning and 1 hour 15 min. (or longer if inclement weather or an accident). I once spent over 2 hours trying to get home during a light snow storm one. Plus daycare pick up or drop off (DH and I alternated). I was spending 2-2.5 hours round trip in the car crawling on traffic and the weeks I had to go in twice we’re miserable. I had flex hours, but it didn’t matter because so do a lot of people in the area. Maybe I just have a low commute tolerance, but it felt like this dark cloud hanging over me knowing I had to keep making that unpredictable sluggish drive week after week. I came to absolutely dread going into the office. Then occasionally an in-person training or meeting, or a tech issue came up and I’d have go in on a telework day, which would make the week feel so long. Oh and forget wanting to move up and apply for any other jobs that may require more days in the office. I was now completely bound to a telework position.

Then the cherry on top were the days I’d sit through traffic and be at the office for 20 min. before getting a fall that my DD threw up and I needed to turn right back around to get her (sometimes DH could if he was working from home, but not always).

And then of course being able to go into the city for a sporting event, museum, nice dinner out, etc. is a schlep. If you aren’t the type of person who enjoys these things then you may not mind. But for me I really missed it and just didn’t find the suburban “town centers” to be that exciting.

So now we’ve moved closer in and can walk to metro, parks, restaurants, etc. Our house is smaller, but the quality of life is SO much better and the neighborhood is full of young families instead of old people just aging in place in the outer burbs. My job could go 100% remote and I’d still love and stay in my neighborhood. I’m a quick uber ride to city. I no longer have to plan my life around an unpredictable commute. DH was able to apply for a higher paying job in the city because long commute is no longer a factor.

To the Annapolis PP, sounds like you love your neighborhood. We just aren’t boat people. We love to visit there occasionally. But not everyone wants to live by the water. I think that’s a very specific lifestyle that the average family isn’t interested in.

I’m sure expanded telework will allow families priced out of the area to stay in the region and move further out. But those who can afford to live close-in will because the benefits are beyond just a short commute.[/quote]

Davidsonville/Annapolis poster here. I definitely understand that the outer-burbs aren’t for everyone, and I did go a bit overboard on my assessments of some of the inner burbs, mostly for trolling purposes because I know how the DCUM crowd gets when you insult their precious inner-burbs and it’s fun to watch. I’m a firm believer that everything has finite value to it though, including location and schools. The vast majority of people (outside of DCUM) are only willing to pay so much for that area before they begin to question if it’s worth it. I actually strongly considered a neighborhood in the inner-burbs that was in bounds for Walt Whitman HS. The people in the neighborhood itself were definitely lovely and down to earth, but the surrounding area definitely has a toxic culture and is far too much of a pressure-cooker. That’s not to say that schools here aren’t. South River HS has been named one of the 10 most challenging high schools in MD by the Washington Post, and I’ve definitely heard some brutal stories from the schools around here, particularly in Severna Park, but W schools seem insane. I didn’t want kids in that environment. It’s not that the expectations for kids here is lower, it’s that inner burb folks never seem satisfied with life regardless of how much money they make or how good their kids are doing, because there’s someone down the street with more money and kids in prep schools. Everyone says they’re satisfied with their houses and lifestyles, but everything in the personal finances section of this forum and what I’ve heard irl says the opposite. Now of course, not all of the inner-burbs are the same. Silver Spring and Takoma Park are a lot of laid-back than say, Bethesda/Potomac, but I feel like that’s changing unfortunately.

The housing prices are insane, and everyone has the right to be upset about it. It’s destroying communities, it’s causing the vast majority of residents (even high-income ones) to become house burdened, and people are not able to live comfortably anymore. Commuting sucks, but again, WFH is becoming more and more common because shitty home prices suck as much as commuting. We were already at 35% WFH even before the pandemic, you can expect that to go up to 60% now. Not every outer-burb is like Fairfax. Of course some are generic and boring, but some have a lot of culture, have plenty of young families, and are central to multiple urban hubs. This isn’t even mentioning the fact that there are MARCs and metros going out to the outer-burbs anyways.

If you’re happy where you are, that’s good. But just realize that DCUM is heavily biased towards the inner burbs because the vast majority of posters are from them. It’s not reflective of reality or where the real estate trends are going in the future. [/quote]

If one phrase or sentence from others sends you off writing a book every other day in defense of your exurban lifestyle, it's fair to ask who's getting played.  You seem in desperate need of validation.  Doubt you'll find it here, but you can always keep trying. [/quote]

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