Reply to We need homes. A lot of homes. Not just affordable, but also middle-income homes.

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Reply to "We need homes. A lot of homes. Not just affordable, but also middle-income homes."

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]First, do we have an agreement on what constitutes a "middle-income" home?

Here is a link to what used to be a typical a middle-income home - 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths - and quite similar to the one I grew up in during my early childhood. Dad was a college graduate and professional who commuted to DC from Silver Spring (and this was way before the Metro: think in terms of Mom driving him to the bus stop, and him having to make two transfers), and costs $425,000. It has a nice backyard for the kids to play. So....do we agree that this is a decent middle-income home, or do the high-earning "elites" on this forum look their nose down on it?

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13200-May-Ct-Silver-Spring-MD-20906/37308032_zpid/?[/quote]

Or, here's another one, in the same general area. This is how all the middle-class kids I grew up with lived:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3930-Wendy-Ln-Silver-Spring-MD-20906/37308239_zpid/[/quote]

Either of those are typically $650,000 in my suburban Virginia neighborhood. That's middle class right?[/quote]
Nope, $650,000 is fairly affluent. And that's what they go for in my suburban Virginia neighborhood, too, so I know all about it.

But the point was the posters have been complaining that there isn't enough middle-income housing, and I was showing that there ARE middle-income houses in the area. It's just that middle-income people might have to move to Silver Spring where the houses can be had for $400,000. I see some of them in areas of Rockville, as well - the 1950s style ranchers and split-levels. What's so bad about having to move to where you can afford a house?[/quote]

i think you are missing the sense of entitlement that many proponents here have.  They want affordable housing in the most expensive neighborhoods in Ward 3.  Yeh, and I want an affordable condo on the top floor of the Wharf of the Potomac.  Simple answer is that the proponents need to get a life, or make more money.  More thoughtful approach is to improve other neighborhoods in DC.
[/quote]

Oh no, I didn't miss the sense of entitlement - I just was very subtle about it. I KNOW that a lot of these elitist do-gooders think that middle-income people are entitled to live in the most expensive neighborhoods in the city. But they're NOT. If a couple is earning $100,000 combined, they CAN afford a house, but it might not be in their first choice of locations. I mentioned Silver Spring or Rockville, but there's also Gaithersburg that has some modest older homes. In Virginia, my state, there are cheap(er) houses out in Sterling or Herndon.

And too bad if they want to live in DC. My own parents went through the same choice 50 years ago, when they were renting an apartment in NW DC (near Rock Creek) and wanted to buy a house (second child on the way). They looked at smallish homes in their area, and they all topped out well over $40,000. (This was in the early 60s.) So they looked at cheaper areas in DC, and thought "nope" - schools weren't good. So they hiked it out to Silver Spring, where they bought a nice split-level home for around $30,000. Did my dad LIKE that his commute into DC was now more than an hour, when he was previously able to hop a bus and be at work in 20 minutes? NOPE. But he did what responsible adults do, wanting to provide a house for their family - they bought where they could afford.

Right at this MOMENT there might be a housing shortage, but once this unusual demand is over, there are plenty of 50s and 60s ranch and split-level houses available in the $400,000 range. And if not, there is always an option of buying a townhouse, and then working UP to a single family house. [/quote]

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