Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

You are talking about high rise high density family living, what other city do you know in the US that provides this example? Also, I am not the one to bring up NYC first on this thread, but at least I have direct experience with it. If you feel like it truly takes away from the discussion, I will stop. I've wasted enough time already.

You are also saying DC is not crowded and is pretty small and will never be like NYC, someone here claims that we have severe shortage of housing. I grew up in DC and have enough family/friends here, I am familiar with it to some extent, even without direct experience of raising kids here. I don't sense that there is such housing crisis here at all, what I sense is frustration of people who want nicer neighborhoods and more luxurious accommodations at inability to afford it, not the fact that they cannot find a place to live. These are apples and oranges.

PP, please recognize that "I don't sense that...", based on your personal experiences, really does not count as data.

And your personal experience of living in an apt in NOVA counts as data? We are supposed to believe you what it's like to raise family in a high density high rise city?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

You are talking about high rise high density family living, what other city do you know in the US that provides this example? Also, I am not the one to bring up NYC first on this thread, but at least I have direct experience with it. If you feel like it truly takes away from the discussion, I will stop. I've wasted enough time already.

You are also saying DC is not crowded and is pretty small and will never be like NYC, someone here claims that we have severe shortage of housing. I grew up in DC and have enough family/friends here, I am familiar with it to some extent, even without direct experience of raising kids here. I don't sense that there is such housing crisis here at all, what I sense is frustration of people who want nicer neighborhoods and more luxurious accommodations at inability to afford it, not the fact that they cannot find a place to live. These are apples and oranges.

I have lots of family/friends in DC and grew up here. My LMC/MC family lives in places like Kensington, Silver Spring, South Arlington, Springfield and Ashburn. My higher earning friends live in NWDC, Bethesda, Mclean, Great Falls. The only ones who live in apartments are my childless friends (Downtown and NOVA) and the only person raising a child in the apartment is my single mom LMC cousin who lives in an apartment in Mclean for schools. I also have family members in rent control apartments as they had been here for decades. I have more than enough data to have an idea that the anguish you are writing about is not about lack of housing options for people of all income levels, but lack of certain comforts that tend to cost more money.

PP, please recognize that "I don't sense that...", based on your personal experiences, really does not count as data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

You are talking about high rise high density family living, what other city do you know in the US that provides this example? Also, I am not the one to bring up NYC first on this thread, but at least I have direct experience with it. If you feel like it truly takes away from the discussion, I will stop. I've wasted enough time already.

You are also saying DC is not crowded and is pretty small and will never be like NYC, someone here claims that we have severe shortage of housing. I grew up in DC and have enough family/friends here, I am familiar with it to some extent, even without direct experience of raising kids here. I don't sense that there is such housing crisis here at all, what I sense is frustration of people who want nicer neighborhoods and more luxurious accommodations at inability to afford it, not the fact that they cannot find a place to live. These are apples and oranges.

PP, please recognize that "I don't sense that...", based on your personal experiences, really does not count as data.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

You are talking about high rise high density family living, what other city do you know in the US that provides this example? Also, I am not the one to bring up NYC first on this thread, but at least I have direct experience with it. If you feel like it truly takes away from the discussion, I will stop. I've wasted enough time already.

You are also saying DC is not crowded and is pretty small and will never be like NYC, someone here claims that we have severe shortage of housing. I grew up in DC and have enough family/friends here, I am familiar with it to some extent, even without direct experience of raising kids here. I don't sense that there is such housing crisis here at all, what I sense is frustration of people who want nicer neighborhoods and more luxurious accommodations at inability to afford it, not the fact that they cannot find a place to live. These are apples and oranges.

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

Anonymous wrote:The NYC vs DC apartment argument makes little sense. DC is 1/3 of the size of NYC. On top of that, NYC don't have height restrictions that DC has.

All DC gets are those cheaply constructed boxy condos that only go up 6 stories that cost $3k a month.

I agree with the other poster pressed on NYC. Go post on a NYC forum, but DC will never be that big.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live there and raise a family there in an apartment, and I had wasted enough time explaining what it's like and why and why not.

Have you considered posting on a NYC message board, and not a DC area one?

Really, there are NYC forums? I had no clue, thank you!

I think you should go to NYC message boards yourself and learn from people there what it's like to raise a family in a very dense/crowded/expensive city. You think you know it all because you live in a suburban apartment complex? Do you even have kids?

Anonymous wrote:

Those are popping up everywhere near the Metro stations...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why people think that apartments, let alone families in apartments, are only a thing in New York City and nowhere else in the world.

If you look at the world at large, apartment living is more prevalent in dense cities where employment is city-centric and there aren't many residential areas where one can have a private home without having to go far out. Is this not true?

There are tons of people living in low rise and rural circumstances all over the world. You make it sound like most people prefer to live in 30-story towers and it's all by choice and that's how most of the world lives. Heavily populated cities provide fewer options for private home ownership, that's all there is, so if you must live there, your choice is apartment living. Given choices like most American cities offer due to lower density, not every family would choose apartment living.

In general people do not like to be severely crowded, it causes stress. Ideal living is when you are still in close enough proximity to others to enable advantages of living within a community but not too close that you feel squeezed and have zero privacy. For this reason people love walkable suburbs with smaller lots, rowhouse communities and large luxury apartments. The reason people live in crowded circumstances is usually lack of other choices or other choices being even worse economically or safety wise.

Agree that the streetcar suburbs are great, but you're not allowed to build anything like that anymore. I enthusiastically support rezoning single-family-detached-only neighborhoods within walking distance of transit to allow denser housing (attached houses, duplexes-triplexes, small apartment buildings, etc.), local commercial uses, and high-quality, frequent transit in dedicated lanes on the major streets.

Those are popping up everywhere near the Metro stations...

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live there and raise a family there in an apartment, and I had wasted enough time explaining what it's like and why and why not.

Have you considered posting on a NYC message board, and not a DC area one?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why people think that apartments, let alone families in apartments, are only a thing in New York City and nowhere else in the world.

If you look at the world at large, apartment living is more prevalent in dense cities where employment is city-centric and there aren't many residential areas where one can have a private home without having to go far out. Is this not true?

There are tons of people living in low rise and rural circumstances all over the world. You make it sound like most people prefer to live in 30-story towers and it's all by choice and that's how most of the world lives. Heavily populated cities provide fewer options for private home ownership, that's all there is, so if you must live there, your choice is apartment living. Given choices like most American cities offer due to lower density, not every family would choose apartment living.

In general people do not like to be severely crowded, it causes stress. Ideal living is when you are still in close enough proximity to others to enable advantages of living within a community but not too close that you feel squeezed and have zero privacy. For this reason people love walkable suburbs with smaller lots, rowhouse communities and large luxury apartments. The reason people live in crowded circumstances is usually lack of other choices or other choices being even worse economically or safety wise.

Agree that the streetcar suburbs are great, but you're not allowed to build anything like that anymore. I enthusiastically support rezoning single-family-detached-only neighborhoods within walking distance of transit to allow denser housing (attached houses, duplexes-triplexes, small apartment buildings, etc.), local commercial uses, and high-quality, frequent transit in dedicated lanes on the major streets.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand why people think that apartments, let alone families in apartments, are only a thing in New York City and nowhere else in the world.

If you look at the world at large, apartment living is more prevalent in dense cities where employment is city-centric and there aren't many residential areas where one can have a private home without having to go far out. Is this not true?

There are tons of people living in low rise and rural circumstances all over the world. You make it sound like most people prefer to live in 30-story towers and it's all by choice and that's how most of the world lives. Heavily populated cities provide fewer options for private home ownership, that's all there is, so if you must live there, your choice is apartment living. Given choices like most American cities offer due to lower density, not every family would choose apartment living.

In general people do not like to be severely crowded, it causes stress. Ideal living is when you are still in close enough proximity to others to enable advantages of living within a community but not too close that you feel squeezed and have zero privacy. For this reason people love walkable suburbs with smaller lots, rowhouse communities and large luxury apartments. The reason people live in crowded circumstances is usually lack of other choices or other choices being even worse economically or safety wise.

Anonymous wrote:[ For this reason people love walkable suburbs with smaller lots, rowhouse communities and large luxury apartments. The reason people live in crowded circumstances is usually lack of other choices or other choices being even worse economically or safety wise.

You make it sound like most people prefer to live in 30-story towers and it's all by choice and that's how most of the world lives.