Anonymous wrote:Posted this on a PG thread earlier - prices are really getting out of whack in [b]DC proper[b], even in deep NE.

This one in NE DC for $649 -
http://www.homesnap.com/DC/Washington/3002-Franklin-Street-NE

Or this one for $630 -
http://www.homesnap.com/DC/Washington/3924-18th-Street-NE

Versus Hyattsville for $399 -
http://www.homesnap.com/MD/Hyattsville/5001-41st-Place

Or Mt Rainier for $375 -
http://www.homesnap.com/MD/Mount-Rainier/3008-Bunker-Hill-Road

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No it wasn't. G'town, Spring Valley, Kent, yes. But AU Park was for white-collar government workers, nothing super fancy. East of 16th St was never an elite anything.

Yeah seriously. AU Park and CCDC (especially areas that fed into Janney, Lafayette, and Murch) used to be very much white collar federal workers. I grew up in CCDC and had friends who went to Janney and Murch from ballet class. It used to be the area where people lived who were college educated, but not super high earners. Not lobbyists, Big Law, finance people, etc. but just a federal attorney and his SAH wife, or a couple of journalists, or an NIH worker and someone who worked at a non-profit. Those people obviously worked to make their schools as good as possible and wanted good educations for their children (it was always an educated area), but it wasn't super fancy. It's amazing how much that area has changed since I grew up.

Yeah, lots of couples that are 50+ years old in our Lafayette neighborhood are government/non-profit types. All the parents under 40 or so tend to have a at least one parent at Big Law, a defense contractor, etc.

Big Law and government contractors are both much larger than they were a generation ago. You could just as easily say the same things about neighborhoods in Arlington, Bethesda and McLean as you've noted about your NW neighborhood. The only difference is that there's slightly less navel-gazing in those areas, though Arlington comes fairly close.

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Anonymous wrote:Ok, I'll bite. I know this commute well. I live in Brookland/Woodridge, about .75 miles from the Brookland metro station. I can get to Foggy Bottom by transit in about 30. My commute to my office in Georgetown, door to door, via transit is about 45 minutes and driving it's 30 minutes.

If you live less than a mile from a metro station, you are not a part of this discussion. Honestly. What percentage of DC territory do you think is located within .75 of a metro station? This discussion is about DC neighborhoods that are well removed from the public transit options.

Actually a working knowledge of DC geography would be helpful here - many of the "out there" neighborhoods are located within a mile or less of the metro. Brookland, Michigan Park, Riggs Park, Takoma, etc...

No doubt, many are. But many more aren't.

Now I am curious. Which ones?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

No it wasn't. G'town, Spring Valley, Kent, yes. But AU Park was for white-collar government workers, nothing super fancy. East of 16th St was never an elite anything.

Yeah seriously. AU Park and CCDC (especially areas that fed into Janney, Lafayette, and Murch) used to be very much white collar federal workers. I grew up in CCDC and had friends who went to Janney and Murch from ballet class. It used to be the area where people lived who were college educated, but not super high earners. Not lobbyists, Big Law, finance people, etc. but just a federal attorney and his SAH wife, or a couple of journalists, or an NIH worker and someone who worked at a non-profit. Those people obviously worked to make their schools as good as possible and wanted good educations for their children (it was always an educated area), but it wasn't super fancy. It's amazing how much that area has changed since I grew up.

Yeah, lots of couples that are 50+ years old in our Lafayette neighborhood are government/non-profit types. All the parents under 40 or so tend to have a at least one parent at Big Law, a defense contractor, etc.

Anonymous wrote:

No it wasn't. G'town, Spring Valley, Kent, yes. But AU Park was for white-collar government workers, nothing super fancy. East of 16th St was never an elite anything.

Yeah seriously. AU Park and CCDC (especially areas that fed into Janney, Lafayette, and Murch) used to be very much white collar federal workers. I grew up in CCDC and had friends who went to Janney and Murch from ballet class. It used to be the area where people lived who were college educated, but not super high earners. Not lobbyists, Big Law, finance people, etc. but just a federal attorney and his SAH wife, or a couple of journalists, or an NIH worker and someone who worked at a non-profit. Those people obviously worked to make their schools as good as possible and wanted good educations for their children (it was always an educated area), but it wasn't super fancy. It's amazing how much that area has changed since I grew up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ok, I'll bite. I know this commute well. I live in Brookland/Woodridge, about .75 miles from the Brookland metro station. I can get to Foggy Bottom by transit in about 30. My commute to my office in Georgetown, door to door, via transit is about 45 minutes and driving it's 30 minutes.

If you live less than a mile from a metro station, you are not a part of this discussion. Honestly. What percentage of DC territory do you think is located within .75 of a metro station? This discussion is about DC neighborhoods that are well removed from the public transit options.

Actually a working knowledge of DC geography would be helpful here - many of the "out there" neighborhoods are located within a mile or less of the metro. Brookland, Michigan Park, Riggs Park, Takoma, etc...

No doubt, many are. But many more aren't.

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Anonymous wrote:Every time I hear someone talking about how they "can't afford anything" in DC it makes me wonder if they've only looked on U Street, in Tenleytown, Cleveland Park, etc. Sure there are lots of houses for sale in DC in that range, but there are houses in nice parts of NE (not talking about H Street) for under $300k, and friends have bought in Shaw for under $450k. It's not nothing, and yeah, you're still taking the charter school gamble but houses in the burbs aren't going for much less. If you really want to live in the city, you probably can. If you just want to live in the super hip area, then good luck.

What nice parts of NE?

I own a condo near H St and wouldn't dream of raising my son there.

What property did your friends buy in Shaw for 450K?

I don't think anyone argues that if you really want to live in the city, you can; it's just that the way you will live without a huge budget (cramped place, marginal neighborhood, school anxiety) is not appealing.

Again, not H street. Brookland, Riggs Park, parts of Michigan Park, Takoma (DC, not Takoma Park, MD). All of which have nice houses at reasonable prices close to the metro.

I hear you on the NE neighborhoods, but first, discussions are underway whether Riggs Park and Takoma are in fact nice. And secondly, most of these neighborhoods are completely suburban in nature. So why deal with suburban dreariness AND urban problems rolled into one property?

I believe the point that was trying to be made was that there are indeed affordable nice neighborhoods in DC. It is irritating to hear the city isn't affordable when it is really a matter of people not wanting to compromise on what they can afford vs. what they want.

In that case, why fault someone for choosing to live in (Falls Church/Silver Spring/Bowie) instead of a part of DC with no urban amenities and lots of problems?

There's no faulting anyone for living where they like. And just because a DC neighborhood might not be well known doesn't mean it doesn't have amenities and has lots of problems. It's more a response to the "Wah! I can't live in DC!" When, if you really want that, you can. Maybe you just can't live in the heart of Columbia Heights.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Also have known plenty who have sent their kids to DC public schools and they did not turn out poorly

As well as folks who sent their kids to BCC HS and they turned out no better than DCPS kids.

Parenting also has a lot to do with it! Some prefer the schools to parent while they do other things.

Good point. My kid has a friend who graduated from BCC who is a huge pothead and living off of mommy and daddy. My kid is drug and alcohol free and working hard and spent most of her school career in DCPS.

Actually, "can my kid turn out well in DCPS" is not the question. The real question is "could my kid have done better in FX/MOCO/ARL schools." You aren't comparing average or anecdotal outcomes. You're looking, or you should be, for the best educational environment for your specific child, not looking to clear some (ridiculously low) bar like absence of substance abuse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also have known plenty who have sent their kids to DC public schools and they did not turn out poorly

As well as folks who sent their kids to BCC HS and they turned out no better than DCPS kids.

Parenting also has a lot to do with it! Some prefer the schools to parent while they do other things.

Good point. My kid has a friend who graduated from BCC who is a huge pothead and living off of mommy and daddy. My kid is drug and alcohol free and working hard and spent most of her school career in DCPS.

How often do you test her for doping?

Anonymous wrote:I do not understand the need at "DC' UrbanMom to bash DC. If you love the Burbs, God Bless You! You should live there. I am not mad at you for your choice. But, please I LOVE living in DC so you should not down my choice to do so! That really seems to be a problem on this forum.

In my neighborhood, live in Bloomingdale BTW, I am NOT afraid of getting shot at, stabbed or whatever negative thing people say about living in DC EOP.

I have neighbors with kids and some without. My neighbor raised all three kids who all went to DCPS. One graduated from Stanford, the other graduated from Morehouse and got a MA from Princeton and the last one is now at Pratt. So, they did not become criminals.

Anonymous wrote:I do not understand the need at "DC' UrbanMom to bash DC. If you love the Burbs, God Bless You! You should live there. I am not mad at you for your choice. But, please I LOVE living in DC so you should not down my choice to do so! That really seems to be a problem on this forum.

In my neighborhood, live in Bloomingdale BTW, I am NOT afraid of getting shot at, stabbed or whatever negative thing people say about living in DC EOP.

I have neighbors with kids and some without. My neighbor raised all three kids who all went to DCPS. One graduated from Stanford, the other graduated from Morehouse and got a MA from Princeton and the last one is now at Pratt. So, they did not become criminals.