Prince Georges County: A work in progress (Largo, Upper Marlboro: homes, service)

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by ptsum

This county has always managed to survive, even through the 60s, with the riots in DC, and the so call white flight, late 70s early 80s when interest rates were so high, and even during the mini recession of the 90s, and even now with the problems that we're having with the economy, one thing that is unique about Prince George's County, is its geographical location, you have a lot of people that work for local, county, state, and federal government that live in Prince George's County and these people that live here will demand the best from their government and from the business, and retail industry, so no matter what happens, this county will continue to operate and survive.

Survive or flourish? I thought the goal was to flourish and to provide the best of? Survival is keeping the old head above water and can include floundering.

[ptsum]

Originally Posted by TuborgP

That will be years before they settle. The next bubble is with credit cards and resulting retail sales. Read the attached about this shopping season. We have overbuilt our shopping capacity as we did housing and every other bubble. Where are the NEW shoppers for National Harbor going to come from, if they come from elsewhere in the county will that help the county? This was a great concept coming on line 5 years to late.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...zhE&refer=home

I read this article that you posted here, and found it quite interesting, but nowhere in it doesn't say anything about consumer spending being down, granted people do not spend as much as had been predicted but then again predictions are always speculative, now the companies that were named in the article may have lost on the stock market but that doesn't mean it won't recover, as a matter of fact it's stated in one paragraph, and I quote ( even though consumers limited purchases of holiday gifts, the U.S. will avoid a recession next year as a " stable" job market keeps Americans spending amid falling housing prices and higher fuel costs,) what this tells me is that people are not spending a lot of money like they did in the past because of these two reasons, but that doesn't mean that this county is going to falter or go under, granted the housing market right now is not the greatest and with the high cost of fuel and gas people were just being cautious with their money, if you read further on you'll also notice that a lot of people are doing their shopping on the Internet, there has been a big increase in that.
Prince George's County is not the only county in the state of Maryland that is having problems with the housing industry, Montgomery County is also having problems, and this problem is not just in the state of Maryland, it is all across the country, California and Ohio are among the highest in foreclosure rates, so you see it's not just a county thing.( In my opinion,) I believe that once the market and the housing industry gets everything sorted out, Prince George's County will still be in pretty good shape for some of the higher retail market.

[TuborgP]

Originally Posted by ptsum

I read this article that you posted here, and found it quite interesting, but nowhere in it doesn't say anything about consumer spending being down, granted people do not spend as much as had been predicted but then again predictions are always speculative, now the companies that were named in the article may have lost on the stock market but that doesn't mean it won't recover, as a matter of fact it's stated in one paragraph, and I quote ( even though consumers limited purchases of holiday gifts, the U.S. will avoid a recession next year as a " stable" job market keeps Americans spending amid falling housing prices and higher fuel costs,) what this tells me is that people are not spending a lot of money like they did in the past because of these two reasons, but that doesn't mean that this county is going to falter or go under, granted the housing market right now is not the greatest and with the high cost of fuel and gas people were just being cautious with their money, if you read further on you'll also notice that a lot of people are doing their shopping on the Internet, there has been a big increase in that.
Prince George's County is not the only county in the state of Maryland that is having problems with the housing industry, Montgomery County is also having problems, and this problem is not just in the state of Maryland, it is all across the country, California and Ohio are among the highest in foreclosure rates, so you see it's not just a county thing.( In my opinion,) I believe that once the market and the housing industry gets everything sorted out, Prince George's County will still be in pretty good shape for some of the higher retail market.

When you add retail capacity you need to either increase the number of shoppers or pull them from somewhere else and drive that store out of business. I don't think anyone believes that in this climate consumer spending in PG will increase to support so much more addtional shopping facilities.. So unless Harbor pulls from Malls outside of PG it will only hurt other shopping facilities in PG. Thats why the concept that we are building excess retail capacity which can create a bubble to pop. People can't continue to spend more unless their wealth increases. If people face increasing debt their wealth decreases. Please stop shopping and start investing.

[RFMD]

Continued development to occur along the route 1 Corridor.

washingtonpost.com

[RFMD]

Read a good portion of the Landover gateway project slated to be "downtown" for Prince Georges County. It is a very ambitious plan:
Landover Gateway Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment

The plan includes:

Connecting the "Downtown" to Woodmore Town Center (currently under construction) just across the beltway via Evarts street
Heavy landscaping including a landscape promenade
On-street light rail
A Civic Center and other taller structures along the capital beltway portion of the plan changing the skyline in this area-a view of this is illustrated in the plan.
Moving government office building to the region
A new Fire/Police station in the area

The infrastructure improvements are already underway along the capital beltway in the region

A number of people will be displaced as they remove Maple Ridge and Glenarden Apartments.

Also I have a family member who works in the main office of Pepco Downtown DC who indicated Pepco is looking to move to Prince Georges County. This article outlines the proposed move:

Pepco looks outside District for space - Washington Business Journal:

I was told it's a done deal and will occur in the vicinity of the "downtown" project.

BTW: All and I mean All of DC is going to be an exclusive area to live in. Everywhere you look there is a Clark construction crane in the sky in Washington.

[RFMD]

Has anyone been by the National Harbor? The exit off the beltway is open to the area and all I can say is WOW. The convention center is huge. The grounds are beautiful. Many others just driving by to see the place.

[liliblu]

Originally Posted by RFMD

Has anyone been by the National Harbor? The exit off the beltway is open to the area and all I can say is WOW. The convention center is huge. The grounds are beautiful. Many others just driving by to see the place.

I went down there. I dropped some one off at one the recent job fairs. WOW is right. There is still a lot of work to be done it looks like the place will be amazing. It really will be a mini city.

[liliblu]

There were a couple of articles in the Post about National Harbor today.

washingtonpost.com

washingtonpost.com

[RFMD]

Originally Posted by liliblu

I went down there. I dropped some one off at one the recent job fairs. WOW is right. There is still a lot of work to be done it looks like the place will be amazing. It really will be a mini city.

There is still a great deal left of the build-out. What really caught my eye was a wide walking corridor that divides a central street within the project. On both sides of this walkway are big birch trees that creates a canopy along the walkway. The walkway gradually slopes upward from the Potomac allowing for excellent views even blocks away. They have not completed this however it was impressive. Again the landscaping throughout the project is beautiful.

I can only imagine the tax assessments for the homes surrounding this project. I guess TRIM will lessen the impact.

Looking forward to the increased tax base from the project to help fund the school superintendent's initiatives and help with public safety.

[lscalder]

I think the National Harbor open up next Tuesday I am not sure if it tomorrow or next week.