Stay away from PG County! (Baltimore, Silver Spring: renting, credit card, home)

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by IRONSHIRT

National Harbor is quite nice. There is soon to be a Wegmans in PG, that should be interesting to see if it succeeds.

People were all up in arms a few weeks ago b/c National Harbor agreed to accept low end retail due to the tough retail industry. They're going to put a convenience store right inside the grounds.

Prince George's Board Approves Store, Station and Restaurant at National Harbor - washingtonpost.com

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by jayman1981

Wow Sometimes I don't know what to say about this. Truthfully speaking P.G. is a good county. There are some good schools in the system mainly upper Marlboro, Bowie, Laurel, Accokeek, Brandywine, Fort Washington. It's alot of development in and around the area. There is both good and bad to this area. Would I recommend it to someone. Yes I would.

In my opinion I think because P.G. is predominately African American it tends to get a bad rap. Some stereotypes are true while a lot of it is false. Does P.G. county need help Yes. Northern Va and Montgomery counties are not perfect and crime has risen in those areas once believed to be pure and untainted. Is it a livable area where you can raise a family? Yes. I grew up here and I went to the dreadful crime and gang infested system that taught me how to drink and smoke Public school. I think I turned out fine, I'm not on section 8 creating babies left and right and smoking weed. I've got a house a wife and 2.5 kids. I think i'm doing well for myself and so are a lot of people in this county.

Don't believe the negative hype. Come on visit for yourself make an informed decision. If it is for you great if not at least you made the decision. Investigate and don't depend on what 6 people on a forum say. Best wishes to you.

As a homeowner that you are, one of the biggest issues in PG is the high real estate tax relative to the house value.

PG is a good place to live, but bang for the buck (no pun intended), it's not there, especially relative to its neighbors. The jobs, retail, and quality of schools just isn't there relative to its neighbors.

[jayman1981]

Heck any county you go to with the exception of a few your going to pay an arm and leg to live closer to D.C. Counties like Fairfax, Arlington, Montgomery County and P.G. are the closes area with the immediate D.C. area. If it isn't one thing it's another. I will be the first to say that retail and schools might not be as good as the other counties. However I still believe that just like yourself that it's a good place to live.

It sometimes irks me to have to always defend and stand up for the county. I won't ever tell you that this county isn't without it's problems. The news and other figures tend to put that out there loud and clear. However this is not a war zone. IF your kids go to the school system, they won't turn out to be idiots unless they are mocking what they see at home.

From what I've seen from the system they have really made strides to fix the school issue. Are they still where the other systems are no. Would I have a problem putting my child in the system. No I would. When my wife and I wanted to stay in P.G. in 06, prices were way too expensive to live. So we ended living in Charles County. Now that everyone is flocking out to Charles County people are crowding it like it's the best place on earth. Now that the prices have lowered and we want a bigger house, we can afford the areas I want to stay in. Brandywine, Accokeek, Clinton and Upper Marlboro are the areas I'm looking at. I could stay in Waldorf and it would be cheaper, I realize that but I'm tired of the long commutes and the influx of people. To be honest I'm actually tired of this whole area, but that is another story. I just need a different scenary

I hate to sound so bitter and maybe a bit critical but maybe what this county needs is more white people living here to convince other people it's a nice area to live. Maybe I need a white guy to say I love living in P.G.

Originally Posted by live_strong28

As a homeowner that you are, one of the biggest issues in PG is the high real estate tax relative to the house value.

PG is a good place to live, but bang for the buck (no pun intended), it's not there, especially relative to its neighbors. The jobs, retail, and quality of schools just isn't there relative to its neighbors.

[BGallagher]

One thing you should know is that Laurel falls into 3 different counties even though their 4 zips all go thru the Laurel PO. Russet & Maryland City are in Anne Arundel County - Whiskey Bottom & Scaggsvile are in Howard County. I also believe that Bowie has parts in Anne Arundel County..
Makes a big difference regarding property taxes and school systems.

[GeekChick]

Originally Posted by jayman1981

Wow Sometimes I don't know what to say about this. Truthfully speaking P.G. is a good county. There are some good schools in the system mainly upper Marlboro, Bowie, Laurel, Accokeek, Brandywine, Fort Washington. It's alot of development in and around the area. There is both good and bad to this area. Would I recommend it to someone. Yes I would.

In my opinion I think because P.G. is predominately African American it tends to get a bad rap. Some stereotypes are true while a lot of it is false. Does P.G. county need help Yes. Northern Va and Montgomery counties are not perfect and crime has risen in those areas once believed to be pure and untainted. Is it a livable area where you can raise a family? Yes. I grew up here and I went to the dreadful crime and gang infested system that taught me how to drink and smoke Public school. I think I turned out fine, I'm not on section 8 creating babies left and right and smoking weed. I've got a house a wife and 2.5 kids. I think i'm doing well for myself and so are a lot of people in this county.

Don't believe the negative hype. Come on visit for yourself make an informed decision. If it is for you great if not at least you made the decision. Investigate and don't depend on what 6 people on a forum say. Best wishes to you.

Hey I posted on the Delaware forum and I was wondering about PG

County also! Can you name some cities in that county that are clean,

diverse and middle class? And any other good county's in Maryland!

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by jayman1981

Heck any county you go to with the exception of a few your going to pay an arm and leg to live closer to D.C. Counties like Fairfax, Arlington, Montgomery County and P.G. are the closes area with the immediate D.C. area. If it isn't one thing it's another. I will be the first to say that retail and schools might not be as good as the other counties. However I still believe that just like yourself that it's a good place to live.

It sometimes irks me to have to always defend and stand up for the county. I won't ever tell you that this county isn't without it's problems. The news and other figures tend to put that out there loud and clear. However this is not a war zone. IF your kids go to the school system, they won't turn out to be idiots unless they are mocking what they see at home.

From what I've seen from the system they have really made strides to fix the school issue. Are they still where the other systems are no. Would I have a problem putting my child in the system. No I would. When my wife and I wanted to stay in P.G. in 06, prices were way too expensive to live. So we ended living in Charles County. Now that everyone is flocking out to Charles County people are crowding it like it's the best place on earth. Now that the prices have lowered and we want a bigger house, we can afford the areas I want to stay in. Brandywine, Accokeek, Clinton and Upper Marlboro are the areas I'm looking at. I could stay in Waldorf and it would be cheaper, I realize that but I'm tired of the long commutes and the influx of people. To be honest I'm actually tired of this whole area, but that is another story. I just need a different scenary

I hate to sound so bitter and maybe a bit critical but maybe what this county needs is more white people living here to convince other people it's a nice area to live. Maybe I need a white guy to say I love living in P.G.

It is expensive to live closer to DC, but check out PG. Anything near the DC border is low end and high in crime. In PG, the further away you are from the border, the better it is. That's a unique phenomenon.

When I lived in PG, my new McMansion was assessed at about 480k in value, but my tax was about $8,500. Now, I live in McLean and my 12 year old house is valued at over 1 mil, but my tax is around $10,500. That is one ridiculous ratio of property taxes relative to house value in favor of McLean.

You said that people are flocking to Waldorf. Waldorf has seen an uptick in crime. Aren't most of the people coming into Waldorf coming from PG?

I'm not going to comment about your statement that you need a white guy to say that PG is good, but if you take for example the best public schools in this area and in the US, the student population is mostly white or asian. If whites and asians are leaving PG, there's got to be a reason for that.

PG won't see an influx of whites until PG creates huge job centers like the Tysons Corner area or Bethesda/Rockville and the schools start getting better. A McMansion home would be easily double in price if it was in Potomac, McLean, or Great Falls instead of Woodmore.

Check out what Delonte West just bought in Ft. Washington. He bought an 8 bedroom mansion by the water. Cost? It was "only" $1.05 mil. A house with 8 bedrooms by the water in Great Falls would go for about $6 mil.

Reliable Source - Delonte West Settles Down, Settles In

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by BGallagher

One thing you should know is that Laurel falls into 3 different counties even though their 4 zips all go thru the Laurel PO. Russet & Maryland City are in Anne Arundel County - Whiskey Bottom & Scaggsvile are in Howard County. I also believe that Bowie has parts in Anne Arundel County..
Makes a big difference regarding property taxes and school systems.

There's no part of Bowie located in Anne Arundel County. Bowie wanted to break from PG and become annexed into AAC, but it was denied.

[thefatkid]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

I suggest you drive rt. 50 into DC around 8am.

Does tomorrow work for you? How about Monday-Friday for the past four years, would that be good enough?

I confess I take the exit and use 295 to get downtown (Benning road), so I don't know what happens if you keep going straight - the route i take really isn't that bad.

My commute is a good bit shorter than most of the other lawyers in my firm, folks in VA or Montgomery County. I'm not saying it's 25 minutes every day, but it is VERY rare that it takes me more than an hour to get to work in NW DC from Bowie.

Originally Posted by live_strong28

If traffic was not clogged on rt. 50, why would they put in a HOV lane?

There is an HOV lane, although I don't use it. Maybe that's why traffic isn't too bad. When was the last time you drove 50???

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by thefatkid

Does tomorrow work for you? How about Monday-Friday for the past four years, would that be good enough?

I confess I take the exit and use 295 to get downtown (Benning road), so I don't know what happens if you keep going straight - the route i take really isn't that bad.

My commute is a good bit shorter than most of the other lawyers in my firm, folks in VA or Montgomery County. I'm not saying it's 25 minutes every day, but it is VERY rare that it takes me more than an hour to get to work in NW DC from Bowie.



There is an HOV lane, although I don't use it. Maybe that's why traffic isn't too bad. When was the last time you drove 50???

I think you should check out the beltway onetime. Many people who live in North PG drive to New Carrollton to get to DC. Also, try bypassing 295 tomorrow and tell me how it is.

[thefatkid]

Originally Posted by live_strong28

I think you should check out the beltway onetime. Many people who live in North PG drive to New Carrollton to get to DC. Also, try bypassing 295 tomorrow and tell me how it is.

Eh, I'll pass, I know there's a ton of traffic on the beltway, and NY Avenue does seem somewhat worse than 295. I'm just saying - as someone who works downtown in DC - Bowie works well for me.

From what I've seen PG county gets an awfully bad rap, but admittedly most of the places I go in PG county are either in or around Bowie. I won't characterize what it's like to live elsewhere in PG because I haven't done so, but again there look to be some pretty nice farm/semi-rural areas not too far away and still in PG.

A few of us here I think are just reacting because people make PG county out to be this homogeneous den of iniquity, when in fact it's got some perfectly nice places to live.