A Tale of Two Counties---Montgomery vs. Prince George's

[lscalder]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

Wow! Sorry to have caused such hostility! I am honestly still trying to get fully acquainted with the ENTIRE metropolitan area (or the "DMV" as I hear on the radio), and yes, that includes my fine neighbors to the north and east in Maryland, where, due to time constraints, I don't get to spend much time exploring. I'm becoming depressed looking at the over-inflated housing prices here in NoVA (as a single person I couldn't care less about paying $200,000 more for a house in a good school "pyramid"), so when I look across the state line and see modest homes that I potentially could afford as a single professional earning about $90,000 I want to know all of the "ins" and "outs." Just from studying this forum I learned there ARE some good pockets of Prince George's County (i.e. the ones I referenced earlier like Hyattsville, Greenbelt, National Harbor, etc.) However, I was just wondering what is currently causing Prince George's County to be the red-headed stepchild of the metro area so I can see if investing here in about a decade might be a wise or FOOLISH decision. Here in NoVA childless single people who want to buy someday are faced with an unfairly high housing market, driven up by fierce competition from parents in bidding wars over the most posh schools. If I could buy my dream home in Prince George's County---2 BR, 1 BA, 1,100 square feet, tiny lot---then I'd want to know what I'd be getting myself into.

Yes, I knew it is a very heavily African-American county ahead of time (one of my clues is that my favorite hip-hop radio stations is "95.5 PGC", which I presume stands for Prince George's County). However, living in a diverse area is a NON-issue for me, assuming I don't experience reverse-racism from blacks thinking I'm a typical white yuppie trying to drive up their cost-of-living (as has happened in a good chunk of the District through gentrification). Yes, I know this is a touchy subject, but my point here wasn't to troll. I'm just looking to open discussion to see if Prince George's County's low housing prices should be considered a "bargain" or a "slum." Sorry to have offended! SHEESH!

Here is what I would do if I was you, I would take a drive to Prince Georges nice areas such as Bowie,Upper Marlboro,Fort Washington,Brandywine,Clinton,Accokeek,Mitchelvill e,Largo,Cheltenham. I like all of these areas and they are all nice. None of these areas have run down areas. I live in Upper Marlboro and I have never heard or seen a not so nice area in Upper Marlboro and I can say the same for the areas listed.

[knoxgarden]

Thread is closed before it degenerates further.