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Old 02-04-2011, 12:50 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,517,425 times
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Unsafe as in crime, not as in no sidewalks so will be run over by a Jaguar.

I figure there wouldnt be a lot of options (i mean assuming you dont cheat and buy an entire apartment building). I guess maybe some houses in the more marginal parts of Old Town Alex. But in such an area 800k would still buy a fair amount of house, even though its old town, wouldnt it?
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Old 02-04-2011, 12:52 PM
 
Location: Virginia
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Wow, that would be hard to do. I was going to suggest you could try buying a strip mall down near Springfield Mall and live out of that, but I don't think that would work either.
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Old 02-04-2011, 01:57 PM
 
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There are some parts of 0old Town where nice houses are around the corner from the projects. I don't know if it's really unsafe though.
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Old 02-04-2011, 02:19 PM
 
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Old Town doesn't have seriously unsafe areas in the way cities like Chicago, NYC, Oakland, DC etc do (any more, at least). It is relatively small, so it isn't broken up into clearly delineated "good" and "bad" areas in the way that some other places are.

At most there are some blocks of low-income housing that you might feel wary of walking through at night. Many of these areas are being demolished or growing smaller, and they are right next to newly-constructed townhouses. Look at what's happening along Columbus and Alfred Streets in the northern edge. On Alfred near Wythe, there are new 3 BR townhouses priced around $850,000 (1,950 sq ft). Same for Oronoco and Royal, right across from housing projects (2,960 sq ft).

I don't think there would be much of a price differential between a nice house in one of Old Town's "unsafe" areas versus the same quality and size house in a safer area. For the same $850,000 there is a 3 BR townhouse (2,500 sq ft) down by Jones Point Park.
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Old 02-04-2011, 02:47 PM
 
Location: In the woods
3,315 posts, read 10,062,610 times
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Depends on how unsafe it really is. Some of the best buys are in these "transitional" neighborhoods. Only thing is, are you willing to wait around for things to "transition"?

A good example is DC SE-SW, where that new stadium is. I remember when that place looked like a war zone and look at it now. Unbelievable.
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Old 02-04-2011, 03:01 PM
 
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Same as Verizon center, before that was built that area was run down as well and now look at that 7th street now. Just goes to show if you invest the right amount of money in the right projects you can turn around most areas.
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Old 02-04-2011, 03:24 PM
 
Location: The Port City is rising.
8,868 posts, read 12,517,425 times
Reputation: 2604
Quote:
Originally Posted by robbobobbo View Post
I don't think there would be much of a price differential between a nice house in one of Old Town's "unsafe" areas versus the same quality and size house in a safer area. For the same $850,000 there is a 3 BR townhouse (2,500 sq ft) down by Jones Point Park.
Last time I looked, there was. 600k, for ex, goes a good bit further north of say Cameron, and west of Washington, than it does south of king and east of Washington, IIRC.

But above 800k, I dont know you find much in the northwest part of Old town, at all. I'm not sure.

I wasnt headed in the direction of "there really are no unsafe areas in NoVa" - i mean everything is relative, and I can see the more squeamish having qualms about a few blocks in Old Town, about parts of South Arlington/Arlandria, or even some parts of Manassas. Its just that I think one shoots above the prices of almost anything for sale there at a surprisingly low price, relatively speaking.
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Old 02-04-2011, 04:12 PM
 
Location: Suburbia
8,817 posts, read 15,257,012 times
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Look up threads about Woodbridge and areas around Featherstone Rd. Many of you know what you'll see. Much of this area is thought of as (relatively speaking) an undesirable and less safe area to live. Yes. I know these houses are waterfront, but they are still in that "east of Route 1 Woodbridge" area.

PW7397500 on FranklyMLS.com 1098 SEA VIEW AVE, WOODBRIDGE VA for $1,250,000 in FEATHERSTONE Home For Sale

PW7238694 on FranklyMLS.com 809 BAY ST, WOODBRIDGE VA for $899,950 in BAY SIDE PARK Home For Sale
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