NYTimes: Walkable neighborhoods in NoVA (and elsewhere) more valuable (Arlington: buyers, schools)

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by tysonsengineer

Location location location people, the sticks and brick of a gaudy house cost basically nothing but the land that it sits and where it is located is EVERYTHING. PS for what its worth I know far richer people who DONT live in great falls than those who do live in that fake den of out of town lobbyists known as the potomac region. No offense for the small minority of people who aren't a-holes who live in Great Falls, huge offense intended if you are one of those out of town government leeches known as lobbyists who live in Great Falls.

You seem knowledgable tysonsengineer but I have a hard time taking your posts seriously when you spout so much venom towards rich people. Seems like the Great Falls wealthy in particular really aggravates you. Not sure what they did to you but I can guarantee you it's more than a small minority who aren't a-holes.

[tysonsengineer]

I find their brand of isolationism particularly irking that's all. ... I have no issue with Great Falls in itself, I think its a beautiful area. The architecture is a bit, look at me, for my liking, but for the most part I dont hate anyone in Great Falls except for out of town lobbyists who can afford to live there by robbing the american public.

I am aware there are many doctors and good people that also live there, as well as people who dont have scrooge mcduck money and I apologize if my comments bothered you.

[FCNova]

Nothing you say bothers me, your posts just have an odd tone of hostility towards the rich and wealthy.

[CAVA1990]

Wouldn't the price differential per sq ft be approximately equal to driving costs (.50/mile?) plus the value of leisure time?

[Carlingtonian]

...

This thread sure did get sidetracked. The premise that ease of walking to shops correlates to housing price and that housing that is only drivable to shopping is always less valuable is obviously untrue. What people pay for is good schools and proximity to their jobs--by whichever means of transportation they plan to use.

I don't care about being walkable to shops. What am I gonna do, carry a 50-lb. bag of dog food home on my shoulder? Now don't get me wrong; I am a sculpted morsel of man-meat, fully capable of such schleppery. But sweating under the burden carrying my purchases for miles--that was college for me. Likewise, trips to Target, the supermarket, etc.: I'm driving. I won't even go to a doctor who doesn't have free parking.

[tysonsengineer]

My walk to harris teeter is literally less than most people walk to their car with their groceries btw, no joke, I lived in herndon and walked farther from the grocery store to my car than I do now to my condo. Also as far as big order people, its called peapod, if you really do buy in that kind of bulk, then you should look into it, it sounds like based on gas usage you could likely come out even on the transaction, especially if you value your own time and dont like grocery shopping anyways. I mean cash to cash no, but adding in time = money then definitely saving an hour on grocery shopping could solve that dilemma.

I've never once seen someone carrying a 40 pound bag of dog food in Arlington or DC, and yet I see people with big dogs... seems like they figured out when to use the car and when not to. Just because once every 2 months you need to do a big order, doesnt mean it isnt handy to be able to do 95% of your grocery shopping on 5 minute errands... try finding a parking space in 5 minutes at 6pm :P

To each their own, I dunno, city area = high price psf thats the only thing I know isn't just correlation and that has been proven by 6000 years of city centric civilization.

[JD984]

...

I think it can be hard to persuade people who've made a deliberate decision to live in a "less walkable" area that they "just have no community" when they have local institutions that include a village center, schools, churches, and parks.

You[tysonsengineer] and I prefer to live in denser areas, but there's abundant evidence that people in Great Falls have a sense of community and know how to rally around a member of their community when in need:

Cassella Foundation Runs Third Annual 5K

I guess you could tell them that their properties would be more valuable per square foot, if only they lived in Clarendon, but they'd presumably balance the extra land and space they get in Great Falls before rushing off to buy along the Orange Line. Honestly, I think you'd be more likely to dissuade people from living there if you could assemble information on the increasing amount of time that it's been taking, looking back over some historical period, to get to other places in the DC area (DC, National Airport, Tysons, etc.) from Great Falls than to tell them they must all bowl alone.

[claremarie]

"Also as far as big order people, its called peapod, if you really do buy in that kind of bulk, then you should look into it"

But ordering one's household necessities online clashes with several other cherished precepts. One of them is that we should stop patronizing amazon and other internet behemoths in favor of small, locally-owned retailers, thereby preserving local jobs and enhancing local tax revenues. And if everyone orders everything online, the narrow, walkable streets of smart-growth developments will be clogged with a constant stream of UPS and FedEx trucks idling at curbside while the driver attempts in vain to find the customer at home to receive the package.

[Darkseid]

"Walkable" does not necessarily equate to urban. The WP had some pictures of the new Willowsford Community being developed in Western Loudoun. It appears to be very "walkable" with trails, a community supported farm, a lake and camp sites.

[irvine]

Originally Posted by Caladium

Ten years ago when we first started thinking about this, I assumed we would want a dense California beach town like Manhattan Beach, where everything is within a 5-mile radius. Or, if not that, then maybe one of those nice condos right in the middle of Reston Town Center. I had visions of an urban-ish town of some sort. You do start off thinking of retirement as a sort of permanent vacation and logically it does make sense that it would be nice to have everything you need within walking distance. Well, we looked at a lot of places in urban areas but they weren't good fits for a variety of reasons. Reston Town Center would have been fun, but it also would have destroyed our budget. A lot of places we could afford had crime problems. Others weren't near good medical centers or had buildings that required too much climbing. The neighborhoods we could afford often were hilly, or had broken, narrow sidewalks that are easy for a young person to walk on, but would be difficult as we got older. We considered some communities that weren't beach cities--but you know what, some of those weren't as walkable as you might think either. Some had streets that would be nice in the summer but problems with iciness in the winter. Many had stores within walking distance, but not the stores we would really need. Having gift shops, comic book stores, t-shirts and shoe stores within walking distance is fun but we couldn't always find grocery stores, pharmacies, or stores with things for seniors. Also, there's this thing about wanting a little more breathing room and greenery around you. We looked at this one place in Williamsburg called New Town. It seemed ideal--on paper. But when we actually looked at a few places there it seemed too crowded. There was a time in my life when I liked that feeling but when we actually toured places and thought about it we realized we a small living unit but a little more elbow room in the neighborhood, and a little more peace and quiet. I don't really want to be in an apartment with paper thin walls and people crammed together. That was fun in my 20s but not something I want now.

And Manhattan Beach? Even if we could find a place there that felt right, there's no way would it work with our budget. It's like thinking you'll retire in Georgetown. Sure, it's an appealing idea--until reality hits. So we started concentrating on other items on the wish list, and as much as I like walking, we put it near the bottom of the list. As we thought about it, we realized we could let it go because other needs really were more important. Plus the reality of getting older is we're going to do less and less walking. So we looked for a place with good transportation services for seniors, and stores/medical offices within a mile or two.

I highly recommend anyone who's considering retirement read the Retirement Forum for a few months. It's very thought provoking to follow people and see where they think they'll go when they start the process, and where they actually end up. Your idea of the ideal place can go through a lot of changes as reality sinks in.

I love Manhattan Beach. It's a great place to raise a family and/or retire, but notoriously expensive. These beach towns, even El Segundo right by the standard oil refinery, make much of the DC area seem quite affordable.

I know that in the DC area many single family neighborhoods have informal senior citizen groups that pool resources, arrange for transportation services etc. One such group in the Fort Hunt and Hollin Hills portion of Alexandria was written about in the Post a few years ago.