Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
ok, so we also have fairfax village and lower fairfax village and hillcrest in SE. these areas are so daam nice, i consider them "dreamy", lol!! whenever i used to drive through them, i couldn't believe that it was southeast ESPECIALLY that turn-around at the corner of Denver street and highview terrace SE. houses around there start at about $325k and up.
i even took trips through bowie and mitchellville (google 'bowie mitchellville' and then see the youtube vids i made in jan 2010)
Yeah I just checked out your videos. It's funny because a lot of black people who come to this area have the exact same reaction you have. The homes are really beautiful in that area and it is especially attractive for black people not from here because you don't find a lot of black enclaves that are that nice. The thing to consider with that part of PG is, as nice as the houses are, there are a lot of problems. This is not to burst anyone's bubble, but people who have those big houses, pay some really expensives taxes and they end up with poor services (schools, public safety, development, etc.). If you are looking at the long term of having a family, looking for something that would appreciate, DC is a much safer bet. That is not to say that PG is all doom and gloom, but until we get more jobs, that even began to approach what other parts of the region has, then houses like those will lose value because there isn't enough tax money coming in to support the services in PG.
Side note: Homeboy stopped by because no offense, you looked made suspect. People in this area don't do things like that, so if I saw you doing that in my neighborhood, I would be questioning you too. That isn't to say that you were wrong, but it is just unusual for people to do that in this region.
Yeah I just checked out your videos. It's funny because a lot of black people who come to this area have the exact same reaction you have. The homes are really beautiful in that area and it is especially attractive for black people not from here because you don't find a lot of black enclaves that are that nice. The thing to consider with that part of PG is, as nice as the houses are, there are a lot of problems. This is not to burst anyone's bubble, but people who have those big houses, pay some really expensives taxes and they end up with poor services (schools, public safety, development, etc.). If you are looking at the long term of having a family, looking for something that would appreciate, DC is a much safer bet. That is not to say that PG is all doom and gloom, but until we get more jobs, that even began to approach what other parts of the region has, then houses like those will lose value because there isn't enough tax money coming in to support the services in PG.
Side note: Homeboy stopped by because no offense, you looked made suspect. People in this area don't do things like that, so if I saw you doing that in my neighborhood, I would be questioning you too. That isn't to say that you were wrong, but it is just unusual for people to do that in this region.
see man you get it!!! you completely get it!!! i mean, even when i drive through there now, i'm still in amazement that all those black people are lumped together and there's nothin hood or ghetto about the areas. bein from pittsburgh, black neighborhood= hood. in dc and around it, thats not always the case. pittsburgh has ZERO black upper class. the middle class is very small to medium (kinda). in and around DC its the opposite.
i heard about the tax situation in pg alot........ very sad.
and i thought it was fine that he was questioning me. if more black people would do that, crime would be much less in poor to middle class neighborhoods, despite how annoying it is. and i wasn't tryna be a smart-gluteus at the end of the vid about it either, even though it caught me off guard.
next time i drive through, i'll have an actual camcorder instead of a regular point-n-shoot camera.
see man you get it!!! you completely get it!!! i mean, even when i drive through there now, i'm still in amazement that all those black people are lumped together and there's nothin hood or ghetto about the areas. bein from pittsburgh, black neighborhood= hood. in dc and around it, thats not always the case. pittsburgh has ZERO black upper class. the middle class is very small to medium (kinda). in and around DC its the opposite.
i heard about the tax situation in pg alot........ very sad.
and i thought it was fine that he was questioning me. if more black people would do that, crime would be much less in poor to middle class neighborhoods, despite how annoying it is. and i wasn't tryna be a smart-gluteus at the end of the vid about it either, even though it caught me off guard.
next time i drive through, i'll have an actual camcorder instead of a regular point-n-shoot camera.
Yeah my in-laws had a similar reaction to you when they came here. They even thought places like Landover were nice . Of course they were coming from the not so good parts of Hampton Roads, VA, but even still it was a shock to them.
I agree with you about the crime thing. It is very rare to find strong neighborhoods like that, but I thought that was a very neighborly thing to do. Taking pride in communities like that definitely goes a long way. It's very entertaining to hear black people from other areas talk about the DC region because when I went to college people just assumed I was rich because of the reputation for black wealth here. It is definitely here.
But here's my question for you, what is the reason for you wanting to stay in a black neighborhood? Did it have anything to do with how Pittsburgh was? I've heard some stories about places up there, but I was just curious about how it was for you growing up there.
Yeah my in-laws had a similar reaction to you when they came here. They even thought places like Landover were nice . Of course they were coming from the not so good parts of Hampton Roads, VA, but even still it was a shock to them.
I agree with you about the crime thing. It is very rare to find strong neighborhoods like that, but I thought that was a very neighborly thing to do. Taking pride in communities like that definitely goes a long way. It's very entertaining to hear black people from other areas talk about the DC region because when I went to college people just assumed I was rich because of the reputation for black wealth here. It is definitely here.
But here's my question for you, what is the reason for you wanting to stay in a black neighborhood? Did it have anything to do with how Pittsburgh was? I've heard some stories about places up there, but I was just curious about how it was for you growing up there.
you can google his name, go to the tab that says 'more' and then select books. read/see chapter 10.
all those areas that he was describing, i wanted to be there. i wanted to see what they looked like and i absolutely wanted to be affiliated with them.
i remember when i first moved down to baltimore, i used to drive down to DC late at night and i would drive up 16th street and then make a right turn onto one of the streets (usually iris or geranium street)and just cruise thru shephard park and north portal estates. graham writes alot about this area in his book, but i don't think he covered SE or those parts of NE either.
and thats also the reason i did those vids of me driving around bowie and mitchellville. but the reality is........ i could never be a member of the black upper class/black elite, just based on the criteria graham has in his book.
there aren't any apartment buildings in these types of neighborhoods. where would i rent to be around such folks?
the houses are very expensive too. i think now (april 28 2012) that even if i had the type of money to buy a house to be in these areas so i can be around upper class blacks.... it would be just to impress people!!!
back when i first started reading the book, i thought i could move somewhere, become friends with people who had influence,respect and money in one of these neighborhoods, and i could be a member. not so. i mean not even kinda affiliated!!
buying a house in woodmore south would mean a mortgage that would **** me off for 6 -13hours every month guaranteed
(you know how somethin makes you mad and then u get that mental dvd that continues playin over and over again in your head for hours!?!?!?). i was aiming for that but not anymore.
now (and idk if this is any better, lol!!!),im lookin to buy a house in atlanta because they are alot cheaper, newer and i'm constantly asking about upperclass black neighborhoods, so i can move AROUND them. i clearly can't and more then likely wouldn't want to afford a 4bedroom/3.5bathroom house for 285,000 dollars....... so i said why not look for the perimeter of these neighborhoods?? then i can have an affordable house thats nice and be close enough to have the "spill over benefits" of the neighborhood (low crime, clean streets, smart black kids who aren't seen as 'tryna be white'). im learning as i go along, that for every great black neighborhood, there seems to be 1 or 2 hoods 2 streets away.
you can google his name, go to the tab that says 'more' and then select books. read/see chapter 10.
all those areas that he was describing, i wanted to be there. i wanted to see what they looked like and i absolutely wanted to be affiliated with them.
i remember when i first moved down to baltimore, i used to drive down to DC late at night and i would drive up 16th street and then make a right turn onto one of the streets (usually iris or geranium street)and just cruise thru shephard park and north portal estates. graham writes alot about this area in his book, but i don't think he covered SE or those parts of NE either.
and thats also the reason i did those vids of me driving around bowie and mitchellville. but the reality is........ i could never be a member of the black upper class/black elite, just based on the criteria graham has in his book.
there aren't any apartment buildings in these types of neighborhoods. where would i rent to be around such folks?
the houses are very expensive too. i think now (april 28 2012) that even if i had the type of money to buy a house to be in these areas so i can be around upper class blacks.... it would be just to impress people!!!
back when i first started reading the book, i thought i could move somewhere, become friends with people who had influence,respect and money in one of these neighborhoods, and i could be a member. not so. i mean not even kinda affiliated!!
buying a house in woodmore south would mean a mortgage that would **** me off for 6 -13hours every month guaranteed
(you know how somethin makes you mad and then u get that mental dvd that continues playin over and over again in your head for hours!?!?!?). i was aiming for that but not anymore.
now (and idk if this is any better, lol!!!),im lookin to buy a house in atlanta because they are alot cheaper, newer and i'm constantly asking about upperclass black neighborhoods, so i can move AROUND them. i clearly can't and more then likely wouldn't want to afford a 4bedroom/3.5bathroom house for 285,000 dollars....... so i said why not look for the perimeter of these neighborhoods?? then i can have an affordable house thats nice and be close enough to have the "spill over benefits" of the neighborhood (low crime, clean streets, smart black kids who aren't seen as 'tryna be white'). im learning as i go along, that for every great black neighborhood, there seems to be 1 or 2 hoods 2 streets away.
Interesting. Those places aren't completely out of your radar, but you have to be realistic starting out. I don't think any of us are in a position to buy a house starting out. General rule of thumb, especially if you don't have wealthy parents, is people who get into real estate start off small. Your first step will be to buy a townhome or a condo to start out. Buying a home in those neighborhoods will require you to have a $60,000+ down payment and then possibly some closing cost. How many people have that type of money?
But even with that said, whatever you do, it should make sense. If you are buying places just to impress people then yeah that would be a good idea. Buying a place like that, you would have to think about the long term effects. I think I remember you saying you are married, do you have kids or plan on having them soon? You will need to think about schools, safety of neighborhoods and having good services around like doctors, dentists, etc. Being a black neighborhood has some perks for many looking to move there, but in my opinion there are some things that make living in those neighborhoods not worth it. There aren't bad bad places near there, but the bad areas aren't that far away. The main issues are school performance don't match the amount you pay, development is lacking, and doctors/dentists aren't usually very good.
I definitely understand how you feel about the mortgage situtation. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who live in those places quite often that go through that. Sometimes those are the people who are trying to impress others and have the stress of trying to maintain that lifestyle. If you don't make the kind of money to handle a place like that it's not worth the headache for sure.
Would you move to ATL for a better chance to get a home like that or because you really would want to live there?
you can google his name, go to the tab that says 'more' and then select books. read/see chapter 10.
all those areas that he was describing, i wanted to be there. i wanted to see what they looked like and i absolutely wanted to be affiliated with them.
i remember when i first moved down to baltimore, i used to drive down to DC late at night and i would drive up 16th street and then make a right turn onto one of the streets (usually iris or geranium street)and just cruise thru shephard park and north portal estates. graham writes alot about this area in his book, but i don't think he covered SE or those parts of NE either.
and thats also the reason i did those vids of me driving around bowie and mitchellville. but the reality is........ i could never be a member of the black upper class/black elite, just based on the criteria graham has in his book.
there aren't any apartment buildings in these types of neighborhoods. where would i rent to be around such folks?
the houses are very expensive too. i think now (april 28 2012) that even if i had the type of money to buy a house to be in these areas so i can be around upper class blacks.... it would be just to impress people!!!
back when i first started reading the book, i thought i could move somewhere, become friends with people who had influence,respect and money in one of these neighborhoods, and i could be a member. not so. i mean not even kinda affiliated!!
buying a house in woodmore south would mean a mortgage that would **** me off for 6 -13hours every month guaranteed
(you know how somethin makes you mad and then u get that mental dvd that continues playin over and over again in your head for hours!?!?!?). i was aiming for that but not anymore.
now (and idk if this is any better, lol!!!),im lookin to buy a house in atlanta because they are alot cheaper, newer and i'm constantly asking about upperclass black neighborhoods, so i can move AROUND them. i clearly can't and more then likely wouldn't want to afford a 4bedroom/3.5bathroom house for 285,000 dollars....... so i said why not look for the perimeter of these neighborhoods?? then i can have an affordable house thats nice and be close enough to have the "spill over benefits" of the neighborhood (low crime, clean streets, smart black kids who aren't seen as 'tryna be white'). im learning as i go along, that for every great black neighborhood, there seems to be 1 or 2 hoods 2 streets away.
I also would mention that as far as black neighborhoods, especially in this area, it's not that the bad areas are so close, it's that the neighborhoods itself are so mixed. Let's be honest black wealth in this country generally doesn't compare to American wealth. What is a lot of money for us, isn't much. With a lack of 'real' wealth brings issues. We don't have neighborhoods that generate the type of income that would support upscale development that places like NoVA or Montgomery County can have.
We also have people who live in these neighborhoods that have different priorities. You mentioned about having a neighborhood where kids don't feel as though your kids are 'acting white'. That happens a lot even in the wealthier parts of this region. And that's because you have kids who come from wealthy families who may not value education for there kids. I went to school with kids who parents were doctors and lawyers, but there kids did poorly in school and still had all the latest shoes or nicest clothes. That's more of a cultural issue than class issue. When you have kids like this who don't value education, they will find something else to occupy their time. Sometimes it ends up being drugs, sometimes it's crime. I'm not saying this to scare you, but this is the realities of some of these neighborhoods. The presence is just physical at times.
Another issue, which was interesting to see in the video with the one woman you talked to, is there are a lot of single parent homes, even in the wealthier areas. SOME of these individuals can't control their kids, can't keep with their homes and sometimes only buy these homes for status rather than for the neighborhood. These individuals hurt places like this because their kids end up out of control, their houses begin to suffer from a lack of maintenance and these people do very little to support the neighborhood. I'm not saying everyone is like that, but you see that so often in these areas and to me it is one of the problems with these upscale black neighborhoods.
Interesting. Those places aren't completely out of your radar, but you have to be realistic starting out. I don't think any of us are in a position to buy a house starting out. General rule of thumb, especially if you don't have wealthy parents, is people who get into real estate start off small. Your first step will be to buy a townhome or a condo to start out. Buying a home in those neighborhoods will require you to have a $60,000+ down payment and then possibly some closing cost. How many people have that type of money?
But even with that said, whatever you do, it should make sense. If you are buying places just to impress people then yeah that would be a good idea. Buying a place like that, you would have to think about the long term effects. I think I remember you saying you are married, do you have kids or plan on having them soon?You will need to think about schools, safety of neighborhoods and having good services around like doctors, dentists, etc. Being a black neighborhood has some perks for many looking to move there, but in my opinion there are some things that make living in those neighborhoods not worth it. There aren't bad bad places near there, but the bad areas aren't that far away. The main issues are school performance don't match the amount you pay, development is lacking, and doctors/dentists aren't usually very good.
I definitely understand how you feel about the mortgage situtation. Unfortunately there are a lot of people who live in those places quite often that go through that. Sometimes those are the people who are trying to impress others and have the stress of trying to maintain that lifestyle. If you don't make the kind of money to handle a place like that it's not worth the headache for sure.
Would you move to ATL for a better chance to get a home like that or because you really would want to live there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pgtitans
I also would mention that as far as black neighborhoods, especially in this area, it's not that the bad areas are so close, it's that the neighborhoods itself are so mixed. Let's be honest black wealth in this country generally doesn't compare to American wealth. What is a lot of money for us, isn't much. With a lack of 'real' wealth brings issues. We don't have neighborhoods that generate the type of income that would support upscale development that places like NoVA or Montgomery County can have.
We also have people who live in these neighborhoods that have different priorities. You mentioned about having a neighborhood where kids don't feel as though your kids are 'acting white'. That happens a lot even in the wealthier parts of this region. And that's because you have kids who come from wealthy families who may not value education for there kids.I went to school with kids who parents were doctors and lawyers, but there kids did poorly in school and still had all the latest shoes or nicest clothes. That's more of a cultural issue than class issue. When you have kids like this who don't value education, they will find something else to occupy their time. Sometimes it ends up being drugs, sometimes it's crime. I'm not saying this to scare you, but this is the realities of some of these neighborhoods. The presence is just physical at times.
Another issue, which was interesting to see in the video with the one woman you talked to, is there are a lot of single parent homes, even in the wealthier areas. SOME of these individuals can't control their kids, can't keep with their homes and sometimes only buy these homes for status rather than for the neighborhood. These individuals hurt places like this because their kids end up out of control, their houses begin to suffer from a lack of maintenance and these people do very little to support the neighborhood. I'm not saying everyone is like that, but you see that so often in these areas and to me it is one of the problems with these upscale black neighborhoods.
they'll pop up right after i buy the house. and i'm trying to look at these things, but the better these amenities are the more the houseprice skyrockets.
both!! i see a jumbo amount of newer houses down there for $140k and under and they appear to be in good shape. i also need warmer weather.
you know what?? i kinda felt that when i was driving around st. james sanctuary drive off of fairwood parkway 1 night a few days after christmas. i mean, nobody was outside posted on the corner but i just had a sense of ' idk if i would move over here.' i got lost on fairview vista drive that same night too( it seems cramped over there)
thats really a big problem in upscale dc and PG county!?!?!!? i would think the majority of these types of areas have a 2-parent home/ a single parent home is the exception.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. Of course they were coming from the not so good parts of Hampton Roads, VA, but even still it was a shock to them.
