Old Town will decline

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by TheWatchmen

Queen street is absolutely lovely and picturesque, and I hope no one is janking it up with outsized additions to the rowhomes there.

Ditto. I think if people want houses you can renovate and build something that is too big for their lot, that may slide in some places but it should be kept out of a historic district. I really wish Arlington kept a tighter rein on that in some neighborhoods.

[Hal Roach]

It's a double edged sword. I lived next to a historic area in Phoenix, and while both neighborhoods were decimated by the crash...ours came back stronger and the restrictions were the big reason. We were only subject to restrictions on demolishing houses older than 100...they had to even use guidelines on paint colors and zero Mcmansions. Their taxes remained higher after the crash, but not the values. There was even a segment on 60 minutes about a couple, who bought there at 400k, and were sending in the jingle mail at a value of 80k. I paid 18,000 less than a mile from them.

[whiskeytangofoxtrotalpha]

This is why I bought a house in the sticks, neighbors are like your wife's mother, the further away the better.

[Abraham Walker]

Originally Posted by whiskeytangofoxtrotalpha

This is why I bought a house in the sticks, neighbors are like your wife's mother, the further away the better.

that's funny.

[RLCMA]

Originally Posted by jill riner

My husband and I have been looking for a home in Old Town for 3 years. We bought a townhouse on Queen Street that was in awful shape. The last time it had been updated was 1960. At one time in history there had been a fire, therefore nothing is orginial, as it is in the neighoring houses. The owner had a cat, and the house smells like a cat box. The house was a challenge; however we saw the possiblilities. We hired one of the best builders in Old Town. He came up with a design that would become a home we could live in for many years.
The neighbors who we thought would be fun and inviting, turned against the renovation! One person at the end of the row realized that if we build out 8 feet, other owners in the row could build out. The owner at the end of the row can't build out because he built a garage and the land to building ratio doesn't allow him to build out farther. For his selfish reasons he has convinced others in the neighborhood to fight against our improvement. The front of our historical house remains the same, except for removing the AC unit in the window, cleaning and fresh paint. We want the front to look and remain in it's historical way. If you are looking to live in Old Town - think twice!!! Neighbors like this will bring down the property values, because people won't pay for houses that can not be renovated. I strongly support the front of historical houses to look and be "historical". Yet, it's important for houses to be renovated in a manner that will allow the occupant to enjoy living in OT, while increasing the property value, which equals more tax revenue.

Neighborhoods like Old Town generally don't decline. Think about Georgetown, Dupont Circle, and Chevy Chase in DC. These are all upscale neighborhoods like Old Town and even though neighborhoods like Logan Circle, Shaw, U Street, Adams Morgan have gone through gentrification has is affected property values in these neighborhoods? My guess is no. These are established neighborhoods in DC and I don't see them declining from a property value standpoint. When I think about it property values will increase as bar business decreases in these areas due to people going to the more up and coming areas (minus tourists) for night time entertainment. If you're older and prefer a quieter neighborhood the 3 neighborhoods I mentioned are more desirable and will actually bring a premium. As Del Ray in Alexandria gentrifies a lot of people will shift over there for nightlife which will leave Old Town a little quieter and will actually boost real estate prices in my opinion since it will attract older people. Older people generally have more resources, are more apt to buy, want a quieter area, etc. At the end of the day, established neighborhoods will always be a draw but the demographics will shift. Dupont Circle nowadays compared to a decade ago is very different.

[Flamingo13]

The thread was started by a one-time poster griping because the changes they wanted to make in a historical area weren't allowed.....