Prince George's County Residents, Buy or Sell? (Baltimore, Silver Spring: condos, crime)

[justtitans]

It seems as if we have a divided group amongst the residents of Prince George's County. I've seen a few people who love this county and would never leave and I've seen some people like myself, that is ready to leave. Now don't get me wrong there are some great qualities about Prince George's County, but there some qualities that are hard to get past. I know there's been a bunch of threads posted that have mostly negative things to say, but I would like to know what do you think about this county. This is not a thread to bash this county but I like to hear different perspectives and hope that we all can share our experiences here. Are you here to stay, or are you ready to go? What made you make that decision (neighborhood, amenities, location, etc.)?

For me, I grew up here. Spent most of my life here, but there a few things that haven't changed that has lead me to want to leave: highest crime in the region, worst school systems in the region, high taxes, corrupt leadership. I believe I can give my children a better life in another place than here. When I see this place now, I see everything that I grew up experiencing and sometimes you have to ask yourself, do you want your children to experience the same things you did growing up? My answer is simply no.

[ajsmith365]

Leaving. But, only because I want to experience living in another state. I don't want to be born in this area and die here.

Also, the school system is horrible. I'm paying a mortgage plus private school money. I need to fully utilize my tax dollars by taking advantage of the free education system; but not in PG county. Traffic in the DC area, period, is bad. And, I think I want to go to an area where there is more of a diverse mix. The one bad thing - lessons learned - for me is to move somewhere that is highly desirable. PG county has some areas, but as a whole - not enough. For example, houses in Tantallon are selling regardless and are doing better than overall PG. It's a desirable neighborhood.

So, I'm heading down south in T-minus a few months but will still hold on to my job up here. Better school systems, less traffic, milder winters and good old southern hospitality.

I do feel that nothing beats the DC metro area for socialization, though. I will miss it, but there's a life outside of here and I want to at least experience it. I can always come back.

[smithcl1]

I voted "not sure, it depends". My goal is to leave Maryland altogether, but this will largely depend on my job situation. With 2 young kids, PG's poor public school system is a huge factor in wanting to leave. Other than that, I'm just plain tired of the the entire area (congestion, horrible traffic, stressful pace of life, etc.) and I'm ready for a change. I was born and raised in Baltimore, moved to PG county to go to college, graduated and planted roots here. I think it would be nice to experience living in another state.

However, if I am unable to relocate completely out of the area, I would still leave PG county and move to another area in MD or give VA a try.

[selhars]

I know it's long - but it's my story about how I ended up (kicking and screaming) in PG .....

I'm in PG until ...... either 1) I HAVE to move back home to Philly for family reasons, or 2) my job situation changes (which is not really expected, but.....) Because for me until one of those things happens there's no need to move. Moving just costs money, and would likely end up meaning a BIGGER mortgage. If anything, I want a smaller mortgage, not bigger.

- I moved to the DC area from Philly 15 years ago for a job. And for 7 years rented a luxury apt in downtown Silver Spring.
- I ONLY bought a house (almost 8 years ago) because the housing market was HOT! -- and even though I was saving some cash and investing by not having the extra costs of a house -- those investments and the savings were not keeping up with the equity growth of RE....so after MUCH debate and anxiety -- I bit the bullet and bought.

I'm all about the MONEY -- the dollar for dollar absolute out of picket PROFIT of owning a house -- including deducting for the longer commute, more gas, the extra purchases homeowners make that apt dwellers don't, moving costs, etc.

My apt was 825 sq ft. - 1 BR.

Once I decided to buy. I was looking either for:
- A house in close in SS -- Forest Glen, Four Corners, Woodmore, Wheaten, Sligo Creek, Woodside, maybe Glenview of Dennis Ave. (Layhill,Apsen Hill, Glenmont, the Randolph Road corridor were too far out, and had not housing that was appealing.)

- A newish condo in a highrise in Bethesda or Chevy Chase area -- those are the only condo areas I considered. Because being all about the profit, i knew those condos would always be sellable.

I looked and wasn't really 'bowled over' by what I saw.

- Houses along GA avenue had no garages - a deal breaker and non-negotiable for me. I wasn't buying a house to have to park on the street. I didn't park on the street in an apt -- and I sure as hell wasn't buying house to park outside.
-Same thing for houses along and off Dennis Ave.. at least the ones in my price range.

(Mind you I was a first time buyer in this area. It didn't dawn on me that close-in suburbs were older by default -- and most of the hosues WOULDN'T have garages, because of when they were built. Or that the rooms WOULD be smaller. Duh!)

-The more I thought about a condo the less I like that idea. Didn't want to share walls if I was going to own. One co-worker in a condo talked about how a new person moved in who smoked a cigar that she could smell. Another colleague ad a fire in ANOTHER unit in his complex and HE had to move out for a while. So that was the end of the condo idea.

Now to PG.....NOTHING in PG ever appealed to me. I was anti-PG. Didn't want to deal the with stereotypes about it. And just wanted to stay in MontCo. Because I knew what I'e be battling in terms of stigma.

I ONLY looked at or even considered PG after a friend kept saying "your money goes further, your money goes further, you can get more for your money." Friends and co workers lived in Bowie and Cheverly -- and loved it so I looked in those areas - mostly Bowie.

I am ALL ABOUT the the short commute. My commute in SS was 30 mins. and I VERY reluctantly expanded that t0 45 mins. for my house search.

Even though Cheverly was closer -- the houses were too OLD and too SMALL. In the bedrooms you can practically touch both walls at the same time, and in the kitchens you CAN! Plus some BR had no closets! So even though it's inside the beltway, has good socio-demographics as far as the quality of neighbor you'd get (like the way I put that?) -- Cheverly was out. PLUS - there is absolutely no good shopping near there -- NONE. ANd it's surrounded by -- let's say less than desirable socio-demographics!

So...my search takes me to Bowie -- which I thought and told my co-worker was too far out distance-wise for the commute I wanted. But he kept saying CONSIDER it. Byt that time ANOTHER co-worker that I'm very close friends with bought in Bowie. And through coming to visit her I got familiar with it and liked it enough-- and saw the housing value -- so I bought here.

But it's in an area where there are NO outside basketball hoops in driveways, and no nouveau riche lottery-winning ghetto types who bought a half-million dollar house and brought their inner city behavior with them.

I don't REGRET buying in PG -- because there will always be people who can't afford MontCo, but still want and have middle class and upper middle class sensibilities. But do I wish I'd been able to stay in MontCo. -- I guess so. But that's not what happened - so I'm in PG.

I lucked out with my neighbors. I lucked out with my street, and my entire neighborhood. A second thought I didn't LUCK OUT -- God BLESSED me - in spite of myself.

[ptsum]

You know, I'm a native Prince Georgian, was born and raised and work in Prince George's County for over 60 years, however in 2005 my wife and I moved out of Prince George's County and the state of Maryland, we are both retired and we're on a fixed income which is not very compatible with either Prince George's County or Maryland, the cost of living in that county and state are extremely too high for senior citizens, so we sold our house on 2 1/4 acres in Glenn Dale and bought an 11 room log cabin home on 5 1/2 acres in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in southeastern Ohio, my taxes are less than one third of what I was paying in Glenn Dale and the cost of living is a whole lot cheaper than their, in the past five years I have been back to Prince George's County at least twice a year and the changes that are being made in that short time have been so drastic I barely recognize the area anymore, too many houses and too much traffic and noise and everything is too expensive, now don't get me wrong I love my County and I will always be a native Prince Georgian but Prince George's County is not the same and all the changes are not necessarily for the best.

You know I was just thinking, I'm still in touch with a lot of my old classmate from elementary school to high school and the majority of us have moved out of Prince George's County and the state of Maryland, one thing that the Internet is good for, is staying in touch with old friends and classmates.

[RamblingMan]

I have lived in the DC area off and on for 25 years, both in Virginia and the District. When I started to look for a house in the metro area, I looked with an open mind at VA, MD, and DC, but found myself focusing on Prince George's County because of some of the almost unique things it offers. In the end, we chose Fort Washington, largely because it has waterfront within reasonable commuting distance of DC, which is otherwise very scarce. Fort Washington prices are a fraction of those 1,500 yards west on Southdown Rd in Alexandria.

Another area we had considered was the Moyaone Preserve in Accokeek. Where else in the Metro area can you live on a five-acre lot in a waterfront park?

Personally, I think that misperceptions of PG County and the fact that it is majority African-American may keep some people from considering it. This just isn't an issue for me. I try hard to judge people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. I treat others with respect and find that in return most people do the same for me.