Where to live/where to avoid in Hyattsville, MD (Baltimore: apartments, rental)

[essberry]

Hi all,

My fiance and I are currently living in DC (Columbia Heights/Petworth) and are planning to buy a house in the next year or two. Since we really want an actual house (or townhouse) and prices are so high in DC, we are looking to buy in PG county--in particular, Hyattsville. I personally have never actually been to Hyattsville , but I've heard good things about the Arts District. I really want to stay near the metro (we both work in DC). What areas are good places to look for two young professionals, no kids, who want a reasonably priced starter home in the area? What places (neighborhoods, streets, landmarks, etc) should be avoided?

[Lubina]

If you like older architecture try Riverdale Park or old Hyattsville around Dematha high School where you'll find some some drop dead gorgeous cape cods and Victorians.

[hyattsville06]

Definitely try the Arts District/ historic Hyattsville area. Houses are charming and reasonably priced, and there are lots of new condos going in now.

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by essberry

Hi all,

My fiance and I are currently living in DC (Columbia Heights/Petworth) and are planning to buy a house in the next year or two. Since we really want an actual house (or townhouse) and prices are so high in DC, we are looking to buy in PG county--in particular, Hyattsville. I personally have never actually been to Hyattsville , but I've heard good things about the Arts District. I really want to stay near the metro (we both work in DC). What areas are good places to look for two young professionals, no kids, who want a reasonably priced starter home in the area? What places (neighborhoods, streets, landmarks, etc) should be avoided?

In one or two years there should be some interesting changes in Hyattsville. More in 5 to 10 years. I think Hyattsville is a great choice. But don't forget Riverdale Park, University Park, and College Park. They are just as close to metro stations and DC.

And a development with Whole Foods is coming to Riverdale Park in about 3-4 years barring any legal battles. UMD is also getting its act together as well with partnerships with the surrounding communities. I think this is a great time for this area that provides good ground floor purchasing opportunities.

[Khemistry]

As an actual Hyattsville resident...

Firstly, you really shouldn't want to move to an area you haven't been to. Hundreds of people can respond to this thread with their own personal opinions, but until you've been here yourself, it really doesn't mean much.

Next... the Hyattsville area running alongside the entire Route 1 (Baltimore Avenue) corridor between Jefferson Street and East-West Highway, is a pretty great area. The closer you are to the actual Arts District which is around the Chipotle/Bus Boys & Poets development and DeMatha Catholic High School... the better you'll probably like things.

One thing to really take into account is what's actually Hyattsville and what's considered Hyattsville. Hyattsville is a fairly decent size but it becomes MASSIVE if you consider the Hyattsville boundaries to be what the U.S. Postal Service describes as "Hyattsville." For instance, I grew up in an area near Northwestern High School (which is actually considered Hyattsville) and all of the homes and schools had Hyattsville addresses. Actually, I was able to use FOUR different cities as my mailing address and my mail would still come to me! At any rate, I think technically my area was in the Adelphi, Maryland boundaries, even though everyone in the world referred to it as Hyattsville. There are areas which are technically Landover, Landover Hills, and Woodlawn which are considered Hyattsville. I am just saying this, because it's easy to just throw out the name "Hyattsville" and what's a good or bad place to live... and before you know it you will have people telling you about places touching New Carrollton!

Also, if you want to be close to Metro, Hyattsville has two stations: Prince George's Plaza and West Hyattsville. With either station, you can turn one direction and be in a pocket where I probably wouldn't recommend people live in. You can turn down another direction and be in heaven. So it's hard to say where to avoid and where to go. You'll just have to drive through the area and gauge what you may or may not like for yourself. The 20781 zip code is pretty much a safe bet. The majority of the Arts District (if not the whole thing) is located in the 20781 zip code. The 20782 zip code will have you in the vicinity of Prince George's Plaza and touching University Park. 20783 is one of those areas technically considered Adelphi but is most often labeled as Hyattsville and you wouldn't be incorrect calling it such. I would only recommend a very small area in that zip code. 20784 is pushing New Carrollton and Landover but it is also often considered Hyattsville. There's a lot of areas in that zip code I would not recommend but there are a few pockets which are fairly nice.

Good luck to you.

[TCR25]

The City of Hyattsville's website has a little app for verifying whether or not an address is within the city limits: Hyattsville, MD - Official Website - City Limits Verification Page .

Definitely come on up to Hyattsville and check things out. The city has several distinct areas with different characters: Towards Route 1 is the Arts District with the new townhouses and Busboys & Poets, heading west things shade into the Historic District with the old victorians and bungalows, keep moving west and a little north and you're into Hyattsville Hills, with more bungalows and Craftsmen homes. Further west, the other side of Queens Chapel, and your in West Hyattsville with smaller house build up in the 1950s, and the head north, beyond the Mall at Prince Georges and you're into University Hills, which is more later 1950s and 1960s with a lot of split-levels. (University Hills was annexed by the city a few years ago.) Khemistry is right about driving around and seeing what appeals to you. The advantage of being within the city limits is you get services (trash pick up, police, snow plowing, etc.) provided by the city itself instead of by the county, and it's a lot easier to deal with the city when there's a problem than having to work with county-level agencies.

The Metro stations (both Green line) are on the west side of town, but buses to the Red line (Rhode Island Ave.) are easy to catch on the east side of town, or you can go over to Riverdale Park to catch a Camden line MARC train to Union Station. Bike trails into the city (if you're headed downtown or to The Hill) are mostly on-street trails, although there are bike paths that will get you up to College Park or over to Silver Spring and beyond fairly efficiently.

[scrapper105]

We live in University Park near Hyattsville and I've posted frequently on this forum of the virtues of our area.

I hesitate to bring this up, because it's so difficult to plan so far ahead, but an issue to consider is whether you plan to have children and if so, do you feel strongly that they should go to public school or strongly that they should go to private school. If it's the former, you need to consider schools. If you aren't sure if you'll have children or if it's the latter, then you don't need to consider schools at this point. Another reason I hesitate to mention that is because boundaries change and with the 995 rental housing units being built at the Cafritz development in the next 10 years (895 apartments, 100 townhouses) it's very likely that school boundaries will change in the next 7 years.

Khemistry's post was fantastic and the issue of the City of Hyattsville versus unincorporated areas on PG County that are referred to as Hyattsville is one of my pet peeves !

If you are certain that you are not going to have kids or if you are certain that they would go to private school and if you don't mind a less manicured neighborhood, you could look in Mt. Rainier or Brentwood. They certainly aren't as nice areas as Hyattsville, College Park, or University Park but you can take any number of busses down Route 1 to the Rhode Island metro station.

Other areas for good starter homes are the western side of University Park (20782) as well as the neighborhood of University Hills, which is not walking distance to downtown Hyattsville or the Arts District but was recently annexed in to the City of Hyattsville.

[TCR25]

Originally Posted by scrapper105

... it's very likely that school boundaries will change in the next 7 years.

Actually school boundaries will be changing some next year when the new elementary school being built on Nicholson (behind Nicholas Orem MS) is completed ...

[civic engagement]

the map at the bottom of this page shows a pre-annexation boundary configuration. Time for an update

[TCR25]

Originally Posted by civic engagement

the map at the bottom of this page shows a pre-annexation boundary configuration. Time for an update

Which page are you looking at? This one -- Hyattsville, MD - Official Website - City Limits Verification Page -- is accurate.