Oxon Hill residents welcome new apartment proposal

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by Sampg1

true most of the time concentration of similar individuals tend to create a problem, i think a good regulation should be implemented, this issue is not only an issue of Oxon Hill but everywhere we see this kind of problem.
One of the best thing to do is restrict the number of section 8 voucher per Apartment complex, like may be only 5% of residents can be section 8.

Even 5% of rude, selfish, criminally-minded neighbors can do enough damage to disturb everyone. When I previously lived in a so-called "luxury" apartment complex in Bowie, I had a downstairs neighbor who was constantly screaming at his girlfriend/wife all times of the day/night. They also had a baby that constantly cried and, at times, my floor would vibrate as if he was throwing things around. I was fearful that the guy was going to end up killing the girl. I called the police enough times and, fortunately, they eventually moved out. Decent residents don't deserve to live like this. I'm not sure what the solution is as there will always be an issue with poverty and/or low wages in society but I do know that I don't want to live anywhere near that kind of behavior. Unfortunately, in order to get away from it, most people have to end up paying millions to live peacefully in communities with like-minded neighbors. I wish that developers would stop being so greedy and think about the types of buildings they are putting up near residential areas. Although our town is not the ritziest place in the DC metropolitan area, people work too hard in Fort Washington/Oxon Hill/NH to continually be dealing with the chaos that these types of apartment complexes bring.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

It appears as if PGC is already quietly going in this direction. A while back I saw that the waitlist had been closed indefinitely. I saw today that is is going to open online for 1 week. In the past(Johnson era) there was no restriction. IMO that infers that PGC is trying to move in another direction. They originally welcomed displaced section 8 participants with open arms when DC shifted its focus. My guess is the immediate gratification of the "free" federal money. At some point they probably realized that the drain on social systems was not worth it and changed their tune.




Wait List

I just found out that the Section 8 home grant allows people to live almost anywhere they want in the US! I saw on another forum that some woman was attempting to live in a high end beach community on Section 8 (which has displaced middle class working residents due to the high prices). It is really unfair to people who get the necessary education/skills and work their way up to achieve what they want. Especially when people come in and ruin the communities we work so hard to build and take pride in. I really hope that they do away with this program. It should only be open to the elderly and/or disabled. There are too many able-bodied people taking advantage and the government just turns a blind eye when their "social experiments" wreak havoc in established communities.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by WhoDatInMD

What "luxury" apt complex in Bowie is this? I only know of one "luxury" apt complex in Bowie, and that's the Bowen, previously known as Harmony Place, which hasn't had those issues to my knowledge. The other 3 apt complexes in Bowie are ones I wouldn't even consider "luxury": Heather Ridge, Governor's Green, and Meridian.

It was the Bowen and they advertise themselves as a "luxury" garden apartment complex. The apartments themselves are decent but there were certain residents there who made it a very uncomfortable situation at times. Fortunately, I lived in the building with less "drama" but the main building constantly had issues with fires, rats, roaches and other incidents. They even had to change their name to rebrand themselves because there were too many bad reviews online. The place is only three years old to my knowledge but I believe that the owners got greedy and accepted a lot of vouchers to ensure that the place had 100% occupancy. I believe they upped the rents now in addition to changing their name to try to eradicate the previous issues.

[UrbanScholar]

Originally Posted by NYtoDC

I just found out that the Section 8 home grant allows people to live almost anywhere they want in the US! I saw on another forum that some woman was attempting to live in a high end beach community on Section 8 (which has displaced middle class working residents due to the high prices). It is really unfair to people who get the necessary education/skills and work their way up to achieve what they want. Especially when people come in and ruin the communities we work so hard to build and take pride in. I really hope that they do away with this program. It should only be open to the elderly and/or disabled. There are too many able-bodied people taking advantage and the government just turns a blind eye when their "social experiments" wreak havoc in established communities.

Yes they sure can. As long as it is within that stipend. Its a little classist but I agree that generally the program does more harm than good. Especially if you are a homeowner in that community.

They will never limit the people who can enter the program in the way that you are speaking. That is grounds for a nice lawsuit. What they could do (or enforce if it is already a policy ) is kick people out who abuse the program or contribute blighting a community vs contributing to it. I don't mind section 8 as a program, I just don't like people who bring the community and home values down through their actions (or lack their of). Regardless of whether they are section 8 or not.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by UrbanScholar

Yes they sure can. As long as it is within that stipend. Its a little classist but I agree that generally the program does more harm than good. Especially if you are a homeowner in that community.

They will never limit the people who can enter the program in the way that you are speaking. That is grounds for a nice lawsuit. What they could do (or enforce if it is already a policy ) is kick people out who abuse the program or contribute blighting a community vs contributing to it. I don't mind section 8 as a program, I just don't like people who bring the community and home values down through their actions (or lack their of). Regardless of whether they are section 8 or not.

Yes, unfortunately, we live in a litigious society. If I was that type of person, I would love to file a civil suit against people who bring crime into the area. People in my area are now having to shell out more money to get better security systems because of the increase in crime. It also affects your peace of mind wondering if someone is waiting to assault you every time you step out of your door (especially when it is dark and you can't see as well). We don't have an HOA to enforce property maintenance and civic behavior (only gentle reminders from the community association) but we sure do need something to combat what is going on.

[WhoDatInMD]

Originally Posted by NYtoDC

It was the Bowen and they advertise themselves as a "luxury" garden apartment complex. The apartments themselves are decent but there were certain residents there who made it a very uncomfortable situation at times. Fortunately, I lived in the building with less "drama" but the main building constantly had issues with fires, rats, roaches and other incidents. They even had to change their name to rebrand themselves because there were too many bad reviews online. The place is only three years old to my knowledge but I believe that the owners got greedy and accepted a lot of vouchers to ensure that the place had 100% occupancy. I believe they upped the rents now in addition to changing their name to try to eradicate the previous issues.

Interesting. I know that they were trying to reach 100% occupancy for a while after opening. I didn't know that the rebranding was because of issues like that. This just proves my point that Bowie doesn't need to build another "luxury" apt complex at the new Bowie Marketplace if the current one can't even be fully leased to the intended demographics.

[PositiveControl]

I never understood income caps, like if you make $65,000 and want to live there no dice? and if you make $38,000 then you are SOL?