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I see a whole lot of children from middle class families who could quite obviously live in more sprawl-oriented landscapes choosing to live in the city, walkable suburbs, or small town centers now. Rather than backyards, they fill the parks, public pools, and playgrounds with their birthday parties and such. It's not for everybody, but I don't think the old SUV-chauffeur model is proving to be as critical to raising children as people once thought. Many I know like being able to walk to buy ice cream, to school, church, or the weekly dance studio. Good schools remain critical, though, and that's where the District itself is still failing (but getting better).
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Originally Posted by Benhwell
Exactly. The notion that suburbs can provide elements of childhood that "they will truly cherish" that cities cannot is absurd. Yes, a child raised in the suburbs may have a backyard, but they will also likely miss out on a diversity of experiences and opportunities that only the city can offer. Of course, I am not talking about schools, just the idea that the suburban lawn is somehow critical to a child's upbringing.
Notice I said "everybody doesn't want to raise their family in rowhouses or condos". I was simply stating that there will be individuals who simply don't want to have their children in a city setting. That doesn't mean everyone will think like this. I'm just speaking for individuals like myself who enjoy living in a more spread out area. Everyone will have their preference, but my response was to the individual who said it doesn't make sense to live in the suburbs. Some people don't have a choice and some people just really prefer it, no matter if we can wrap our head around it or not.
The thing I like about the suburbs and, more so, the country (I recently visited a part of Maryland around Westminster and Eldersburg), is that it's just so open and free. I like having space. I don't need a huge house or a huge lawn but I like having some personal space in my little kingdom. I like breathing incredibly fresh air (I recommend driving up River Road and then Seneca Road at night in Potomac, it smells so nice) and I like seeing the stars.
I think some suburbs in this area are very well-designed and offer a good mix of urban amenities and suburban comfort. Silver Spring (well, the parts closer to DC) and Bethesda fit this, as do Arlington and Alexandria. I lived in Adams Morgan for about a year and I really did like being able to walk out of the condo and go get some coffee or food within a minute.
Honestly if it wasn't for the traffic I'd probably love living in the very southern portions of PG County or the very northern part of MoCo. Or maybe along the Chesapeake in Calvert County. Sadly, most of the jobs in this state are in DC or Baltimore... so you've either gotta drive far (not bad IMO) or drive in a ton of traffic (kill me) to get to work.
Exactly. The notion that suburbs can provide elements of childhood that "they will truly cherish" that cities cannot is absurd. Yes, a child raised in the suburbs may have a backyard, but they will also likely miss out on a diversity of experiences and opportunities that only the city can offer. Of course, I am not talking about schools, just the idea that the suburban lawn is somehow critical to a child's upbringing.
There are some kids who grow up in suburbs and never want to live in one again, and others who would not trade their experience for the world and want something similar for their kids. You seem to be foisting one myth (the notion that a diversity of experiences can only be found by growing up in a city) in place of another (the idea that a child's development will be stunted if he or she doesn't have a large backyard). And, of course, parents deciding where to live don't exclude schools from their analysis; to the contrary, it's often one on their most important considerations.
What would be useful to this thread would be more information on the type of housing being built in DC and the close-in suburbs and who's moving into the housing (i.e., whether it's primarily renters or buyers, singles or couples, families with or without children, etc.)
But is this really saying a whole lot? An increase from 5 to 10 is a larger percentage change than an increase from 500,000 to 750,000. If the suburbs aren't growing faster than cities, that's simply a function of considerably more people living in the suburbs. The fact remains that most people are moving to the DC suburbs.
Honestly if it wasn't for the traffic I'd probably love living in the very southern portions of PG County or the very northern part of MoCo. Or maybe along the Chesapeake in Calvert County.
If you talk to most of the secretaries/support staff/maintenance people at your place of work, you'll find that most of them live in places like that. La Plata, Indian Head, Gainesville, Nokesville, Waldorf, Prince Frederick, Stafford and Germantown seem to be hugely popular.
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Originally Posted by HurricaneDC
I think some suburbs in this area are very well-designed and offer a good mix of urban amenities and suburban comfort. Silver Spring (well, the parts closer to DC) and Bethesda fit this, as do Arlington and Alexandria.
And you find that the people moving into these areas tend to be more affluent and educated. It's nearly impossible to own a home in Bethesda unless you're pulling in, say, $400,000 in combined income.
If you talk to most of the secretaries/support staff/maintenance people at your place of work, you'll find that most of them live in places like that. La Plata, Indian Head, Gainesville, Nokesville, Waldorf, Prince Frederick, Stafford and Germantown seem to be hugely popular.
And you find that the people moving into these areas tend to be more affluent and educated. It's nearly impossible to own a home in Bethesda unless you're pulling in, say, $400,000 in combined income.
Yep that's a big part of why I'm looking at farther-out areas. Some of the careers I have in mind (FBI, intelligence, etc) don't pay super generously.
If you talk to most of the secretaries/support staff/maintenance people at your place of work, you'll find that most of them live in places like that. La Plata, Indian Head, Gainesville, Nokesville, Waldorf, Prince Frederick, Stafford and Germantown seem to be hugely popular.
And you find that the people moving into these areas tend to be more affluent and educated. It's nearly impossible to own a home in Bethesda unless you're pulling in, say, $400,000 in combined income.
This is spot on at my job. The Black admin, support and facilities folks also live in Temple Hills, Waldolf; the white women live in Germantown, Gaithersburg and Burtonsville. All of them have long, long commutes.
I do know some folks living in Bethesda who don't have household incomes anywhere close to 400k. Sure they're living in 600K cape cod shoeboxes that would go for 200K in New Carollton, but hey they're living in Bethesda.
This is spot on at my job. The Black admin, support and facilities folks also live in Temple Hills, Waldolf; the white women live in Germantown, Gaithersburg and Burtonsville. All of them have long, long commutes.
Yep. You even find that some of the white admins come from Baltimore County. The real extreme ones live in Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
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Originally Posted by RozCat
I do know some folks living in Bethesda who don't have household incomes anywhere close to 400k. Sure they're living in 600K cape cod shoeboxes that would go for 200K in New Carollton, but hey they're living in Bethesda.
My friend was one of those people. After his third child, he moved to Germantown.
If you talk to most of the secretaries/support staff/maintenance people at your place of work, you'll find that most of them live in places like that. La Plata, Indian Head, Gainesville, Nokesville, Waldorf, Prince Frederick, Stafford and Germantown seem to be hugely popular.
And you find that the people moving into these areas tend to be more affluent and educated. It's nearly impossible to own a home in Bethesda unless you're pulling in, say, $400,000 in combined income.
Yup yup yup. There are a lot of people who make insane commutes. I know people who actually travel as far as Fredericksburg to go to work in this area too. This whole notion that suburbs provide nothing is a misnomer. There is obviously some type of draw that is having all these people traveling so far. I think your second point addresses the fact that, for some of us, there is no choice.
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