Black Wealth in PG County (MD) Dashed by the Housing Crisis...

Black businesses serving black people isn't the answer. Black business serving all people is what you'll need. Look at archetypes of minority owned businesses -- a black owned barbershop primarily serves black people. An Asian owned dry cleaner serves everyone. You're missing out on a lot of business by sticking with that mindset.

The major crime in PG is really concentrated to certain areas. The issue is people have a stigma of the entire region and group everywhere in the county as a whole. You got people thinking there's shootouts on the block in Bowie. You're more than likely to get burglarized or mugged in Arlington due to the high concentration of people and urbanized landscape.

Schools definitely are an issue no question. I don't like the solution of finding private schools either. The school system needs to be revamped as far as curriculum and discipline. Parents need to be held a lot more accountable as well. No reason you don't know how well your kid is doing in school until a parent teacher conference.

Let's not forget some white people just don't want to live around black people point blank. At least not live in majority black communities. I've seen real estate forums inquiring about houses located in certain areas and they'll call it "seedy" or not quite safe. But it's just a working class community that's majority black with older homes.
 
JJs07 said:
Finns hit the nail on the head. It is a cycle. Think about WHO is being priced out and where they're choosing to relocate.
Click to expand...

Precisely. Wealth obviously isn't being "transferred" to PG, it's not looking for a new area to manifest itself. It stays concentrated in the areas I mentioned before. Those who are being priced out, find themselves forced to locate in PG. So those with less assets move there. I fail to see where the money comes from then.
 
One of the families featured in the 3 part series mentioned how they had to pull their kids out of private schools to free up money to help pay their increasing mortgage. Peeling the layers of the onion a bit, there's a lot to be said about education. I don't think it's any secret that if you want a good learning environment for your kids (in PG), you're probably looking to send your kids to a private school.
 
Exactly, minorities are being priced out of DC. No young professional, or young family wants to move to PG. If you have kids PG is not where you want to be that will not change.

There are too many better options than PG , and that is why the county will not thrive. PG had only been thriving off of well off black people, and now well off black people don't want to live there , so who is going to come in and make a change in the economy?

@NVWSSV  I still think a metro needs to come. Crime will be at the Harbor with or without a metro. Tysons has been facing more theft in the stores, so they increased security but that is about it.

@silkboi  
laugh.gif
 you've seen that "seedy" talk too? Must be on city-data . That site really opened my eyes to where people want to live , and what makes them stay away. If a non minority family or person doesn't feel 100% safe seems like they will avoid the area. People really do think there are shootouts every where in PG
indifferent.gif
 

Gentrification shouldn't be the answer to everything , but as I've grown up I started to realize that locations where blacks/minorities are the majority aren't valued and always deemed unsafe until after we are pushed out
mean.gif
 
Last edited:
BeezyGotSole said:
 :lol:  you've seen that "seedy" talk too? Must be on city-data . That site really opened my eyes to where people want to live , and what makes them stay away. If a non minority family or person doesn't feel 100% safe seems like they will avoid the area. People really do think there are shootouts every where in PG :stoneface:  

Gentrification shouldn't be the answer to everything , but as I've grown up I started to realize that locations where blacks/minorities are the majority are never valued and always deemed unsafe until we are pushed out.
Click to expand...

I'm getting married later this year and I told my fiance there's no way in blue hell I'd ever start a family in PG. Lived with my aunts in Upper Marlboro/Bowie area (which they lost 400k of their 800k purchase price value), and while the area is "ok", the infrastructure and standard of living is still garbage. Compare that to living in better parts of Moco and there's no comparison. No one wants to live there that has any money, especially non-blacks.
 
@finnns2003  man I'd be sick if my homes value decreased by 50% with no signs of recovering. Yup people want convenience the way that PG has been set up is inconvenient as hell.
 
finnns2003 said:
You know it's not that simple. Who's being priced out? The ones who aren't being priced out will live in NoVA, DC, and the nicer parts of Moco. The ones who are priced out, usually minorities, will be forced to move to PG. So you're creating a cycle.

How do you improve the economic conditions? What businesses will want to move to PG? The consumer base will have less disposable income to spend.
Click to expand...


Ok then.. Like I said, I'm not too sure about the geography of that area, so I'm definitely not arguing with yall.

And being priced out isnt just people who live there and cant afford to live there anymore...

it also refers to people who are in the area but cant live there because it's so high.

Take Dallas. Uptown to be exact...

Uptown is right next to SMU... All the rich kids living there... Super high end eateries... nice spots... and it's REALLY close to highland park, which is chock full of billionaires and millionaires.

Deep ellum was TRASH... crime, no spots to eat at, etc... Now, it's hipster central, and pretty damb safe w/ high priced lofts because people were getting tired of uptown and their prices.

Same with the Arts district. Uptown got so damb pricey folks said **** this and made moves


JJs07 said:
Finns hit the nail on the head. It is a cycle. Think about WHO is being priced out and where they're choosing to relocate.
Click to expand...

again, I'm just thinkin about young pros thinking "shiiiieeeddd... DC and NOVA is high as hell.. I can cop this big *** house out in PG for the low"



But all might be right... The ebbs and flows are all in economics so there might be a time where PG makes a solid comeback
 
Last edited:
Fontaine said:
finnns2003 said:
You know it's not that simple. Who's being priced out? The ones who aren't being priced out will live in NoVA, DC, and the nicer parts of Moco. The ones who are priced out, usually minorities, will be forced to move to PG. So you're creating a cycle.

How do you improve the economic conditions? What businesses will want to move to PG? The consumer base will have less disposable income to spend.
Click to expand...


Ok then.. Like I said, I'm not too sure about the geography of that area, so I'm definitely not arguing with yall.

And being priced out isnt just people who live there and cant afford to live there anymore...

it also refers to people who are in the area but cant live there because it's so high.

Take Dallas. Uptown to be exact...

Uptown is right next to SMU... All the rich kids living there... Super high end eateries... nice spots... and it's REALLY close to highland park, which is chock full of billionaires and millionaires.

Deep ellum was TRASH... crime, no spots to eat at, etc... Now, it's hipster central, and pretty damb safe w/ high priced lofts because people were getting tired of uptown and their prices.

Same with the Arts district. Uptown got so damb pricey folks said **** this and made moves


JJs07 said:
Finns hit the nail on the head. It is a cycle. Think about WHO is being priced out and where they're choosing to relocate.
Click to expand...

again, I'm just thinkin about young pros thinking "shiiiieeeddd... DC and NOVA is high as hell.. I can cop this big *** house out in PG for the low"



But all might be right... The ebbs and flows are all in economics so there might be a time where PG makes a solid comeback
Click to expand...

Even if you're a young professional, there are two things you probably need to take into account:

1. Will I see a return on my investment via equity, or if I decide to sell, and I going to profit?

2. If I start a family, how comfortable am I with the local schools?

Right now, you can't have a definitive answer to either question without bringing up the red flags. Once you get past the beauty of the houses and the prices, there are a lot of unknowns.

If you have time go here.
 It's a Weichert search of available houses in PG county. Set your budget to 350k. It's crazy what you can get in some places that are no more than a 10-15 minute drive outside of DC.
 
Fontaine said:
again, I'm just thinkin about young pros thinking "shiiiieeeddd... DC and NOVA is high as hell.. I can cop this big *** house out in PG for the low"
Click to expand...
Yeah this is said by no one ever. People want to be able to walk to a metro, live in a safe place , and be surrounded by other young professional this won't happen in PG for a good 10 years, if that. The young professionals are the ones that are living on U st, H st, Dupont Cir , Clarendon, Old Town , etc and gladly paying the high rental prices 2.5k+/mo.
 
Last edited:
Fontaine said:
Ok then.. Like I said, I'm not too sure about the geography of that area, so I'm definitely not arguing with yall.

And being priced out isnt just people who live there and cant afford to live there anymore...

it also refers to people who are in the area but cant live there because it's so high.

Take Dallas. Uptown to be exact...

Uptown is right next to SMU... All the rich kids living there... Super high end eateries... nice spots... and it's REALLY close to highland park, which is chock full of billionaires and millionaires.

Deep ellum was TRASH... crime, no spots to eat at, etc... Now, it's hipster central, and pretty damb safe w/ high priced lofts because people were getting tired of uptown and their prices.

Same with the Arts district. Uptown got so damb pricey folks said **** this and made moves
again, I'm just thinkin about young pros thinking "shiiiieeeddd... DC and NOVA is high as hell.. I can cop this big *** house out in PG for the low"



But all might be right... The ebbs and flows are all in economics so there might be a time where PG makes a solid comeback
Click to expand...

Well, problem with that is, that's the exact reason for gentrification in the first place. The place has to be desirable. When I was born in DC, SE and parts of NE were like your Deep Ellum. Now it's gentrified, hipster central, etc. All of the displaced are being forced into PG. Therefore, the cycle is complete. Now, the hipsters/folks looking to cleanup an area aren't going to these spots in PG because #1 there's no demand to be there, it's not downtown, and #2 the barriers are made. The gentrified located there for a reason. You're not going to have hipsters moving out to suburban PG anyways, there's no demand for anything in these areas and they'd be moving in with the displaced, which makes no socioeconomic sense.

The young professionals will rent with roommates in the areas I discussed before, the young people getting married will do the same with houses they can afford. That's the nature of the DMV beast. There's no demand for PG (save for the Hyattsville art district which is on the DC line)
 
Was born and raised in PG but I'm not black. I'm Korean. Is PG still the richest black county in America? Haven't checked recently. One thing PG needs to work on is their education cause it's literally garbage.
 
I get what @Fontaine is saying, he's talking about the yuppies. The ones that are the first to move to low income areas on the rise. But it's not that time yet for PG, the prices have to get lower and the area pretty much has to get worse. Give it another 5-10 years, it'll bottom out. Hopefully, I'll be in a position to take advantage of some of the low prices. I pretty much missed the SE DC market, although it's technically still going on.
 
Last edited:
^agreed, don't know anyone looking in PG

I could afford a 3-4BR TH in Pg right now, but wouldn't consider it because 1) it would be a big life style change, 2) not sure how insulated id be from the high crime areas, 3) it would be a questionable investment at best and I'd need to either rent it or sell it in the mid-term.

And to the people that say white folks don't want to live in a majorly black area, isn't this the same for blacks not wanting to live in mosty white areas?

I mean everyone tends to be more comfortable amongst their own, nothing wrong w that IMO
 
heres an older article about white families moving to the inner beltway communities along the Route 1 corridor
Young families move into Prince George’s, reversing exodus by whites  

By Carol Morello,, Ovetta Wiggins  and Ted Mellnik  June 24, 2012

Old Greenbelt has every amenity that Aaron Marcavitch and his wife, Andrea, were seeking in a home for their young family.

A neighborhood nursery school and a playground for their two children — check. A Metro station a short bus ride away — check. Supermarket and restaurants within walking distance — check. They all added up to exude a sense of community.

The Marcavitches, who are white, would be a minority in majority-black Prince George’s County. But Marcavitch, 35, who grew up in western Pennsylvania and runs a nonprofit group based in Hyattsville, said that they realized they were moving to a diverse community and that they weren’t concerned about being a minority.

“We just wanted a nice community, and we found that,” he said of the neighborhood where they moved last August.

For the first time in more than four decades, recent census estimates show, the number of whites in Prince George’s is on the upswing. Most are young families, an analysis by The Washington Post finds.

The numbers of Asians and Hispanics are up as well, while African American numbers have declined slightly. But the unexpected rise in white residents is a sharp departure from patterns in place since the 1970s — when whites began to leave as middle-class blacks moved in, turning Prince George’s into one of the most affluent majority-black counties in the nation.

Every census since then, including the latest taken in 2010, has shown a further drop in white residents. But census population estimates released last month for mid-2011 show almost 3,100 more non-Hispanic whites, up 2.4 percent in just 15 months after the census was taken. Overall, the county had an estimated increase of almost 8,000 residents, to more than 871,000. Among the biggest increases were in adults in their mid-20s and early 30s, and children younger than 10, while middle-age adults continued to fall.

The census data suggest that young adults are reshaping the region in ways not seen in generations. For example, in the District, which has been losing African Americans to the suburbs for decades, the census estimated the black population rose by 2,100 people last year. The biggest gains for blacks were in people ages 20 to 34 and older than 55.But the city gained so many whites, Asians and Hispanics in the same time frame — mostly in the same age groups — that African Americans slipped below the 50 percent mark in the District.

Market forces

In Prince George’s, the sudden turnaround among whites was abetted in large part by the collapse of housing prices that hit the county particularly hard.

But it also may reflect a generational shift in values. Numerous surveys have shown that compared with their parents, young adults are more likely to embrace diversity, opt for public transportation over private automobiles and seek out urban environments where they can walk to downtowns instead of driving to malls. Their tastes are helping drivenew housing and retail close to Metro’s Green Line, a corridor where development and growth has lagged compared with the rest of the region.

“It’s not a fluke,” said Jim Estepp, head of the Greater Prince George’s Business Roundtable, noting that real estate professionals have noticed more whites house-hunting in the past two years. “Particularly among young people, they don’t want a cookie-cutter setting. The younger generation is colorblind. They’re very standard-of-living- and quality-of-life-conscious. They’re more focused on the best value that [they] can get for themselves and their children.”

The census numbers do not pinpoint which parts of the county are gaining whites and young families. But one place is almost certainly Hyattsville, a town of about 18,000 in western Prince George’s that in the 2010 Census was about one-quarter non-Hispanic white, one-third African American and one-third Hispanic.

Home to two of the county’s 15 Metro stations, Hyattsville is being reshaped by new development.Townhouses selling for $329,000 to $439,000 on Rhode Island Avenue were initially marketed to young professionals and empty-nesters, but most of the buyers have been young families, many of them white.

‘A lot of strollers’

In the past two years, the Rev. James Stack of St. Jerome’s said he has presided over more baptisms than burials for the first time in his 14 years at the Catholic parish.

“You see a lot of strollers around now,” said Andy Shallal, the owner of Busboys and Poets, who opened a Hyattsville outpost last year.  It’s the only one of his four restaurants with a weekly children’s story­telling hour, called Rise and Rhyme, held in a room painted with portraits of people such as Nelson Mandela, Tolstoy, Emma Goldman and Frederick Douglass.

On a recent Monday, most of the children whose parents brought them to Rise and Rhyme were white.

“It’s like a baby boom in the whole neighborhood,” said Ryan Teague Beckwith, 37, an editor at DC Roll Call, carrying his infant daughter in a sling on his chest as he sat in a booth at Busboys and Poets. “Every third house has a toddler or an infant.”

Beckwith and his wife considered houses in the District and Fairfax and Montgomery counties before choosing Prince George’s. Two years ago, they moved into one of the townhouses across from Busboys and Poets.

One place where the arrival of white families has made a difference, though not huge, is Hyattsville Elementary School. In 2006, the school had 39 white children in the student body of 479 — about 8 percent. In the school year just ended, 56 of the 513 children enrolled were white — almost 11 percent. Many parents send their children to charter and private schools instead, said Mary Warneka, one of the original members of the Hyattsville Nurturing Moms, a group that interacts on an e-mail list and has a membership that is overwhelmingly white.

We have a few years before it becomes an issue,” Beckwith said of the schools. “As more people move into the immediate neighborhood, by the time it matters, we think there will be an improvement at the elementary level. There’s no perfect place to live. You can have a tiny house, or be far away and have a long commute, or live closer in but not have a nice neighborhood.”

Old-timers have noticed the arrival of so many young families. Mike Franklin, who runs a combination toy store and restaurant called Franklin’s on Baltimore Avenue, plans to launch a “babies and beer happy hour” because so many customers have small children. When he moved to Hyattsville about 20 years ago, most of the residents were old and aging in place.

“It’s like a critical mass has been reached,” he said. “Before, Prince George’s had such a stigma to it, it wasn’t seen as an option to a lot of professional people.”

Although Franklin said he thinks the transition would be even further along had the economy not soured, some say the housing collapse helped make Prince George’s more attractive, particularly to first-time home buyers.

The county has the highest rate of foreclosure in Maryland. The average sale price for houses dropped by more than half from the peak in late 2006, continuing to skid in the early months of this year, according to figures from the Maryland Association of Realtors.

“At some point, Prince George’s gets to be a good deal,” said Ron Kirby, a transportation specialist with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. His daughter lives in Prince George’s.

Car-free living

But price is only one factor. Kirby cited studies showing young people gravitating toward places where they can live without an automobile.

That makes places such as Prince George’s, which has more Metro stations than any other location outside the District, a lure to developers and new residents.

“What you’re seeing is further evidence of the demand to live in more urban, walkable, transit-friendly communities,” said Stewart Schwartz, director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “A big part of this is place-making — creating vibrant, interesting places where people can see each other and be seen. They’re what urbanists call third places. There’s home and work and a third place, where it’s easier to have serendipitous actions than if you’re in your car.”

Development around Washington is happening differently than in any other metro area in the country, said Chris Leinberger, a real estate professor at George Washington University and a fellow at the Brookings Institution.

In most cities, job growth and development are concentrated in what Leinberger calls the “favored corridor.” For decades in Washington, the favored corridor was northwest in the city and beyond. In the 1990s, it pushed into Fairfax and Loudoun counties; urban development sprang up around the west branch of the Red and Orange lines. Now it’s the Green Line’s turn.

“The Green Line is where much of the focus of new activity is,” he said. “One could say the Green Line is the new Red Line.”

Marcavitch said he was drawn to Prince’s George’s because of its access to public transportation and recent retail development along the Route 1 corridor.

“Prince George’s is one of those untapped resources, and it is now starting to get tapped,” he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local...us-by-whites/2012/06/24/gJQAKMhP0V_story.html
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Interesting... I happen to be a young professional who purchased a house in PG county and my perspective on this is a lot different. I was born and raised in DC and decided to purchase in PG not because I couldn't afford to buy in DC but because I wanted more for my money. I didn't want a tiny condo or an outdated row house and I didn't want to deal with the headaches of a townhouse & HOA. I do agree with a lot of the points in here and I don't see me living here forever but compared to some of the stuff I saw living in DC my neighborhood is like Pleasantville. Someone who isn't black may consider it "seedy" whatever the hell that means but I have neighbors who are very successful and it is very quiet and peaceful.

Paying 2k+ on rent just to be near nightlife isn't a priority of mine when I can pay less than that and build equity. My situation may be unique but regardless just wanted to give a different perspective.
 
fontaine fontaine how close are those neighborhoods to each other in Dallas? I'm not familiar with the area, but a Google map search shows me that there are only 2.5 miles apart.

That's not the case with PG. While PG borders DC, the actually CBDs and night life areas are further into the city. Your looking at a 20 - 30 min train ride (plus getting to the station) or 30+ minute driving (that's without traffic) if they were to buy a home in Fairwood.

Young professionals new to the area want to live closer to amenities a city have to offer. They'll live 10-15 minutes away from a bar strip in a crappy apartment, but they won't bother living 30-40 minutes away even if the place is nice. Even if they do, they'd still want those same amenities so living in Arlington, VA or Downton Silver Spring, MD (both of which border DC line) makes a better option than anywhere in PG. It was mentioned earlier in the thread, but PG doesn't have culturally diverse amenities and its really still bedroom communities inside the beltway.
 
JJs07 said:
Rich said:
JJs07 said:
Who in NoVA has a 2nd home in Chincoteague? :lol:


Maybe out in St. Michael's or somewhere else on the eastern shore of MD....but no one is having that 2nd crib out in Chincoteague bruh :lol:


Another thing...if you're young and single, living in Clarendon (if you can afford it) is the spot to be in NoVA.


*Did anyone read part 3 about the Boateng family?


That **** is infuriating. Part of me feels bad about their situation, but another part of me is :smh: because they kept putting their trust in people they shouldn't, and took out loan after loand after loan.


I mean, if your family is grossing 110K, there is no reason for you to be buying a 600K house.


Long story short, they are now over 1 million dollars in debt and haven't paid their mortgage in 5 years or so....
Click to expand...
That part hit real close to home :frown: :smh:  I know to  families in that situation right now 
Click to expand...

Dumb question...but what if they just say "screw it" and go back to Ghana? Bad credit can't follow you to another continent, can it?
Click to expand...
Yea some of my fam from Ghana went back to get away from debt, kids, the law etc ...nothing happens unless you come back to the states
 
There aren't many young people willing to live in PG lets be honest. Dude in the IT thread said it himself , this pretty much sums up the mindset of people living in the DMV area.
Osek206 said:
indifferent.gif
nah man, I take into consideration safety at the highest level. 60k will make it if you have zero to no bills.
A great safe area is going to cost 1400-1500 with access to the metro area. I make 67k and have school loans/phone bill/rent/
groceries/ going out expenses/CC bills. Do not sell these people some BS reality. Anything below in the 1000-1200 will be
giving up some aspect of your safety/commute/lack of metro to freeway connection. Rent in the DMV (D.C) area is OD, based on
tons of people moving in making money willing to pay whatever for SAFETY, and location to work.
Click to expand...
Keyword is SAFETY, but its really what your perception of safety is. I refuse to pay more than 1K a month on rent (im living with my girl) that is just crazy to me. So if that puts me in areas that others think are unsafe so be it.

@GetYaShinebox Black people don't mind living with white people , the problem is most can't afford it. If you want to live in a good county you have no option but to be the minority
laugh.gif


I want a piece of that SE action i know I will be too late though smh. I know a guy that bought in SE for dirt cheap a few years back and sold his house for 600K recently
sick.gif
 
 
Last edited:
Is the Hyattsville Art District anything similar to Mosaic out in Fairfax?
 
GetYaShinebox said:
For those saying we'll see what happens when the casino is opened, scope out the before/after of Atlantic City :lol:

Sure it's a very different place, but AC went from an exclusive beach resort for the rich to a dump, and it all started with commissioning those casinos back in the 1970s
Click to expand...

Alottt of truth to this but its not quite that clear cut
 
^^yup that safety **** ppl talk about ain't never gon change as long as it's mostly minorities living there ...either the area changes to white ppl n it becomes "safe" or it stays black n they would still call the place sketchy just cuz they seen a couple dudes walking around when they were driving by
 
BeezyGotSole said:
Yeah this is said by no one ever. People want to be able to walk to a metro, live in a safe place , and be surrounded by other young professional this won't happen in PG for a good 10 years, if that. The young professionals are the ones that are living on U st, H st, Dupont Cir , Clarendon, Old Town , etc and gladly paying the high rental prices 2.5k+/mo.
Click to expand...

A young professional never said they wanted to buy a home?

Really?

...

Really, famb...?
 
JJs07 said:
Is the Hyattsville Art District anything similar to Mosaic out in Fairfax?
Click to expand...
i want to say sort of because I've never been to the mosaic district, only have read about the development of it
laugh.gif


its more of a higher-end "main street, mom and pop shop" feel since Hyattsville is relatively small 

the bigger retail is at PG plaza
 
Last edited:
Fontaine said:
A young professional never said they wanted to buy a home?

Really?

...

Really, famb...?
Click to expand...
Non minorities ? In the DMV area? Yes, they are not saying "F DC and NoVA imma buy a house in PG" That is said by literally 0 non minorities let alone people with money.

Perception is everything to a lot of people and around here if you live in PG you are "poor" or live in the "hood". 

Young professionals are buying homes in NoVA , DC, and MoCo. You do understand these young professionals are pulling in 85K-150K ? They have money out here its not some kids that graduated and found a decent job making 30K-50K. A lot of young people are caking out here.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

The ultimate sneaker enthusiast community.

NikeTalk was created as a way of giving back to both the sneaker enthusiast community and to the greater global community of which we are all a part.

NikeTalk is NOT affiliated with Nike Inc. in any way, shape, or form. All opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Nike, Inc.

© 1999-2024 NikeTalk.com

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom