Your morning commute~

[WRXtranceformed]

If you can afford a townhouse in a big city, it's either going to be REALLY expensive or REALLY shitty.

I hate misconceptions about property prices. Do some research... this took 30 seconds. There's ritzy areas in DC that will cost you $1+ mil to buy, just like there are in the 'burbs too.

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None of those places are particularly cheap in the grand scheme, but the prices are comparable to arlington/fairfax county. You give up parking and space but do you really need a 3000 sq foot pad?

Plus, I like being able to walk outside at night and go for a walk or something without having to worry about being mugged or shot at.

I've spent quite a bit of time in DC, seeing as how I've grown up here - including some seedy spots from time to time when I was less smart. Never been mugged/shot/etc and never once felt like I was in some sort of danger. But I've been held up at gunpoint twice in the middle of vienna - cookie cutter suburbia. Go figure.

Maybe I'm spoiled because I grew up in / have lived in rural, rich areas. Aside from the fact that our townhouse in Hunter's Ridge was one of the nicest ones in there, I hated living in that shithole...that was probably the worst place I've ever spent significant time in. If I personally felt the need to bring up a family in the city, it would have to be in those $1million+ townhome areas. And even then, like you said, rich areas don't necessarily mean less dangerous.

Also, those first two homes are from the fucking 1930s. You do realize they didn't exactly use the most innovative townhome building techniques during the Pre-WWII era right? I would never buy a townhouse that old as an investment nor to live in. I would hate to see what happens to that place if the neighbor's house catches on fire hock: The neighborhood on that first one doesn't exactly look like somewhere I'd feel comfortable letting my kids run around in either.

The last one looks decent, but 2 upstairs owner's suites are not exactly desireable for resale. And I do consider $530,000 for a 3 bedroom townhome to be expensive. I mean you could pick apart any listing on the market, but let me put it this way. If you had a family, with kids and you worked in DC, for $530,000 would you prefer this:

or extend your commute by 30-45 minutes and have this:


Like Evan said, it's personal preference. I personally consider a place where I have to spend as much for a townhouse as it costs for a single family in a nicer, safer area to not be desireable...but some people are willing to sacrifice some peace of mind for commute time I guess!! Not that you're any safer driving to and from work around here :lol: