By: Matt Sacco
Maryland – Walking up and down the National Harbor in Prince George’s County, you will see your fair share of young, college-aged adults.
Some stroll the waterfront enjoying the views of the Anacostia, while others peruse the many shops and restaurants lining the streets.
“It’s a hidden gem. After a while you’ve pretty much been everywhere, sometimes it’s nice to just get out of DC for a little.” Lindsay Evans said, surrounded by a group of other GW students.
Washington D.C. is by no means a cheap place to live comfortably. And for a recent college graduate, finding an affordable area to live can be a challenge.
For Rashad Turner, returning to the DMV was about balance.
“I always thought going back to Washington would be a no brainer for me, but I guess not.”
Rashad grew up in Delaware his whole life, before moving down south to Blacksburg, where he would receive his degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Tech. After four years, Turner received his diploma in exchange for a hefty sum of debt.
As a native of the region, Rashad always thought he would move to DC after graduating. Growing up in a small town, Rashad said he was always attracted to the hustle of metropolitan areas, like New York or Philadelphia.
However as reality set in and Rashad tried to manage a budget with his new job, he was less hopeful.
“I went to school in Blacksburg, so it was sort of a shock. When I was looking at the rent I was going to be paying I started to have some doubts.”
Rashad began his search in areas like Alexandria, Arlington and Montgomery County; typical hotbeds for recent graduates with entry-level jobs.
“Maybe if I had majored in finance, I could have afforded the rent over there.”
With minimal options and a strong desire to begin his career in Washington, Rashad was persistent to find a decent, affordable living situation in close proximity to a metro stop.
“I don’t have a car down here, so if I can get around by the metro I’ll be fine.”
Inevitably, Rashan found a home, not nestled in Alexandria or Arlington, but across the water in Prince George’s County, a few minutes away from the National Harbor.
To quantify just how expensive the area is to live in, the Bureau of Economic Analysis ranked the District of Columbia, and its surrounding counties in Virginia and Maryland as the second most expensive region in the United States to live in. This ranking considered prices for rent, gas, groceries and transportation.
While living in much of the DC metropolitan area is not attainable to average, entry level workers, some counties vary greater than others.
Montgomery County, Maryland’s most populous, offers somewhat reasonable rent prices and ease of access to transportation. The current median price in households in the area is around $438,000 according to the Maryland Department of Commerce.
Opposite, and across the Anacostia is Prince George’s County. Lagging just behind Montgomery in total population, the story is not the same for PGC in terms of households. The latest data available shows the average price to be around $286,000.
Both are located in Maryland, are close to DC, and have metro access into the city. Yet this huge gap between both regions still exists.
Mary Hunter and Stephanie Proestel of the Housing Initiative Partnership both have first hand experience working with this community and rebuilding after the financial crisis of 2008, a recession, they say, that disproportionately affected the region and its predominant minority population.
HIP provides various services specifically to Prince George’s County. Mary Hunter works directly on the counseling side of business, as she provides guidance to potential homebuyers who may not know the process of securing a loan. Her department additionally provided counseling during the financial crisis.
When asked how greatly the area was affected during this period, Mary said “Prince George’s County was considered an epicenter of the foreclosure crisis nationwide.”
“We had one of the highest foreclosure rates nationwide, it unfortunately happened in 2008 and it went all the way up through 2013 or 2014.”
The crisis left an incredible amount of houses vacant, many of which are in the same condition to this day.
In conjunction with Mary, Stephanie Proestel works within to physically revitalize neighborhoods. HIP buys dilapidated buildings in the area and eventually turns them into affordable housing spaces for low and moderate income residents of the community.
These renovations are not typical, run-of-the-mill affordable housing units. HIP prides itself on paying attention to detail when building their units, as well as creating eco-friendly, green homes for its residents.
When asked if these regions have fully recovered from the foreclosure crisis, Mary said “I wouldn’t call it a crisis anymore, but you know there are people who are struggling for various reasons, but not on the same level.”
There is some hope that things are improving however. Prince George’s County has experienced a steady gain in job growth over the past few years. In just the span of six months, the unemployment rate in the county dropped nearly a full percentage point down to 3% according to the Maryland Department of Labor.
Much of the county’s employment comes from the University of Maryland, as well as branches of the federal government like the IRS and Census Bureau. Recently, Amazon has had a spillover effect across much of the DMV area.
When asked what is contributing to this growth, Stephanie said “We do probably have the largest growth because we have the largest potential of growth.”
She notes that the county has always lagged behind in jobs, so there is invariable more room for the area to grow.
Additionally, Stephanie said “There are lots of good things happening and I think the county is focused on economic development. You see things like the purple line and infrastructure coming in.”
Rashan agrees. “My apartment for now does the job. It’s cheap, I can get to the metro pretty easily and I usually come down here [The National Harbor] on the weekends with friends.”
He said he looks forward to riding on the purple line once it finally opens. For now, Rashan is happy where he is.
Advanced Reporting Times, Spring 2020 