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giscard78 t1_j5ls54n wrote

Not sure if you’re asking why they don’t build rowhomes/townhomes anymore or asking why they lack detail/style but here’s a set of townhomes built to have the stepped facade like a rowhome and were constructed in 2020. These are a little different because they’re recent construction but I think are sort of like what you’re looking for. DC EOTR has all kinds of townhome developments.

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lejohanofNWC t1_j5m7sbs wrote

Wild, I drive half a block passed that every day and used to work just over on 28th place. Never knew those were back there.

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thepenguinknows t1_j5mn323 wrote

I’m new to the area but this seems pretty affordable compared to the other houses I’ve seen in DC. Is this the neighborhood just not desirable?

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giscard78 t1_j5mu4ob wrote

So here’s the thing, SE or EOTR gets a bad rap, some of it is warranted, but some of it is not. I have no idea for this particular block, maybe someone else can chime in. The thing about EOTR, though, is it lacks a lot of amenities. People are willing to put up with more violent neighborhoods in NW or NE but they have access to [whatever]. It’s not the same in that part of SE.

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DarknessOverLight12 t1_j5o4upv wrote

I swear u the first person on here to not call SE a hellhole of some kind and u even gave a reason why people still prefer NE and NW. As a SE native, for the longest time I never understood why transplants prefer NW neighborhoods like Columbia heights, seat pleasant, ivy City and more when there is just as much shootings there as SE. My best friend lives near Columbia heights and he has seen drive-bys and a dead body from his window.

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9throwaway2 t1_j5okp09 wrote

It isn't a hellhole, far from it; some of the prettiest neighborhoods in DC are in SE, like Hillcrest. The issues are more to do with historic redlining and racism combined with a lack of amenities that are walkable. Keep in mind there are barely any highways in NW DC. Highways were only built in poorer neighborhoods.

Hopefully we can fix these problems.

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thepenguinknows t1_j5my3w1 wrote

Thank you. I lived in a city with a major university before moving up here. Gun shots weren’t daily but they were pretty frequent so I understand putting up with it in order to be close to something.

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jundog18 t1_j5o2480 wrote

Kind of disagree. A lot of housing in DC isn’t that walkable (like it takes 15 minutes or more to walk somewhere worthwhile) so people hop in their car or an Uber anyways. EOTR is less than 10 minute drive from the yards, barracks row, a handful if restaurants in historic anacostia, and two grocery stores in skyland.

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DarknessOverLight12 t1_j5o51ji wrote

You're assuming that people in EOTR have cars or money for ubers. It's a 10min drive to those places but a 30-40min bus ride

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cptjeff t1_j5ojai3 wrote

People here have cars, bro. Traffic is a nightmare.

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Gumburcules t1_j5ot4h5 wrote

If you're on Reddit and looking to buy a house in DC in 2023 you've got money for cars or ubers.

Yes, it's absolutely an issue for many current and longtime residents over here, but for the purposes of this particular discussion I think it's a pretty fair assumption that an occasional Uber to the bar is not a big deal.

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DarknessOverLight12 t1_j5owccj wrote

I get what you're saying but dude said housing not houses and there's alot of low income people EOTR that live in apartments. Thats what I meant, not the people buying houses and already going to trendy bars

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isaghoul t1_j5nfrq4 wrote

There's a serious lack of adequate grocery stores (there are only 4 and one doesn't even sell produce) and medical care available in ward 7 and 8. Things are changing as gentrification moves EOTR though.

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9throwaway2 t1_j5oktj3 wrote

also now ward 7/8 cross the river. For example Navy Yard isn't part of Ward 6 anymore.

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PossiblyWitty t1_j5opdgn wrote

Which grocery store doesn’t sell produce?

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isaghoul t1_j5oy3d2 wrote

Good Food Markets in Bellevue. They’re only doing prepared foods now.

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ollman t1_j5mris3 wrote

It's affordable for a reason. Gunshots are a daily routine. Wouldn't raise my kids there.

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Successful-Return186 t1_j5nid4s wrote

Only thing is that the houses are very cheaply made. I live not too far from them & saw how they took 4 years & cut corners to build some crappy buildings that are mostly just Air B&B's. No one wants to buy a property that looks at the backs of surrounding homes.

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basilect t1_j5sdgrs wrote

On the other hand, I'm sure builders in the 1920s cared immensely about quality when they were trying to pack as many Irish Catholics into Brookland as they legally could.

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snortgigglecough t1_j5pl0y2 wrote

Does it really cost THAT much extra to add the extra Victorian details that make traditional rowhomes so appealing? Or is it just a minor additional cost that developers know they don't have to shell out for?

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giscard78 t1_j5powvx wrote

I assume it depends on the detail. Minimum frontage set backs require the home to start x feet from the street. Most people don’t want to lose a little space in the “pop front” so the rest of the home is extended back a couple feet. I have no idea how this all pencils out but it does cost something. Same with adding a turret or other ornamental details. If you know which blocks to look for, you can see homes get simpler and simpler until they are square brick blocks with flat roofs (like Riggs Park).

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teenotbee t1_j5vgar0 wrote

I work in construction for a general contractor, and yes it does cost more and developers in major cities skimp out on this. It’s called ‘value engineering’ — essentially how can we achieve the same goal for cheaper or how do we just get rid of it all together by changing the design. Most of the time it’s by doing the latter. This can happen not only with aesthetic design but also HVAC systems, electrical systems, etc.

The material to add details like this isn’t necessarily the most expensive part, its the labor to do it if you want it done right and not cheaply. We’re at a time where skilled trades are already struggling to find people and to keep/pay people is very hard. Big trends in design/construction are a factor of a lot of things all at once.

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yeezymacheet t1_j5pkcvu wrote

EOTR?

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ReigningCatsNotDogs t1_j5qanjc wrote

You probably already figured it out, but it means "East of the River," which is to say the part of the city that is on the other side of the Anacostia river from the majority of the city. People use it different ways; the city itself uses it to refer to that portion of the city in connection with efforts to improve the lot of the people who live there. But many others use it as a byword for the Part of the City Where White People Don't Live. Not accusing anyone here of that, just FYI. But you should be sensitive to the use of the phrase and think about what it symbolizes when deciding whether to use it.

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