Last December I bought a small rowhouse in the Greenbelt Historic District, based on 1) the extremely affordable prices—for the DC region that is, 2) a lot of hype I heard about how cozy, cool, and unique the community is.
Frankly am really regretting my choice. Here's why:
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I find the mood of the neighborhood to be rather... grim. There's no liveliness, no buzz of activity. On a beautiful spring evening, for example, I'd expect to see a ton of people milling around outside walking their dogs, gardening, grilling, taking kids to playgrounds, what have you. But I mostly see just dead, silent sidewalks and cul-de-sacs. I've had friends visit and say "Where is everyone??"
I'm used to city living and I thought Greenbelt would in some ways replicate aspects of that, but it seems like I'm dealing with the worst of both worlds: the cramped conditions and lack of privacy of city living, minus the amenities or "buzz" of it.
The whole town square area is completely overhyped. The co-op is just a small, dusty, outdated grocery store, and the businesses are... I come back to the word grim. Also, sorry, I just don't find it that novel to have a "town center" area. Most neighborhoods have that, and the one here is not really a selling point.
2) Possibly related to the above, it seems like the majority of the community is 60+. I'm late 30s and while I don't need or want to be surrounded by youth—and definitely enjoy spending time with older people—I didn't realize I was essentially signing up to live in a senior community. The stereotypical GB resident seems to be about 65, white, single, and honestly a bit down on their luck. (I'm definitely generalizing but it's based on realities.)
3) No one warned me about the paper thin walls in the rowhouses. I can hear my next-door neighbors flush their toilets, have conversations and fights, watch TV, and even SNORE AT NIGHT. It's to the point where I feel guilty when I set my alarm early because I know that's also going to be my neighbor's wakeup call. It's completely ridiculous to me that GHI (for those who don't know, that's essentially the HOA) hasn't proactively addressed this structural flaw over many decades.
4) Speaking of GHI, I'm still questioning where all my money goes. If the place had lovely amenities—i.e. beautiful gardens, parks, etc.—I would understand why I'm paying such a high fee ($600+ per month). But the community in general looks shabby and run-down.
Not trying to sound like a snot here. In fact I'm posting this in the hopes of opening my mind more and developing some better perspectives about Greenbelt, because if that doesn't happen I'm planning to sell my place within three years.
Or if not that I'm looking to find anyone who actually agrees with me, because I feel like plenty of people are getting sold on false hype with this community.
