Pigtown's horrid housing market depreciation (due to its ridiculous overinflation) is affecting me to the point of grief. I love my home, and have put so many of my resources into it, but it's all for naught. Zillow.com is estimating my home's value at 60% of what I paid in 2006. All my closest neighbors--who were proud homeowners--have left. Of the rehabbed homes that don't remain empty, transitional students and section 8-vouched renters abound. The neighborhood's open-air drug market has decreased significantly (thanks to the vigilance of great community activism), but this gem of a neighborhood is still too rough to truly enjoy.
Washington, DC beckons my return...to be continued.
UPDATE THE NEXT DAY: Just toured a $1200/month Capitol Hill apartment (a good deal for the area) with supposedly 650 square feet (more like 400), and the pic below is HIGHLY flattering compared to reality--you wouldn't believe the bathroom. Well...looks like I'm staying in Pigtown--I'll take the comforts of a newly rehabbed home over a craptacular roach condo. If I can't live within walking distance to work, it takes just as much time getting around DC as a 45-minute drive to Baltimore.
