The bubblicious bench is no longer the mecca for bubbleheads. Picture taken 5/14/06. It has a mere 3 lockboxes left.What happened?
Perhaps it has something to do with fact that the Washington Post mentioned the bubblicious bench in a front page article. The management or developer company may have asked the sellers to remove their lockboxes from the bench. Any ideas?
Rest in Peace, bubblicious bench. You are missed. :-(
Nevertheless, there are still dozens of condo units available for sale at the Halstead at Dunn Loring. It is still infested with flippers, specuvestors and their ilk.
Mention in Washington Post (4/22/06)
Bubblicious Bench Update (4/11/06)
Live Housing Chat on WashingtonPost.com (4/5/06)
Bubblicious Bench & Flippers (3/26/06)
Bubblicious Bench (3/21/06)
Posts
I think I say and add in Craig's list trying to rent out a one bedroom at those Condos. I think I remember it listed for $1400 a month. Seems a little steep for the area. I rent a townhouse in Arlington for around that amount.
ReplyDeleteI think you meant the picture was taken 5/14/06, not 4/14/06.
ReplyDeleteRightttttt...what townhouse did you get in Arlington for $1400?? Somthing south of Columbia Pike, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteYes that is correct...its a neighborhood south of Columbia Pike called Crystal City
ReplyDeleteWithin walking distance to the Metro?
ReplyDelete"I think you meant the picture was taken 5/14/06, not 4/14/06"
ReplyDeleteThanks. Fixed.
"Crystal City" = "charmless city"
ReplyDeleteNothing like living amongst high density office buildings in a neighborhood designed around automobiles! Didn't Norman Rockwell paint that neighborhood regularly because of it's charm?
Actually, in fairness there is an ok neighborhood of cookie-cutter townhomes south of Costco and west of Jeff Davis, which is where I assume the poster lives, but they are not exactly good living and if you want to take the metro you've go to cross Jeff Davis on an overpass every day, that seems like a calm start to every morning. That area is actually a relatively rare zoning misstep by Arlington County; it should have been zoned high density office or apartment/condo given its proximity to PC and CC.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct as to the location. I don't find the metro suitable to my job since I travel to different locations. To me its not worth paying a premium to rent close to a metro that I wouldn't use anyway. To Cystal City being "Charmless City" at this point I think Crystal City has as much charm as Clarendon or Rosslyn (not a high bar I admit.)
ReplyDeleteWell, if you can find a townhouse in Clarendon for $1400, then my name is David!
ReplyDeleteClarendon use to have character when I moved to Arlington but I think the addition of the Cheesecake Factory destroyed whatever character it had. With all the high rises they are putting in its becoming another Rosslyn (which I don't think ever had character).
ReplyDeleteI rent in Crystal City and it rocks. I reverse commute to work South down 395. It's a ten-minute drive. My wife takes the metro. Specifically, she takes the elevator in our building down to the underground mall and walks a short distance to the metro - all undeground. Thanks to the underground mall, we can go the the drugstore and get haircuts and things like that without having to drive.
ReplyDeleteKabob Palace, on Eads, close to 23rd, makes great kabobs, dirt cheap. I recommend the takeout place over the sit-down restaurant version. You've certainly paid at least 4-5 times as much for less tasty food, and probably liked it.
23rd Street has some nice little restaurants and bars in easy walking distance.
Down Crystal Drive, we can walk to Oyamel or Jaleo, both excellent small plates restaurants. Oyamel is epecially good, and innovative.
Harris Teeter is in walking distance. So is Costco.
Venturing in your car, it's a very short distance to Potomac Yards, which has Target and other stores like that.
It's also a very short distance to Mount Vernon Avenue, and the Del Ray neighborhood. On Mount Vernon, by the Calvert Apartments (probably more towards Arlandria), there's a fantastic and very inexpensive Indian restaurant called Bombay Curry Company. If you've eaten Indian food in DC proper (especially on K Street), you've likely paid 3 times as much for lower-quality Indian food. RT's, in a somehwat ratty part of Mount Vernon, does pretty good Cajun food, but it ain't cheap.
Clarendon used to be cool, but not so much. It's generic, now; a place for know-nothings with no taste to overpay for things. I think I just described a large fraction of North Arlington. I probably also just described the posters who dump on Crystal City.
But really, anti-Crystal City types, feel free to stay away. You're the sort of no-class no-taste clientele who ruin everything for those of us who understand the difference between price and quality.
Someone mentioned Del Ray neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteDel Ray was littered with empty crack vials ten years ago.... what happened now?! I missed the boat there I guess. Now I want to live and hang out there all the time, but I can't afford it.
I think if global warming raises sea levels 10-20 feet, Del Ray may lose a lot of that regained charm. Let's hope that Del Ray stays dry.
ReplyDeleteA lot of housing boosters make the mistake of fighting the last war. Just because you missed out by not buying in 2000 doesn't mean that you'll miss out by not buying in 2005.
In fact, a lot of the excesses of the housing bubble were driven by fear-motivated purchasers, who get terrified of prices going up and up and pricing them out of the market, so they bought at any price, using any financing, counting on appreciation to keep them out of trouble. Functionally, this has the same effect as speculators buying because they think they'll turn a big profit next year. I think both speculators and fear-based buyers are in for a bumpy ride over these next few years.
But hey, if you want to really speculate, I say buy land in some super-crappy neighborhood in a growing city and see what happens in 25 years.
Buy some land in Anacostia.
the poor bench looks so lonely now.
ReplyDeleteInteresting about Crystal City. I am still stuck on the city, but may venture over to that kabob place next time I'm shopping there.
ReplyDeleteDavid should have used that Bubblicious Bench as the main logo for his BubbleMeter blog.
ReplyDeleteI'm renting a 2 bedroom condo (about a 1000 sq ft) in the complex next to this one for about $1700. It may be a little pricey, but the convience to the metro, Tyson's, and 495 make it ideal for me. I've gotten really attached to my 3 minute walk to the metro.
ReplyDeleteGoing by Craiglist and Realtor.com, the Halstead listings haven't dropped. Guess the management company asked for the cleansing of the bench.
ReplyDeleteThe lockboxes have been moved to a railing inside the visitors parking lot...I live here, so I know. I rent, but so far I like it.
ReplyDelete