"SENIOR" HOUSING:

IT'S NOT JUST FOR

SENIORS ANYMORE!

When it comes to tricks, the Powers That Be in Montgomery County - and their media supporters - are the experts. Remember when a developer testifying before the Rockville Planning Commission used his Blackberry to electronically jam the microphone, thereby preventing those watching at home from hearing the details of his project? Then you are probably a new reader, and missed that exclusive report a few years ago!

So let me talk again about another trick: "senior" housing. This is used to win support for new, mixed-use condo buildings, especially when they are being proposed for an inappropriate area. It's done to convince nearby residents that only law-abiding elderly folks will be moving in, they'll be quiet, they won't commute to work in cars, and they won't have kids to crowd the neighborhood schools.

This is being used in Rockville right now, to replace a forest near the Town Center with a Victory Housing "senior" apartment complex. One of the few remaining green spaces in downtown Rockville is being turned into a paved complex, thanks to the county, which sold the land in a sweetheart deal. The same county government that always claims to be green, and says you should pay a 5 cent grocery tax to "clean the rivers," is clear cutting the last forest in the City of Rockville. I recommend that during "Corporate Ca$h Hour"... er, sorry, "Earth Hour," our county elected officials take the Hypocritical Oath, to continue wasting taxpayer money on wacko projects like toxic mercury lightbulbs and powering your home with those little pinwheels like you got at Ocean City when you were a kid. While trashing and devastating our environment with unlimited development and toxic waste!

I've written years ago about a "senior" housing tower rammed through the planning process by Dr. Yes on River Road. To refresh memories, it is a wonderful site for the elderly, or anyone else to live. I mean, who doesn't want to step out on a balcony high above an industrial area, warehouses, self-storage facilities, and gas stations? Ah, yes, take in the fresh air. Now it's time for Grandpa to walk to the store. It's quite a walk. Don't trip, Grandpa! Maybe take the bus instead? First walk down the industrial alleys to River Road. Then... oh no! It's quite possible that the county council will have eliminated all bus service on weekends and holidays along River Road! Walk back up and call Peapod, Gramps.

They say they're going to install a signal on River Road. Any real engineer knows that is ridiculous - 4 traffic signals in one block of River Road?

Yes, it's a dream site in a dream location, ladies and gentlemen. County planners should be proud.

But this may never happen. The truth is, as I've mentioned before, "senior" housing comes with no guarantee. Often, it is simply a Trojan horse used by developers to build in a sensitive area. Then, once it's built, the mission changes, and - like Park Bethesda or the Fenestra - you have frat parties going all night.

"Well, some of these kids are seniors in college, so, technically that's senior housing."

Sorry, I couldn't hear you - your Blackberry's jamming the microphone.

What got me started on this senior housing thing again?

A fantastic article in USA Today that totally backs up what I've been saying for years!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2010-03-21-age-restrictions-lifted_N.htm

Read it yourself, but here's my favorite part:

Sherwood Lakes in Virginia Beach was going to build a third of 180 homes for
55-plus buyers. "As we were building, we realized the market for
age-restricted was almost non-existent," says Dustin Little, sales
consultant for Sherwood Lakes and a real estate agent. "We went to the
City Council and lifted the age restriction."

Boy, that was so easy! Just remember that the next time you're told it's "just senior housing." You know, for which the market is nonexistent.

Another example was in the very appropriately named Surprise, Arizona. Don't fall for this "surprise" in your neighborhood.