I know this is suppose to be about Fairfax, but since many enjoyed my tale of the "Hostage" situation by my house about a month ago I feel I need to share the latest news. (See http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read.php?2,5038,5038#msg-5038 for Hostage situation story)

My wife and I live in a small townhouse on a corner lot of a busy intersection in Old Town Alexandria and pay a small fortune in property taxes because of the "prime" location. However, our L shaped townhouse community is surrounded on three sides by "Section 8" (or low income subsidized housing). We have been in the house for over 2 years now but just in the past 6 months everything is going down hill.

"Now I dialed 911 a long time ago"

At 1:50 am in the morning on Sunday 9/11/05, my wife and I were awoke by 8 gunshots shot in rapid succession. Being raised around weapons, I immediately recognized it as having the distinct sound of a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Immediately following the shots, we saw the motion detector light flick on in the private sidewalk behind our house, so we assumed that either someone fleeing from the gunshots or the shooter fled down in that direction. I immediately called 911 to report the incident.

My "nosy" next door neighbors also called it in. I waited a brief time before venturing outside. I walked around the perimeter of our property and hung out on the sidewalk with my "nosy" neighbor husband for at least 20 more minutes. He works for the Pentagon in their security department so he had his 9mm strapped to his hip. (Not only is he nosy, but he is a little too "gung ho" like Tackleberry from the "Police Academy" movies!)

"Don't you see how late they're reactin'
They only come and they come when they wanna"

No police officer came to the scene while I was outside for over an hour after my 911 call. The nosy neighbor and I decided we were both too tired to wait for the police any longer and went back into our respective houses.

The nosy neighbor called the cops again in the morning and an officer came to the scene. The neighbor was walking his two annoying little yip-yip dogs and right behind my house found 8 expended shell casings. The shell casings were found at the corner of my property and the private sidewalk behind my house. The cop collected the shells and then found 3 more (which turned out to be .32 caliber blank shell casings) by where my car was parked on the street next to my house. The nosy neighbor shared this information with me later that day.

My wife works as an attorney for the city of Alexandria so on Monday after she got to work immediately called the Police Chief to demand an answer as to why the lack of response to our 911 call. The Chief was obviously distressed as to the ball being dropped on his watch so he promised to look into it and get back to her.

"They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway"

Later that night as we were eating dinner, the Police Chief called us at home and explained the 911 dispatcher had received a call from our nosy neighbor before our call. He had said gunshots were fired but did not give a location or the number of shots. And here is the clincher, he also requested not to be contacted. So the officers dispatched to the scene (allegedly 2 patrol cars and an additional K-9 unit... I say allegedly since I was outside and never saw any police vehicles at all), drove around the area, did not see anything, and went back to their routes.

My nosy neighbor is also the nervous nelly type who calls 911 all the time to report stupid shit. Three months ago after the cops came to his front door after one of these calls, nosy neighbor was rewarded with a brick through his front window which is what he was trying to avoid by remaining anonymous.

"I can prove it to you watch the rotation
It all adds up to a funky situation"

The Chief said the dispatcher should have updated the first call with the information I provided and the cops dispatched would have come to my house. He said he did not know why this was not done but was going to investigate further. He also promised to step up patrols in our neighborhood.

With two KNOWN drug dealers located in the Section 8 housing on either side of my townhouse development, I do not put much faith in things getting better any time soon.

I mean what the fuck else is there to do?

We cannot move. The house was purchased two years ago for $325,000. This years taxes increased the estimate to $488,000. We just finished expanding the back and side yards with a brick wall, which will DEFINITELY increase the value of the home. And two of our neighbors have moved and sold their houses for over $550,000 in the past 6 months. This was what we could afford to stay in Alexandria.

This is problem in Northern Virginia. There is no room to develop any further so you get into a bidding war with several other yuppie couples like ourselves over some shitty property which is not worth the money we are overbidding for it. I do not want to commute (been there done that in my 20s in Boston) so Falls Church, Fairfax, Centerville, Reston, Herndon, etc. is not an option (especially with the $3.59 +/- a gallon price in the area).

I guess I just need to put up with it and shut the fuck up. Oh, well... thanks for the vent...

"So get up get, get get down
911 is a joke in "Old Town""

i like the story. i could use some advice regarding what the cool/better neighborhoods are in Alexandria..I can't afford much but want to live somewhere with sorta an artsy/cultural vibe, my boyfriend will be commuting to GMU in Vienna/Fairfax so we need to be on the subway line somehow. Do you have a neighbrhood to recomend in Alexandria, Arlington, or any place along the way between DC & Fairfax at reasonable (cheap!) cost? Thanks in advance for your help!

Generally, anything close to the metro will not be reasonable, except anacostia and stuff, but you dont want to live there. Also, even though GMU is listed on the station at the end of the orange line, it's nowhere near there(unless you mean the Ballston campus). Finally, northern virginia has no culture,



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2006 05:17PM by mad max, JD.

So does this mean DC is the only answer? (To the person who just posted above)

I live on the north side of Old Town, also by section 8 housing. Not long ago, we had gun fire outside, three shots in rapid succession. I called the police non-emergency number to tell them I thought I heard gunshots, and officer on duty confirmed that he had four other calls about the same thing and was sending units. In less than ten minutes, we had about twenty folks all checking out the scene. So the police do respond. What I want to know is why known drug dealers are living in housing funded by my taxes??

OK you understand the drug dealer comment came out of nowhere? Just because a gun was fired does not mean the guy or gal is a drug dealer....

Mike W, you want a real lesson in how tax dollars are wasted, check out an area on South Reynolds Street at Edsall Road. The city just finished building three level brick townhouses with a garage. These are in fact public housing units.
Ever know of anyone who wouldnt work but stayed home making babies all day being given such a nice place, well you have now.
I predict like all public housing the residents will have them torn up in no time at all and then demand new homes.
Makes you wonder what suckers we are to work when we could have it so nice just leeching off the system.

..GOD DAM NIGGERS get to live there for free. What the FUCK

wow, glad i sold my condo on S reynolds a couple of yrs ago. That was break in waiting to happen as it was ground level.

First and foremost I am an Alexandria officer... every time there are calls for shots fired in any area we flood the area and try to find something... without proof of shots being fired we cant sit out there all night. Unless we find damage or shell casing there isnt much we can do and no victim to press charges. Without a victim there is no case for and arrest. No one ever want to tell us what the person looked like, a vehicle description... nothing... All we get is a report of shots fired... You knew what the neighborhood looked like before you moved in... those houses didnt pop-up over night... they were built before your house was... and if your wife works for the city she should of known too... Id suggest you try helping more than bitching... If you dont give me anything other than you heard shots and dont tell me where or what you saw then chances are Im not going to find anything... I realize to you this is the crime of your life... However the city has lots of calls for service and unless your HOA wants to hire an officer to sit infront of your homes we dont have the man power or resources to do it....

Oh and FYI... while your taxes are high... Your police officers are the lowest paid in Northern Virginia so your thought that "They don't care 'cause they stay paid anyway" is worth about shit.

Id suggest you join "Tackle Berry" and purchase a handgun to defend your home.

Last thought... The crime rate in the "Sec 8" housing isnt really any higher than any other part of the city... Just because someone lives there doesnt make them a drug dealer... You would be surprised to find out there are many more drug users and dealers elsewhere in the city... Usually in $400,000+ townhomes....

I wouldn't be surprised, the people over in Montebello are a bunch of drug fiends and they are all loaded.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/2006 02:08AM by RESton Peace.

i think it's hysterical that you are a self-proclaimed yuppy yet you incorporated a public enemy song.
"....get into a bidding war with several other yuppie couples like ourselves"
i'm not making fun of you, i just think that's awesome. i know the area you're referring too. i'm a native alexandria resident. i worked in old town for many years and grew up along the 7 mile stretch of richmond highway (the armpit of fairfax county) my advice is to just hang in there. i know it sucks right now, but i remember when that entire neighborhood was the ghetto. in my opinion, you're half way there....but if it gets worse, than 'welcome to the terrordome'

Reston -- in all due respect, i see your point on that, but i don't think
you're totally familiar with the area. that area hasa lot of street drug activity all hours of the day, especially at night. let's be real here and conclude that someone bucking off shots in a drug infested neighborhood at 2am was not Mr.Roger's.

I know for a fact (as a former Alexandria PD dispatcher) that all "shots fired" calls are responded to. I also know that Alexandria police officers are one of the lowest paid. But more so I know that they are top notch and have a loyalty that can not be beat to Alexandria and its residents. I suggest taking a look at other jurisdictions around you and you will find that Alexandria isn't as bad as you may think. Also keep in mind that just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they weren't out there.

matthewluke82, no offense, but you do not seem totally familiar with that area.

Montibello is a private, gated neighborhood with a median income in the 150,000 dollar a year range.

The only drug deales that live there are not streetrats, they are kingpens.

You did get that I was joking above, right? Not to mention I posted that five months ago or more.

I find it funny that you should say that, I just recently moved form those vet "Projects" that you speak of. Just know that I can truelly Identify with the 911 is a joke thing, I know first hand. We are talking about an area that has police officers that live in the very place that you complain about.