City Says Rising Property Taxes Mean More Services Can Be Offered

You don't have to look hard to notice the changes in the neighborhood in recent years — the changing face of population, the gentrification and certainly, for better or for worse, the rising property values.

For Washington, many of the changes occurred during the last few years, too recently to be documented by the 2000 Census.

But according to Chris Bender, spokesman for the D.C. Office of Planning and Economic Development, D.C.'s population has stopped declining and has even grown somewhat during the last couple of years.

And D.C. is not alone.

Experts in demography say that old cities like Washington all across America have enjoyed a certain degree of revitalization in some city neighborhoods in the last few years. They say people who have been buying and renovating the old houses are those young professionals who don't have children or school-age children, as well as the so-called empty-nesters whose children have grown up and left home.

No specific data from the 2000 Census is available yet on the trend, but Jason Schachter, the researcher in charge of compiling the related data at the U.S. Census Bureau, says reports due out by the end of this year should support the assessment.

For Washington, the recent inflow of middle-class families has boosted business in retail, restaurant, construction and other home services. The rising property value also means higher tax revenue for the city.

"In this era when a lot of states and cities are strained fiscally, it's allowed us to offer more services, because we have more tax dollars to pay for the services that residents want," says Bender of the city's planning and development office.

To build on the momentum, Mayor Anthony Williams early this year set a goal of bringing 100,000 new residents to the District over the next decade.

Not everyone is benefiting from the recent rise of property value, however. Renters have to pay higher rent for the same apartments they have been living in. The dramatic rise of property taxes has also increased financial burden for some long-time residents who live on fixed income.

Even the middle-class newcomers are weighing the pros and cons of living in the city, especially if they are going to have children and the schools don't improve soon.

In fact, researchers say that middle class-families are still moving out of the city, but that young professionals and so-called empty nesters are moving into the city in greater numbers at the same time. §