WaPo Notes 'Inaugural Rentals Begging for Takers'

Photo of Ken Shepherd.
By Ken Shepherd (Bio | Archive)
January 9, 2009 - 12:55 ET

Noting that "supply has far outpaced demand," Washington Post staffer David Nakamura filed a story in the January 9 Metro section on how "Inaugural Rentals [Are] Begging For Takers."

While I wouldn't hold my breath for say Chris Matthews to notice, the story works against the mainstream media portrayal of the Obama inauguration as such a must-attend historic event that the nation's capital will be deluged with visitors hoping to get as close as they can to Obama's radiant aura (emphasis mine):

"I'm blown away by how little demand there is," said Tania Odabashian, vice president at Corporate Apartment Specialists in Northern Virginia.

"Initially, we were flooded with calls from people looking for [inaugural] housing. For about four or five days, the phone would not stop ringing. . . . But now we have apartments as low as $150 a night that we can't get rid of. I've rented one two-bedroom in Tysons Corner. We have six or seven apartments inside the Beltway that will probably end up empty."

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Brokers cite several reasons for the sluggishness. Initial crowd estimates of 4 million people were far too high -- officials are now planning for half that -- and scared off many potential visitors. The difficulty of getting tickets to official events may have prompted others to stay away. And property owners who had visions of easy money priced their units way too high, often for more than $1,500 a night.

And perhaps another reason is that standing hours on end in the cold to get past a security cordon to hear a speech you'll forget soon after hearing it, well, it seems exciting at first, but less exciting the more you think about it.

Having attended President George W. Bush's first inauguration -- I had a great view of a line of port-a-potties and could only barely hear the piped in audio --and having volunteered for the second -- basically watching an endless stream of pooping horses and off-key high school marching bands -- I can attest that it's just as well to plop in front of a TV.

And hey, that's where the networks come in. TVNewser has more on ABC, NBC, and CNN's coverage plans. I expect the nets will do well in the ratings department, but that even there we may find the total viewership doesn't match the hype.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters


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Here's an Idea

January 9, 2009 - 13:05 ET by Gothampc

I hear the Obamas are having some trouble finding a place.  Maybe somebody should tell them about these vacancies.

yeah right

January 9, 2009 - 13:15 ET by jasonblanchard

Like they'd stay in a place that's only $150 a night...

 

Hilarious that the media buildup to this is already showing flop.

notinmygreenhouse.hypocrisy.com

And property owners who had

January 9, 2009 - 13:07 ET by Dan The Man 2

And property owners who had visions of easy money priced their units way too high, often for more than $1,500 a night.  Sounds like price gouging to me  - where are the congressional committes?

The people interested in this public spectacle most likely expected the government to pay for them out of the bailout money. 

Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark.

Brokers cite several

January 9, 2009 - 13:32 ET by fitzfong

Brokers cite several reasons for the sluggishness. Initial crowd estimates of 4 million people were far too high -- officials are now planning for half that -- and scared off many potential visitors. The difficulty of getting tickets to official events may have prompted others to stay away. And property owners who had visions of easy money priced their units way too high, often for more than $1,500 a night.

Or it could just be that people are not that interested.  Sometimes the simple answer is the best one.

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan

fitzfong.blogspot.com

Let them come!

January 9, 2009 - 13:32 ET by KC Mulville

I work in the DC area, commuting from Baltimore (yeah it's a pain, but you go where the job is).

At the moment, everyone is expecting a huge swarm of people in the area, so many that local businesses are thinking about extending the MLK Day (on the 19th) to an extra day off. The more people who pour into DC, then the more likely that local businesses will just take the day off.

So I say, come on, everyone! Aren't you patriotic? Come and see Obama give a speech! He gives a great speech, you know ...

And I thought my commute

January 9, 2009 - 14:08 ET by Ken Shepherd

And I thought my commute would be maddening. I live in Takoma Park and usually commute down North Cap to 395 to GW Pkwy into Alexandria. But thanks to the bridge shutdowns and 395 lockdown, I'll have to take 295 to the Wilson Bridge or take Metro (my likeliest option).

Ouch Ken

January 9, 2009 - 14:28 ET by Blonde

I lived there in the early 80's, and went back for a visit about six years ago.  The traffic in and around DC has become worse than L.A. 

My friend lived out by Manassas, if it weren't for the HOV lane (I think her hubby used the rat line to commute to the Pentagon), I couldn't imagine trying to drive into DC every day.  I would literally go insane.

 

It's not that bad coming

January 9, 2009 - 15:41 ET by Ken Shepherd

It's not that bad coming back in the evening. Driving through in the morning isn't too bad, but sometimes traffic snarls a bit like the other day when it was raining.

Not looking forward to driving to work during our infamous "wintry mixes." I can handle it just fine, but for some reason everyone else on the road is a doofus in winter.

"Wintry mixes"?

January 9, 2009 - 18:55 ET by Blonde

In DC?  That's a hoot...more like shut the town down.  A "doofus in winter" doesn't even begin to cover it.

True story....when I was a young newlywed, we were in DC for a couple of days of touristing before the ex had to go to Aberdeen Proving Grounds...we stayed at a friend of a friend's who lived in the townhouse in Georgetown where John & Jackie Kennedy lived while in DC (we slept in the room that had been JFK's office).

Anyway, it snowed the night before we left.  The ex, being from Minnesota, had no problems with it, but apparantly no one else can drive there w/2" of snow.  We got stuck in such a traffic jam going north...like for three hours.  Men were getting out of their cars, headed to the woods....I couldn't stand it any longer, so my solution (remember I'm from Florida and don't handle cold weather very well) was to knock on the door of a big RV.  Fortunately they were very understanding.

Good luck with the Coronation....be safe.

 

DC

January 9, 2009 - 16:45 ET by KC Mulville

Confession - I take the MARC commuter train, and then hop on the metro. I avoid DC traffic whenever possible. So, I'm exploiting the driving nightmares of others just to get a day off. Every once in a while, I'll drive instead of taking the train. That always serves as a fresh reminder - I inevitably say, "oh yeah, THIS is why I take the train ..."

That prompts me to make a political point. We don't need to re-build the existing infrastructures. We need to scrap them and come up with new ones. We lose so much productivity by wasting it on snarled commutes. And that's just transportation - how about the power grid? Also, we spent the summer complaining that we can't depend on fossil fuels, and that the technology for nuclear energy is so much better than before. (And we're wondering how to spend a trillion dollars?? Hello???) 

But with this disastrous "stimulus" package, we're about to spend hundreds of billions on shovel projects, which will only re-establish the same infrastructure. We'll be re-locking the shackles, instead of getting rid of them. We'll fix the potholes on Main Street by digging up the existing pavement and laying a new layer of the same old pavement.

Now is the time to re-think the infrastructure, and to build a smarter one. But we're not going to do that, because we're in a mad rush to spend the money.

If ever there was a time for political courage, it's now. Instead of rushing to blow billions into half-baked packages, somebody ought to say, "what are we getting ourselves into?" We're throwing good money after bad. God forbid someone should stand up and ask, "Can we do this better? What could we do better than the old way?"

They want someone

January 9, 2009 - 13:41 ET by scc

They want someone to pay for the rental for them, also the gas or airline ticket it would take to get there. We can not also forget about someone to pay for  food, entertainment and a ball gown or tux.

  Simple miscalculation

January 9, 2009 - 13:52 ET by midnight cowboy

 

Simple miscalculation on the estimates because a large number of Obama voters already have accomodations. Nice mahogany or pine boxes approximately 6 feet below the surface.

LOL!

January 9, 2009 - 21:49 ET by Kimberly

Simple miscalculation on the estimates because a large number of Obama voters already have accomodations. Nice mahogany or pine boxes approximately 6 feet below the surface.

Now THAT'S funny.

Seriously, I called 4M for the Inauguration a joke when the figure was first floated. The "official" estimate is now at 1.5M, which would put it about even with the largest crowd estimate ever, LBJ's 1964 inauguration. My bet is we see a number closer to 1M, and maybe even lower if bad weather hits.

So, as a DC-area resident, I urge you: Stay away. We have four seasons here like the rest of the U.S., but they are spring, summer, fall, and January. You do not want to be here in January. Trust me.

A crowd count

January 10, 2009 - 11:29 ET by ahusser

for special events used to be done by the U.S. Park Police using aerial photos and a grid system. After estimating that the Million Man March only had 400,000 marchers Farrakhan threatened to sue the agency for willfully understating the crowd size. I do recall that racism was one of the reasons for the low count.

A professor from Boston University, Dr. Farouk El-Baz, did another count and came up with 800,000 with a 25% margin of error. After that the National Park Service, the parent agency of the U.S. Park Police stated the police would no longer do crowd estimates. Later budgeting of the National Park Service included legislation...

"(From Wikipedia) In the 1997 appropriations bill for the Department of the Interior, Congress included language that prohibits the National Park Service from conducting crowd estimates. The legislation also states that if event organizers want crowd estimates, they should contract with an outside agency. [4]" 

So based on the politics of crowd size I can almost guarantee near 4 million for the Inauguration no matter how many show up. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

I can attest that it's just

January 9, 2009 - 14:21 ET by Seashell

I can attest that it's just as well to plop in front of a TV.

I'm with you on that!  I don't care who got elected.  I wouldn't want to be in that cold, crowded mess.

A lot of the happy masses

January 9, 2009 - 14:56 ET by katiejane

are amazed that they were actually expected to pay for their own accommodations.  After all if Obama is going to pay their mortage and buy their gas - why shouldn't the government pay for their lodging?

Well, why shouldn't the government pay for lodging?

January 9, 2009 - 15:05 ET by Red Jeep

Obama is not paying for his. (sarcasm) But BO isn't. His campaign fund is I guess.

I'm trying to think

January 9, 2009 - 17:57 ET by Karin

what amount of money someone would have to pay ME to go to this God-awful event.  I guess $100K would do it. 

The fawning, the wretched excess, blaaaah.. I can't stand this man, his wife, or their fans.  I hope Icarus crashes soon.  He needs to go take an Econ 101 class.

Like almost everything

January 9, 2009 - 18:31 ET by Chris Norman

Like almost everything about this man, even his inauguration has been over-hyped. I'm surprised the media hasn't named his inauguration "The Day the Earth Stood Still"...

The "Mainstream" Media: By liberals. For liberals.

Please Don't

January 10, 2009 - 11:31 ET by ahusser

Give them any ideas. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

I worked at both of Bush's

January 9, 2009 - 18:32 ET by ThatDude

I worked at both of Bush's inaugurations, and will quite possibly be working at this one as well.  The boyscout troop I grew up in and now am a leader for have assisted in inaugurations for a long while.  All in all, they're less-than-exciting ceremonies that cause an exceptionally large amount of crowding in a city where you can't find a parking spot on a regular day.  I think it might actually be worthwhile this time to go just so I can say that I was there.  It would be to nice to be able say that I was there for the inauguration of our first black president.  Regardless of how any of us feel about this presidency, it is sure to be historical and a source of conversation for years hence.  Despite the fact that I'll be taking part in a historical event, I am in no way looking forward to the traffic and crowding we'll inevitably be dealing with.  I suspect that I95, 395, 495, etc. will be utterly unusable for the days surrounding inauguration.

How will the MSM be able to

January 9, 2009 - 19:13 ET by moovova

How will the MSM be able to explain away all the vacancies, when  headlines the day after the inauguration will read:

"An Estimated 10 Million DC Visitors Celebrate Obama's Inauguration"

 If the believers don't show, the MSM can at least fudge the numbers...

 

 

 

I'm praying for SEVERE WINTER INAUGURATION WEATHER ...

January 9, 2009 - 19:51 ET by Jayke

... just for BARRKY.  Oh, and I only live 20 miles from the WH.  January 20th is going to be one day I will be HAPPY to be going in to work.  I heard on the radio today that a Siberian blast of COLD AIR is going to be hitting us sometime next week.  That will give is a nice chance for SNOW/ICE storm.  I know I am bringing this on myself too but it will be SOOOO WORTH IT.

During Reagan's 2nd inauguration

January 10, 2009 - 11:39 ET by ahusser

There was record cold and the inauguration parade was cancelled due to below zero wind chills. The "parade" was then done on stage in an indoor venue. 

Change: When the winds of change blow hard enough, the most trivial of things can become deadly projectiles. From a Poster

Obama's TV ratings

January 9, 2009 - 23:01 ET by nkviking75

The Inauguration should do well in the ratings.  It's not as if Obama's supporters will be working at noon ET.  

Welcome to the era of unity, you racist!

The reason the rentals are

January 10, 2009 - 01:16 ET by TN Mom

The reason the rentals are down is simple:  LOTS of Obama's best buddies are under the bus and won't be able to attend:

Rev. Wright & Family

Gov Bill Richardson &Family

Gov. Blago (& cronies) & Family

John Edwards

Tony Rezco

Auntie Illeagal

Howard Dean

Vera Baker

 

Inauguration/Coronation

January 10, 2009 - 02:47 ET by Judith

Bet you can't guess what I am going to do during the coronation...clean my toilets and turn over my compost pile.  Seems appropriate.

Why watch it at all?  The

January 11, 2009 - 12:08 ET by RR GOP

Why watch it at all?  The MSM is going to be blasting us with the same clips over and over and over again and analyzing every gesture and every word Dear Leader utters for at least a month afterwards-maybe two-or three...depends on how badly Obamessiah screws up early on.

Oh, and we'll hear much about how dapper The One looks, what Michelle was wearing, what their daughters were wearing, interspersed will be clips of the old black and white footage of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaking at the Lincoln Memorial, Oprah Winfrey and Chris Matthews in tears...

Can hardly wait! :-)

One of the 24% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 89% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.

No Buses, Either

January 11, 2009 - 15:06 ET by HockeyKid

In a related story, the DC Metro reported last week that they would be allowing parking at the 3 subway stops that had been previously reserved for 1,100 charter buses that were coming for The Anointing. The number of actual bus reservations received?  Thirty-five.  That's right--35.  Not eleven hundred.  Not even ONE hundred.  Again, the emperor has no clothes.

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

Could be that folks are beginning to

January 11, 2009 - 21:28 ET by metrox

understand it will 'just' be Pres Biden instead...

http://www.obamacrimes.info/pressrelease010909.html

http://www.contrariancommentary.com/community/Home/tabid/36/mid/364/newsid364/343/Default.aspx