Why Did You Move Out Of Maryland.... (Baltimore, Silver Spring: low income, condo)

[Tom Lennox 70]

I used to be desperate to leave when I lived in miserable, liberal elite Montgomery County but now that I live in Baltimore and have experienced a lot of Baltimore's suburbs and the Eastern Shore, I realized MoCo isn't the real Maryland. I could picture myself living someplace like the Eastern Shore (excluding Ocean City), Carroll County, Anne Arundel (not including the Arundel Mills), Harford or parts of Baltimore County (not including Towson, White Marsh, Owings Mills or Hunt Valley.)

However one thing I really dislike about Maryland is the sociopolitical and cultural trends especially that being dominated by Montgomery and PG Counties and Baltimore City. Illegal immigration is a serious issue for me and our governor is making us a sanctuary state even letting them get in-state college tuition. Speaking as a minority, I really do not wish to live around illegal immigrants who arrogantly demand more and more benefits paid for by my tax dollars, commit crimes, form gangs, and refuse to speak English or learn about American culture. When I'm in Wheaton or parts of PG I feel like I'm in some Third World banana republic. Also I really don't the liberalism about capital punishment, abortoin, etc etc. Most rural areas of Maryland are still pleasant and filled with honest, hardworking, churchgoing people with the right values but our state is too dominated by central Maryland and the DC suburbs. In addition to illegal immigrants I also don't like how so many people from northern states esp. New York are moving down here.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Also many parts of Maryland are overpriced and I hate the "smart growth" policies that turn suburban areas into urban areas like downtown Rockville for instance. I don't want to live in an area that favor high-density development because I'm a big fan of small town USA (the Cambridge or Salisbury type) and if not that at least suburbia where I can drive everywhere, not use public transport, never pay for parking, etc. I am very suburban in my lifestyle and can never trade away my car and the freedom it brings. Downtown Rockville is a mess now, I ahve to pay for parking to go to dinner or see a movie when I go back there. Its ridiculous when you go see a movie and the parking fee is more than half the price of the movie ticket or when I have to validate parking when I go to the library or the doctor.

Liberal Democrats love promoting "growth in existing areas" which means if I settle down in a nice suburb like my folks did, someday someone can rezone the area and make it urban, and change it to mixed use development. I want residential areas separate from stores, restaurants and businesses. I need my open space, my driveway, the backyard, etc. I also think our state should put less money into things like the Light Rail and more into freeway construction, like I-795 should be extended into Carroll County at least as far as Westminster to help commuters there. Also the state shouldn't be so imbalanced where rural areas subsidize urban areas, like Eastern Shore and Western Maryland taxpayers fund things like the Light Rail, the inter-county connector, etc that they never benefit from, not to mention all the welfare and food stamps collected daily in Baltimore City and PG County, including by illegal immigrants, and the state SURE AS HELL should NOT be funding day labor centers for illegals. CASA de Maryland is a radical, un-American organization that O'Malley loves working with.

[WannaComeHome]

Tom, I agree with you!

When I'm in Wheaton or parts of PG I feel like I'm in some Third World banana republic

yep, it often does. There are parts of PG that make me a bit nervous to go to.

yes, there are parts of MD that are extremely different and are very nice. We used to take weekend vacations out in western MD. Even just around Grantsville was better! Unfortunately because of the population density central MD rules all. Everything is decided because of this corridor -whether it's good for eastern shore or western MD or not. They don't have the votes, they get shafted.

Waz wrote:

WSSC is a ***** too

who do you think pushed the 'flush tax'? I mean, can you imagine a water company whining that people with septic systems and wells just aren't paying their fair share of the costs?! gee, I wonder why not? maybe because they aren't on the system? But now they get taxed anyway.. for having a septic system. Only in MD.

[UnschoolerinCT]

We left Maryland twice, once Baltimore and once Annapolis. Too many people, too much crime, too many organized sports fans, and not enough nature were our main complaints. I am not a big fan of so many people concentrated in one place; everywhere we went was packed with people. It took forever to drive to the country and the natural world. The things we miss are the Baltimore ribs, the Smithsonian, and a bit of Baltimore charm. For a big city, Baltimore was easy to live in because it had a bit of small town charm. Annapolis drove us crazy because of all the tourists and congestion.

[trying2moveup]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

I used to be desperate to leave when I lived in miserable, liberal elite Montgomery County but now that I live in Baltimore and have experienced a lot of Baltimore's suburbs and the Eastern Shore, I realized MoCo isn't the real Maryland. I could picture myself living someplace like the Eastern Shore (excluding Ocean City), Carroll County, Anne Arundel (not including the Arundel Mills), Harford or parts of Baltimore County (not including Towson, White Marsh, Owings Mills or Hunt Valley.)

However one thing I really dislike about Maryland is the sociopolitical and cultural trends especially that being dominated by Montgomery and PG Counties and Baltimore City. Illegal immigration is a serious issue for me and our governor is making us a sanctuary state even letting them get in-state college tuition. Speaking as a minority, I really do not wish to live around illegal immigrants who arrogantly demand more and more benefits paid for by my tax dollars, commit crimes, form gangs, and refuse to speak English or learn about American culture. When I'm in Wheaton or parts of PG I feel like I'm in some Third World banana republic. Also I really don't the liberalism about capital punishment, abortoin, etc etc. Most rural areas of Maryland are still pleasant and filled with honest, hardworking, churchgoing people with the right values but our state is too dominated by central Maryland and the DC suburbs. In addition to illegal immigrants I also don't like how so many people from northern states esp. New York are moving down here.

I completely agree with this. Having lived and being raised in MoCo and living and now re-living in PG, I know all about this. And I'm a rare conservative in these places. My family has had to make trade-offs in where we live in relation to my elderly parents, our children, my husband's work (and my impending return to work), etc. My hubby (texas) would be outta here in 2 seconds if the stars aligned. We certainly don't plan on living here forever and I'm what would be considered a "native," I guess.

But it really all comes down to one thing. . . . .

voting.

People in MoCo and PG and Baltimore city represent most of the population of MD in sheer numbers but you cannot tell me that all of the people in these counties actually VOTE.

EVERYONE who is dissatisified needs to get up off their **** and vote on election day(s). There is no excuse for not voting other than sheer laziness. I mean, in lovely Maryland you don't even have to furnish proof of WHO YOU ARE to vote so there is no reason for ANYONE who is p--d off with the current situation to not at the very least pull a lever or touch an icon on voting day.

I truly believe there is a groundswell brewing in our state and many others because of the current economic crisis. No matter what anyone's political views are - the current level of spending by the govt that will come our of your paycheck and mine and our future generations is just absolutely mind-boggling.. . . and I truly believe that even the most liberal wackjobs out there have a saturation point with this stuff.

As much as libs want everyone to be equalized, even they don't want to have to pay for it.

The people really do have the power in America and that is the underlying reason for wanting to be in this country. The recent example of PG's idiotic County Council Chairman Jack Johnson having to back off his preposterous homestead tax increase ram-through in the General Assembly is a perfect example.

Enough people made a stink and showed up in Annapolis that this whole farce tanked.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

[westsideboy]

Tom, I am in agreement that Smart Growth is a flawed plan, but for different reasons. MD is a state with very strong regionalism. Each region's situation is different, with different strengths and weaknesses.

A "one size fits all" approach to planning does not work for this state. For instance, Montgomery County is running short on open space and experiencing a large influx of people. In this place "smart growth" to make existing development more dense and preserving open space makes sense. In my home county, Allegany we have tons and tons of open space, literally 3/4 of our county is forest. We are short on is people to share it with, our county has been steadily losing population for 60 years. Forcing "smart growth" on us would create a discouraged development zone of 70 miles between us and the prosperity to the east. The development would spread south into WV and north into PA instead while our county would remain shrinking and poor. Thanks O'Malley......

BTW if anyone is interested, check out the canned "One Maryland" rhetoric our governor spews out. It denies the regionalism of our state and insists on one solution for the state's problems. O'Malley has completely bastardized the idea of the "One Maryland" program initiated by Speaker Cas Taylor of Cumberland nearly 10 years ago. Taylor recognized the disparity in wealth in our state and proposed different tax structures, incentives, and programs to help the poor regions of our state catch up with the 'burbs so we could really become "One Maryland."

Our governor is your typical downstate liberal who is either ignorant or dismissive of the needs of the rural regions of his state. "Smart Growth" and "One Maryland" and everything else he does takes into account only the voices and needs of the downstate elite. He would make my home an empty forested playground for people like himself......There I feel better now

[eyewrist]

Well, I was considering moving to you region of the US from the midwest ( IN/IL) but I will be going back to Texas which I had been living for the past 15 years. I only came back to the midwest to care for my mother until she passed. I have been reading your comments about Maryland and the surrounding areas and looked at the cost of living, the commute, etc. And Texas has a lot more to offer (i.e. affordable housing , good wages, good higher education with mutiple options, friendly people and shorter commute to the job and home.)
Thanks for you comments, you helped me more than you would ever know...Bye "Y'all."

[WannaComeHome]

Good choice, eyewrist! if it wasn't for DH's job, we'd be so out of here.

[UnschoolerinCT]

Originally Posted by eyewrist

Well, I was considering moving to you region of the US from the midwest ( IN/IL) but I will be going back to Texas which I had been living for the past 15 years. I only came back to the midwest to care for my mother until she passed. I have been reading your comments about Maryland and the surrounding areas and looked at the cost of living, the commute, etc. And Texas has a lot more to offer (i.e. affordable housing , good wages, good higher education with mutiple options, friendly people and shorter commute to the job and home.)
Thanks for you comments, you helped me more than you would ever know...Bye "Y'all."

Good decision. We have lived in Austin, San Antonio, Baltimore, Towson, and Annapolis. If I had my choice of where to move out of these places, Austin would definitely be my first choice, followed by San Antonio. There is something about Texas that we sorely miss, even though we have been gone for a decade now. Good luck to you.

[eyewrist]

Thank you WCH and CT. I am truly sorry you all have to tolerate your situation but continue to be positive. And remember you two helped one person make a wise decision...me.