I take back every good thing I've ever said about Montgomery Co. (Baltimore: crime, home)

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by Joykins

Heh. There were a lot of snobs in the part of MoCo where I grew up but when we moved upcounty it all changed. If you do not want to be around snobs anymore, feel free to join me in "high crime" Montgomery Village/Gaithersburg. We have the gang activity, foreclosures, etc. that I know you have missed along with our hard-working down-to-earth neighbors *sigh* Yeah, we'd all like to live in a safe neighborhood where the rich people are down to earth friendly unsnobby types, but unfortunately we have to live in the world which actually exists.

There are still many areas in other parts of the country and even Maryland where there are honest, friendly nice people and where there is not a lot of crime. The sad thing about Maryland at least is that those places are usually endangered by illegal immigration or ghetto migration. For example I've heard that Essex and Dundalk in Baltimore County have historically been nice blue collar towns but in recent years with redevelopment in Baltimore City the ghetto has moved and Section 8 housing has been constructed and hence there is more crime and drugs.

I also remember when Gaithersburg and even Silver SPring and Wheaton were nice places. Now you go there nobody even speaks English no more and there is trash and graffiti everywhere especially Wheaton.

[Tom Lennox 70]

Originally Posted by lscalder

If I had to live in Montgomery County I would only live in Chevy Chase. Who cares about the people. Humans will always be humans. if you move to another country in a wealthy area the residents will act the same as those in Chevy Chase.

If I MUST move back to Montgomery County, I will only live in Poolesville and Damascus, and MAYBE Olney, Brookeville or Burtonsville. Actually Burtonsville is pretty close to PG and Laurel, you never know when the ghetto will spread. PG County is overrun with illegal immigrants.

[firefightermom]

I will never move back to MoCo...Germantown is the hood now too...when I moved in, we had nice friendly neighbors who took care of their property. After 9 years, no one speaks English, even the HOA's don't seem to try to keep things up, the schools are stretched by overcrowding and the extra need for ESOL classes, and the government just keeps catering to the illegals! I remember being excited to move in, but I was even more excited to move out.

[Billiam]

I wish people wouldn't generalize all of Maryland based on Montgomery county or any of the counties surrounding DC

[md to nc]

Originally Posted by Billiam

I wish people wouldn't generalize all of Maryland based on Montgomery county or any of the counties surrounding DC

I agree, I guess the whole state is Montgomery Co. If you don't like it, you won't like MD at all.

[Tom Lennox 70]

MD to NC, I lived in Montgomery County most of my life and hated everything about it...but now I'm in the Baltimore area and I'm getting a much better view of Maryland. Baltimore and its burbs do feel more southern in that people are much much nicer and more down to Earth. Though even here there are more and more Yankee transplants and yuppies moving in. Maryland is still too cold and wintry climate wise though, that goes for every county in the entire state except maybe the lower Eastern Shore which gets less snowfall. My ideal place....temperatures rarely if ever go below freezing and there is rarely if any snow.

[JMadison]

Just curious. If the people in Montgomery County have so much wealth and money, why do they continue to live in a region and state that, near as I can tell, is predominately ghetto?

As I scan across the numbers for DC Metro and cities in Maryland everything seems to point to the place being a place people who have means, would flat out leave.

As I research the area (lots of work related to the DC ecomomy by some accounts) I find myself thinking, "what good would being rich be if you had to live here???"

That feeling isn't confined to just my research on MD. I lived in Vegas for two years, and there were definitely some well off places there. And I found myself scratching my head and asking the very same question. "What keeps people with money in this crap pit??? (no gambling pun intended)."

I could list quite a few other places I've visited in my travels too. But no point. You could probably just throw a dart at any one of 100 metro areas and get the same impression.

[Billiam]

Maryland's Predominantly getto? WOAH. i must be missing something, HUGE. Ive managed not to see a ghetto in most parts of the state. Holy ^@#%. And Never seen one in Montgomery County, where of course according to most people hear including Jmadison, has nothing going for it. Wow, you learn Something new and not very accurate every day

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by Billiam

Maryland's Predominantly getto? WOAH. i must be missing something, HUGE. Ive managed not to see a ghetto in most parts of the state. Holy ^@#%. And Never seen one in Montgomery County, where of course according to most people hear including Jmadison, has nothing going for it. Wow, you learn Something new and not very accurate every day

Welk geez, Baltimore is in Maryland, right? And it's a pretty small state. Based on this federal report I can't see how most of that area can't be fairly gangsta.

http://www.census.gov/prod/2001pubs/mso01-bp.pdf

No doubt there are going to be rich areas anywhere. I can recall Germantown, near Memphis looked nice. But I doubt anyone would call greater Memphis a nice place.

P.S. Here's a quote from an apparent resident of Montgomert Co. in the thread labeled "Pro/Con Maryland v. Virginia. So there's at least some anecdotal support for my impressions from written media:

"I can't speak on behalf of N. Virgina but I can't wait to get out of Montgomery County, MD. Traffic is horrendous, every year a new development pops out of nowhere, and the ghetto is spreading north."

[Regularguy123]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

MD to NC, I lived in Montgomery County most of my life and hated everything about it...but now I'm in the Baltimore area and I'm getting a much better view of Maryland. Baltimore and its burbs do feel more southern in that people are much much nicer and more down to Earth. Though even here there are more and more Yankee transplants and yuppies moving in. Maryland is still too cold and wintry climate wise though, that goes for every county in the entire state except maybe the lower Eastern Shore which gets less snowfall. My ideal place....temperatures rarely if ever go below freezing and there is rarely if any snow.

MoCo has its share of headaches much as anywhere else where overbuilding and overpopulation occurs. The roads are inadequate, homes are way overpriced and people are stressed out all the time. Someone made an accurate statement about the local Gov'ts catering to illegal aliens at the expense of taxpaying citizens with respect to the schools.

The Baltimore area is not without its headaches too - the roads are also inadequate, and crime is far worse than most if not everywhere else in the state. Why do you feel that Yankee transplants have hurt Montgomery County or anywhere else in MD more so than the home grown trash that has been on the dole for so long? The Yankees you refered to pay taxes, and have finally brought some great ethnic foods to whitebread suburbs where big box restaurants were viewed as serving good food. I'm not sure how you define "Southern," nor am I sure that folks from any region of the country are friendlier and more down to earth than anywhere else without over-generalizing. There are good, bad and ugly Yankees and Southerners.