What is so horrible about PG County? (Baltimore, Germantown: 2009, condo)

[airrykah]

I have seen so many horrible comments about Prince George's County. It seems like most of them are from people that have never even lived there. I am not from the area but it seems very odd that an ENTIRE county can be deemed a horrible place and that so many people are quick to advise others to just not live there altogether. I have seen some very nice neighborhoods in Prince George's county and my husband graduated high school from Eleanor Roosevelt. When looking up information on this high school I have read that "
Eleanor Roosevelt is regarded as one of the most academically challenging and best high schools in the nation."


So what is the issue and why are so many people ruining the reputation of an entire county especially if they haven't lived there? It just seems that it is horrible to ruin the reputation of this entire county based on bad spots (which I have found in plenty of counties in maryland not just PG county) not to mention the home owners there that have to deal with potential buyers being turned away by the non-sense on this site. I agree that people should not base their entire opinion on the biased responses of this forum however it would be nice to be able to use this as a helpful tool without reading comments that blatantly stereotype an entire county rather than particular cities within that county.

[raiderz3000]

My wife showed me this website because we currently live in PG County and I have spent my whole life here. I have seen several ignorant and misinformed comments about my home county from people that do not know what they speak of, so I want to clear the air. PG County, like everywhere else in the world, has its good spots and bad. But there are several good areas and good schools available. I attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, and it is one of the top schools academically; not just in the state, but in the country. It has received National Blue Ribbon Awards for being one of the top 25 schools in the nation. These people who are bashing PG County schools are not aware of that, and I am sure that they did not attend schools that can compete academically with Roosevelt. There are several nice areas within Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Laurel, Oxon Hill, just to name a few areas. If anyone does their research, they can find highly desirable areas to live and raise children. Let's not act like living in Howard, Anne Arundel, or Montgomery counties make you automatically safe. My mother lived in Anne Arundel County for a couple of years. When I visited her, I used to go to the basketball court to play pick up games as I do everywhere I go. Anne Arundel County was the only placed I played where I almost got into a physical confrontation with some violent guys. I still think Anne Arundel is a decent place to live, but it's not like these other places are just free of bad people. I would recommend PG County to anyone who asked. Like I said before, I have lived here all of my life outside of college. I have obtained a degree from a prestigious University in Statistics,I am a member of several National Honor Societies, and currently work for the federal government. God and my parents have a lot to do with my success, but being raised and educated in PG County from the day I was born had something to do with it too.

[cool rob]

A few reasons why this myth exsists are:

The metro section of the Washington Post loves to harp on violent crime here in Prince George's County, yet are reluctant to do the same in other jurisdictions (except for DC and Baltimore)

The willingness of the media to broadcast anything Prince George's County as bad, to include politics, spending, crime, etc. (not saying things are not broken, but some can be fixed, and things are broken everywhere, no?)

Some of the reasons why the county DOES have problems are:

A few knuckleheads (men and women) who never grew up, who still feel at 35 that it is okay to engage in childish behavior such as fighting other grown men and women, gambling on the sidewalk, fighting pitbulls, smoking blunts with teenagers, etc. instead of teaching these young men and women what is wrong with all of that

A lack of good customer service in many establishments, and allowing stores to treat you any kind of way (Anyone who has been to the wal-mart in Clinton will understand) thus forcing residents to shop out of the county, shifting resources to Charles/Anne Arundel/Virginia tax base

Drug addiction in many adults and children (which also at some point leads to violence or other crime)

Untreated Mental Illness in many adults and children (see above)

A school system, that just can't quite get it together (as soon as progress happens, someone quits)

Parents, who were never properly raised, attempting to raise children and just furthering the ignorance

Passing on "beefs" from years ago to youngsters, started by two men over God knows what, now yiou have entire neighborhoods killing each other over nothing

Close proximity to DC (if you can shoot someone in the district, and just run across the street and you are in another jurisdiction and DC police have no rule, why not do it?)

Shifting priorities from county leadership (see below)

Shifting priorities in residents (you want the new Wal-Mart, but you also want more police and no new taxes, you can't have it both ways)

A police force, who has still not shaken the "old ways" of doing things (you CANNOT rule by force! A officers greatest weapon should be his mouth piece!)

Now these are not just limited to Prince George's County, however the easy way to make yourself feel better for paying 600 K to live in a 1 bedroom condo in Bethesda or Mclean, is to continue to perpertuate the stereotype that Prince George's County is running rampant with psychpaths and drugs (which is the farthest from the truth) thus why you were forced to get away.

And I didn't want to go there (as race is such a tired issue ), but oh well, Prince George's County has a very wealthy (compared to national averages) amount of African-Americans, so why not continue to "pick on" those persons (however we (AA) don't make it too hard to do so)

[tercel95]

I know PG county has good and bad areas. My Mom grew up in Hyatsville and my Step-dad is from Riverdale... However a "bad" area is a relative term. Someone who lives in SE DC probably thinks that anywhere in PG county is cupcake. Whereas someone from the eastern shore might think that Bowie is the ghetto. PG county has a lot of good attributes like close proximity to DC and cheaper housing than other areas in MD. I think PG county gets a bad rap because it has a higher percentage of negative attributes than other counties. While all areas might not be bad, alot of them are. Even if you are in a relatively safe area, you are still right down the street from the "hood". Montgomery county also has a lot of good and bad but I think they just have a higher percentage of good than PG county does... I personally prefer to live far enough away from DC to not be anywhere near any of the bad areas in MD and I am lucky to have a job that allows me to do so...

[bowian]

Very, very good responses!

I have lived in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. It was in Virginia and D.C. where I felt the least safe. I lived in Alexandria (Hybla Valley) in VA, and Cleveland Park in D.C. In VA, there were apt. robberies and ghetto behaviors near me, and I was subjected to a lovely racial slur. In D.C., my car was broken into twice. In Prince George's, I haven't had the majority of these problems (in a previous house, someone tried to pry open my sliding door and there was a robbery down the street). When I lived in MoCo (Germantown), someone was murdered across the street from my apt.

My point is that there are good and bad parts in all of these areas, and crime doesn't favor an area. Concentrations of drug and gang activity (as well as proximity to DC) can drive up crime in an area such as this, but that doesn't mean the whole county is equally impacted. PG has many, many decent, educated, principled, hardworking and civilized citizens, from the ghettos to the "gateds." These people are basically ignored by the media in favor of the knuckleheads. Are there more knuckleheads than decent people here? Certainly not. But you'd never know that when you turn on the news or open the newspaper. That's why I often prefer to read the smaller community or regional papers because they tend to be much more positive.

While Prince George's has its issues, the positives do outweigh the negatives. But I must admit my biggest struggle is with the school system. There are quite a few good schools here, but there could and should be more. Not everyone can go to Roosevelt; it's mad overcrowded now. The successes need to be spread around so that all parts of the County can benefit from them. That does not mean that you cannot get a good education from public schools in PG, because you can. But the parents have to be very involved.

[dkf747]

I left PG only because of the schools. There's a lot of crime in PG, but not where I lived. However, I refused to send my kids to a school that was really bad. Fix the schools and I may move back.

[WannaComeHome]

I've been living in PG county for over 25 years.

Yes, there are some good areas, well - areas that aren't as bad as many anyway. Laurel isn't as bad as a lot of lower PG, but we get stuck paying for it.

PG has higher taxes than Hoco, has more crime in the mid/lower sections of the county (likely because it abuts DC!), while there are some schools that are good, there are an awful lot that are terrible. And a lot more shopping places that are just absolute dumps and places where people just don't feel safe.

PG also has a habit of electing crooks as their county executives (and then, goodness knows why, gets the rest of the state to elect them as governor!). Our budget deficit is great than many other states total budget. that's ridiculous.

Although there are a few nice areas, for the most part the place is a dump and I want out! 4 years and counting down.

[liliblu]

Once in a blue moon the Washington Post will print a story that about the county I can identify with.
Despite the Title the article actually focuses on the community.

Getting Neighborly With National Harbor
Fort Washington Community Adjusts To All of the Bustle
Getting Neighborly With National Harbor - washingtonpost.com

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by airrykah

I have seen so many horrible comments about Prince George's County. It seems like most of them are from people that have never even lived there. I am not from the area but it seems very odd that an ENTIRE county can be deemed a horrible place and that so many people are quick to advise others to just not live there altogether. I have seen some very nice neighborhoods in Prince George's county and my husband graduated high school from Eleanor Roosevelt. When looking up information on this high school I have read that "
Eleanor Roosevelt is regarded as one of the most academically challenging and best high schools in the nation."


So what is the issue and why are so many people ruining the reputation of an entire county especially if they haven't lived there? It just seems that it is horrible to ruin the reputation of this entire county based on bad spots (which I have found in plenty of counties in maryland not just PG county) not to mention the home owners there that have to deal with potential buyers being turned away by the non-sense on this site. I agree that people should not base their entire opinion on the biased responses of this forum however it would be nice to be able to use this as a helpful tool without reading comments that blatantly stereotype an entire county rather than particular cities within that county.

You're misinformed about Eleanor Roosevelt.

Eleanor Roosevelt has a decent magnet program, but the neighborhood portion is a typical PG school. Mediocre too.

It wasn't ranked by US News as one of the top schools in the Maryland, nevermind the US.

Best High Schools Search - US News and World Report

I've lived in PG, and if you live in a vacuum while in PG, then that's fine. Vacuum meaning you don't mind the high taxes, you don't mind the mediocre schools, you don't mind the lack of services, you don't mind driving to another county to work, you don't mind the lack of retail, you don't mind the high crime, bad hospital system, etc.

PG overall does not seem so bad if you just consider it as itself, but when you compare it to the neighboring counties such as Fairfax, Montgomery, Loudon, and Howard, then that is what makes PG look that much worse.

Latest news has PG the county with the 2nd highest STD rate in Maryland.

Not good.

Prince George's County Residents, Get Tested! | NBC Washington

[tankdude]

Originally Posted by raiderz3000

My wife showed me this website because we currently live in PG County and I have spent my whole life here. I have seen several ignorant and misinformed comments about my home county from people that do not know what they speak of, so I want to clear the air. PG County, like everywhere else in the world, has its good spots and bad. But there are several good areas and good schools available. I attended Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, Maryland, and it is one of the top schools academically; not just in the state, but in the country. It has received National Blue Ribbon Awards for being one of the top 25 schools in the nation. These people who are bashing PG County schools are not aware of that, and I am sure that they did not attend schools that can compete academically with Roosevelt. There are several nice areas within Bowie, Upper Marlboro, Laurel, Oxon Hill, just to name a few areas. If anyone does their research, they can find highly desirable areas to live and raise children. Let's not act like living in Howard, Anne Arundel, or Montgomery counties make you automatically safe. My mother lived in Anne Arundel County for a couple of years. When I visited her, I used to go to the basketball court to play pick up games as I do everywhere I go. Anne Arundel County was the only placed I played where I almost got into a physical confrontation with some violent guys. I still think Anne Arundel is a decent place to live, but it's not like these other places are just free of bad people. I would recommend PG County to anyone who asked. Like I said before, I have lived here all of my life outside of college. I have obtained a degree from a prestigious University in Statistics,I am a member of several National Honor Societies, and currently work for the federal government. God and my parents have a lot to do with my success, but being raised and educated in PG County from the day I was born had something to do with it too.

I guarantee that you CANNOT find a stat anywhere that states that Eleanor Roosevelt is one of the top 25 schools in the nation.

Guarantee.

Best High Schools: Gold Medal List - US News and World Report