Why has Montgomery County Let itself go downhill (Potomac: middle-class, crimes)

[JEB77]

Originally Posted by USAngel

Moving from Atlanta for a job in DC, trust me when I say I've been asking myself the same questions. I honestly think it depends on who you are talking to. I have heard so many versions of the DC metro area that I'm starting to get dizzy. A lot of the people in this thread have mentioned government and business, but they have not mentioned schools or family. I think this might be the big difference between MoCo and Fairfax. From what I have heard and read, the schools are better in MD than they are in VA and DC.

You might want to read a bit more. About 88% of the Fairfax high schools have average SAT scores above the national average, but that's the case in only around 70% of Montgomery high schools. Montgomery definitely has some top schools, and a number of other schools that are very solid, but the Montgomery neighborhoods with lower-performing schools are now finding it increasingly difficult to attract parents committed to high-quality public education. That is also the case in Fairfax (and Arlington), but to a lesser extent.

[cpterp]

Originally Posted by diplomat74

good counter argument but in the end you can't argue for businesses choosing fairfax over moco over the past 10 years. Volkswagen moved its U.S. headquarters there, as did CSC, formerly known as computer science corporation and hilton among others all chose fairfax over moco. If I were a leader in moco I would have a serious problem with that.

Originally Posted by scottfs

VA as a whole is viewed as much friendlier to the business world than MD, which would affect Montgomery more than other counties. Another major employer I'm familiar with is Booz Allen Hamilton - they used to be HQ'd in Bethesda but left in the early 90s and have grown astronomically in VA. Lockheed Martin is still hq'd in Bethesda but I feel like they have more staff in VA as well.

Virginia is the best state in the country for business, so you can't fault Montgomery County for not attracting businesses. As I mentioned earlier heads rolled in the MoCo government for the loss of Hilton to VA, especially since Hilton looked at MoCo first, so the county isn't totally oblivious. I didn't even know that BAH was located in Maryland in the past.

The thing is Virginia is heavily conservative when it comes to business, and Maryland is heavily liberal. Maryland generally attracts businesses through case-by-case incentives and the fact that it has a more educated workforce and better transportation options, but has much higher taxes than Virginia overall. The state is also in a unique situation where it shares a Metro Area with a state whose appeal to business is like night and day when compared with MD. For instance if a company wanted to moved to the NYC Tri-State area, it would be a relatively fair fight, since NJ, CT, and NJ are just as unfriendly to businesses as Maryland is, but in the DC Area it's almost a no-brainer.

Maryland still does succeed in attracting some businesses though. For instance Discovery Communications recently moved to (and is currently expanding in) Silver Spring, BP Solar recently moved to Frederick county, and Pepco wants to move into PG County. Maryland is also a stronger hub than Virginia for specific industries such as hospitality (Marriott, Choice Hotels, Host Hotels etc.), finance (Chevy Chase Bank, Provident Bank, Legg Mason, and T. Rowe Price), construction (Clark, Miller & Long), and biotechs/medicine/pharmaceuticals (Medimmune, Qiagen, United Therapeutics, Middlebrook Pharmaceuticals, Adventist Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente etc.). More government emplyoyers seem to based in Maryland as well (NSA, Social Security, Census Bureau, IRS, Andrews AFB etc.). Government contractors (Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems) seem to be split between the two states.

Montgomery seems to also host more stable businesses than Fairfax, probably by sheer coincidence. AOL just left Fairfax for New York, Sprint moved most of their workforce and headquarters to Kansas City, and Gannett Media is barely keeping itself out of bankruptcy.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by cpterp

$mk8795 please give it a rest. It's idiotic things like spending billions of dollars to widen a highway that's negatively affecting the county. The so-called "Special Interest Group Affliated Website/Blogs" believe in "Smart Growth" not disgusting sprawl. Look at Reston compared to Bethesda. Instead of an actual downtown, office buildings are scattered all over the place along 267 and there's no mass transit to speak of.

If you're so enamored by the fact that Virginia is widening its highways (which have far worse traffic than I-270 btw), why don't you move down there and spare us "politically ignorant Montgomery County voters" from your rants?

So basically your admitting of supportinng the Downfall of Montgomery County by Banning any form of Highway Building/Widening, Paralyzing Major Business/Office Growth, Discouraging any efforts of expanding existing Shopping Malls or Building New Indoor Malls the size of Tysons Corner, and pissing off Middle/Upper Class Taxpayers to the point of leaving Maryland for Virginia(or any other State) due to lower taxes, High Paying Employment Opportunities, and Better Maintained Roads/Highways.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by 14thandYou

I personally know David Alpert, author of the Greater Great Washington blog, and he's one of this area's most thoughtful bloggers when it comes to issues of urban planning and transit development.

Of course, there's no need to defend David's work to you, because you didn't read any of his posts; otherwise you would have presented some semblance of an intellectual argument in opposition to what he wrote. And I also don't need to mention that Virginia's roads and highways are FAR more congested and in FAR worse shape than Montgomery County's. So go find another cloud to yell at.

Yeah your Right about Virginia having Bad Shape Roads and Heavy Congestion. Thats why they are making efforts to improving them by widening the Highways alongside with building Heavy Rail Subway unlike Maryland where the so-called Enviromentalist Special Interest Groups and Corruptionist Lawmakers are trying to Block any form of Highway Growth/Improvements while forcing unreliable trolley like lightrail projects down the Maryland Tax Payers Throats. Funny thing is that there were discussions about extending the Green Line to BWI and the same Clowns that are yapping about supporting that trolley purple line lightrail were raising kane against the idea of Extending the Green Line Subway to BWI.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by 14thandYou

I'm not certain what "scrap the fruitation" means.

And widening 270 is both a colossal waste of money and completely unnecessary. 270 has 5 lanes in each direction headed into and out of DC, and those lanes only back-up during peak rush hour periods, and even then the back-up isn't excessive. I spent three years commuting along 270 from gaithersburg to Bethesda, and truly bad traffic back-ups were exceedingly rare.

Widening I-270 should place about 11th on the list of the County's top 10 priorities.

Judging by your Discription of I-270 makes one to believe that you are not currently a Tax Paying Resident of Montgomery County and if thats true you should not care if I-270 gets widen or not.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by scottfs

There's a reason so many people live here, why homes are more expensive and roads more crowded than they are in KC - Jobs are much more plentiful here and the local economy is a lot less sensitive to recessions. I couldn't hope to land a job in KC in my field. In the DC area my profession is in high demand and I am not the least bit worried about job security even through this recession. I'm not saying your hometown isn't great for some, but it isn't like the situation here in DC is without reason.

That said, I do feel like Montgomery County has slipped downhill. As someone else said the politics are extremely one-sided. VA as a whole is viewed as much friendlier to the business world than MD, which would affect Montgomery more than other counties. Another major employer I'm familiar with is Booz Allen Hamilton - they used to be HQ'd in Bethesda but left in the early 90s and have grown astronomically in VA. Lockheed Martin is still hq'd in Bethesda but I feel like they have more staff in VA as well.

And they say Smart Growth is a Success in the Maryland Suburbs.........

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by scottfs

I think it would depend on where exactly in NOVA you were coming from and at what time. If you're talking Fairfax city during rush hour I wouldn't try that. Tysons/Vienna to Silver Spring you could probably do even though trffic won't be easy. Silver Spring is accessible by metro via the Red Line. I've never done it myself, someone else could probably answer that one a little better.

The area can be frustrating as hell in terms of expense and traffic, but I figured out that moving close to one's job makes is 100 times more tolerable.

If he/she is going to be working in Silver Spring then there are some decent homes in Silver Spring and Takoma Park.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by Floridahater

I grew up in MCO. It was a wonderful place with great schools and neighborhoods. Yes, my friend, the overbearing one-sided politics of left wing liberalism has led to the decline of the county. Now, the crime is up and the quality of life has decreased. I cherish those wonderful memories of bygone days.

Yeah and don't forget the tired efforts of the Left Wing Related Special Interest Groups trying to Ban All forms of Highway Groth/Improvements in Montgomery County.

Its like someone stated already that part of the reason why the Middle/Upper Class Population have been relocating out of Montgomery County is due to the lack of Highway Improvements and non-Dependable Transit Options which lads to Bottle Necking Traffic Difficulties which results to Businesses not willing to relocae to Montgomery County or remain in the County.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by NJ2MDdude

Both Fairfax and Howard have pockets of poverty that will spread over time. It happened to PG and is now happening in MoCo.

Can't compare PG to FFX, Howard, and MoCo b/c the latter 3 counties have all the jobs, good schools, and strong tax base.

[live_strong28]

Originally Posted by $mk8795

Yeah your Right about Virginia having Bad Shape Roads and Heavy Congestion. Thats why they are making efforts to improving them by widening the Highways alongside with building Heavy Rail Subway unlike Maryland where the so-called Enviromentalist Special Interest Groups and Corruptionist Lawmakers are trying to Block any form of Highway Growth/Improvements while forcing unreliable trolley like lightrail projects down the Maryland Tax Payers Throats. Funny thing is that there were discussions about extending the Green Line to BWI and the same Clowns that are yapping about supporting that trolley purple line lightrail were raising kane against the idea of Extending the Green Line Subway to BWI.

VA has the bad roads and congestion b/c of the large # of people who travel here from other counties for their job, to shop, and for the restaurants.

You'll notice that during rush hour.