Montgomery Village (Gaithersburg, Potomac, North Potomac: for sale, real estate, HOA)

[cafm70]

Anyone live in or near Montgomery Village? I am looking to buy a home in Gaithersburg. A lot of feedback I am getting from people is that you want to stay away from Montgomery Village area. Lots of crime, new residents moving in are the cause, just going down hill in general. Is this truly the case? I noticed a lot of nice townhomes and condos for sale in and near Montgomery Village. I'm a native DC area resident, so crime is nothing new to me. I just want to make certain I know what I am getting into when I move to a new area.

[mamaecho]

I live in Montgomery Village. My opinion of it is that the new parts look nice, the old parts are -- well -- dated. All of the brown that they used IMO is sort of depressing. There are nice parts that bump right up to not so nice areas (including the neighborhood we live in). Lots of people just milling around a lot, which can be good or bad. There's a lot of crime from what I understand, lots and lots of gang activity and drugs. I've had a jar of ranch dressing busted at my door (not sure why, we are a nice quiet family.. ) my husband was egged and our home was egged.

The HOA is completely and utter oppresive, down to (in some neighborhoods) the color of the flowers you can plant.


We wouldn't buy, even though we can afford some of the townhomes and would be much closer to hubby's work.. we just don't care for the village all that much.

I would suggest taking a tour of wherever you are looking, at all times of day and night.

[tonyc]

I live in the village and love it!. It has changed a lot in the last twenty years though. No complaints other than the school system, and haven't been personally effected by crime. The development you choose is important!

[kdavani]

Definitely stay away from Mont. Village. The area is declining this is true. There have been crimes there especially around Lake Forest Mall (which is also declining). You can tell by the changing of the stores in the mall it is aimed more towards lower class now. They even have security that drives around the mall now because of all the increased crime that is happening. I'm in my 20s and my parents don't want me to go to that mall alone!! haha Now this isn't a BAD area, it is considered high class compared to other bad areas, but why live here when you can live 10 min farther south and be in a safe area with increase house values? You can buy more for your money in M.V. but you will not make a profit when you sell later. You may even lose money. If you want to buy in gaithersburg I would stay more towards the left of 270 and closer to rockville area. Sometimes people call this North Potomac but north potomac IS gaithersburg, just with a fancier name. If you get a real estate agent they will know the good areas better.

[btsilver]

I moved here to a nice quiet neigbhorhood just last month. To me, its a nice place. Some of the communities seem dated since the HOA overlords want to keep the place looking like it did back in 1970. One would assume all the money they are collecting they could update the look of some places. I believe most of the crime is clustered in certain areas, I suppose. Overall, I like it. I don't think the schools are that bad as everyone says they are. You just need to put things in perspective. But do be sure to pick the right development.