Frederick, MD

[terryandtouey]

Warman's Mill is another new and very large development which is bedroom community to folks commuting out of Frederick. It's on Rte 15 on the west side of Frederick and has mixed units -- i.e. single family houses, townhouses, and condos.

[lululoo]

i've always thought frederick (specifically the old town part of frederick) was really charming. the price of housing has shot WAAAYYY up, so i guess i am not alone in this opinion. it definitely has a more "small town" feel. can't speak for the new housing developments, but the actual town of frederick is cute as can be.

[Stormcrow73]

Spring Ridge is a planned community on the SE side of town that's full of exurbanites too.

[Billiam]

Sorry, but being from Frederick, I feel I have to defend or represent, so sorry if I sound mean

Originally Posted by westsideboy

If you spend time in D.C. and head to Frederick, it looks rural. If you are coming east from Western Maryland, Frederick is the "big city."

I don't know many people who feel like they are going into a rural town when they are going to frederick with all of that sprawl and coming from western MD dosn't feel like you are coming into a big city at all. its not like there arnt any big towns in Western MD

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

I live in Montgomery County and work in Frederick. It is not as diverse as most areas and there seems to be an overall lack of acceptance for people who look 'different' in this area.

Are you kidding? my best friends in School are Nigerian and Vietnamese. Frederick seems very diverse to me. Go to Route 40. Not many people speak english there

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

I have found some to be overly friendly to the point its scary and others to be so friggin rude its not funny. I am from the south and know southern hospitality..somethings a little different here.

Frederick isn't that special in that department. That is EVERYWHERE. not just Frederick, but you are right

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

I see Frederick as the outskirts or more rural park of MD. I've been told anything past Gaithersburg is the boondocks.

the people you have been talking too must be crazy. I suggest not talking to liars like that - sorry for being mean

Originally Posted by Dingler

Go to the big Mall in Frederick, MD and you will see the huge difference. It is mostly white people. Go to Lakeforest Mall in Gaithersburg and nearly everyone is speaking another language. The two places feel so different.

whens the last time you went there? its changed some, but most of the mall is white, correct. And the Mall is disgusting by the way. Both FSK and Frederick Towne Mall

Originally Posted by terryandtouey

Poor Frederick has experienced a lot of growing pains. They have overcrowded schools. Have had water shortages due to overdevelopment. Traffic congestion is as bad up there as in other parts of MD.

sorry, i don't remember ever having watershortages except when there was a droubt a few years back

Originally Posted by terryandtouey

. The big mall in Frederick -- if you are used to urban shopping, or large suburban malls like Tysons, Columbia, or even Montgomery Mall, you'd probably be disappointed.

i suggest never going to one of those malls.

Originally Posted by lululoo

i've always thought frederick (specifically the old town part of frederick) was really charming. the price of housing has shot WAAAYYY up, so i guess i am not alone in this opinion. it definitely has a more "small town" feel. can't speak for the new housing developments, but the actual town of frederick is cute as can be.

i agree

[azucarnegra]

Mr_Z2z0 - I guess diversity would be in the eye of the beholder. A Nigerian and Vietnamese friend doesn't make an area diverse, nor does that mean they are culturally accepted especially if people look at them like they are cyclops when they go out in public. Its happened to me for sure. I have not been all over Frederick and can't vouch for the area as a whole, but where I work (off Buckeystown Pike) it is NOT diverse at all.

And as far as I can see most parts of Maryland is Rural unless one is around the belt way. It is the boonies as far as I am concerned, but I don't need hustle and bustle I just need a place where I don't have to worry about getting lynched after dark. Nobodies lied to me, the city is being built up and is growing but is behind the times, especially with the 2 small malls here. The Wal-Mart supercenter is fabulous though, we don't even have one of those in Mont. county. I think they are building a new mall on Buckeystown Pike though.

[Billiam]

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

Mr_Z2z0 - I guess diversity would be in the eye of the beholder. A Nigerian and Vietnamese friend doesn't make an area diverse, nor does that mean they are culturally accepted especially if people look at them like they are cyclops when they go out in public.

I don't remember saying that that makes it diverse or culturally excepting. I was just giving an example.

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

Its happened to me for sure. I have not been all over Frederick and can't vouch for the area as a whole, but where I work (off Buckeystown Pike) it is NOT diverse at all.

Buckeystown pike? thats really not what I consider Frederick, although It definently is. That isn't the place where diversity is

Originally Posted by azucarnegra

And as far as I can see most parts of Maryland is Rural unless one is around the belt way. It is the boonies as far as I am concerned, but I don't need hustle and bustle I just need a place where I don't have to worry about getting lynched after dark. Nobodies lied to me, the city is being built up and is growing but is behind the times, especially with the 2 small malls here.

oh, I'm sorry. I really wasn't thinking when I wrote that. for some reason, i was thinking you said its more dangerous. And yes, most parts are rural in MD

[123 repeater]

When I think about Frederick then I think maybe there is a good side to higher gas prices. Many of these people work in DC and drive from their big box homes down 270 to DC in their Yukons and Suburbans everyday and it makes no sense. I think higher gas prices will help keep development smarter and concentrated around major cities. The city of Frederick's local politicians probably welcomed all that development so they could increase their tax base but look what it did to Frederick as far as congestion, water shortages, and it changed the character of the town.

[westsideboy]

A large reason Frederick County is growing so quickly is that Montgomery County has designated a huge part of the western half of the county as low density luxary sprawl. This has driven the development over the county line into places like Urbana, Ballanger Creek, etc. Wouldn't "smart growth" dictate that the dense growth should be in Montgomery County closer to D.C.?

The whole idea of 'Smart Growth' is little more serving suggestion plated up by the ex-governor to appear more eco-friendly. It has no weight of law since every county determines its own zoning. Futhermore, because Smart Growth only allows new development to be located around current development is a death sentence for every county in Maryland that hasn't benefited from the growth and wealth of the state (read Western Maryland and the Lower Eastern Shore). Smart Growth would forever divide MD into the haves and have-nots. The haves would be allowed to grow, prosper and develop. The have-nots would forever be banned from growing and attracting new residents and would be "preserved" as rural play grounds for the rich in the state. Thank God Smart Growth is still only a catch phrase, we may see this change soon.....

[MDguySC]

I don't know about others who live in Montgomery County, but Germantown, Clarksburg, and other northern MoCo areas are NOT low density luxury sprawl... and I can see your point about smart growth, but there's also a point where the state (and Frederick County officials) either decide to build up I-270 or to encourage smart growth... it has to be one or the other because people can't keep living 50 or 100 miles from where they work, wasting time on the roads in traffic when they could be with their families and doing other more important things, keeping that fuel for later use, not polluting the enviornment (which it really does, by the way... it's not just some effort to appear more "eco-friendly"... because Metro DC and Baltimore had some pretty bad air polution figures last year, and that kinda concerns me because I BREATHE IT INTO MY LUNGS everday...), which would be nice... just a thought... but then again, some politician always HAS to have some external agenda besides doing something good for the residents of the state...

And I have family living in New Market (and Middletown)... both DO NOT have lots of immigrants "influxing!". And neither does Urbana! Frederick County as a whole and in its parts is NOT a highly diverse area! That's just not how the people there want it to be! The people moving into the county aren't (generally) anything else than whites... who can be diverse in their own right, coming from Germany, England, etc..., but it's not diversity unless you have lots of types of people who all live together and not in their own separate neighborhoods, which isn't happening in Frederick yet... and maybe not for some time now...

[westsideboy]

Don't be fooled by the 'ruralness' of Northern Montgomery County. The people that live there have $$. Just an example, Poolesville has a median family income of $88,000, higher than county at large which is $84,000. If you had money, wouldn't you want to live on a horse farm too? It is zoning and money that keeps it 'rural'.

What I mean about the hypocracy of "eco-friendly" is that the subdivsions and suburbs used to be farms, forests, etc. If these people want to improve the earth, why don't you bulldoze your own development and replant trees? Why is it some other community's job to protect the enviroment when you didn't do it in your own? Just because some communties got developed first doesn't give them any more or less right to pollute the earth than anywhere else.