Montgomery County -- safer areas? (Silver Spring, Germantown: sale, apartment complexes, to rent)

[montco78]

We currently live in Germantown and were burglarized. Apparently on our street alone there have been 4 burglaries in 9 months and other neighbors say their windows have been broken (apart from the burglaries). These have all happened in about 15 townhomes in 9 months. To me that's a high number. After talking to friends and families we have heard that people they know have gotten robbed at gunpoint (outside their own home) and burglarized as well. The Gazette talks a lot about people being robbed walking their dog or jogging in their own community as well as bunch of burglaries. There aren't enough cops here to address the crime problem either. We want to move and stay in Montgomery County. Before the crime issue we also did not like being in Germantown. Despite the building and development we still feel like it's far from things. We'd prefer to be closer to DC (Bethesda, Rockville). I like being in more urban settings, but DC property tax is too high IMO and they got more issues probably than Mont.Co does. I know not all areas in Bethesda or Rockville are "nice" though. Any tips? Gaithersburg was an option as well but still little too spread out.

[TGM]

I noticed you haven't had any replys yet... I may not be much help, but Rockville was wonderful when I lived there. Being able to ride the subway into DC was awesome as well. The police force in Rockville was stong and had things under control. There is also a state police barricks in Rockville, so you have plenty of troopers in the area as well.

HOWEVER, the problem with my informaiton is that it is OLD. I lived in Rockville close to 10 years ago. It wouldn't hurt to stop by the police station and just talk to some cops about what areas they would live in if they were looking at homes in your price range.

As for your current situation - the saying "the squeaky wheel gets the greese" works for law enforcement too. Write your chief of police, city mayor, and city leaders. Write the state police - find out who the commander of the nearest MSP station is and write them by name. Describe your problems and concerns. As for their help and for extra patrols in your area. Encourage your neighbors to do the same, and provide them the names & addresses of who you wrote. If you don't see increased law enforcement patrol and/or a reduction in crime, keep writing weekly letters.

You may think this wouldn't make any difference, but believe me, it works. One important element to this, however, is to make sure you watch out for increased patrols. It will backfire on you if you write another letter a week later saying you have seen no increase in patrol if in fact the chief of police has assigned and logged units in your area for extra patrols. Make sure you write a thank you letter to the same people when you see a differance.

Police work is kind of like any other type of business. The goal is to keep the "customers" - ie. taxpayers, and more important, VOTERS, happy. The chief law enforcement commanders do not like to hear of problem areas with unhappy citizens - and believe me, if nothing is being done about it on the lower levels, the upper levels do not know about the problem. Your 1st letter may just get passed down to a street level supervisor for assignment, however continued letters will start raising eyebrows & force the commander to look more carefully at the problem.

You sould also keep in mind that alot of times crime problems are "preceived" problems instead of actual problems. A recent example would be a very safe neighborhood in my area here in Texas. Along with the entire area, they had a rash of car burglaries. There was a suspicious vehicle that had an elderly female try to talk to a 8yo walking down the street, and two guys who knew each other got in a fight at the subdivision park and one pulled out his knife.
At the next month's homeowners meeting, irate homeowners demanded something be done about the high crime. The stories circulated about the "attempted abduction of a child" and the "gang fight with weapons at the park". The fact was, the elderly lady was looking for a dog, the friends were just drunk (one was arrested), and of the car burglaries - 70% were vehicles that were left unlocked. There was no crime problem, just a perception that swept the area and as people told their stories and the stories changed as they got passed on.

Not to downplay your problem, just make sure you're complainant is an actual problem, not a perception before you start your letter writing.

Good luck - and let me know if a few weeks what the outcome was.

Cpl. T Marrs
Harris County Patrol Supervisor (Houston, TX)

[yukimika]

For Rockville most everything west of Rockville Pike and south of Montrose Rd. (near Tilden woods park) is nice. Also everything west of 270 toward Potomac is good (but not close-in). For example west of Falls road just south of Wootton Pky.

I think the King Farm neighborhood is nice too--if you like that kind of community. I haven't really heard about any major crime there.

most everywhere in Bethesda is nice, shouldn't worry about that. The neighborhood will be determined by your price range.

[LTF525]

I live in Rockville now, and i feel very safe (i live off 355 near twinbrook metro). The nice thing about it is that it really convient. We take metro downtown often, and find life around here very lively. The only thing is that you will find the prices here are much higher than in Germantown. I love the king farm area but townhouses start in the 600s and the single family homes start in the 900s from what we saw when we were looking. If you can swing it, definitely move in.

[pkoons]

Yukimika suggested some good areas in Rockville. I lived in King Farm for a year and was always very safe - it's not perfect but crime is certainly rare. It's affordable to rent but it's overpriced to buy, though the sale units are definitely nice...

Bethesda is very safe, but I work there and for some reason I don't like it. I don't know why - seems like if a really cheesy guy took the Arlington VA blueprint, made it more expensive, and less fun. It just seems like a lot of people live here their whole lives, which i guess is a good thing, but it's too congested and snobby - plus most of the restaurants and local hangouts residents tout are not all that special if you're into going out...

How about Derwood or Olney? Derwood is 5-10 mins. from Shady Grove metro and Olney is 10-20 mins. from Glenmont metro. These areas have fewer apartment complexes - that doesn't always meen they're safer - but I've never heard any concern about the crime in these two areas. Home prices similar to Rockville.

Good luck!

[MattVW]

Montgomery County does have many nice areas. Try visiting Olney, Potomac, Bethesda, and Damascus. Some of the neighborhoods have deteriorated such as Wheaton, Silver Spring, and Takoma Park. I hope that this helps.

[rewardgal]

It sounds like you are living in a particular area that is well known for this problem. Did you move in from out-of-area? If you are where I think you are living, just a couple of miles away are townhouses that are safe and close to shopping etc. There are also other communities in Gaithersburg and Olney that might be acceptable if you can sell your townhome.

PM me if you want.

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by montco78

We currently live in Germantown and were burglarized. Apparently on our street alone there have been 4 burglaries in 9 months and other neighbors say their windows have been broken (apart from the burglaries). These have all happened in about 15 townhomes in 9 months. To me that's a high number. After talking to friends and families we have heard that people they know have gotten robbed at gunpoint (outside their own home) and burglarized as well. The Gazette talks a lot about people being robbed walking their dog or jogging in their own community as well as bunch of burglaries. There aren't enough cops here to address the crime problem either. We want to move and stay in Montgomery County. Before the crime issue we also did not like being in Germantown. Despite the building and development we still feel like it's far from things. We'd prefer to be closer to DC (Bethesda, Rockville). I like being in more urban settings, but DC property tax is too high IMO and they got more issues probably than Mont.Co does. I know not all areas in Bethesda or Rockville are "nice" though. Any tips? Gaithersburg was an option as well but still little too spread out.

Surge in burglaries? Let's talk gangs. In this Sept 7, 2006 Washington Post article, the Montgomery County Assistant Police Chief says his detectives identified 930 gang members as of May, a 30 percent gang number increase that just happens to coincide with a 30 percent increase from November 2005 in vandalism. burglaries and robberies. Title of story in case you want to look it up: Gang Figures Rising In Md. Here's the gang breakdown:

ROCKVILLE: MS 13 (SL), Lincoln Park Crew (LPC), Sangra Pura (SP)

BETHESDA: MS 13

SILVER SPRING: MS 13 (SLSW, PVLS, LPS, FLS, TLS), 88, Vatos Locos (VL), Street Thug Criminals (STC)

WHEATON: MS 13, (SLSW, FLS), Street Thug Criminals, Bloods, Crips, Vatos Locos, Mara Locos (MS)

GERMANTOWN: MS 13 (WDLS), Friends of Crips, 612, C-Hill, Q-Woods (Quail Woods, QDUB), CDUB (Cinnamon Woods), WSP (Warring Station Park)

GAITHERSBURG: MS 13 (HLS, WDLS, CLCS), 612 Crew, Original Killas, South
Side Locos (SSL), Flower Hill Crew, C-Unit, MV Mob (Montg. Village)

[dullnboring]

Originally Posted by LauraC

GAITHERSBURG: MS 13 (HLS, WDLS, CLCS), 612 Crew, Original Killas, South Side Locos (SSL), Flower Hill Crew, C-Unit, MV Mob (Montg. Village)

Which of these names doesn't quite go with the others? LOL. I realize that Flower Hill is an area of Gaithersburg but it's not a very intimidating gangsta name. You might as well call yourselves "The Snowflakes" or something?

[mooseyba]

Just thought I would post about my experiences living in Montgomery County. I am originally from Southwestern, PA and have been living in first Arlington, VA for 14 years and Maryland for 10 years. I lived in the White Oak area of Silver Spring and I now own a home in Burtonsville, MD. I do not have children so I don't have a lot of the same issues as people with children do.

My husband and I both work in WDC, and it takes us about 35 minutes to get to work in the morning (we leave at 6 a.m) and about 45 minutes to get home in the evening. We leave work at 3:30.

I have been fortunate because I do know that there is crime everywhere, but I have not experienced any. I live in the Greencastle Lakes area and I take walks (during the day) and I have never been bothered (except by some curious geese by one of the lakes).

Burtonsville is a very quiet, little burg. If you want someplace to eat, a bookstore, or you want to go to the movies, you need to go into downtown Silver Spring, which, by the way, has been revitalized. It is no longer the depressing, 1950's looking town it used to be. If you want to purchase a home anywhere near downtown Silver Spring, get ready to shell out some big bucks - $450,000 and up.

Being from rural Southwestern, PA, I still have not gotten over the cost of homes in this area. For what we paid for our home, I could have a McMansion (which I am not interested in) with land in Southwestern, PA.

Just wanted to add my two cents.