What happened to Montgomery County MD!! (Bethesda, Frederick: public school, gated, income)
Washington, DC suburbs in MarylandCalvert County, Charles County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County
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The result of the so-called progressive movement. What they don't tell you is that the movement is progressively downward.
From your post, I see your intelligence long ago went progressively downward, bottoming out in your post and possibly going lower. I'd suggest a book or reading up on the news.
Would like to know what Bethesda looked like back then haha. Bethesda to me is a real easy place to navigate. A family friend who is an old-timer told us how Suburban Hospital was just a small house which now is a big hospital. Where did you go to HS?
Winston Churchill '83.
To give you an idea ... Potomac was a blend of a WASP core and "new" (for Potomac) Jewish arrivals, many families w/ roots in PA & NY. So, at "the Village" shopping center, you had, almost next door to one another:
The Surrey -- a high-falutin' little boutique that sold English riding gear. No Western (gauche!), just English, and
Potomac "Supermarket" aka DGS -- looked dumpy from the outside, but it was a specialty grocery that catered to New York expats. It was well-known for cuts of meat, wine and "house accounts," you just signed an in-house piece of paper for stuff w/ monthly bills. In-house credit. The place was the oddest mix of expensive tastes + lottery ticket buyers, usually construction workers from new developments.
This was the east side of River Rd. Other side had the Safeway (still there), Danish Bakery (still there, I think). The Safeway always had women wearing tennis outfits & looking fresh as a daisy.
The shopping area north of Falls was new when I was in HS, so a Big Deal. Very little to do for teens in Potomac at that time, still kind of true. So, taking off to Bethesda and Rockville was something people did frequently.
Bethesda was much less complicated, for example the intersection at Old Georgetown & Woodmont was easy to navigate. There isn't much that remains from that time -- let's see, the police station at the corner of Wisc & Montgomery (I think) was there, the post office, all the Persian rug stores along Wisconsin were there. On the side streets, I remember all the original buildings as much smaller in height. Many are still there but have been built up/renovated.
Again, more unique stores instead of chains. For example, a popular place for high school students was a "surf shop," also on Cordell. Everybody went there to pick up Mr. Zogs Sex Wax t-shirts. They were so popular. The style was what is now called "distressed retro."
Bethesda was a little more "DC-style" industrial, bearing in mind that DC has never really been an industrial area in the true sense. For example, the building at the corner of Woodmont & Old Georgetown had a place called Type Foundry in it that did the typesetting for local area advertisers and printers the old-fashioned way, before desktop publishing.
Food/eating out options were *nothing* like what you see now. At that time, I used to go to Mama Lucia's in Wheaton to buy real Italian espresso by the can. There was another Italian specialty shop in Wheaton as well, buried in that old industrial-style row next to the huge parking lot. Believe it or not, Wheaton at the time was the better option for things like specialty foods and music. I used to hang out at a place called Backstreet Records. I think it was at the corner of Grandview and Reedie, but I'd have to go back and look. Pure vinyl, and a great selection if you were a WHFS-style music fan. A lot of off the beaten path stuff. The owner was very aggressive about collecting. I remember I had a bunch of reel-to-reel tapes that originally belonged to my parents -- Meet the Beatles, Get Your Ya-Yas out, others, that the owner literally was begging me to sell to him. Gosh, I should have, LOL.
Now here's a blast from the past. Used to be head shops galore in Bethesda, EVEN at the Cabin John Shopping Center, at the Record Lords. One reason head shops were ubiquitous in the area was because the major manufacturer, US Bongs, was located in Rockville. Yes, the factory! Honestly, they were works of art, both the colorful plastic variety and the glass ones.
That's really the main difference -- so many mom-and-pop places and interesting "specialty" type places. This was pre-internet, so people made the trip if they had a need. I started learning Russian by reading Pravda at Kamkin's in Rockville. That's why all the rug dealers were already there on Wisconsin. I remember more used book stores, fewer chains. You really could only find the chains at the malls, like Walden's Books at Montgomery.
Another favorite haunt of mine was the original Industrial Photo (Silver Spring) and a very similar, but much smaller camera shop in North Rockville near the old courthouse. I had a darkroom in high school, so I'd get a lot of supplies like developer/fixer, trays, film & salivate over the top-of-the-line enlargers. If you're under-30, you probably don't know what I'm talking about ...
Suburban Hospital was already a smaller to mid-sized hospital at the time, known for its looooooooong emergency room wait times.
To give you an idea ... Potomac was a blend of a WASP core and "new" (for Potomac) Jewish arrivals, many families w/ roots in PA & NY. So, at "the Village" shopping center, you had, almost next door to one another:
The Surrey -- a high-falutin' little boutique that sold English riding gear. No Western (gauche!), just English, and
Potomac "Supermarket" aka DGS -- looked dumpy from the outside, but it was a specialty grocery that catered to New York expats. It was well-known for cuts of meat, wine and "house accounts," you just signed an in-house piece of paper for stuff w/ monthly bills. In-house credit. The place was the oddest mix of expensive tastes + lottery ticket buyers, usually construction workers from new developments.
This was the east side of River Rd. Other side had the Safeway (still there), Danish Bakery (still there, I think). The Safeway always had women wearing tennis outfits & looking fresh as a daisy.
Yep, people there are from NY or PA. Haven't been all around Potomac but those shops sound real nice.
The shopping area north of Falls was new when I was in HS, so a Big Deal. Very little to do for teens in Potomac at that time, still kind of true. So, taking off to Bethesda and Rockville was something people did frequently.
Yeah nothing new here.
Bethesda was much less complicated, for example the intersection at Old Georgetown & Woodmont was easy to navigate.
There use to be stores across the gas station (party time, outback steakhouse) but now its replaced with an odd-looking condo complex.
There isn't much that remains from that time -- let's see, the police station at the corner of Wisc & Montgomery (I think) was there(Still there), the post office(Still there), all the Persian rug stores along Wisconsin were there(Still there or either closing up shop). On the side streets, I remember all the original buildings as much smaller in height. Many are still there but have been built up/renovated.
Again, more unique stores instead of chains. For example, a popular place for high school students was a "surf shop," also on Cordell. Everybody went there to pick up Mr. Zogs Sex Wax t-shirts. They were so popular. The style was what is now called "distressed retro."
Bethesda was a little more "DC-style" industrial, bearing in mind that DC has never really been an industrial area in the true sense. For example, the building at the corner of Woodmont & Old Georgetown had a place called Type Foundry in it that did the typesetting for local area advertisers and printers the old-fashioned way, before desktop publishing.
Hmmm, that may not be there anymore AFAIK.
Food/eating out options were *nothing* like what you see now. At that time, I used to go to Mama Lucia's in Wheaton to buy real Italian espresso by the can. There was another Italian specialty shop in Wheaton as well, buried in that old industrial-style row next to the huge parking lot. Believe it or not, Wheaton at the time was the better option for things like specialty foods and music. I used to hang out at a place called Backstreet Records. I think it was at the corner of Grandview and Reedie, but I'd have to go back and look. Pure vinyl, and a great selection if you were a WHFS-style music fan. A lot of off the beaten path stuff. The owner was very aggressive about collecting. I remember I had a bunch of reel-to-reel tapes that originally belonged to my parents -- Meet the Beatles, Get Your Ya-Yas out, others, that the owner literally was begging me to sell to him. Gosh, I should have, LOL.
Sweet stuff!!
Now here's a blast from the past. Used to be head shops galore in Bethesda, EVEN at the Cabin John Shopping Center, at the Record Lords. One reason head shops were ubiquitous in the area was because the major manufacturer, US Bongs, was located in Rockville. Yes, the factory! Honestly, they were works of art, both the colorful plastic variety and the glass ones.
That's really the main difference -- so many mom-and-pop places and interesting "specialty" type places. This was pre-internet, so people made the trip if they had a need. I started learning Russian by reading Pravda at Kamkin's in Rockville. That's why all the rug dealers were already there on Wisconsin. I remember more used book stores, fewer chains. You really could only find the chains at the malls, like Walden's Books at Montgomery.
Another favorite haunt of mine was the original Industrial Photo (Silver Spring) and a very similar, but much smaller camera shop in North Rockville near the old courthouse. I had a darkroom in high school, so I'd get a lot of supplies like developer/fixer, trays, film & salivate over the top-of-the-line enlargers. If you're under-30, you probably don't know what I'm talking about ...
Suburban Hospital was already a smaller to mid-sized hospital at the time, known for its looooooooong emergency room wait times.
Honestly, it would've been cool to go back in time to see what these places were like and how it's so different than the Bethesda/Wheaton/Rockville I know of now.
Montgomery College gives in-county tuition to illegals. the county government built a labor center for illegal immigrants. Of course those people will be attracted there, surprise surprise.
Honestly, it would've been cool to go back in time to see what these places were like and how it's so different than the Bethesda/Wheaton/Rockville I know of now.
It would be fun. I'll try to find some pictures of Bethesda in the 70s. BTW, almost every establishment I mentioned no longer is around ...
East MoCo is pretty poor, go around Takoma/Langley and that's all you see, but not all of that area is as poor is it appears to be. West MoCo is still known as a pretty elite area though. I mean every city/county has a poor area though, look at NYC. It's known as a dump but it's also known as one of the wealthiest cities on the world. It just all depends on where you are. Travel down Wisconsin Ave and you'll know that your in one of the richest areas in the US just by the stores you see.
There is more to East County than Langley Park and Takoma Park. You have forgotten solid middle class areas such as White Oak, Burtonsville, Northeast Silver Spring, clear on up along Rt. 29 until you hit Howard County.
Many are moving to Frederick County to high dollar gated developments, where they're unhappy because it's rural and try to change the lifestyle by promoting overdevelopment.
Some are moving to the Eastern Shore to high dollar gated developments, where they're unhappy it's rural and try to change the lifestyle by promoting overdevelopment.
Others have moved to Calvert County to high dollar gated developments, where they're unhappy it's rural and try to change the lifestyle by promoting overdevelopment.
Do you sense a pattern?
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