MoCo, Question about certain "bad" areas... (Baltimore, Silver Spring: apartment complexes, crime)

[Arithian]

I am starting a new job in MoCo and am trying to swing buying a decent sized single family home (4 beds, 2.5 baths) in the county. I am looking to buy a house for the long term and would prefer to stay away from any areas that would change drastically in the upcoming years. Pricing is extremely expensive but we can manage around 400k. The problem is, most of the homes in that price range are in the areas people talk negatively about such as Silver Spring, Wheaton, Germantown, Montgomery Village, etc.

I guess what I am wondering is, how bad are these areas? I mean, I live outside Baltimore now and worked in Baltimore City so I know what a bad area or an area going downhill really looks like. I find it hard to believe that with housing prices so high that these areas would be anything close to "bad" areas, but I could be wrong. So why are these areas viewed in a negative way? Also, are these areas really going downhill?

BTW my presumptions on these areas are based on what I have read on these forums and have heard from various police officers in that Wheaton and Silver Spring are there most "busy" areas.

[oldway]

My brother in law used to lie off Wikins ave in balmer and I remember hearing gun fire one time when I was visiting him. Never had that experience in Rockville when I lived there. I used to livein the flower valley neighborhood in Rockville. It was a good area but that doesn't really matter because you'll get ghetto people from other **** areas to come in to commit crimes. For instance I had my car stolen right out of my drive way by some 14 year old from a neighboring community where there is S8 housing. Sold the house later for nearly 700k. So that kind of tells you that it does really matter where you live the crime there will find you no matter.

[MrMaryland455]

MONTGOMERY COUNTY is a affluent area and is definitely NOT going down hill.......There are Plenty of Good/Family Oriented areas.....you wouldn't lose at all......its a shame the way Baltimore City has let itself go....but that not Montgomery County...we are connected to D.C. so we have a reputation we have to keep.......You should come and check out areasCLARKSBURG, DARNESTOWN, GERMANTOWN, NORTH POTOMAC, BETHESDA, CHECK CHASE, POTOMAC, DOWNTOWN SILVER SPRING, AND MANY OTHER PLACES IN THE AREA AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK from

FYI....I live in GERMANTOWN and it is FAR from Ghetto.....it is a Great family friendly area....Many people get Rest of Germantown confuse with this small part of the Germantown called "FOX CHAPEL" and automatically assume Rest of Germantown is Horrible (when its not).....I recommend that you check it out and get your own opinion on it

[Mahatma X]

Originally Posted by MrMaryland455

MONTGOMERY COUNTY is a affluent area and is definitely NOT going down hill.......There are Plenty of Good/Family Oriented areas.....you wouldn't lose at all......its a shame the way Baltimore City has let itself go....but that not Montgomery County...we are connected to D.C. so we have a reputation we have to keep.......You should come and check out areasCLARKSBURG, DARNESTOWN, GERMANTOWN, NORTH POTOMAC, BETHESDA, CHECK CHASE, POTOMAC, DOWNTOWN SILVER SPRING, AND MANY OTHER PLACES IN THE AREA AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK from

MoCo is going down hill for sure, way too many illegals and people from DC and PG are moving out there and a good few are bringing that ghetto mentality with them, the same is happening on Rt. 1 in NoVA.

MoCo has good parts for sure but the 20903 and 20904 zip codes of Silver Spring do have some apartment complexes that are the hood. 108 (not the road, but a neighborhood calls itself 108) out in Olney is considered hood because that's where all the black people live out there. Wheaton isn't rough but I can see how some people would call it a barrio. Crime has risen in parts of Gaithersburg and Montgomery Village, robberies are becoming common around Lakeforest mall. MoCo west of I-270 is the nicest overall though.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by Mahatma X

Wheaton isn't rough but I can see how some people would call it a barrio.

We own a house in Wheaton, and lived there for 30 years. If anything, the area is gentrifying. The new townhouses are selling above $400,000, and new single family houses are selling about $600,000. You can certainly find good older houses around $400K.

The are some low-rent apartments near the Metro inhabited by mostly Spanish-speaking people. The elementary school population is about 30-40% Hispanic. I speculate that the apartments might get bought up eventually by a developer which will replace them with luxury housing, as the location is extremely convenient.

The 20902 zip code also include the Kemp Mill neighborhood which is quite stable because its Orthodox Jewish population needs to stay within walking distance of the synagogues. Houses there sell from $400K to $600K and above.

[mwruckman]

A simple rule of thumb in MoCo is the worst areas tend to be located along the CSX Mainline (Washington Baltimore Areas link to the rest of the USA beyond the Appalachians) (A busy dual tracked RR with a lot of freight, AMTRAK (DC to Chicago) and MARC Communter service (Trains run 24/7/365) (For Historic Train buffs the B&O Mainline)) For example, Wheaton, DownTown Silver Spring, Rockville Pike, Shady Grove, Old Town Gaithersburg, Metro Grove are all pearls in their own way along this route. MoCo grew up along the B&O Mainline so the oldest housing stock, light industry and warehouses are along the route. Some areas like Washington Grove and Takoma Park are the quirky exceptions to this rule of thumb.
Hope this explains MoCo and why housingh which isn't cheap anywhere in MoCo is relatively cheap in those places.

[goldenage1]

BTW, I have also lived near the west side of Baltimore. Wheaton, Gathersburg and Montgomery Village may get bad-mouthed by certain people, but there is nothing going on like Baltimore. I have never heard shooting in the street. Wheaton may occasionally see an arrest for a knife fight, but they are mostly between low-income people who are arguing. I have heard of fights among kids at Kennedy High School, but that's almost normal these days. You could feel perfectly safe walking to a Metro stop, even late in the evening.

[reiflame]

I live in Montgomery Village, close to Lakeforest Mall. If by robberies becoming "common", you mean occasionally someone involved with drugs gets jacked every once in a while, then yes, I guess they're common. If you're not out at 2 AM with an ounce of pot, then the chances of you getting robbed are basically zero, the same as with anywhere else in Montgomery County.

If you don't like living around people with brown skin and you don't like living around middle class working families, then don't move to Montgomery Village. If you're not racist, then you won't care.

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by reiflame

I live in Montgomery Village, close to Lakeforest Mall. If by robberies becoming "common", you mean occasionally someone involved with drugs gets jacked every once in a while, then yes, I guess they're common. If you're not out at 2 AM with an ounce of pot, then the chances of you getting robbed are basically zero, the same as with anywhere else in Montgomery County.

If you don't like living around people with brown skin and you don't like living around middle class working families, then don't move to Montgomery Village. If you're not racist, then you won't care.

The US Census Bureau found that the average income in our corner of Montgomery Village is $106,000.
We don't hold a candle to some zips in Chevy Chase were the income is near $3,000,000. Crime is minimal, the only reportables within a couple 1/2 a mile are a few shoplifting busts at the local CVS and a few assaults in the shopping plaza just beyond the CVS. it gets a little more active beyond a 1/2 mile south on Montgomery Village Ave. Places like South Village and East Village

[David_J]

Honestly, the only places in MoCo with a noticeable amount of crime are parts of Wheaton, far inner-city/downtown Silver Spring, and maybe Calverton - and even then it's certainly far less than Baltimore. Don't worry about crime too much in MoCo.