Why has Montgomery County Let itself go downhill (Frederick, Gaithersburg: crime, hotels)

[diplomat74]

have people noticed that moco has continually been going downhill with increasing crime and poverty, while counties like Howard and Fairfax have experienced great economic and income growth in the past 10 -15 years replacing montgomery county as the areas largest economic drivers other then DC and in terms of affluence. Are the counties official that ignorant of what's going on or do they not care, and how are they in office when they are doing such a bad job when compared to fairfax. Here are some articles that supporting this.


Mont. Co. grows; affluent trickle away - Examiner.com (http://www.examiner.com/a-1068157~Mont__Co__grows__affluent_trickle_away.htm l - broken link)

Fairfax Shines In Jobs Report - washingtonpost.com

[tercel95]

Thanks for posting this...

[NJ2MDdude]

Both Fairfax and Howard have pockets of poverty that will spread over time. It happened to PG and is now happening in MoCo.

[North Beach Person]

And you can't stop progress.


At least that's what we've been told in Calvert County when crime started going up, traffic got gridlocked in Prince Frederick and we have to build a new school every year.

[diplomat74]

It amazes me how you can physically see the county decaying around you while other jurisdiction are experience positive growth at the same time. Yet the county officials continue to pat themselves on the back at the same time. The only thing saving Moco is its I270 technology corridor but if they aren't more business friendly they will continue to lose out to Fairfax & howard (ie. Hilton hotels, VW etc)

[tercel95]

Originally Posted by North Beach Person

And you can't stop progress.


At least that's what we've been told in Calvert County when crime started going up, traffic got gridlocked in Prince Frederick and we have to build a new school every year.

It really is sad about Calvert county and SOMD and the problems that increased population has brought them... Most areas in Montgomery county started the same way though just 30 years apart in terms of population explosion... Montgomery county is nearly saturated with housing so people have to go somewhere... Eventually Montgomery will be the new PG, Frederick is working towards being the new Montgomery, and Calvert will become the next Frederick... or something like that...

[diplomat74]

its sad to see it happen, i dont understand how fairfax can have a larger population then moco but about the quarter of the crime and a much larger high tech and high skilled population, I wonder what is preventing the county from replecating these results other then the terrible leadership

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Before we get too alarmist here, it might be helpful to look at the data from the U.S. Census Bureau's State & County QuickFacts websites. Though Fairfax does have a higher median income, in 2007 Montgomery County and Fairfax had a similar number of residents living below the poverty level at 5.1% and 4.9% respectively. The Examiner is looking at tax returns, which can be affected by a number of factors. You had to file a tax return in order to get your stimulus check last year, so many people who aren't required to file did so to claim their money. This appears to be a bogus statistic to me. I recall a number of reports that overall tax return volume was up last year. Also, more illegal immigrants may be filing returns now that it has been publicized that doing so will not put them at risk for deportation.

Fairfax does have a larger overall population, but Montgomery County has grown faster in the past eight years, showing an 8.9% population change versus Fairfax's 4.7% change in the same period. It can take time for local governments to catch up budget-wise and public works-wise to adjust to rising populations. The Examiner article looks only at the flow of MD residents in and out of Mont. Co. It does not take into account residents of other states -- even VA -- who move to Mont. Co.

Looking at the quality of life reasons that Ike Legget believes are driving the affluent from Montgomery, he mentions traffic and housing values. There is no mention of crime or poverty. The two citizens quoted at the end of the article cite the attitude of the populace and increasing urbanization as reasons they feel the quality of life in MoCo is decreasing. Fairfax is significantly more dense (looking at census data) than MoCo and is therefore subject to the same traffic and urbanization issues.

In terms of jobs, Fairfax has Tysons. It takes years to develop a workforce center like that, and it tends to happen organically. Fairfax has also had a higher concentration of large prime contractors for a longer period of time. Proximity to the Pentagon and federal buildings in NoVa probably has a lot to do with that. Post 9/11, the contracting industry has only grown along I-66 and the Dulles Toll Road. Unless you can convince DoD to locate more of its resources to MoCo, this will not change. When you look at the major employers in the entire metropolitan area, they are the government, contracting, law firms, non profits, and associations. Major law firms will continue to be primarily in DC, and, as mentioned above, government and contracting aren't going to budge from VA. It's not as if MoCo has done something to scare these businesses out of MD. In no way that I can see does Fairfax's success mean that MoCo is going downhill. Montgomery is, however, dedicated to building up its biotech corridor in Gaithersburg; this is an emerging local industry that VA does not have.

As for future development, MoCo has a number of smart growth in plans for specific areas of the county. The Planning Commission website is wonderful. Check it out here: Montgomery County Planning Department. Also, the purple line, Montrose Parkway, the Intercounty Connectro, and I-270 improvements will go a long way to help congestion. Fairfax will be getting the silver line and HOT lanes, but their plans aren't quite as extensive.

As for crime, we have seen a recent year-on-year jump from January 2008 to January 2009. However, it is a recession, and this is to be expected. Take a look at the Washington Post article here: Montgomery Faces 7.7% Increase in Major Crime - washingtonpost.com. Later statistics, cited in this post: http://www.city-data.com/forum/maryl...ontgomery.html show crime dropping in the first quarter of this year. Much more telling as to whether an area is "going downhill" are trends for five and 10 year periods of time. Also, 60% of the robberies mentioned in the first Post article were occurring in Wheaton; this hardly represents a county-wide phenomenon.

[diplomat74]

good counter argument but in the end you can't argue for businesses choosing fairfax over moco over the past 10 years. Volkswagen (http://financial.washingtonpost.com/custom/wpost/html-qcn.asp?dispnav=business&mwpage=qcn&symb=VLKAF&nav =el - broken link) moved its U.S. headquarters there, as did CSC, formerly known as computer science corporation and hilton among others all chose fairfax over moco. If I were a leader in moco I would have a serious problem with that.

[North Beach Person]

A lot of it is the perception of a more favorable business climate in VA compared to MD.