New Community at Parklands Gaithersburg (Rockville: HOA, how much, roofing)

[sagittarius98]

For those of you who are asking, the elementary school is pretty bad education wise. However, I survived 5 years there, and then went on to Lakelands Park, which was great, and now I am at the magnet program at Poolesville High. Quince Orchard is pretty good academically I think, but has quite a bit of drug use in proximity of the school (unlike Poolesville where the drug use is farther away and less bothersome). Brown Station is probably 90% black/hispanic. If your child is pretty gifted, there are magnet schools that you can send your child off to even at the Elementary level, so you can avoid Brown Station even if you live in the Parklands.

[dkf747]

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Originally Posted by sagittarius98

For those of you who are asking, the elementary school is pretty bad education wise. However, I survived 5 years there, and then went on to Lakelands Park, which was great, and now I am at the magnet program at Poolesville High. Quince Orchard is pretty good academically I think, but has quite a bit of drug use in proximity of the school (unlike Poolesville where the drug use is farther away and less bothersome). Brown Station is probably 90% black/hispanic. If your child is pretty gifted, there are magnet schools that you can send your child off to even at the Elementary level, so you can avoid Brown Station even if you live in the Parklands.

Drug use in proximity of Quince Orchard? Where in the world did you hear that? The area around the school is really nice. I think you better check your facts.

[mlv5000]

Will be interesting to see how the potential of railroad "quiet zones" will affect home values/prices moving forward, and if a "quiet zone" is instituted, the ramifications for other neighborhoods along the CSX lines.

Article on Quiet Zones: Gaithersburg considers creating quiet zone near train tracks -- Gazette.Net

City "Presentation": http://www.gaithersburgmd.gov/sirepu...3085912423.PDF

[w100tik2]

Hello MLV5000- I am considering purchasing the Vanderbilt model townhouse in the Parklands community, but wonder what your experience was trying to negotiate price- did you have an agent come with you? Were you able to get discounts on closing costs, upgrades, etc? Not sure how NV operates, esp. in this community. Thanks!

[G-Burg Native]

Originally Posted by dkf747

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Drug use in proximity of Quince Orchard? Where in the world did you hear that? The area around the school is really nice. I think you better check your facts.

Sagittarius is correct. There are lower income areas that feed into Quince Orchard, for example, the apartments around Clopper Road. I know first hand that these apartments have a lot of undesirable people living there. I lived there and had prostitute neighbors, gun fire into apartments, drugs confirmed by police, etc. However, Quince Orchard High School is still a really good school but there is definitely more of a class divide between rich and poor than in the past.

But drug use is not confined to low income areas. The wealthier students have access to more hardcore drugs. The poorer kids do pot. The richer kids do harder drugs.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by G-Burg Native

Sagittarius is correct. There are lower income areas that feed into Quince Orchard, for example, the apartments around Clopper Road. I know first hand that these apartments have a lot of undesirable people living there. I lived there and had prostitute neighbors, gun fire into apartments, drugs confirmed by police, etc. However, Quince Orchard High School is still a really good school but there is definitely more of a class divide between rich and poor than in the past.

But drug use is not confined to low income areas. The wealthier students have access to more hardcore drugs. The poorer kids do pot. The richer kids do harder drugs.

Those apartments, as well as the lower income apartments I used to live in, are not in proximity of QO. They are several miles away. I didn't see a lot of obvious drug use in the area I lived in either.

[MrMaryland455]

Originally Posted by G-Burg Native

Sagittarius is correct. There are lower income areas that feed into Quince Orchard, for example, the apartments around Clopper Road. I know first hand that these apartments have a lot of undesirable people living there. I lived there and had prostitute neighbors, gun fire into apartments, drugs confirmed by police, etc. However, Quince Orchard High School is still a really good school but there is definitely more of a class divide between rich and poor than in the past.

But drug use is not confined to low income areas. The wealthier students have access to more hardcore drugs. The poorer kids do pot. The richer kids do harder drugs.

You can say the same about Northwest High School (Good School) which has Upper Middle Class area (South Germantown District/Boyds/Upper Darnestown) and you have some area that aren't great but that doesn't define the school. The same goes for Quince Orchard High School, those low income don't hurt the quality of the school when most of the students in the school parents are Well OFF (Rich)

[sagittarius98]

Originally Posted by dkf747

Those apartments, as well as the lower income apartments I used to live in, are not in proximity of QO. They are several miles away. I didn't see a lot of obvious drug use in the area I lived in either.

I meant drug use on actual school grounds. I know a few people who have either come in contact with drug users or use drugs themselves on school grounds in QO. You are correct, the apartments are several miles away, and the neighborhoods directly surrounding QO are fine. The problem is the kids that come from these poorer apartments, who are more likely to get involved with drugs and get less involved academically. Bullying is also a problem at QO. It happens more often than in Poolesville for sure, but Poolesville is a magnet school. My middle school friends who go to QO say they see bullying, and there was even a potential suicide: Police Investigating Weekend Death of Quince Orchard Student - Police & Fire - Gaithersburg, MD Patch. I obviously don't know the cause of death of Danny, but he did live in Darnestown based on the address provided, so gang activity can be pretty much ruled out.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by sagittarius98

I meant drug use on actual school grounds. I know a few people who have either come in contact with drug users or use drugs themselves on school grounds in QO. You are correct, the apartments are several miles away, and the neighborhoods directly surrounding QO are fine. The problem is the kids that come from these poorer apartments, who are more likely to get involved with drugs and get less involved academically. Bullying is also a problem at QO. It happens more often than in Poolesville for sure, but Poolesville is a magnet school. My middle school friends who go to QO say they see bullying, and there was even a potential suicide: Police Investigating Weekend Death of Quince Orchard Student - Police & Fire - Gaithersburg, MD Patch. I obviously don't know the cause of death of Danny, but he did live in Darnestown based on the address provided, so gang activity can be pretty much ruled out.

Okay. I'm sure that there are drug users there, and there might even be some bullies there, but is it really more than at other schools? I find that hard to believe. I know quite a few kids there and never saw much of either. QO was a very good school. My kids say that some of the teachers were a bigger problem than other students were. After some of the things I have heard, I can believe that. Unfortunately, we have moved so we're not aware of what's going on right now, but I just can't the school changing that much in just a few months.

[CocoaGoddess]

Hi residents. We're considering purchasing a Vanderbilt home in this area, and wanted to know how the homeowners like the area now that it has been built out more? It seemed kind of blah and nondescript to us, compared to the intense busyness and activity at Crown. I will be honest, Crown is our first choice, but we just can't justify the $100k price premium.