Does Urbana relate more to Montgomery than Frederick (Baltimore, Gaithersburg: apartment, movies)

[MrMaryland455]

Do you think that Urbana relates more to Montgomery county than Frederick

[SwampFox35]

I see Urbana as the rich area of Frederick. both are largely bedroom communities for MC.

[westsideboy]

Yes. Urbana is a Montgomery County suburb. It only exists because of the growth restrictions in NW Montgomery County Ag reserve. The development was pushed northward over the county line.

Frederick is tied to the Baltimore/DC metro region but has a character of its own. It is the county governmental seat, which means urban, rural, and suburban residents must go there from time to time, and is a commercial and business center in its own right. I wouldn't call it a bedroom community, although plenty of commuters live there. It is more of an edge city, a place that is in the fold of the larger metro area, but has a historic past and would exist (albeit in much smaller form) even if it hadn't been discovered by commuters.

[SwampFox35]

urbana is probably closer to the frederick mall than some other parts of frederick. most people who make a decent salary who move to frederick look at that area or worman's mill on the far north side of frederick for housing.

[StayLucky]

I would say Urbana relates more to Mont. County than it does Frederick, since it is mostly a bedroom community for the high paying jobs in MoCo and DC. It used to be just a little old farm community and from what I understand, there are still some of the old timers in that area who are pretty similar to other rural Frederick County folks. Besides those people, it's mainly a suburb for those who want a little more peace and quiet or affordability than Mont. County offers (although it has gotten very expensive over the past decade).

[SwampFox35]

if you live in urbana, you will be doing most of your shopping in frederick, if you go out to eat, it will probably be frederick most of the time, if you go to the movies, you probably will go to frederick.

i think it's hard to tie to MC if the people there do most of their afterwork stuff in frederick.

[David_J]

Having lived in Urbana for 4 years myself (up until a few months ago when I moved to an apartment in Gaithersburg), yes, it does relate strongly to Montgomery County. It is a bedroom community for MoCo commuters, and most people who live in Urbana are actually people who have moved from Montgomery County to Frederick County, for several reasons (most notably the cost of living).

From my observations, commuters usually work in Montgomery County (Rockville seems to be a common place) - but nearly never in DC or NoVA, shopping is mostly done in Frederick County, going out to eat is mostly done in Frederick for American food but in MoCo for foreign cuisines, and people in Urbana are usually upper middle class as opposed to regular middle class at Frederick city and lower middle class in the more agricultural regions of the county.

People who live in Frederick city are usually torn upon whether they want to be recognized as part of Western Maryland or Central Maryland, whereas for Urbana residents, it's clear that they relate much more strongly to Central MD.

[SwampFox35]

urbana has the biggest library i have ever seen in a suburban area. bigger than most city libraries. those little kids must really love to read.

i hate those roundabouts in urbana, got like 3 of them in a row, i just wanted to ride over the middle of them. you know you are in a yuppified area when they go with roundabouts.

if urbana had some restaurants it would be ok, but i eat out so much and i would consstantly be going over to frederick if lived there.

[David_J]

Something I forgot to mention: Urbana is much more similar to Montgomery County in terms of politics and demographics as well.

[MrMaryland455]

Originally Posted by David_J

Having lived in Urbana for 4 years myself (up until a few months ago when I moved to an apartment in Gaithersburg), yes, it does relate strongly to Montgomery County. It is a bedroom community for MoCo commuters, and most people who live in Urbana are actually people who have moved from Montgomery County to Frederick County, for several reasons (most notably the cost of living).

From my observations, commuters usually work in Montgomery County (Rockville seems to be a common place) - but nearly never in DC or NoVA, shopping is mostly done in Frederick County, going out to eat is mostly done in Frederick for American food but in MoCo for foreign cuisines, and people in Urbana are usually upper middle class as opposed to regular middle class at Frederick city and lower middle class in the more agricultural regions of the county.

People who live in Frederick city are usually torn upon whether they want to be recognized as part of Western Maryland or Central Maryland, whereas for Urbana residents, it's clear that they relate much more strongly to Central MD.

I totally agree that.....Urbana relates more to Montgomery County...for the simple fact a lot of the residents work in Montgomery county....and Most (not all) have the same mentality