Frederick: America's Best Small Town Comebacks

[stpickrell]

One of my coworkers graduated from Frederick HS in the 1980s and says it was a lot rougher then.

As it is now it's basically a sanitized version of Baltimore. (Not saying that as a slam, Leesburg's trying to reinvent itself as a sanitized version of Alexandria.)

I suspect as jobs and money come further west, we're going to see the same thing happening in Hagerstown over the next 20-30 years. OTOH, if $$$ is coming out to make downtown Hagerstown as happening as Frederick is today, it's coming out to Winchester before that.

[htownterp]

Originally Posted by PhenomenalAJ

That's misleading to call it a "comeback town". It was a small boondock its entire existence until DC area sprawl reached it and lots of people moved in. It makes no sense to call something a comeback when it was mostly empty then became more populated.

Totally agree. I love Frederick, it's a fantastic place. But I'd hardly call it a comeback unless they are referring to the post-flood recovery. Once you get away from the compact downtown, it seems like everything else was built in the last 30 years. It's not like it has reinvented itself like Pittsburgh, PA or a place along those lines.

[Merlander]

I have to agree with the comments above. I could think of many ways to describe Frederick. A "comeback" town would be last among them. Frederick is a city with a long history, and has shown steady improvement and growth for many, many years.