Hagerstwon, MD...Rural? (Baltimore, Frederick, Hagerstown: homes, Mennonites, to live in)

[bluecountry]

I had a few questions.

1) Do you consider Hagerstown to be rural?

2) Is the area becoming suburban and is it very much in danger of being overdeveloped...or is the rural beauty of the county not in jeopardy?

3) If the area is becoming developed...why? I would think given it is located in a rural area, traditional, with natural barriers like mountains and over 70 miles to DC...it would be too far for commuters and culturally...more inline with WV/PA than a cosompolitan region.

4) When I was driving in MD...I noticed I-70 over Frederick and West Mountain was packed...again...why given the 70 mile and mountainoues terrain would this be jammed?

5) I recently did a drive through MD...and thought Washington County was very nice. I don't want it to be in 30 years like Montgomery County or other DC region places...I'd like to think sprawl won't consume an area with the natural beauty of the Applachians.
It really would be sad to go over South Mountain and have light pollution.
Is this likely a lost cause or is it not going to be bad?

[VirginiaGal]

Hi bluecountry, I am no expert but have spent lots of time in Hagerstown throughout my life visiting grandparents and cousins, so I'll share my perceptions with you. The area is overall quite rural, and simply beautiful as you have said. There has been massive change in my lifetime (28 years), with new developments eating up large swaths of cornfield as fast as you can say McMansion. It is not particularly cosmopolitan, a noticeably different feel from the metro DC area, I think. It is quite a ways out; however, the developments and interstate traffic indicate that many, many folks seem to be signing up for the commute. My family and I have always been a bit mystified by this phenomenon, but perhaps it just comes down to housing prices. In terms of future predictions, I can't really say. I do worry but my general feeling is that Hagerstown and Washington County are still a ways away from being completely robbed of heart, soul, cows, and corn. I'm sure a native/current resident could offer more useful information to you, but that's my two cents.

[Shadozer]

My husband and I were just talking about this the other day!
1. Yes Hagerstown is still a pretty rural area.
2. Probly yes, possibly not.
3.Here's the reason....starts with D.C. Montgomery Co. is a suburb of dc and became very popular, but VERY expensive. Now there are many jobs in Mont Co and people no longer have to travel to dc for work. That's when so many moved up to Frederick which is a little further up from dc. That's been going on for awhile so meanwhile Frederick is getting bigger and like Montgomery co. it's getting more expensive. Now Frederick has it's own jobs and people are chosing to live in Hagerstown, which is cheaper as of now, and commute to Frederick for work.
4.Traffic on 70 has become pretty bad, but nothing compared to what it's like on 270 or 495. The closer to dc the worse. But as more and more people are moving outward for more affordable homes the worse it gets. That is my theory anyway, my husband says it's too far from dc and won't grow any farther than it has, but as Frederick gets more and more popular so will Hagerstown.

[bluecountry]

Thanks.

1) Are most of the commuters Frederick or Montgomery bound...not 70 mile DC/BAL bound?
2) Are the locals upset with the development and doing anything to stop it from being Loudon County?

[Shadozer]

1 yes
2 not sure

[endersshadow]

Originally Posted by Shadozer

4.Traffic on 70 has become pretty bad, but nothing compared to what it's like on 270 or 495. The closer to dc the worse. But as more and more people are moving outward for more affordable homes the worse it gets. That is my theory anyway, my husband says it's too far from dc and won't grow any farther than it has, but as Frederick gets more and more popular so will Hagerstown.

Lol, I agree with you while my dad would agree with your husband.

[rekuci]

I lived halfway between Frederick and Hagerstown in the '90s and my parents still live there. It has changed dramatically, and yes it is almost entirely the skyrocketing housing costs through the '00s that pushed commuters that far. Insane people commute into the DC area from even further out than Hagerstown, all the way out into PA and WV. In the '90s, Hagerstown was really the final frontier as far as a DC commute went, and there was very little development. The city was only a center of commerce for the immediate valley area. Valley Mall was an odd mix of rednecks and Mennonites. I-70 was uncrowded and the only time there was ever traffic was when a truck overturned.

Now it is full of developments and the commute seems very common, my former workplace just outside DC (inner suburbs) was able to fill up entire commuter vanpools from Hagerstown. Frederick used to be as far as most people were willing to go, but as previous poster mentioned it became expensive too, and upper Montgomery Co. now has a lot of jobs. And by the way, Baltimore is not really a factor (was still cheap until it also became a DC suburb, has a poorer post-industrial economy), it's nearly all DC commuters. The entire area is so built up now that it's unrecognizable to me when I visit. So it's hardly very rural anymore, although the kind of people who move out there want to believe it is. You could call it rural for MD.

However I think there is definitely a limit to the madness, as housing prices are unsustainable out there with current gas prices and the poor economy. The housing market has suffered quite badly in the "outer suburb" of Frederick. So I don't think it will get a lot worse than it already is, but who knows. The general attitude out there is very Republican and they are probably not too concerned about growth, but rather welcome it after decades of lean times. But the newcomers who want to live in their rural illusion undoubtedly want to limit growth after they contribute to it.

[pp0782]

All I can say is I moved from Hagerstown 21 years ago (to Tampa) and two weeks ago went back for a visit. It is truly beautiful and I am seriously considering a move back. It's much more laid back than Tampa, or other chaotic cities. My friends own Benny's Pub so if you're ever up that way again, stop in. It's a really friendly and fun place to eat and socialize! Peggy.....

[Merlander]

In my opinion it still feels rural, despite being a city. I don't think it'll become a Montgomery or Frederick County anytime soon, though.

As far as what they're doing about limiting growth, not much yet. I think Washington County welcomes development. Frederick Cnty was growing so fast they increased impact fees on developers, which slowed things down. At this point though, I think Wash Cnty still wants to grow.