Am I alone in hating Montgomery County? (Bethesda, Bowie: section 8, loans)

[adelphi_sky]

Originally Posted by tw71

We have a really high rate of high-school graduates receiving diplomas from MoCo schools (around 97%), so they certainly have that going for them.

Typo?

The four-year graduation rate for Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) has risen to 87.4 percent, according to data released by the Maryland State Department of Education on Wednesday (October 30). The MCPS graduation rate is 3.8 percentage points higher than the rate for the state of Maryland and rose 0.6 percentage points compared with last year. Over the past two years, the MCPS graduation rate has increased by 1.3 percentage points.

MCPS Public Announcements

[SmartPinkRose]

I lived in MoCounty for 13 years and now that I'm living in Texas, I don't know why/how I lived in such a racially segregated, mean spirited place for so long. My kid hated it so much that she was on track to graduate high school (Quince Orchard) one year early. But she decided to take her Senior year after we moved and is finally enjoying high school.

The ONLY saving grace I have for Maryland at all is that I lived in Bowie my last year in the state and THROUGHLY enjoyed the friendliness of the area among many other pluses.

For the record, I lived in the Kentlands and wouldn't suggest ANY people of color ever live there.

[tw71]

I'll preface this by saying I spend very little time in the District itself. As I posted, my job is in Bethesda, with only an occasional need to hop on the metro and go into DC itself, to a small, secondary office that's pretty self-sufficient.

I made an assumption about DC's Chinatown based on the types of places I observed on the streets, when I was at the convention center and had time to walk around there a bit. If that's completely incorrect -- I'll take your word for it.

As for the rest of what I was saying, I believe it was misunderstood. It's entirely possible to live in a city with a very diverse culture, yet at the same time, the things that make each of those cultures unique is preserved/held together by those people congregating in specific parts of town.

That's the way it works in many big cities! This isn't a case of advocating segregated drinking fountains. This is about saying (for example), "Everyone is accepted everywhere, but if you're Italian, there's a thriving community in the city of other Italians who can put the culture on display for everyone to enjoy." (By contrast, as a lone Italian chef who wants to start an Italian restaurant, you might otherwise get stuck just buying whatever affordable, empty space was on the market. Then, it's a lot tougher to convince people to come out to wherever you're at for good Italian food, especially if it's in some illogical place like the middle of a strip mall by some dry cleaners or fast food joint. If you have a whole Italian district to put it in, you have an easier time making it work. People already know the neighborhood is Italian and assume the food there will be authentic. It advertises itself, to an extent.)

Originally Posted by reiflame

He also seems to think that DC's Chinatown has actual Chinese people in it, so I wouldn't put too much weight in his opinions.

[AeroGuyDC]

//www.city-data.com/forum/washi...-stricken.html

[Eugene80]

Everywhere in the D.C. area, including MoCo, people don't have roots. Thus, there is no community. This is a very serious problem that kind of throws random people together who are very different ethnically/culturally.

I agree with what tw71 wrote. It's hard to live among various transplants who you have nothing in common with.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by Stew Pitt

-housing is absurdly expensive
Not as bad as in NOVA and other Northeastern cities, but bad for a state with nothing in it, like Maryland

-traffic is horrendous
Not as bad as NOVA or any other major metropolitan area; in fact, Maryland should have more traffic considering its location.

-jobs are hard to find
join the military or get a government job; besides, they are hard to find all over the world.

-stuck-up and spoiled bratty people
Maryland is full of angry people. It's the lack of anything to do.

-cold weather 7 months out of the year
Try living in Chicago!!!

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by John13

Not as packed or crowded as the venues you mentioned.
I never have a problem when going out for live music and I go fairly often.

I do not know how the local music scene compares to other Metro areas but there are plenty of indie or not so popular bands to see in the many venues in our area.

Here is a partial list of area music venues I have been to just in the last year or so:

The Birchmere - Alexandria, VA (my personal favorite)
Rams Head On Stage - Annapolis, MD (2nd favorite)
Rams Head Live - Baltimore, MD
The Ottobar - Baltimore, MD
9:30 Club - DC
The Black Cat - DC
Blues Alley - DC
The Filmore - Silver Spring, MD
IOTA's - Arlington, VA
Jammin' Java - Vienna, VA
The State Theatre - Falls Church, VA

There is also Constitution Hall and The Warner Theatre, both in DC and great places to see live music.

Bohemian Caverns-DC
Tivoli Theatre-DC
Howard Theater-DC
Lincoln Theater-DC
Verizon Center-DC (Hosts various music acts)
Patriot Center-Fairfax, VA (Hosts various music acts)
National Theater-DC
Arena Stage-DC

All of the aforementioned in your list and mine and many more are great venues that cater to international/national/local acts.

DC Armory is also home to the internationally-renowned Club Glow event for EDM-heads.

So far, the only ones I've been to are the Verizon Center and Constitution Hall. Great experiences with both.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by reiflame

Yes, yes, i know - and only 1 of those is in Montgomery County. The rest are a hassle to get to, although I make the trip because I really love live music. You can keep naming things all you like, but the reality of the matter is that the crowding is not just limited to music venues (although you seem really stuck on that) - try going to a wine festival here, or the museums, or cultural festivals, or anywhere outdoors - you cannot escape the crowds.

Perhaps it could be that you just don't like being around crowds and crowded areas period.

[David_J]

Originally Posted by Matty1

Cons:

-housing is absurdly expensive
-traffic is horrendous
-jobs are hard to find
-stuck-up and spoiled bratty people
-cold weather 7 months out of the year



Pros:

???????????

Where are you from? The first two points were valid even if exaggerated, but the rest are completely false.

[tcave360]

Originally Posted by Zimar

Q: When do you know that you have an overly developed sense of entitlement and have no idea what it's like to live in a country where people's liberties are actually limited?

A: When you consider a $0.05 bag tax and a red-light camera an erosion of your "liberties."