Gaithersburg friendly to outsiders? (Germantown: fit in, transplants, homes)

[missmandybeth]

Hello! My husband is considering an position in the Gaithersburg area. We are a family of 4 from Texas - children are 8 and 5. We are both college educated, physically active, and open minded. Before we make any decisions, we wonder what the atmosphere is in Gaithersburg. Are residents open to people from other areas? Are there preconceived ideas that will affect our daily interactions? Will we be able to find a "place" for our family? We are interested in giving our children (and ourselves!) a taste of a new place, something different, something new as they grow up. It's easy to get locked into a place (like Texas) and never find the impetus to leave!

Any thoughts you have on the area in general would be appreciated as well...schools, churches, neighborhoods, vibe, etc. We're looking for a family friendly, open, friendly area with lots of opportunities for our family to be active and to learn.

Thanks so much!

[Fundman]

Gaithersburg is a nice city, but it is really just your standard generic upper middle income suburb of housing developments and shopping centers. Most people who live there moved to the area from somewhere else so there is no sense of identity or culture. I wouldn't worry for one second about being an outsider or trying to "fit in" since there isn't any norm to fit in to.

[Lubina]

Gaithersburg is whatever you want it to be. Its not that there's no identity or culture. There's no one identity or culture. The kinds of places that have them are homogenouse (one race, one religion, similar income levels, political affiliation, language spoken). In Gburg there are dozens of cultures, income levels and not one is prevalent. It's often a critique of DC. People say there is no culture or it's blah unlike Phili or NY (in other threads it's been suggested that there is little or no "white" culture in DC hence the complaint that there is no culture, but that's another argument). Truth is there is a variety and if people are only used to exactly what they had from where they came from and when they come here they don't find it, they say it's boring. If you don't step outside your comfort zone, it will be boring or blah.
It's not so much neighborhoods as developments. For family friendly stick to single family home developments. Old Town is trying to rehab itself but it will take awhile and there isn't a lot there at the moment. If you like old architecture there are some beautiful homes there. Kentlands, a planned community is on the pricier side but offers restaurants, shops and movies as well as homes, but it's not the end all be all. Gaithersburg is spread out. Some parts are planned nicely, others are random and headscratching in terms of residential and commercial placement. You will want to take your time and look around to find what you want.

[goldenage1]

Originally Posted by missmandybeth

We are interested in giving our children (and ourselves!) a taste of a new place, something different, something new as they grow up.

Among the few places left of the "old" Gaithersburg is the Montgomery County fairgrounds and the area around Old Town. If you get here, take the kids to the County Fair to see the chickens, sheep and cows that they used to farm. There are still some apple orchards left in the county where they sell them by the peck from a farm stand.

There are many different ethnic groups in the area. I'd take the kids to some of the more unusual restaurants, like the Ethiopian ones, where you can wrap your food in big sour-dough pancakes.

Otherwise, it is just ordinary suburbia, as most have said. You would find good schools, Scout troops, any kind of church or temple you want, places to hike and ice-skate, etc.

[phoenixmike11]

like fundman said-it seems like a typical suburb to me as well -- there are are so many transplants in the DC area you should have no problem fitting in--a good way to meet people in a new area is to join the local college alumni club

i dont know where u went to college or if u went to college at all but there are college alumni clubs from all over the usa in the dc area with all the transplants there such as
Texas Exes - University of Texas Alumni Association
for what its worth-
Maryland scores big in Best Places to Live rankings - Rosenwald, Md. - The Washington Post
gaithersburg ranks 23, germantown (right by gaithersburg is 24)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaithersburg,_Maryland

[rsh56]

As mentioned, its typical suburbia, lots of good to decent areas. You'll be no different given the diverse demographic.


I believe the County Fair has already ended.

[navygirl7]

We relocated to Germantown from the Midwest. Zero problems fitting in. Most people aren't from here - moved here for jobs, so everyone has a different background and everyone is different. People are friendly enough. Not super friendly but also not unfriendly. We're all here mostly for employment and trying to avoid the rat race of traffic and stress as much as the next guy.

It's not Mayberry anywhere in the DC region. But it's a blend of people and a very interesting place to live.