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The biggest problem with MoCo is it's lack of economic growth. It basically fully matured into a bedroom suburb of Washington, DC by the 1980s and has pretty much stagnated from there. The business taxes in Maryland are higher than the Virginia side so companies have been selecting Northern Virginia time and time again for over a generation now and it's been starting to catch up with the jurisdiction. It used to look down on Northern Virginia as the "redneck" suburbs, for a generation between the 1980s and 2000s it saw itself as Northern Virginia's peer, now it's just falling behind. MoCo has experienced healthy population growth mostly thanks to floods of Latin American immigration (legal and illegal) but otherwise has not seen the explosive level of economic and population growth seen on the other side of the river and instead has evolved into largely into a county of haves/have nots with I-270 being the dividing line outside of the Beltway. The inner suburbs of Bethesda and downtown Silver Spring and Takoma Park have benefitted largely from the housing pressures building up in DC and flowing out into the suburbs, revitalizing and modernizing tired old suburbs but also making them more and more inaccessible to all but the wealthiest citizens and investors. I would like to see it turn around and rebalance some of the economic vitality in the region and help improve the traffic in Northern Virginia by dispersing the job centers more. However, the political culture in MoCo has become largely as calcified and intractable as its economic prospects. It would take a good deal of political courage, will and imagination to break those cycles and that stranglehold.
Prince George's County is on the up and up largely because it has so much room to grow. After World War II when the DC area blossomed into a modern major metropolitan region from a forgotten Southern backwater PG County was at first the area where many working-class whites in the trades settled and bought their first homes. As African-Americans of means started finding their way out of the city into the suburbs en masse after the 1968 riots PG County was the landing spot for many, if not most of these residents. As secondary suburban white flight took hold, whites dispersed out of the area out to Anne Arundel County, southern Maryland and outside of the region these African-American families started to move in. By the 1980s when the crack epidemic exploded African-Americans started fleeing the city and landing in PG County, with the poorer residents settling in smaller, older housing and apartment stock inside the Beltway and wealthier African-Americans settling in new McMansion subdivisions built on former farmland outside of the Beltway. PG County's economic base was centered around shipping, distribution centers, light industry and other blue collar fields. PG County's political culture became mired in corruption and hidebound backroom dealing. Only now in the past 10-20 years as land near DC has grown scarce and housing pressures are ready to burst have people looked more carefully at PG County, particularly in areas around a growing and improving University of Maryland, around gleaming new National Harbor and around repurposed Largo around the old Capital Centre and near FedEx Field. There's still a lot of work to do on the schools, on the police, on the county boards and the infrastructure in general. However, there seems to be more new ideas coming out of PG and more political energy to enact them. It's hard to know where it goes from here but the future seems brighter than the past.
tl;dr- Montgomery County now, Prince George's County later.
Sheesh nice analysis +1. It seems like this wasn't looked at deeply enough when comparing both counties in the state. I will say though I have noticed a lot of people moving into certain parts of inner PG county. Infrastructure and schools I will say are two areas that are going to be have to be seriously rectified if PG is going to keep up this trajectory.
As for MoCo, economically it's dug itself into a hole when it comes to attracting business.
Not everything east of I-270 outside the beltway is bad in MoCo. Olney, Sandy Spring, Spencerville and most of east Rockville are quite nice if not out right rich.
Actually, if you look at the school ratings, property values, and retail shopping opportunities when comparing west of I-270 vs east, you will be surprised at how drastically different it is. You mentioned Olney and Sandy Spring, but when you compare those two to a city like Gaithersburg, it's like comparing Iowa to Connecticut.
Actually, if you look at the school ratings, property values, and retail shopping opportunities when comparing west of I-270 vs east, you will be surprised at how drastically different it is. You mentioned Olney and Sandy Spring, but when you compare those two to a city like Gaithersburg, it's like comparing Iowa to Connecticut.
Wait, what? Your example is backwards. Gaithersburg has far more poverty than Olney and Gaithersburg HS is one of the worst rated schools in the county. Gaithersburg has some upper middle class neighborhoods west of 270 (Kentlands/Lakelands, etc.), but on average Olney is a substantially wealthier area ($139K median HHI v. $86K for Gaithersburg).
Location: That star on your map in the middle of the East Coast, DMV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikeyo321
The biggest problem with MoCo is it's lack of economic growth. It basically fully matured into a bedroom suburb of Washington, DC by the 1980s and has pretty much stagnated from there. The business taxes in Maryland are higher than the Virginia side so companies have been selecting Northern Virginia time and time again for over a generation now and it's been starting to catch up with the jurisdiction. It used to look down on Northern Virginia as the "redneck" suburbs, for a generation between the 1980s and 2000s it saw itself as Northern Virginia's peer, now it's just falling behind. MoCo has experienced healthy population growth mostly thanks to floods of Latin American immigration (legal and illegal) but otherwise has not seen the explosive level of economic and population growth seen on the other side of the river and instead has evolved into largely into a county of haves/have nots with I-270 being the dividing line outside of the Beltway. The inner suburbs of Bethesda and downtown Silver Spring and Takoma Park have benefitted largely from the housing pressures building up in DC and flowing out into the suburbs, revitalizing and modernizing tired old suburbs but also making them more and more inaccessible to all but the wealthiest citizens and investors. I would like to see it turn around and rebalance some of the economic vitality in the region and help improve the traffic in Northern Virginia by dispersing the job centers more. However, the political culture in MoCo has become largely as calcified and intractable as its economic prospects. It would take a good deal of political courage, will and imagination to break those cycles and that stranglehold.
Prince George's County is on the up and up largely because it has so much room to grow. After World War II when the DC area blossomed into a modern major metropolitan region from a forgotten Southern backwater PG County was at first the area where many working-class whites in the trades settled and bought their first homes. As African-Americans of means started finding their way out of the city into the suburbs en masse after the 1968 riots PG County was the landing spot for many, if not most of these residents. As secondary suburban white flight took hold, whites dispersed out of the area out to Anne Arundel County, southern Maryland and outside of the region these African-American families started to move in. By the 1980s when the crack epidemic exploded African-Americans started fleeing the city and landing in PG County, with the poorer residents settling in smaller, older housing and apartment stock inside the Beltway and wealthier African-Americans settling in new McMansion subdivisions built on former farmland outside of the Beltway. PG County's economic base was centered around shipping, distribution centers, light industry and other blue collar fields. PG County's political culture became mired in corruption and hidebound backroom dealing. Only now in the past 10-20 years as land near DC has grown scarce and housing pressures are ready to burst have people looked more carefully at PG County, particularly in areas around a growing and improving University of Maryland, around gleaming new National Harbor and around repurposed Largo around the old Capital Centre and near FedEx Field. There's still a lot of work to do on the schools, on the police, on the county boards and the infrastructure in general. However, there seems to be more new ideas coming out of PG and more political energy to enact them. It's hard to know where it goes from here but the future seems brighter than the past.
tl;dr- Montgomery County now, Prince George's County later.
PG is way way way more of a bedroom suburb than MoCo, and MoCo definitely didn't begin to stagnate after the 80's. I'd say the stagnation began over the last 10 years or so, and yes MoCo's schools are just way better than PG, and I'm from Prince George's. MoCo still has the better urban nodes, but PG is finally putting some emphasis there. Purple Line will help both counties tremendously, and PG still boasts the state's flagship university.
Last edited by the resident09; 02-06-2020 at 06:47 PM..
Wait, what? Your example is backwards. Gaithersburg has far more poverty than Olney and Gaithersburg HS is one of the worst rated schools in the county. Gaithersburg has some upper middle class neighborhoods west of 270 (Kentlands/Lakelands, etc.), but on average Olney is a substantially wealthier area ($139K median HHI v. $86K for Gaithersburg).
Gaithersburg is very large. My house with a Gaithersburg address is in the Quince Orchard school district. My I have friends with a Gaithersburg address and their in the Wooton school district. All of Laytonsville, which is right next to Olney, is in the Gaithersburg school district.
I think you are comparing the city of Gaithersburg to the town of Olney. Gaithersburg is actually bigger the the City of Gaithersburg.
Gaithersburg is very large. My house with a Gaithersburg address is in the Quince Orchard school district. My I have friends with a Gaithersburg address and their in the Wooton school district. All of Laytonsville, which is right next to Olney, is in the Gaithersburg school district.
I think you are comparing the city of Gaithersburg to the town of Olney. Gaithersburg is actually bigger the the City of Gaithersburg.
No offense, but that's complete nonsense. Gaithersburg has defined borders, but if you go by accepted postal address instead the average HHI goes DOWN not up (are you forgetting about all of Montgomery Village when making that argument?). Gaithersburg and Olney are not even remotely comparable areas when it comes to average home value or income levels. I'd far prefer to live in (certain parts of) Gaithersburg, personally, but that doesn't change those facts.
As crazy as it sounds, Montgomery County does not have the best highway system. If 270 and 200 are jammed, you’re screwed in Montgomery County. PG County as well as Anne Arundel have more highways that connect you to Baltimore Annapolis and DC. Montgomery County is weird because you’re dependent mostly on 270 to go to DC or 200 to come across into Baltimore area. Annapolis is way far from Montgomery Co but close to PG.
MoCo is big and has large differences within itself. Areas within the Beltway feels like an extension of DC. Gaithersburg is very different from Potomac, and Wheaton is different from Rockville. Even inside the Beltway, downtown Bethesda is very different from downtown Silver Spring. I think there’s something for everyone.
As crazy as it sounds, Montgomery County does not have the best highway system. If 270 and 200 are jammed, you’re screwed in Montgomery County. PG County as well as Anne Arundel have more highways that connect you to Baltimore Annapolis and DC. Montgomery County is weird because you’re dependent mostly on 270 to go to DC or 200 to come across into Baltimore area. Annapolis is way far from Montgomery Co but close to PG.
There are other routes to get to Baltimore, but they are jam-packed full of traffic too.
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