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Washington, DC suburbs in Maryland Calvert County, Charles County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County
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Old 01-29-2010, 01:36 PM
 
5,125 posts, read 10,040,101 times
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So - looks like Montgomery County spent a lot of money to come up with a study comparing itself to Fairfax County, Virginia:

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/co...pdf/2010-5.pdf

Seems like the study confirms what most of us knew already: they are both attractive jurisdictions; Fairfax has lots more jobs and Montgomery has more green space. Fairfax has lower taxes and Montgomery spends more on its students. The average worker in Fairfax has a shorter commute, but more Montgomery residents use public transit. And so on.

It seems to confirm what I've long noticed, which is that Montgomery spends a lot more time worrying about how it stacks up against Fairfax than Fairfax does thinking about Montgomery.

How do people in Montgomery feel about having their tax dollars go to support studies of this nature? Will it lead to tangible improvements in the quality of life in Montgomery in the future? Or will it just be used by local politicians to defend their past decisions ("Yes, we have higher taxes, but they support our schools and we have better public transit").

 
Old 01-29-2010, 01:47 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JEB77 View Post
It seems to confirm what I've long noticed, which is that Montgomery spends a lot more time worrying about how it stacks up against Fairfax than Fairfax does thinking about Montgomery.
I think part of it has to do with them being the two big counties of the entire metro engaging in (at times healthy)competition, which eventually turned into some petty Maryland vs. Virginia contest, and part of it having to do with Montgomery County and Maryland knowing that Fairfax County and Virginia has the advantage over them in certain areas -- though some Marylanders would never, ever admit to it and look at Virginia as being some kind of backwater, while Virginians could care less as they continue to prosper.
 
Old 01-29-2010, 01:50 PM
 
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And also possessing the knowledge that Arlington & Fairfax > Montgomery & PG.
 
Old 01-30-2010, 12:46 PM
 
Location: Silver Spring,Maryland
884 posts, read 2,633,140 times
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Moco does some pretty stupid things overall. Our county has a larger portion with borderline schools, MS-13 gangs,crime and areas that draw crime (the East part of Moco).
Maryland has Moco and Howard that can compete w VA. Va is way to congested for my taste.
 
Old 01-30-2010, 02:15 PM
 
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Only thing Maryland has going for it in the DC area is Southern Maryland. Hopefully they don't screw that up. Montgomery & Prince George's are attempting to reinvent themselves, but at the moment:

Fairfax/Alexandria/Arlington > Montgomery, Prince George's

Loudon > Frederick

Howard/Anne Arundel > Prince William/Fauquier

Charles/Calvert > Stafford/Spotsylvania
 
Old 01-30-2010, 03:08 PM
 
142 posts, read 248,637 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KeyserSoze View Post
Only thing Maryland has going for it in the DC area is Southern Maryland. Hopefully they don't screw that up. Montgomery & Prince George's are attempting to reinvent themselves, but at the moment:

Fairfax/Alexandria/Arlington > Montgomery, Prince George's

Loudon > Frederick

Howard/Anne Arundel > Prince William/Fauquier

Charles/Calvert > Stafford/Spotsylvania
You forgot the "IMO"
 
Old 01-30-2010, 03:57 PM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dredre View Post
You forgot the "IMO"
Please explain why Montgomery feels the need to compare itself to Fairfax, when Fairfax isn't doing the same to Montgomery, why people are leaving Montgomery & PG for Southern Maryland and the Virginia suburbs, and why PG & Montgomery are having trouble attracting people to this particular area of the metro.
 
Old 01-30-2010, 05:21 PM
 
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PG has a crime & "image problem"(codeword for "too many blacks" for bigots). Montgomery is incompetent -- they're unable to get anything in their county done that doesn't involve making things inconvenient for their residents, like believing that charging an arm and a leg for everything that's supposed to make everyone's lives easier is a good idea, which it isn't, resulting in little to no progress. Nothing against Frederick, but Loudon is closer, and has Dulles. What is Maryland's loss is Virginia's gain. Montgomery's inferiority complex towards Fairfax only confirms this. Not opinion, but fact. Thanks for embarassing us, Montgomery.

I agree with the poster who said that Howard would be a better competitor with Fairfax. But we don't see Howard wasting valuable money to compare themselves in a glorified penis-measuring contest out of spite and feelings of inadequacy with a county within their own metro-region, do we?
 
Old 01-30-2010, 06:27 PM
 
Location: Bethesda, MD
658 posts, read 1,779,435 times
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Oh great, yet another Va versus Md thread, seriously can't we just all get along?

Regarding the study, I have no idea that actual cost of this but a good deal of information is available from skimming the county websites or Wikipedia, so one hand it could be argued that this study provided no real benefit but conversely, it could be argued that it's important to see what your neighbor across the river is doing.

At the end of the day both have their share of good and bad. Fairfax has more jobs with a solid economic council and lower taxes but also has more congestion and traffic, is slashing it's school budget so far as possibly eliminating sports programs and had no walkable downtown whatsoever. There's no such thing as a perfect location.

I've been looking in Fairfax, Arlington and MoCo for houses and for my price range I've yet to find anything a place in VA with some character in a decent location that has convinced me to move there.
 
Old 01-30-2010, 07:22 PM
 
5,125 posts, read 10,040,101 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TrippingJay View Post
Oh great, yet another Va versus Md thread, seriously can't we just all get along?

Regarding the study, I have no idea that actual cost of this but a good deal of information is available from skimming the county websites or Wikipedia, so one hand it could be argued that this study provided no real benefit but conversely, it could be argued that it's important to see what your neighbor across the river is doing.

At the end of the day both have their share of good and bad. Fairfax has more jobs with a solid economic council and lower taxes but also has more congestion and traffic, is slashing it's school budget so far as possibly eliminating sports programs and had no walkable downtown whatsoever. There's no such thing as a perfect location.

I've been looking in Fairfax, Arlington and MoCo for houses and for my price range I've yet to find anything a place in VA with some character in a decent location that has convinced me to move there.
I'd think that a lot of people who follow this forum are interested in data, so in that sense it's certainly interesting that MoCo was prepared to spend the money to assemble the information. Those of us in Fairfax interested in such information essentially get a free comparative study courtesy of the Maryland taxpayers.

And that's the heart of my question - not whether one jurisdiction is "better" than the other, which is too crude and silly a question to pose, but instead whether those who paid for the study actually feel that it's money well spent, or instead whether it's serving someone's own political agenda (i.e, a politician who wants ammunition to cut taxes in Maryland by citing the lower taxes and larger job base in Fairfax, a business group that wants to attract business to MoCo by advancing the argument that it's less congested than Fairfax, etc.). No one really seems to have a view on that question.

I do wonder what type of housing are you trying to find and what you consider a "decent location"? Certainly most of Bethesda has considerably higher housing costs than most of NoVa.

Last edited by JD984; 01-30-2010 at 08:00 PM..
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