Oh, Maryland, what happened to you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s still a solid place to raise a family if you are undocumented though. In-state tuition and generous financial aid are big draws.

Montgomery County set out to attract undocumented immigrants. And the county has been largely successful at that task. We take in undocumented workers from all over the globe. That has led to huge changes in the county as a whole - affects schools, neighborhoods, everything.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in Bethesda and made my way over to Virginia after college due to better work prospects in Virginia. My parents finally left Maryland a few years ago and we don’t go back often. I traveled to Bethesda and Rockville yesterday for the first time in about a year. What struck me the most:

-panhandlers at every side of all the major intersections. I’m shocked Montgomery county allows that.

-why on earth did they take 1/3 of a major artery (Old Georgetown Road) and close it off for bike traffic? Want to know how may bicyclists I saw using that section of the road? Exactly zero.

-I almost hit two pedestrians in two completely different areas who stepped in front of my car in the middle of the block when they were looking at their phones. Neither of them ever seemed to even notice I was there.

-I also almost got hit four separate times by people either pulling into traffic from the side streets without caring if it was clear, or realizing they wanted to turn at the next intersection when they were several lanes over.

Is it entitlement? Or do people in Maryland just tend to have their heads up their rears? I couldn’t figure it out but the vibe there is so different than it was when I was growing up there (in the 70’s and 80’s) and so different from Virginia. How do people stomach living there these days?

Yeah I’m sure all of this happened in your one day in Maryland.

I live in Rockville and frequent Bethesda and the surrounding areas. Today on Rockville Pike was the first time I have seen a panhandler in a while.

I see panhandlers in Montgomery county. Who doesn’t see them? Just saw one today with sign saying he had 2 children off of Democracy near the high school.

This! There are panhandlers all over MoCo. Georgia Ave, 355, Germantown. I commute a good deal and see at least several panhandlers daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:my old middle school in MD has like 7% of students passing some standards. This is MoCo. my goodness.

MCPS is a full-fledged disaster. Across the board, students are not meeting proficiency requirements.

[Anonymous]

OP the dc metro area lacks charm but the worst area is northern Virginia. I live in Maryland and to me, Virginia is an eyesore.