Montgomery County - What Happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

You should check out the demographics for MVHS. See, I can cherry pick schools too.

[Anonymous]

NoVa looks third world. Areas like Tysons and Arlington seem like they have no zoning, just a chaotic mix of huge highways and random development. And to get almost anywhere in Nova, you're subjected to toll roads on privatized highways that were sold out to the highest bidder.

And now, the good times are ending for Virginia and taxes are going up:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/02/virginia-budget-taxes-spanberger-youngkin/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

You should check out the demographics for MVHS. See, I can cherry pick schools too.

Everything I said is true, and MVHS’s demographics don’t contradict a word of what I said — you’re just nitpicking to bicker. MVHS pulls from both sides of the highway. Waynewood ES demographics is what you get if you only pull from a few blocks from the highway, to the water. It’s the only example of such a school, but if there were another ES similar to Waynewood geographically, but in Mount Vernon, it would be the exact same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

You should check out the demographics for MVHS. See, I can cherry pick schools too.

Everything I said is true, and MVHS’s demographics don’t contradict a word of what I said — you’re just nitpicking to bicker. MVHS pulls from both sides of the highway. Waynewood ES demographics is what you get if you only pull from a few blocks from the highway, to the water. It’s the only example of such a school, but if there were another ES similar to Waynewood geographically, but in Mount Vernon, it would be the exact same.

So, your argument is that Mount Vernon is segregated, but the reality is that's only Waynewood ES. If you had made your argument about Fort Hunt road, I would agree with you. Anything within a few miles of Route 1 isn't 90% white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NoVa looks third world. Areas like Tysons and Arlington seem like they have no zoning, just a chaotic mix of huge highways and random development. And to get almost anywhere in Nova, you're subjected to toll roads on privatized highways that were sold out to the highest bidder.

And now, the good times are ending for Virginia and taxes are going up:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/02/virginia-budget-taxes-spanberger-youngkin/

I am not aware of any place around here that isn't a chaotic mix of highways. If you are claiming MoCo doesn't have this problem, you don't drive anywhere.

With Democrats in charge of the legislature and executive, it's certain that down state is going to turn to the piggy bank that is NoVA to fund their little schemes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NoVa looks third world. Areas like Tysons and Arlington seem like they have no zoning, just a chaotic mix of huge highways and random development. And to get almost anywhere in Nova, you're subjected to toll roads on privatized highways that were sold out to the highest bidder.

And now, the good times are ending for Virginia and taxes are going up:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/02/virginia-budget-taxes-spanberger-youngkin/

I am not aware of any place around here that isn't a chaotic mix of highways. If you are claiming MoCo doesn't have this problem, you don't drive anywhere.

With Democrats in charge of the legislature and executive, it's certain that down state is going to turn to the piggy bank that is NoVA to fund their little schemes.

The roads are legitimately the worst part of Nova. MoCo is a far better driving experience. No comparison at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

You should check out the demographics for MVHS. See, I can cherry pick schools too.

Everything I said is true, and MVHS’s demographics don’t contradict a word of what I said — you’re just nitpicking to bicker. MVHS pulls from both sides of the highway. Waynewood ES demographics is what you get if you only pull from a few blocks from the highway, to the water. It’s the only example of such a school, but if there were another ES similar to Waynewood geographically, but in Mount Vernon, it would be the exact same.

So, your argument is that Mount Vernon is segregated, but the reality is that's only Waynewood ES. If you had made your argument about Fort Hunt road, I would agree with you. Anything within a few miles of Route 1 isn't 90% white.

Are you disagreeing with the statement that both Mount Vernon, and Fort Hunt from the water to a few blocks of Richmond Highway are 90% white?

Do you understand the concept of an ES pulling from two segregated areas, which makes the school diverse but the areas are still segregated. That’s what is happening with each and every ES on the water side of Richmond Highway other than Waynewod. Stratford for instance — it’s in the whitest possible area, just as white as Waynewood, but because it pulls from some apartment complexes on Richmond Highway does it appears diverse. Belle View — same thing.

At the end of the day, people who know the area know exactly what I’m talking about — 22309 as a whole is diverse on paper, but it’s still as if decades old levels of segregation is going on down there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

Yes, there's.
Most of NoVa is a concrete jungle, developments with no charms, no characters and aesthetic.
Look at Arlington, millions dollar homes but it's fugly.

Much of Arlington looks like Bethesda; the dowdier parts look like Silver Spring.

MoCo defenders only insult themselves when they criticize Arlington.

Silver spring looks like bethesda. It’s the demographics that people react to. Plain old racism.

That's kind of funny. AI says this about Bethesda:

In Bethesda, Maryland, as of the 2020 census, the racial composition was approximately 69.5% White, 8.9% Hispanic or Latino, 4.9% Black or African American, 11.7% Asian, and 8.2% identified as two or more races. The area is known for its diversity, with a diversity score of 94 out of 100.

In this area, I wouldn't call those numbers particularly diverse, being well below national averages. Here's the city of Alexandria:

As of 2023, Alexandria, VA has a diverse population with the largest ethnic groups being White (Non-Hispanic) at 49.6%, Black or African American (Non-Hispanic) at 20.7%, and Hispanic individuals making up about 18.2% of the population. The city also includes Asian residents at 6.24% and those identifying as Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) at 7.26%.

In my ugly part of NoVA,

Mount Vernon, Virginia, has a diverse racial composition, with approximately 58.5% White, 16.9% Black or African American, 7.2% Asian, and 3.8% from other races as of 2025. The area also has a significant Hispanic population, making up about 18.2% of the residents.

Bethesda sure has the hype machine running about diversity.

I have a house in Mount Vernon and am a huge fan, however saying Mount Vernon is diverse is a big LOL. I literally cannot think of a more racially segregated place in the DMV other than Mount Vernon / Fort Hunt. Anything from Richmond hwy to the water is upwards of 90% white — almost no Asians, or Indians even as with other parts of NoVa. Look up the demographics of Waynewood ES for fun. Then the highway itself and the other side of the highway is Hispanic and black. The zip code demographics are very very misleading.

You should check out the demographics for MVHS. See, I can cherry pick schools too.

Everything I said is true, and MVHS’s demographics don’t contradict a word of what I said — you’re just nitpicking to bicker. MVHS pulls from both sides of the highway. Waynewood ES demographics is what you get if you only pull from a few blocks from the highway, to the water. It’s the only example of such a school, but if there were another ES similar to Waynewood geographically, but in Mount Vernon, it would be the exact same.

So, your argument is that Mount Vernon is segregated, but the reality is that's only Waynewood ES. If you had made your argument about Fort Hunt road, I would agree with you. Anything within a few miles of Route 1 isn't 90% white.

Are you disagreeing with the statement that both Mount Vernon, and Fort Hunt from the water to a few blocks of Richmond Highway are 90% white?

Do you understand the concept of an ES pulling from two segregated areas, which makes the school diverse but the areas are still segregated. That’s what is happening with each and every ES on the water side of Richmond Highway other than Waynewod. Stratford for instance — it’s in the whitest possible area, just as white as Waynewood, but because it pulls from some apartment complexes on Richmond Highway does it appears diverse. Belle View — same thing.

At the end of the day, people who know the area know exactly what I’m talking about — 22309 as a whole is diverse on paper, but it’s still as if decades old levels of segregation is going on down there.

Yeah, I don't see it. We don't shop, dine, or go to the gym in different locations to avoid the "diversity." Perhaps that's because I live along Route 1 and not next to the Potomac.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NoVa looks third world. Areas like Tysons and Arlington seem like they have no zoning, just a chaotic mix of huge highways and random development. And to get almost anywhere in Nova, you're subjected to toll roads on privatized highways that were sold out to the highest bidder.

And now, the good times are ending for Virginia and taxes are going up:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/12/02/virginia-budget-taxes-spanberger-youngkin/

I am not aware of any place around here that isn't a chaotic mix of highways. If you are claiming MoCo doesn't have this problem, you don't drive anywhere.

With Democrats in charge of the legislature and executive, it's certain that down state is going to turn to the piggy bank that is NoVA to fund their little schemes.

The roads are legitimately the worst part of Nova. MoCo is a far better driving experience. No comparison at all.

Other than the Maryland drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

You keep insisting that those who disagree with you are acting in "bad faith." This is an extremely poor debating technique because it signals that you don't want to have a real debate on the merits and instead want to just focus on motives.

Lots of people choose MoCo because they believe it is prettier (including me), and if you don't see that, it's fine -- you just have a different opinion. And if you think Gaithersburg, Rockville, and SS only have strip malls, then that just reveals that you haven't visited those areas -- including downtown Silver Spring, Rockville Town Square, Pike & Rose, Kentlands, Downtown Crown, and the Rio. We get it, you prefer Nova. But if you want to opine about MoCo, please make sure it's factual.

Trying to change the subject is acting in bad faith.

Reminder of the topic: Montgomery County had the highest median family income out of any county in America ...
Now it’s ranked 20th... What has changed since the 1980s and can it change course?

Well, one huge factor is the growth of military contractors in Virginia. Take out that one —huge, significant— piece and everything changes. As far as comparisons go, MoCo doesn’t have anything like Old Town , but Montgomery County also peaked earlier with factors that matter to me — like racially integrated neighborhoods and schools. I’ve been living here long enough to appreciate that. I also don’t see it as a competition. There are similarities and there are differences. Pick the best fit.

I'm also from moco and also don't see it as a competition. We all gain more from cooperation. For example we need an outerloop, or at least a connection across the Potomac further north. I think they should do a tunnel that connect rt 28 in MD to rt 28 in VA. We need a train out to BWI. And we need tax incentives for sci/tech. I don't think moco works as a bedroom community due to the geography of the Potomac river.

Huh? MARC and Amtrak both have BWI stops. Are you thinking Metro? A Virginia commuter train? Something else?

How would you suggest using MARC or Amtrak to get to BWI from MoCo?

NP. Red line to Union station, then Amtrak or Marc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Montgomery County had the highest median family income out of any county in America with more than 20,000 residents in the 1980s. It was close to the top in the 70s as well.

Now it’s ranked 20th, with 5 counties in NoVa in front of it. What has changed since the 1980s and can it change course?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/03/21/which-is-richerfairfax-and-montgomery-lead-census-bureaus-list-of-wealthiest-large-counties/48976a8b-e4cf-4aac-8c4b-a3bd43d10c92/

Fairfax and Montgomery counties, the Washington area's two most affluent suburbs, are also the two richest large counties in the nation, according to a new compilation of data by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Four county equivalents called boroughs in oil-rich and high-priced Alaska have even higher median household incomes, the bureau said, but none of them has more than 20,000 residents. The highest is Bristol Bay, Alaska--median income $33,516, population 1,094.

The rankings, published in the Census Bureau's new County and City Data Book, come from the 1980 census.
Fairfax and Montgomery were also at the top of the county income heap in the 1970 census. At that time, the rankings were compiled according to median family income and placed Montgomery slightly ahead of Fairfax.

In the new data, incomes are given for households, including not only families, which the census defines as married couples and their children living at home, but also unmarried couples, roommates and singles.

By this reckoning the median household income for Fairfax is $30,011, more than a thousand dollars above the $28,987 reported for Montgomery. However, Montgomery is still slightly ahead of Fairfax in median family income, $33,702 to $33,173

Montgomery County made it a priority to recruit the poor from other countries.

And to pander to developers who want to refine single family home neighborhoods for profit but cloak it as “attainable housing”. Thanks to Natali Fani-Gonzalez and Andrew Friedson.

As soon as my kids graduate from HS I’m out of here. And even our schools suck now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

You keep insisting that those who disagree with you are acting in "bad faith." This is an extremely poor debating technique because it signals that you don't want to have a real debate on the merits and instead want to just focus on motives.

Lots of people choose MoCo because they believe it is prettier (including me), and if you don't see that, it's fine -- you just have a different opinion. And if you think Gaithersburg, Rockville, and SS only have strip malls, then that just reveals that you haven't visited those areas -- including downtown Silver Spring, Rockville Town Square, Pike & Rose, Kentlands, Downtown Crown, and the Rio. We get it, you prefer Nova. But if you want to opine about MoCo, please make sure it's factual.

Trying to change the subject is acting in bad faith.

Reminder of the topic: Montgomery County had the highest median family income out of any county in America ...
Now it’s ranked 20th... What has changed since the 1980s and can it change course?

Well, one huge factor is the growth of military contractors in Virginia. Take out that one —huge, significant— piece and everything changes. As far as comparisons go, MoCo doesn’t have anything like Old Town , but Montgomery County also peaked earlier with factors that matter to me — like racially integrated neighborhoods and schools. I’ve been living here long enough to appreciate that. I also don’t see it as a competition. There are similarities and there are differences. Pick the best fit.

I'm also from moco and also don't see it as a competition. We all gain more from cooperation. For example we need an outerloop, or at least a connection across the Potomac further north. I think they should do a tunnel that connect rt 28 in MD to rt 28 in VA. We need a train out to BWI. And we need tax incentives for sci/tech. I don't think moco works as a bedroom community due to the geography of the Potomac river.

Huh? MARC and Amtrak both have BWI stops. Are you thinking Metro? A Virginia commuter train? Something else?

How would you suggest using MARC or Amtrak to get to BWI from MoCo?

NP. Red line to Union station, then Amtrak or Marc.

why would I do that rather than use the BWI shuttle?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

You keep insisting that those who disagree with you are acting in "bad faith." This is an extremely poor debating technique because it signals that you don't want to have a real debate on the merits and instead want to just focus on motives.

Lots of people choose MoCo because they believe it is prettier (including me), and if you don't see that, it's fine -- you just have a different opinion. And if you think Gaithersburg, Rockville, and SS only have strip malls, then that just reveals that you haven't visited those areas -- including downtown Silver Spring, Rockville Town Square, Pike & Rose, Kentlands, Downtown Crown, and the Rio. We get it, you prefer Nova. But if you want to opine about MoCo, please make sure it's factual.

Trying to change the subject is acting in bad faith.

Reminder of the topic: Montgomery County had the highest median family income out of any county in America ...
Now it’s ranked 20th... What has changed since the 1980s and can it change course?

Well, one huge factor is the growth of military contractors in Virginia. Take out that one —huge, significant— piece and everything changes. As far as comparisons go, MoCo doesn’t have anything like Old Town , but Montgomery County also peaked earlier with factors that matter to me — like racially integrated neighborhoods and schools. I’ve been living here long enough to appreciate that. I also don’t see it as a competition. There are similarities and there are differences. Pick the best fit.

I'm also from moco and also don't see it as a competition. We all gain more from cooperation. For example we need an outerloop, or at least a connection across the Potomac further north. I think they should do a tunnel that connect rt 28 in MD to rt 28 in VA. We need a train out to BWI. And we need tax incentives for sci/tech. I don't think moco works as a bedroom community due to the geography of the Potomac river.

Huh? MARC and Amtrak both have BWI stops. Are you thinking Metro? A Virginia commuter train? Something else?

How would you suggest using MARC or Amtrak to get to BWI from MoCo?

NP. Red line to Union station, then Amtrak or Marc.

So not a real option for people in Montgomery County at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I guess people on this board don't care about health care and life sciences jobs?

https://governor.maryland.gov/news/press/pages/Governor-Moore-and-AstraZeneca-Announce-$2-Billion-Investment-to-Expand-Manufacturing-in-Maryland,-Supporting-2,600-Jobs.aspx

Meanwhile, Amazon is laying off people constantly and hasn't followed through on its promises to Arlington.

LOL! I read the press release and this $2 billion investment is just creating 300 permanent jobs. The rest of the work will be done by robots probably. Pathetic.

You can’t lay off jobs that were never created.

In contrast, Amazon will probably exit Arlington entirely in 10 years, after it decides it no longer needs to have any workers here.

Arlington was a lot nicer than Montgomery County before Amazon. It had, and still has, the largest percentage of residents with graduate degrees in the entire country. It had so much tax revenue coming in pre Amazon it was building million dollar bus stops on Columbia Pike and renovated its high schools to look like college campuses. Montgomery County is getting sued because there’s black mold in their schools.

You don’t want to get in a tit for tat battle between Arlington and Montgomery County. Stick to pretending that places like Montgomery Village, Germantown, and Gaithersburg don’t exist and attacking Fairfax’s suburban sprawl and data centers as if it’s any more unsightly than driving up Georgia Avenue or Rockville Pike.

Which Arlington? Arlington is ugly as hell. The whole NoVa is fugly.

Posts like this are in bad faith, and so tiring.

Look, I’m a DC guy living in Logan Circle, so I don’t really have skin in the game here in terms of MoCo vs NoVa. The legacy areas of MoCo that are beautiful are exactly that — very beautiful. I’m talking Chevy Chase, Kenwood, Bethesda, the ritzy parts of Potomac, Kensington, and a few others. Many of these are nicer aesthetically than the nicest that NoVa has to offer. But the key word is “legacy” — these areas are what they are as a product of a different time when MoCo was the king of the area. When I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, MoCo was the place, and NoVa was its podunk cousin, with a few nice areas to be sure, but MoCo was king.

That being said, this topic isn’t about that. It’s about now, and the structural truth is that NoVa has surged way past MoCo as a whole in terms of jobs, wealth, and development over the past 20 years. And no amount of snide posting that NoVa is “ugly” will change that fact.

NoVa may have surpassed MoCo in terms of jobs, but it's still ugly.
Having a bunch of development, structures and concrete, doesn't make an area aesthetically pleasing, au contraire.

I would argue that as a whole, there’s really no difference in beauty between MoCo and NoVa. Are you really going to argue with a straight face that Gaithersburg, Rockville, much of Silver Spring aren’t ugly and essentially just strip mall after strip mall? Sure, Takoma Park, Bethesda and Chevy Chase and Potomac are pretty. But so are Old Town, Belle Haven, Mount Vernon by the water, McLean, Del Ray, Falls Church, etc.

As a whole the two areas are on equal footing aesthetically and any other claim here is made in bad faith.

You keep insisting that those who disagree with you are acting in "bad faith." This is an extremely poor debating technique because it signals that you don't want to have a real debate on the merits and instead want to just focus on motives.

Lots of people choose MoCo because they believe it is prettier (including me), and if you don't see that, it's fine -- you just have a different opinion. And if you think Gaithersburg, Rockville, and SS only have strip malls, then that just reveals that you haven't visited those areas -- including downtown Silver Spring, Rockville Town Square, Pike & Rose, Kentlands, Downtown Crown, and the Rio. We get it, you prefer Nova. But if you want to opine about MoCo, please make sure it's factual.

Trying to change the subject is acting in bad faith.

Reminder of the topic: Montgomery County had the highest median family income out of any county in America ...
Now it’s ranked 20th... What has changed since the 1980s and can it change course?

Well, one huge factor is the growth of military contractors in Virginia. Take out that one —huge, significant— piece and everything changes. As far as comparisons go, MoCo doesn’t have anything like Old Town , but Montgomery County also peaked earlier with factors that matter to me — like racially integrated neighborhoods and schools. I’ve been living here long enough to appreciate that. I also don’t see it as a competition. There are similarities and there are differences. Pick the best fit.

I'm also from moco and also don't see it as a competition. We all gain more from cooperation. For example we need an outerloop, or at least a connection across the Potomac further north. I think they should do a tunnel that connect rt 28 in MD to rt 28 in VA. We need a train out to BWI. And we need tax incentives for sci/tech. I don't think moco works as a bedroom community due to the geography of the Potomac river.

Huh? MARC and Amtrak both have BWI stops. Are you thinking Metro? A Virginia commuter train? Something else?

How would you suggest using MARC or Amtrak to get to BWI from MoCo?

NP. Red line to Union station, then Amtrak or Marc.

So not a real option for people in Montgomery County at all.

Huh? The red line is accessible for most of the county. It is very easy to take the metro frrm Bethesda, Rockville, etc to Union then a qucik amtrak right to the airport?