Montgomery County - What Happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So to the chat bot poster- was the prompt this?

Should I become a slum landlord in Moco?

Even with invention of chatbots there isn’t a right way to do the wrong thing.

Might rents remain stable or increase in areas of increased density despite the possible negative externalities that would result? Would those be partially offset by XYZ? I don’t recall 100%.

I’ve done much deeper research than that as this mess has progressed over the years, but the research essentially says that land values might increase, but it’s likely that you won’t want to live there if you have better options. We are making the area worse for current residents but more people will be able to live there, which makes the area worse for the people that live there, who sell and more people can fit there…eventually there is equilibrium, but I don’t think that anyone posting here is in the same housing type for that long. I mean, whatever. I’ll rent the house and if my area gets upzoned I’ll pave the front yard for parking and subdivide it.

Of course, none of this is set in stone. There could be lawsuits, there could be elections in which we throw these people out in favor of moderates. You never know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So to the chat bot poster- was the prompt this?

Should I become a slum landlord in Moco?

Even with invention of chatbots there isn’t a right way to do the wrong thing.

Being a landlord of lower cost rentals does not inherently make someone a slum lord. Slum lords scam tenants and refuse to maintain the property. That’s a very specific type of person and does not represent all landlords.

[Anonymous]

Crime has bleed over from DC. Kids are still assaulting, robbing, breaking in cars. You may as well say we are part of DC, just have bigger yards and homes. More money to steal from.

[Anonymous]

Its the immigration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I might leave but I’ll keep my real estate as rental income.

Even the quick and dirty ChatGPT version agrees that even though you might not want to live through it, the changes coming might support investment value.

“In most real-world markets, rents still tend to increase (or at least remain stable) even when density rises, traffic worsens, and service quality declines — but why this happens depends on several economic mechanisms:

⸻

Why rents often keep rising even when conditions worsen

1. High demand outweighs declining quality

If more people want to live in an area than there are available units, demand pressure pushes rents up even if:
• congestion increases
• services decline
• commute times rise

This is especially true in cities with strong job markets (e.g., New York, San Francisco, London).

⸻

2. Limited housing supply

If zoning rules, construction costs, or land scarcity limit new housing, the supply stays tight.
With limited supply:
• even lower-quality conditions don’t reduce rents much
• landlords know they can fill units anyway

⸻

3. Rent stickiness

Rents tend to be sticky downward, meaning they rarely fall unless something major happens:
• recession
• high vacancy rates
• population decline
• oversupply of new housing

Minor quality declines rarely cause a rent drop.

⸻

4. People pay for proximity, not comfort

In dense urban areas, people mainly pay for:
• proximity to jobs
• public transit access
• cultural amenities
• schools
• social networks

Even if day-to-day quality worsens, the location premium remains.”

Got it. Good for developers and absentee investor-landlords, and too-bad-so-sad for renters and resident homeowners.

[Anonymous]

Illegal immigration

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigration

This is a big factor, regardless of one’s personal leanings in respect to US immigration law. The county has dramatically increased its numbers of Latino immigrants.

What isn’t clear to me, however, is why MoCo is was overall more of a magnet for Latino Immigrants than Fairfax, given that they are both sanctuary counties. Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigration

This is a big factor, regardless of one’s personal leanings in respect to US immigration law. The county has dramatically increased its numbers of Latino immigrants.

What isn’t clear to me, however, is why MoCo is was overall more of a magnet for Latino Immigrants than Fairfax, given that they are both sanctuary counties. Any thoughts?

Well, there is the difference in certain jurisdictions' noncitizen suffrage for local elections that may have had an effect over the past couple of decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigration

This is a big factor, regardless of one’s personal leanings in respect to US immigration law. The county has dramatically increased its numbers of Latino immigrants.

What isn’t clear to me, however, is why MoCo is was overall more of a magnet for Latino Immigrants than Fairfax, given that they are both sanctuary counties. Any thoughts?

Well, there is the difference in certain jurisdictions' noncitizen suffrage for local elections that may have had an effect over the past couple of decades.

Does this apply to Fairfax vs MoCo though?

[Anonymous]

I was sitting at a traffic light and a car load of people was in front of me. I saw them throwing trash out of both sides of the car. Looked like fast food boxes and cups. I mean where do these people come from that do this.

I have seen a car parked in a residential neighborhood and a person sitting on the back bumper with their pants down, pooping. Like, what country are they from.

While walking one day I saw a lady changing a diaper on her baby and throwing the used diaper in a residential yard. What country is she from.

I have witness all this in western part of the county in nice neighborhoods. These people must have done this in their country prior to coming here.

[Anonymous]

I've notice a lot of veterinary places are in shopping centers are next door to Chinese restaurants. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigration

This is a big factor, regardless of one’s personal leanings in respect to US immigration law. The county has dramatically increased its numbers of Latino immigrants.

What isn’t clear to me, however, is why MoCo is was overall more of a magnet for Latino Immigrants than Fairfax, given that they are both sanctuary counties. Any thoughts?

Well, there is the difference in certain jurisdictions' noncitizen suffrage for local elections that may have had an effect over the past couple of decades.

Does this apply to Fairfax vs MoCo though?

While, to my knowledge, Virginia does not, Maryland allows municipalities to define suffrage for local elections. A few in MoCo do, Takoma Park notably among them as far as this subject is concerned, but others, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was sitting at a traffic light and a car load of people was in front of me. I saw them throwing trash out of both sides of the car. Looked like fast food boxes and cups. I mean where do these people come from that do this.

I have seen a car parked in a residential neighborhood and a person sitting on the back bumper with their pants down, pooping. Like, what country are they from.

While walking one day I saw a lady changing a diaper on her baby and throwing the used diaper in a residential yard. What country is she from.

I have witness all this in western part of the county in nice neighborhoods. These people must have done this in their country prior to coming here.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=rhcKuMjvcCk

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Illegal immigration

This is a big factor, regardless of one’s personal leanings in respect to US immigration law. The county has dramatically increased its numbers of Latino immigrants.

What isn’t clear to me, however, is why MoCo is was overall more of a magnet for Latino Immigrants than Fairfax, given that they are both sanctuary counties. Any thoughts?

Because it’s Maryland.

[Anonymous]

A lot of uneducated folks came over due to generous social service benefits. Plus illegals.