Montgomery County - What Happened?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do MoCo residents even create threads like this about Nova? I think that speaks volumes.

Right, NoVa people are massively insecure, which is why they create these threads about MoCo.

You guys are both insecure, uncultured suburbanites. MoCo is an increasingly poor dump, and NoVa is heinous suburban sprawl. You guys both suck lol

I posted above. I’m in MoCo (Silver Spring). Spent a fair bit of the last two weeks in NoVa visiting with friends and family for holiday gatherings. If I could do it all again in terms of buying a home, schools, etc, I’d go with NoVa or Howard County. MoCo has gone downhill and the council seems committed to undermining the quality of life for middle class residents.

Bigger picture I like that MD and MoCo are largely blue but there’s a tipping point at which “progressive” policies just mean more crime, more trash all over, crumbling infrastructure, schools falling apart under the weight of the result of less tax income, massive tax breaks to developers just to build in the county, no job market, and an influx of kids in public schools over the last 20 years who need more support than the county can truly afford to provide. “Progressive” has meant an erosion of the quality of life and it hits middle and working class people the hardest.

Gives me no joy to say I made the wrong move when I settled in MoCo. And maybe I’d feel differently if I was wealthy, living in Chevy Chase or Bethesda or Potomac and my kids were in private. Those people seem really happy.

This x 1,000. MoCo boosters are mostly blue bloods who send their kids to private schools, go to country clubs, and can isolate themselves from all the county’s problems. For actual people who work for a living and don’t have inherited wealth and who have to go grocery shopping, go to a gym, go shopping and not have an assistant shop for us, etc., the quality of life has gotten noticeably worse over the past 10 years.

Ask yourself this. Are Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or McLean nicer, have less crime, better schools, and have more amenities than they did in the 1990s? Can you say the same thing about Silver Spring, Wheaton, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, etc.?

The answers to all the VA burbs is a resounding yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

Just say black people, I know that's what you really wanna say. You're incredibly racist for posting these made up stats to disparage a race

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

Just say black people, I know that's what you really wanna say. You're incredibly racist for posting these made up stats to disparage a race

You are the one saying stuff about race. I said nothing about that. My stats are real and you are the one injecting race into something I said nothing about. This hs everything to do with income and nothing to do with race. https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/3/14/17114226/incarceration-family-income-parents-study-brookings-rich-kid-poor-kid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

Just say black people, I know that's what you really wanna say. You're incredibly racist for posting these made up stats to disparage a race

You are ironically a racist yourself. You see crime and low income and associate it with black people automatically, you disgusting racist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maga is lying about MOCO ignore the idiots

I’m not MAGA. Democratic Party all the way. Never voted Republican. Dismissing the real concerns about the diminishing quality of life in MoCo doesn’t help and it also turns people away from the Democratic Party at the local level. Calling people like me MAGA because we are experiencing the impact of deteriorating infrastructure, business, higher crime in parts of the county, schools that are literally crumbling - it just makes you seem out of touch or ignorant or both.

And sure, there are some remaining parts of the county that remain relatively nice. But when you compare to 15 years ago or to NoVa, it’s not even close. I live in Silver Spring and witness parts of the county like White Oak, DTSS, Wheaton, and parts of Rockville withering, businesses closing, neighborhoods struggling with basic infrastructure. It’s going downhill and while areas like Chevy Chase or Olney or Bethesda or Kentlands may be unscathed there’s an entire rest of the county that isn’t.

Kentlands has had those portable security cameras for four years! My kid has one more semester of travel soccer in the county and then one more trip to favorite Thai place and I will not go back. I was a Democrat when I originally moved to Silver Spring in 1994. (Left county for Frederick).

Truly the demise will be studied! What an utter disaster from Duncan on the take until today- lesson in where one party rule gets you! Perdition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do MoCo residents even create threads like this about Nova? I think that speaks volumes.

Right, NoVa people are massively insecure, which is why they create these threads about MoCo.

You guys are both insecure, uncultured suburbanites. MoCo is an increasingly poor dump, and NoVa is heinous suburban sprawl. You guys both suck lol

I posted above. I’m in MoCo (Silver Spring). Spent a fair bit of the last two weeks in NoVa visiting with friends and family for holiday gatherings. If I could do it all again in terms of buying a home, schools, etc, I’d go with NoVa or Howard County. MoCo has gone downhill and the council seems committed to undermining the quality of life for middle class residents.

Bigger picture I like that MD and MoCo are largely blue but there’s a tipping point at which “progressive” policies just mean more crime, more trash all over, crumbling infrastructure, schools falling apart under the weight of the result of less tax income, massive tax breaks to developers just to build in the county, no job market, and an influx of kids in public schools over the last 20 years who need more support than the county can truly afford to provide. “Progressive” has meant an erosion of the quality of life and it hits middle and working class people the hardest.

Gives me no joy to say I made the wrong move when I settled in MoCo. And maybe I’d feel differently if I was wealthy, living in Chevy Chase or Bethesda or Potomac and my kids were in private. Those people seem really happy.

This x 1,000. MoCo boosters are mostly blue bloods who send their kids to private schools, go to country clubs, and can isolate themselves from all the county’s problems. For actual people who work for a living and don’t have inherited wealth and who have to go grocery shopping, go to a gym, go shopping and not have an assistant shop for us, etc., the quality of life has gotten noticeably worse over the past 10 years.

Ask yourself this. Are Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or McLean nicer, have less crime, better schools, and have more amenities than they did in the 1990s? Can you say the same thing about Silver Spring, Wheaton, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, etc.?

The answers to all the VA burbs is a resounding yes.

You guys nailed it. For wealthy people who stick to Bethesda / Potomac / Chevy Chase, all is gravy. The W schools are elite, downtown Bethesda has gotten nicer, Chevy Chase is crystallized in time with its beautiful historic character, and the country clubs are still there humming along.

It’s the middle class that has evaporated in MoCo. Those that remain are left with lesser quality schools, more crime, and higher taxes to support a growing poor population in need of heavy services.

HoCo, and to a lesser extent Frederick and AA have essentially taken over as the go to middle class areas of Maryland post MoCo’s decline.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Maga is lying about MOCO ignore the idiots

I’m not MAGA. Democratic Party all the way. Never voted Republican. Dismissing the real concerns about the diminishing quality of life in MoCo doesn’t help and it also turns people away from the Democratic Party at the local level. Calling people like me MAGA because we are experiencing the impact of deteriorating infrastructure, business, higher crime in parts of the county, schools that are literally crumbling - it just makes you seem out of touch or ignorant or both.

And sure, there are some remaining parts of the county that remain relatively nice. But when you compare to 15 years ago or to NoVa, it’s not even close. I live in Silver Spring and witness parts of the county like White Oak, DTSS, Wheaton, and parts of Rockville withering, businesses closing, neighborhoods struggling with basic infrastructure. It’s going downhill and while areas like Chevy Chase or Olney or Bethesda or Kentlands may be unscathed there’s an entire rest of the county that isn’t.

Kentlands has had those portable security cameras for four years! My kid has one more semester of travel soccer in the county and then one more trip to favorite Thai place and I will not go back. I was a Democrat when I originally moved to Silver Spring in 1994. (Left county for Frederick).

Truly the demise will be studied! What an utter disaster from Duncan on the take until today- lesson in where one party rule gets you! Perdition.

Y'all always have this energy for Democratic run areas but never one-party Republican states/cities/towns. Odd.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

Unfortunately, Arlington keeps wanting to build more of that housing, including in North Arlington. Check out Plan Langston Boulevard. Arlington had a good run, but unfortunately it will continue to change for the worse as there's a push for more density everywhere and fewer SFHs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Arlington County - What Happened?

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/12/27/developing-police-investigating-shots-fired-near-courthouse/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/11/10/acpd-investigating-shots-fired-in-halls-hill-neighborhood/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/10/15/police-investigating-gunfire-that-damaged-window-in-green-valley/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/30/just-in-schools-secured-as-acpd-investigates-shots-fired-call-near-ballston/

https://www.arlnow.com/2025/04/28/one-arrested-after-report-of-shot-fired-outside-of-wakefield-hs-on-saturday/

+1. I live in Arlington and crime is a real problem here. The criminals know that our leadership is soft on crime and that there is no real punishment for what they do. We have tons of stolen packages and cars broken into into my neighborhood. And we're not immune from gun violence, as the links above show. We even have a well-known gun store right in the heart of Clarendon.

The crime is from all the low income housing and apartments that Arlington is approving for development/subsidizing. The bottom 40% of the income distribution commits more than 2/3rds of the violent crime. The top 40% of the income distribution only commits 18% of the violent crime. If the income composition of the county changes, the crime rate changes with it. Combining this with criminal justice reforms that remove three strike laws for felonies and expunging Minors criminal records is a recipe for disaster. The reality of it is that most of the crime is committed by an especially violent 1% of the population. Mandatory life sentences for violent criminals with prior felonies would reduce the crime rates by more than half.

Unfortunately, Arlington keeps wanting to build more of that housing, including in North Arlington. Check out Plan Langston Boulevard. Arlington had a good run, but unfortunately it will continue to change for the worse as there's a push for more density everywhere and fewer SFHs.

This is happening in MoCo too. The Council just passed the University Boulevard Plan despite overwhelming opposition from the community (because who cares about voters and residents, right Natali Fani Gonzalez, Evan Glass, and Andrew Friedson?) and basically spelled the end for SFH zoning in that area, though consider it a model for the rest of the county.

Meanwhile, the council has also passed 20 year tax abatements for developers. So infrastructure and schools will suffer, property taxes go up, and more of the same decline for MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do MoCo residents even create threads like this about Nova? I think that speaks volumes.

Right, NoVa people are massively insecure, which is why they create these threads about MoCo.

You guys are both insecure, uncultured suburbanites. MoCo is an increasingly poor dump, and NoVa is heinous suburban sprawl. You guys both suck lol

I posted above. I’m in MoCo (Silver Spring). Spent a fair bit of the last two weeks in NoVa visiting with friends and family for holiday gatherings. If I could do it all again in terms of buying a home, schools, etc, I’d go with NoVa or Howard County. MoCo has gone downhill and the council seems committed to undermining the quality of life for middle class residents.

Bigger picture I like that MD and MoCo are largely blue but there’s a tipping point at which “progressive” policies just mean more crime, more trash all over, crumbling infrastructure, schools falling apart under the weight of the result of less tax income, massive tax breaks to developers just to build in the county, no job market, and an influx of kids in public schools over the last 20 years who need more support than the county can truly afford to provide. “Progressive” has meant an erosion of the quality of life and it hits middle and working class people the hardest.

Gives me no joy to say I made the wrong move when I settled in MoCo. And maybe I’d feel differently if I was wealthy, living in Chevy Chase or Bethesda or Potomac and my kids were in private. Those people seem really happy.

This x 1,000. MoCo boosters are mostly blue bloods who send their kids to private schools, go to country clubs, and can isolate themselves from all the county’s problems. For actual people who work for a living and don’t have inherited wealth and who have to go grocery shopping, go to a gym, go shopping and not have an assistant shop for us, etc., the quality of life has gotten noticeably worse over the past 10 years.

Ask yourself this. Are Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or McLean nicer, have less crime, better schools, and have more amenities than they did in the 1990s? Can you say the same thing about Silver Spring, Wheaton, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, etc.?

The answers to all the VA burbs is a resounding yes.

You guys nailed it. For wealthy people who stick to Bethesda / Potomac / Chevy Chase, all is gravy. The W schools are elite, downtown Bethesda has gotten nicer, Chevy Chase is crystallized in time with its beautiful historic character, and the country clubs are still there humming along.

It’s the middle class that has evaporated in MoCo. Those that remain are left with lesser quality schools, more crime, and higher taxes to support a growing poor population in need of heavy services.

HoCo, and to a lesser extent Frederick and AA have essentially taken over as the go to middle class areas of Maryland post MoCo’s decline.

Hopefully it will be slow going in MoCo…maybe a lawsuit will get filed to gum up the works for a few years. We liked underbuying as far as housing because it allowed us financial freedom to do other things, but I think that we will move to a better part of the county sooner than we had planned.

[Anonymous]

Oh I like the free gym use at the rec centers and the use of xerox machines at the library.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do MoCo residents even create threads like this about Nova? I think that speaks volumes.

Right, NoVa people are massively insecure, which is why they create these threads about MoCo.

You guys are both insecure, uncultured suburbanites. MoCo is an increasingly poor dump, and NoVa is heinous suburban sprawl. You guys both suck lol

I posted above. I’m in MoCo (Silver Spring). Spent a fair bit of the last two weeks in NoVa visiting with friends and family for holiday gatherings. If I could do it all again in terms of buying a home, schools, etc, I’d go with NoVa or Howard County. MoCo has gone downhill and the council seems committed to undermining the quality of life for middle class residents.

Bigger picture I like that MD and MoCo are largely blue but there’s a tipping point at which “progressive” policies just mean more crime, more trash all over, crumbling infrastructure, schools falling apart under the weight of the result of less tax income, massive tax breaks to developers just to build in the county, no job market, and an influx of kids in public schools over the last 20 years who need more support than the county can truly afford to provide. “Progressive” has meant an erosion of the quality of life and it hits middle and working class people the hardest.

Gives me no joy to say I made the wrong move when I settled in MoCo. And maybe I’d feel differently if I was wealthy, living in Chevy Chase or Bethesda or Potomac and my kids were in private. Those people seem really happy.

This x 1,000. MoCo boosters are mostly blue bloods who send their kids to private schools, go to country clubs, and can isolate themselves from all the county’s problems. For actual people who work for a living and don’t have inherited wealth and who have to go grocery shopping, go to a gym, go shopping and not have an assistant shop for us, etc., the quality of life has gotten noticeably worse over the past 10 years.

Ask yourself this. Are Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, or McLean nicer, have less crime, better schools, and have more amenities than they did in the 1990s? Can you say the same thing about Silver Spring, Wheaton, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, etc.?

The answers to all the VA burbs is a resounding yes.

You guys nailed it. For wealthy people who stick to Bethesda / Potomac / Chevy Chase, all is gravy. The W schools are elite, downtown Bethesda has gotten nicer, Chevy Chase is crystallized in time with its beautiful historic character, and the country clubs are still there humming along.

It’s the middle class that has evaporated in MoCo. Those that remain are left with lesser quality schools, more crime, and higher taxes to support a growing poor population in need of heavy services.

HoCo, and to a lesser extent Frederick and AA have essentially taken over as the go to middle class areas of Maryland post MoCo’s decline.

Hopefully it will be slow going in MoCo…maybe a lawsuit will get filed to gum up the works for a few years. We liked underbuying as far as housing because it allowed us financial freedom to do other things, but I think that we will move to a better part of the county sooner than we had planned.

I’ll add, though, if we do, we will keep the house and rent. Density might make it a place that I wouldn’t want to live, but if they want to pack a bunch of people in like rats and let me subdivide my home into multiple units I guess that I’ll take the rental income.

[Anonymous]

I drove down this one street and notice residents have paved over their whole front yard with asphalt. I counted eight cars parked in the front yard. Its like every other home has done this and has a lot cars parked in the front yard. Some of the other homes haven't even cut their grass. Some look like a forest with vegetation growing up the side of the house. You almost can't see the house. Cars are parked on both sides of the street. You get halfway through and an oncoming car or truck can't get passed you. Glad I don't live in this dumpy neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I drove down this one street and notice residents have paved over their whole front yard with asphalt. I counted eight cars parked in the front yard. Its like every other home has done this and has a lot cars parked in the front yard. Some of the other homes haven't even cut their grass. Some look like a forest with vegetation growing up the side of the house. You almost can't see the house. Cars are parked on both sides of the street. You get halfway through and an oncoming car or truck can't get passed you. Glad I don't live in this dumpy neighborhood.

This happens in South Arlington also. Lots of chain link fences also. Some hoarding right out in the open. Very classy.