Dan Reed of JustUpthePike fame

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is physically impossible for all of us to live in DTSS or wherever is "allowed" to live and walk to work.

And even if we could (we cant), should the rest of the county just be a barren wasteland? Should we all have to live within walking distance to our jobs? Good luck with that.

Wait what? Upcounty used to be productive farmland that generated local produce for us to eat that didn't need to be shipped across the country while doubling as open space that absorbed rain water and for good measure required minimal roads or other county infra to support.

Now it is all paved over or covered with suburban tract homes with heavily fertilized lawns and criss-crossed by planet killing roads that everyone has to use to even do the most mundane daily tasks.

So which version of the upper county is a barren wasteland?

People (like myself) couldnt afford to live in Silver Spring, TP, or anywhere else that is preferred. So we moved out farther. And upcounty wasnt just going to be a farmland forever, or the "rainwater absorber for the county". No, thank you. So we have jobs, and schools, and houses, and infrastructure as well. And we are allowed to.

The barren wasteland comment was to answer "what would happen if we all were just living in the "preferred" zip codes. It's not only unrealistic, but would render the other sprawled areas some sort of tumbleweeds.

What? Maybe you aren't making much money because you aren't very smart.

The downcounty zoning that prevents more density is why housing down county is so expensive and exlusive - loosen that zoning to allow more density and prices down county would in fact be less expensive.

Alternately attach the cost of the needed infra (new schools, roads, sewers) and the ongoing higher costs of up county life (busing, road maintenance and clearing, higher first responder costs etc) to the cost of up county homes and suddenly those homes wouldn't actually be affordable at all and again that is still leaving off the costs of somehow coming up with 10 billion dollars to widen 270 and all of the hidden negative externalities.

The developers of new up county homes live in an almost libertarian world where anything goes and they can profit while passing off some of their costs on others while the new residents live in a socialist utopia where others cover the costs of their artificially inexpensive housing costs.

Meanwhile our planet burns so Joe Germantown can have a house with a yard and 2 SUVs in the driveway and sit in traffic on 270 for 90 minutes every day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is physically impossible for all of us to live in DTSS or wherever is "allowed" to live and walk to work.

And even if we could (we cant), should the rest of the county just be a barren wasteland? Should we all have to live within walking distance to our jobs? Good luck with that.

Wait what? Upcounty used to be productive farmland that generated local produce for us to eat that didn't need to be shipped across the country while doubling as open space that absorbed rain water and for good measure required minimal roads or other county infra to support.

Now it is all paved over or covered with suburban tract homes with heavily fertilized lawns and criss-crossed by planet killing roads that everyone has to use to even do the most mundane daily tasks.

So which version of the upper county is a barren wasteland?

People (like myself) couldnt afford to live in Silver Spring, TP, or anywhere else that is preferred. So we moved out farther. And upcounty wasnt just going to be a farmland forever, or the "rainwater absorber for the county". No, thank you. So we have jobs, and schools, and houses, and infrastructure as well. And we are allowed to.

The barren wasteland comment was to answer "what would happen if we all were just living in the "preferred" zip codes. It's not only unrealistic, but would render the other sprawled areas some sort of tumbleweeds.

What? Maybe you aren't making much money because you aren't very smart.

The downcounty zoning that prevents more density is why housing down county is so expensive and exlusive - loosen that zoning to allow more density and prices down county would in fact be less expensive.

Alternately attach the cost of the needed infra (new schools, roads, sewers) and the ongoing higher costs of up county life (busing, road maintenance and clearing, higher first responder costs etc) to the cost of up county homes and suddenly those homes wouldn't actually be affordable at all and again that is still leaving off the costs of somehow coming up with 10 billion dollars to widen 270 and all of the hidden negative externalities.

The developers of new up county homes live in an almost libertarian world where anything goes and they can profit while passing off some of their costs on others while the new residents live in a socialist utopia where others cover the costs of their artificially inexpensive housing costs.

Meanwhile our planet burns so Joe Germantown can have a house with a yard and 2 SUVs in the driveway and sit in traffic on 270 for 90 minutes every day.

I see we are having a normal one here.

Now Im stupid and dont make money, ok. And apparently live in some mcmansion with 2 SUVs too. (Not my townhouse and 1 hybrid Camry, and a rav4).

I'm all for more zoning in downcounty. But what was I supposed to do? Rent an apartment for 20 years and hope that happens?

Some of you guys are just unreal, and this tone doesnt win any arguments.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Marc Elrich claims to be progressive, but he is way behind the times. Take police issues, for example. He chaired the County Council's Public Safety Committee for years, and took all his direction from the reactionary Fraternal Order of Police, who supported his candidacy for County Executive. He has been silent on police reform this year, when it was the number one public policy issue after coronavirus. Elrich is captive to the public employee unions. While that may appear progressive to some, be assured that the FOP is reactionary.

?? He's publicly insulting his own police department every chance he gets. Aren't you following his task force to reimagine public safety?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is physically impossible for all of us to live in DTSS or wherever is "allowed" to live and walk to work.

And even if we could (we cant), should the rest of the county just be a barren wasteland? Should we all have to live within walking distance to our jobs? Good luck with that.

Wait what? Upcounty used to be productive farmland that generated local produce for us to eat that didn't need to be shipped across the country while doubling as open space that absorbed rain water and for good measure required minimal roads or other county infra to support.

Now it is all paved over or covered with suburban tract homes with heavily fertilized lawns and criss-crossed by planet killing roads that everyone has to use to even do the most mundane daily tasks.

So which version of the upper county is a barren wasteland?

People (like myself) couldnt afford to live in Silver Spring, TP, or anywhere else that is preferred. So we moved out farther. And upcounty wasnt just going to be a farmland forever, or the "rainwater absorber for the county". No, thank you. So we have jobs, and schools, and houses, and infrastructure as well. And we are allowed to.

The barren wasteland comment was to answer "what would happen if we all were just living in the "preferred" zip codes. It's not only unrealistic, but would render the other sprawled areas some sort of tumbleweeds.

What? Maybe you aren't making much money because you aren't very smart.

The downcounty zoning that prevents more density is why housing down county is so expensive and exlusive - loosen that zoning to allow more density and prices down county would in fact be less expensive.

Alternately attach the cost of the needed infra (new schools, roads, sewers) and the ongoing higher costs of up county life (busing, road maintenance and clearing, higher first responder costs etc) to the cost of up county homes and suddenly those homes wouldn't actually be affordable at all and again that is still leaving off the costs of somehow coming up with 10 billion dollars to widen 270 and all of the hidden negative externalities.

The developers of new up county homes live in an almost libertarian world where anything goes and they can profit while passing off some of their costs on others while the new residents live in a socialist utopia where others cover the costs of their artificially inexpensive housing costs.

Meanwhile our planet burns so Joe Germantown can have a house with a yard and 2 SUVs in the driveway and sit in traffic on 270 for 90 minutes every day.

I see we are having a normal one here.

Now Im stupid and dont make money, ok. And apparently live in some mcmansion with 2 SUVs too. (Not my townhouse and 1 hybrid Camry, and a rav4).

I'm all for more zoning in downcounty. But what was I supposed to do? Rent an apartment for 20 years and hope that happens?

Some of you guys are just unreal, and this tone doesnt win any arguments.

So then you support what Dan Reed has been advocating for right instead of coming on here to criticize him?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is some hyperbole in this thread.

What I think would be a fair criticism of Dan is-

-he drastically favors East county to west. That means among other things he is anti transit except public transportation. The reality is a lot of us in Gaithersburg and beyond depend on cars. We all cant afford to just live in DTSS. Sure, changing the zoning would help (for FUTURE people), but some of us made the decision to sprawl by sheer neccessity.

-He generally refuses to even consider the opinions of people who do not agree with his far left views, across the board.

-Not every neighborhood wants tons of density. Those of us who chose to move farther out of city centers for more land, more space, etc- dont neccesarily want tons of density right in our backyard. Again- it's fine that he does, but he seems to never consider the viewpoints of those who dont agree with him in lockstep.

BTW- the idea from an above poster that Marc Elrich somehow isnt progressive *enough* is borderline scary. He has at times referred to himself a socialist for godsakes.

100% accurate.

Especially on the opinions part. He and his circle in their minds are 100% correct about everything. Anyone who suggests otherwise is either a fool or a racist. There is absolutely no dialogue with him or his comrades.

[Anonymous]

The issue with Reed and his GGW ilk is that if you simply disagree with them, you're immediately painted as a bad person. I realize they do this to raise money from the sycophantic rubes in the GGW comments section, because they need a boogeyman to rail against. But it's not hard to see how their ideas often fail to gain much traction, considering some of their unseemly tactics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I see Dan Reed and his fan club found this thread. Everybody I know thinks he’s annoying.

Yes, they have. He has developed a cult following over the years who vehemently dedicated to him.

I suppose some people from Greater Greater Washington found out about this thread and jumped aboard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with Reed and his GGW ilk is that if you simply disagree with them, you're immediately painted as a bad person. I realize they do this to raise money from the sycophantic rubes in the GGW comments section, because they need a boogeyman to rail against. But it's not hard to see how their ideas often fail to gain much traction, considering some of their unseemly tactics.

The whole "agree with me or you are racist/a bad person" bit is really tired. A lot of these are nuanced issues with more than one "acceptable" opinion. And it doesnt make someone a bad person in the slightest to care about the value of the biggest purchase/investment of their lifetime.

A lot of his opinions are pretty far out there on the political spectrum (which is OK!), but the complete lack of respect for diverse opinions does not win over any minds.

[Anonymous]

For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

Great post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

You are really struggling to understand out how this works and who is to blame.

People who care about land use and the environment want new housing built in locations that minimize the need for driving and all of the destructive infrastructure needed to support it.

So new housing should not be built at all in the ag reserve and that should preclude all the needed associated road infra and endless driving and the areas closer in should be upzoned which also precludes the need for all the associated road infra and endless driving.

All of which by the way costs less than the current sprawl housing which requires enormous hidden subsidies.

If you want a house on a big plot of land fine - pay for the infra needed to support it directly rather than expecting the rest of us to subsidize it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

Our down county neighborhoods are swamped by your SUVs every single day - no one is unaware of your toxic presence.

And FWIW the budget disproportionately goes to subsidizing your bad choices so it is laughable to hear you complain about the politics of this.

BTW what are you even doing on DCUM? Surely someone can start a DC Exurban Hellscape Moms page for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

You are really struggling to understand out how this works and who is to blame.

People who care about land use and the environment want new housing built in locations that minimize the need for driving and all of the destructive infrastructure needed to support it.

So new housing should not be built at all in the ag reserve and that should preclude all the needed associated road infra and endless driving and the areas closer in should be upzoned which also precludes the need for all the associated road infra and endless driving.

All of which by the way costs less than the current sprawl housing which requires enormous hidden subsidies.

If you want a house on a big plot of land fine - pay for the infra needed to support it directly rather than expecting the rest of us to subsidize it.

And there it is again. Even with the nasty tone.

Live where we tell you to. Work where we tell you to. Anything else is destructive.
Upzone as much as you want. It's great, I'm all for it.

But not everyone wants to live in a high rise apartment or condo. Don't make that decision out to be racist, or selfish, or destructive.

People can have and disagree with housing options without the need for all the smugness and name calling. There isnt ONE correct, and only way to live.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
So new housing should not be built at all in the ag reserve and that should preclude all the needed associated road infra and endless driving and the areas closer in should be upzoned which also precludes the need for all the associated road infra and endless driving.

All of which by the way costs less than the current sprawl housing which requires enormous hidden subsidies.

If you want a house on a big plot of land fine - pay for the infra needed to support it directly rather than expecting the rest of us to subsidize it.

The Ag Reserve already exists. We need roads to access it. Farmers need a way to get their goods to market. People need to go there to enjoy the outdoors -- that's the whole purpose of it.

The county has a growing population. Farmers are producing more. More people are visiting the Ag Reserve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you complaining about upcounty residents who drive cars -- you realize this was by design, from the progressives? We have a massive agricultural reserve that takes up 1/3 of all of MoCo, which is beautiful, and people live there on land plots that _cannot_ be smaller than a certain size by design, to _prevent_ density. This was all in the plan. Public transport simply isn't viable there.

https://visitmontgomery.com/explore/ag-reserve/

I think Reed is fine for promoting Silver Spring. I worry that he, like many politicians from TP and SS, forget that there's more to MoCo than just downcounty. Germantown, Damascus, Boyds, etc are all lovely places with residents whose voices also need to be heard.

Our down county neighborhoods are swamped by your SUVs every single day - no one is unaware of your toxic presence.

And FWIW the budget disproportionately goes to subsidizing your bad choices so it is laughable to hear you complain about the politics of this.

BTW what are you even doing on DCUM? Surely someone can start a DC Exurban Hellscape Moms page for you?

Yikes, some people are really nuts about this. Do you really think all the SUVs driving around Chevy Chase and Bethesda are people coming every day from Germantown? I live in Bethesda, and I can assure you most of them are locals.