When Did MoCo Fall Off the Map

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't see Fairfiax as that different than Montgomery..pockets of poverty and pockets of prosperity in both. Depends on where you live.

True Fairfax is just like MoCo - you have Loudon county - where all the young families are going - with all the wealth and the good schools. HoCo is the same for MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You couldn't pay me to live in Howard County. It can't compare to the quality of life you find in Bethesda, with all of DC just a short metro ride away.

You won't have to live there just visit your grandchildren there because your kids won't be able to afford Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Based on many of the ideas posted here, Bethesda should become an inexpensive place to live sice it can not compare to what Howard County has to offer...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry but wealthy walkable communities like parts of MoCo are always going to be more in demand than sprawling Mcmansions like those in much of Howard County where you are completely car dependent.

depends on your personality

I'm used to driving. I like driving.

I'd rather have land for my kids where they can run around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
True Fairfax is just like MoCo - you have Loudon county - where all the young families are going - with all the wealth and the good schools. HoCo is the same for MoCo.

Not true. According to Forbes article, City of Falls Church and Fairfax County are right up there with Loudoun. HoCo isn't far behind. But MoCo is. That wouldn't have been the case 20 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry but wealthy walkable communities like parts of MoCo are always going to be more in demand than sprawling Mcmansions like those in much of Howard County where you are completely car dependent.

depends on your personality

I'm used to driving. I like driving.

I'd rather have land for my kids where they can run around.

Agree. Our house-hunting formula was simple (though not very easy to find/but I think are pretty standard criteria): (1) Awesome schools, (2) Run-around room for the family, and (3) low crime/good governance. HoCo delivers. We're willing to suck it up on the commute for what we're getting in return. In our part of HoCo, when we hear a siren, we know there is something really wrong. In fact, the last time we heard one was right after the "big" earthquake of 2010!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am sorry but wealthy walkable communities like parts of MoCo are always going to be more in demand than sprawling Mcmansions like those in much of Howard County where you are completely car dependent.

depends on your personality

I'm used to driving. I like driving.

I'd rather have land for my kids where they can run around.

Those walkable communities in MoCo are so fake. Developers use it to sell ugly houses on tiny lots with sidewalks instead of front years. Look at Kentlands, Clarksburg, new developments off 355.

[Anonymous]

The major growth in Montgomery County has been large condo developments. Yes, there are all the McMansions and new SFH neighborhoods. Yes, there is low income housing in areas of Gaithersburg and Sivler Spring. The bigger numbers come from the condominiums supporting single professionals and couples. This effect around the metros had a positive effect on the existing SFHs. The services, restaurants, and other amenities that a larger population of people who spend more discretionary dollars brings made the areas more attractive and raised the housing prices. The same thing happened in Arlington. The overall wealth index is going to be lower with younger single professionals but housing prices and services will be higher. This also has a more positive effect on schools as there are more people paying taxes into the system than people with kids using the system.

Howard and Loudon counties attract people who want more house for their money. You can buy a huge house in Howard for what a small rambler would cost you in Bethesda or even Rockville. The trade off is a bad commute if you work in the city or closer in, and a higher impact from falling house prices. The schools are not ranked anywhere nearly as high as the schools closer in but unless you have a genius child who needs a great gifted program or you are very competitive, I personally don't think this matters too much.

[Anonymous]

I'll take my Bethesda commute any day over HoCo. We have land, nice big house, a park within blocks and I never have to sit in the parking lot that is 95 south every morning. My Clarksville officemate leaves well over an hour earlier each morning for the office, and then it's bumper to bumper.

[Anonymous]

Forgot to mention that we are home 30 min after leaving the Caps and Nats games...if that's for you.
My HoCo friends rarely take advantage of the museums downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to mention that we are home 30 min after leaving the Caps and Nats games...if that's for you.
My HoCo friends rarely take advantage of the museums downtown.[/quote]

So what?

We rarely "take advantage" of museums either, and we live in the northern part of Silver Spring, which is truly suburbia. It doesn't mean we're not "cultured." It means we have different priorities.

My husband and I live on a 1/2 acre by a stream; we both work 5 minutes from home. Our quality of life is good. But b/c of the schools, we're moving to Ho Co. It is indeed a better system overall; I know b/c I have friends - teachers, in particular - who have jumped ship. Those who left Mo Co to teach in Ho Co rave about the system - and this is WITH a cut in pay. But because it's superior, it's worth the sacrifice. Another friend with a child with special ed services says that she can't believe how inclusive the Ho Co system. It's been one of the few systems in the area that has fully embraced that philosophy. In Mo Co, she was sending her daughter to private b/c the system wouldn't accommodate her daughter.

Many of you in Mo Co who are mesmerized by the system like the bells and whistles. This is not the case in the Ho Co schools. They have community schools that don't attempt to compete with each other over "special programs." And despite some boundary issues - Reservoir HS comes to mind - most schools pull from home bases.

[Anonymous]

When family lived in Silver Spring in the 40s to get a nice house and good schools, Other family lived on Conn. Ave, CC and it was out in the country. Next, to rural Bethesda. Potomac was full of farms and G'town crime forced Grandma out. Development will continue as long the American Dream is alive. The iCC makes getting to HoCo quicker to get to. The traffic pouring from the Potomac Beltway exit, down Seven Locks, Clara Barton and down River combined w/ high density development w/o so much as a public park requested being built. The air is thick & Pepco held unaccountable as yet another power surge sends me to the Mac store. Our collected noisenabatement tax assessment dollars weren't even spent. Gov't has failed us. HoCo looks pretty good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When family lived in Silver Spring in the 40s to get a nice house and good schools, Other family lived on Conn. Ave, CC and it was out in the country. Next, to rural Bethesda. Potomac was full of farms and G'town crime forced Grandma out. Development will continue as long the American Dream is alive. The iCC makes getting to HoCo quicker to get to. The traffic pouring from the Potomac Beltway exit, down Seven Locks, Clara Barton and down River combined w/ high density development w/o so much as a public park requested being built. The air is thick & Pepco held unaccountable as yet another power surge sends me to the Mac store. Our collected noisenabatement tax assessment dollars weren't even spent. Gov't has failed us. HoCo looks pretty good.

I live in close-in Silver Spring and completely agree with this. Everyone crows about how great MCPS is but it's all about Jerry Weast's six PR people. We are told we are great, so we think we are great.

I am very, very sorry I moved here (from New England, where there is bona fide local control of schools given the town-based education system). I think MCPS sucks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgot to mention that we are home 30 min after leaving the Caps and Nats games...if that's for you.
My HoCo friends rarely take advantage of the museums downtown.[/quote]

So what?

We rarely "take advantage" of museums either, and we live in the northern part of Silver Spring, which is truly suburbia. It doesn't mean we're not "cultured." It means we have different priorities.

My husband and I live on a 1/2 acre by a stream; we both work 5 minutes from home. Our quality of life is good. But b/c of the schools, we're moving to Ho Co. It is indeed a better system overall; I know b/c I have friends - teachers, in particular - who have jumped ship. Those who left Mo Co to teach in Ho Co rave about the system - and this is WITH a cut in pay. But because it's superior, it's worth the sacrifice. Another friend with a child with special ed services says that she can't believe how inclusive the Ho Co system. It's been one of the few systems in the area that has fully embraced that philosophy. In Mo Co, she was sending her daughter to private b/c the system wouldn't accommodate her daughter.

Many of you in Mo Co who are mesmerized by the system like the bells and whistles. This is not the case in the Ho Co schools. They have community schools that don't attempt to compete with each other over "special programs." And despite some boundary issues - Reservoir HS comes to mind - most schools pull from home bases.

What are the class sizes like in howard county - 28 kids/class in the good elementary schools? 21? 23? 17? - do they put lower ratios in the poorer areas like they do in mcps and put higher ratios in the wealthier areas? or is it equal across the board? do the smarter/wealthier kids go to privates or stay with the public system?

[Anonymous]

I have a friend who just moved to Howard county (from PG). They were excited to send their daughter to PS for the first time. On touring the school they learned that it was built with open classrroms. So the 5 first grades are in essentlially one large room...and it is not some old building from the 70's either. Yes the class sizes are somewhat smaller but they are once again looking at privates. Look before you leap...