Is there any reason to buy in MoCo instead of Fairfax?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

Have you been through Germantown recently? There are a ton of condo and townhouse developments going up. I was really surprised by all of the development.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

Have you been through Germantown recently? There are a ton of condo and townhouse developments going up. I was really surprised by all of the development.

But the people moving in aren’t the people who would increase the reputation of the county

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

Have you been through Germantown recently? There are a ton of condo and townhouse developments going up. I was really surprised by all of the development.

But the people moving in aren’t the people who would increase the reputation of the county

Yeah, pretty sure people haven't been jumping at the chance to send their kids to Seneca Valley HS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MCPS is going down the drain while FCPS is on the come up

As evidenced by what? VA school districts are sending out packets and are not "teaching" per say. The ones that are "teaching" are using a wonkly Blackboard platform. Hard pass.

[Anonymous]

I bought in MOCO over VA not long ago. Virginia has magnet schools such as TJ so not guaranteed you will get into a good school.

I bought in Potomac and kids are going to Churchill and Hoover automatically. My wife does not work. I am a few years from retirement so income taxes wont be a big issue for long. Plus I go to NY and Delaware beaches a lot so easier not to deal with bridge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in Bethesda. I grew up here and moved back (from the city) when my kids were school aged. For me it made sense because my family is all here. But for anyone new to the area, why would I move to Moco rather than Fairfax? It’s not cheaper. The schools aren’t any better. There aren’t any quality in-state college options. TAXES. It’s no longer more liberal. Do you have any reasons?

With all that is going on in MD even before the COVID, MoCo wasn't a good place to live. Why you want to pay higher income tax, property tax and receive poor services?

the one thing I don't complain about living in Rockville is poor city services. Their services are actually really really good. I say this as someone who has moved from a richer area than Rockville from out west.

And as someone who lived through sky rocketing property prices and then a crash, I would not want to go through that again. It's great if you are selling, but not great if you are buying. If you want to look at it as long term investment then that's sky rocketing price is great, but the over development has draw backs, too.

IMO, you need balance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree that MD is prettier and greener than NOVA. Fairfax grew too fast and it shows - bland architecture, lack of trees, giant highways.

When I owned a house in Chevy Chase, trees only meant one thing - power outages, destroyed roofs and destroyed cars (ALL of this happened to me). I have since viewed trees as a scourge. It's very sad, but better construction and planning and better infrastructure could fix it. MoCo has none of this.

This person hates trees.

[Anonymous]

I just moved to Bethesda from nova. I was the only jew in my neighborhood. There is more diversity in moco. I actually find my neighbors in Bethesda to be much friendlier and welcoming, possibly because it’s less transient. People didn’t even say hi on the street in nova.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

This has already happened. MoCo is a much more polarized county and the pressure on the higher income areas to support the rest of the county has been prompting people to move to Howard, Arlington and Fairfax (and for more of those who historically have moved from DC to MoCo to remain in DC or move to NoVa instead).

Fairfax isn't immune from that - people leave Fairfax for Loudoun like people leave MoCo for Howard - but it is growing whereas MoCo has been slipping for years.

Agree with both of these PPs.

MoCo is slowly decimating its middle class in so many ways. Middle class families (of all races) are fleeing to Frederick or Howard County. Like another PP said, the Montgomery County Council is SO liberal, it hurts. It hurts middle class families, and it hurts the school system, and it hurts the entire county.

The schools have been deteriorating for the past decade. I have lived in our neighborhood for 15 years, and have watched it slowly change. Used to be a solidly middle class, diverse neighborhood. Teachers, Feds, nurses, etc. Slowly, it has turned more and more lower income.

The County looks the other way and allows illegal rentals, to house undocumented immigrants, so we have homes on our street that used to be regular SFHs, and now have 4 families living in one home. This affects the neighborhood, the schools, everything. There is an entire underground 'cash only' economy in MoCo that had made it acceptable for everyone to ignore the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

This has already happened. MoCo is a much more polarized county and the pressure on the higher income areas to support the rest of the county has been prompting people to move to Howard, Arlington and Fairfax (and for more of those who historically have moved from DC to MoCo to remain in DC or move to NoVa instead).

Fairfax isn't immune from that - people leave Fairfax for Loudoun like people leave MoCo for Howard - but it is growing whereas MoCo has been slipping for years.

Agree with both of these PPs.

MoCo is slowly decimating its middle class in so many ways. Middle class families (of all races) are fleeing to Frederick or Howard County. Like another PP said, the Montgomery County Council is SO liberal, it hurts. It hurts middle class families, and it hurts the school system, and it hurts the entire county.

The schools have been deteriorating for the past decade. I have lived in our neighborhood for 15 years, and have watched it slowly change. Used to be a solidly middle class, diverse neighborhood. Teachers, Feds, nurses, etc. Slowly, it has turned more and more lower income.

The County looks the other way and allows illegal rentals, to house undocumented immigrants, so we have homes on our street that used to be regular SFHs, and now have 4 families living in one home. This affects the neighborhood, the schools, everything. There is an entire underground 'cash only' economy in MoCo that had made it acceptable for everyone to ignore the rules.

The house I purchased in Bethesda in 2010, basically the bottom of the housing market, is now worth approximately what I paid for it at that time ONE decade later. I sold it in 2014 at a 12% gain and apparently the buyers have lost that entire 12% (this is according to the average value from zillow, trulia, and redfin, which I understand isn't perfect but it certainly gives you some idea). And it's not just worth 12% less than in 2014 - it's also worth less by the amount of inflation that has occurred since then. If it had simply risen with inflation it should be worth 17% more right now. So, something in MoCo is clearly not going very well

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would buy in MoCo if it was close to my work, and if money was no object I think Bethesda is a much nicer looking area than McLean. The only people I know who have bought in MoCo are locals who grew up there and are just used to the area or want to be close to relatives for child care purposes. From an urban planning perspective, I think MoCo developed much better than the sprawl in Northern VA.

If I was wagering, I'd say that FFX will remain pretty stable over the next 20 years but MoCo will slowly but surely deteriorate into a land of major income inequality, declining older suburbs (places like Gaithersburg and Germantown), and deteriorating schools. Taxes are high and the low income majority-minority areas keep growing.

Have you been through Germantown recently? There are a ton of condo and townhouse developments going up. I was really surprised by all of the development.

Lots of smart people are moving from MoCo or MD to VA. After the cap on SALT deduction, it doesn't make sense to live in MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No weirdo guys walking around with guns on their hips.

I have literally never seen a gun in 6 years of living in NoVa

I saw one at the toys r us in Fairfax a few years ago. The guy was wearing an anti Hillary shirt and his gun was clearly visible. Disturbing. Haven’t seen one since though.

Did you get shot? No then...disturbing you're freaking out over a non-incident.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No weirdo guys walking around with guns on their hips.

I have literally never seen a gun in 6 years of living in NoVa

I saw one at the toys r us in Fairfax a few years ago. The guy was wearing an anti Hillary shirt and his gun was clearly visible. Disturbing. Haven’t seen one since though.

Did you get shot? No then...disturbing you're freaking out over a non-incident.

+1. PP cares about the optics of open carry (rare, but legal, in Fairfax); the fact that there is consistently more crime in MoCo (including murders) doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No weirdo guys walking around with guns on their hips.

I have literally never seen a gun in 6 years of living in NoVa

I saw one at the toys r us in Fairfax a few years ago. The guy was wearing an anti Hillary shirt and his gun was clearly visible. Disturbing. Haven’t seen one since though.

Did you get shot? No then...disturbing you're freaking out over a non-incident.

+1. PP cares about the optics of open carry (rare, but legal, in Fairfax); the fact that there is consistently more crime in MoCo (including murders) doesn't matter.

And such is the super-liberal thinking that has decimated MoCo. The local government doesn't care about hard working, law-abiding citizens and has worked overtime to make the area the most hostile to businesses in the entire region. It's a shame because most of MoCo is pretty livable and much nice looking than NoVa. It's got great transit, nice amenities, I love the slightly gritty vibe of Silver Spring, etc. MoCo could be the leader of the area, but fortunately PG let's the always be one step above the bottom of the pack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No weirdo guys walking around with guns on their hips.

I have literally never seen a gun in 6 years of living in NoVa

I saw one at the toys r us in Fairfax a few years ago. The guy was wearing an anti Hillary shirt and his gun was clearly visible. Disturbing. Haven’t seen one since though.

Did you get shot? No then...disturbing you're freaking out over a non-incident.

+1. PP cares about the optics of open carry (rare, but legal, in Fairfax); the fact that there is consistently more crime in MoCo (including murders) doesn't matter.

These are kind of people you want around....keeps the thugs on edge. Law enforcement loves open and conceal carry folks. I also like VA for their aggressive pro death sentencing. If you kill
In VA, you will pay and pay quickly - no waiting around a decade working the bs appeals tour.