No good options for MoCo?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Really? Sincere question. That's who can afford a new $800k townhouse these days? |
Anonymous
The big incentives are for rentals, which works out to about $4,300 a month to be affordable at $157k of income. That price is right around the rent for the new two-bedroom rentals on the market now. No, $157k won’t be enough for an $800k townhouses. The county has not incentivized building those and instead keeps raising the required fees to build them while cutting the fees for apartments. For some reason Friedson keeps pushing rentals when so many people want to buy. It’s almost as if someone is paying to make sure people don’t have options other than renting. |
Anonymous
When I worked for the county I made $70K, and was eligible. There was nothing under $600K and no way I could afford that as a single person, let alone when married and my HHI was double as you have to factor in child care, cars, insurance, utilities, etc. |
Anonymous
$70k would have been the MPDU program. Friedson’s donors would like to phase that out. The workforce housing program is newer and appears to be the program that Friedson would like to use to replace the MPDU program. The income limit for that is 120 percent AMI. $70k will not be enough to pay rent in that program let alone buy something. $600k is well below the median sale price of all homes in Montgomery County but the median price in some parts of the county is lower than that. The workforce housing does not mandate the production of houses for purchase with prices of $600k or less. It will not help county employees buy houses. |
Anonymous
Everyone seems to want instant gratification these days of being able to buy something close-in when in their 20s. Even in the 1970s and 1980s, my parents rented the crappiest apartment they could find, saved aggressively while having kids, then bought their Bethesda home about a decade later with an interest rate around 15%. The strategy has always been to rent somewhere inexpensive, save aggressively, and you'll be able to afford an $800K mortgage, maybe not in your 20s but likely in your 30s. The YIMBYs want to spend money on expensive nights out, concerts, designer clothes, manicures, groceries from Whole Foods, etc., and then claim that the world is stacked against them. Nothing is easy -- either find a job to support your expensive lifestyle, or cut back on expenses. Moving to a less expensive part of the country is also an option, and I have friends who have done that, taken pay cuts, and been able to afford beautiful houses on their lower salaries. No matter who gets elected to county exec, the idea that the YIMBYs will get the housing choices they want at the prices they want is so dumb as to be laughable. Their energy would be better spent charting out how they can put themselves on a path to afford what's available. |
Anonymous
|
Message from Kristin Mink
“ Neighbors: Please note that these misleading mailers, which look like Dem Party sample ballots or slates, are NOT. They are solely the personal endorsements of the state Senator pictured, although there is no way to tell that from the mailer. I am on one version of these, and I do NOT agree with the endorsements for County Executive or County Council At-Large, amongst others. Governor Wes Moore has also endorsed a different candidate for County Executive (Will Jawando) and others. The District 20 Delegates have also denounced this mailer. (Their statement is attached.) Please continue to be vigilant about what is being put out during this election season. It’s very sad to have so much negativity and so much need to debunk false and misleading content.” |
Anonymous
|
What will happen if Friedson is elected:
* The data center moratorium will end. Friedson was still opposing a moratorium on data centers at the beginning of June and doesn’t seem to grasp that some data center regulation mist happen at the state level, so the moratorium needs to be long enough for that to happen. Don’t trust Friedson’s flip flop this week. The affordable Maryland PAC has a lot of money from big tech and big tech wants data centers. Friedson delivers for his donors. * The county’s inclusionary zoning program will be greatly scaled back or ended. This is a priority for his big donors and he’s demonstrated that he delivers for them. * Rent stabilization will end even though housing production is already recovering from the Trump-induced pullback and rents are down for the first time in a very long time. What will NOT happen if Friedson is elected: * Ending single family zoning. The executive has no control over zoning. (Even though people love to blame Elrich for zoning) * Tax cuts for homeowners and other residents. Friedson is a Reaganomics guy. He needs us to pay taxes so developers don’t have to. Friedson has not promised to cut taxes and he hasn’t even promised not to increase taxes. In a recent interview he even said explicitly that he wasn’t promising not to increase taxes. • Infrastructure improvements. As a council member, Friedson has diverted money from transportation and school construction to fatten up developers’ profit margins. |
Anonymous
His appointments as executive would cement the donor-friendly arrangements he pushed through on the council (damage is already done, there). |
Anonymous
I’m for all the things you mentioned Friedson will do so this is an endorsement for me. This county is circling the drain economically and in public safety (check the 20 percent murder increase while NoVA counties have seen large decreases) and needs someone to tack to the center and be pro business for once. I do not want Montgomery County to continue to be viewed as Oakland to NoVAs Silicon Valley and DC’s San Francisco. |
Anonymous
These economic policies are hard right, not center. |
Anonymous
Hard right like all the Democrat officials in NoVA in 80/20 and 65/35 Dem majority counties like Arlington and Fairfax who preside over diverse counties with decreasing murder rates and way more private sector jobs than Montgomery County? Those “hard right” politicians?!!!!!! I want less murders, more jobs, and less people polluting the atmosphere while they’re in bumper to bumper traffic on the American Legion Bridge coming home from their jobs in a deep blue region of a state like Virginia where politicians prioritize jobs, public safety, and sensible environmental solutions instead of inane virtue signaling policies like plastic bag and gas leaf blower bans that do nothing for the environment compared to the pollution from the 126,000 commuters from MD who pollute while their cars are idled coming home from work in Virginia. That’s not a hard right stance. That’s a common sense stance and there is a dearth of that in this county, sadly. |
Anonymous
Tax increases will be a problem for me, because the root of our issues in attracting businesses is the perception that we're not as friendly on taxes. I'm still not clear as to who will get spending most under control, maybe because they all seem to be lying about their records to varying extents. Developer handouts seem to be something that we really can't afford if we're going to rein in spending. If we want to give handouts, they should be to companies that move here and bring jobs with them, not to developers who will just build more housing that we really don't need right now. |