How has MoCo declined since you’ve lived here?

[Anonymous]

I believe this is a “Real Estate” thread to sway people new to the area that Fairfax is the place to live. You all just took the bait.

[Anonymous]

FYI - police reports related to MS-13 are squarely in fairfax and not in close-in Montgomery county

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The purple line will make things better too

But I admit I am worried about the future of the county

Don't want us to become a county where you move in when you have little and need much and move out when you have a lot and are tired of paying for stuff for other people

+1. There seems to be no recognition that if the tax burden and job situation worsens relative to DC and VA people will move or never come in the first place. People who bombastically claim they will leave the country when a president they don't like is elected are mostly full of it - it is a huge deal to move to a new country, leave your friends (and often family), find a new job, etc.

But moving from MoCo to DC or VA is pretty easy. I can be in each in 10 minutes. I wouldn't need a new job; my commute might even improve. I could keep my existing social circle. Culturally, things are the same. Life just would not be different.

I like MoCo and I moved here for a reason, even knowing it was more expensive in some ways. But if the difference becomes too extreme, it will be hard to justify staying. And if too many people with the means to easily leave do, then you lose the tax base needed for the social services desired.

Who is they? County government is very aware - it was an issue in this last election.

But the people who are aware of the issue, or at least view it as a problem, didn't win in the election. The county government that was elected, and that we have had for a while, is utterly unconcerned about wealthier county residents and how they will react to policies. Based on where they live and their political viewpoints, most of the county government is myopically focused on helping the poorer parts and residents of the county. And to do that, they are more than willing to increase the tax burden on wealthier residents and pour resources into less well-off areas.

This makes sense -- up to a point. There is nothing wrong with having government focus more on helping the poor. The rich are doing fine; they don't need much help. But when you reach the point that wealthier areas and people are viewed as nothing but a piggy bank to fund other priorities, and the tax burden in MoCo greatly exceeds other jurisdictions to which these wealthier residents can easily move, you will have a flood of people leaving.

Many people would probably say, fine let them leave. While it may feel good giving the "rich" a rhetorical middle finger and tell them not to let the door hit them on the a$$ on the way out, an exodus of wealthy residents would have the most profound negative effect on poor residents. The county has serious budget issues as is, but if wealthier residents start to leave, the social program that county politicians trumpet will become truly unaffordable. Or they will try to keep up the level of spending by increasing taxes ever higher, creating a vicious cycle that causes more residents of means to leave.

If Dems takeover on a national level, you can get away with much higher taxes because almost no one will really leave the country over it. MoCo doesn't have that luxury because its wealthier residents can verily easily.

[Anonymous]

Yup.. ^ I could have written that post

Very well said

The same policies I support at the national level absolutely should not be done at the local level

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FYI - police reports related to MS-13 are squarely in fairfax and not in close-in Montgomery county

Not even remotely true.

https://cis.org/Huennekens/24-MS13-Members-Indicted-Maryland

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It has changed a lot but for the better. The downsides that people mentioned here are a reflection of the entire DMV. The beggars, homelessness that people are claiming on here is a bit baffling.

You enjoy having beggars and homeless milling around?

No I don't and good think we rarely see them here in MoCo.

Where do you live and commute? I see people on median strips on Norbeck Road near Ga ave and Muncaster Mill. I see people on medians along Connecticut Ave in kensington. This is on weekdays as well as weekends.

You realize they exist everywhere, even in the rich parts of DC, right? Sorry you haven’t found a place away from the poors.

I was responding to the poster who claims there are no beggars in Moco. Flower Valley and Kensington are not places known for "poors".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here we go let’s complain about Germantown again. God forbid there’s a place in moco that’s affordable to live in.

Yeah that's why it's so distressing that all 4 of the MoCo council at large members come from a small downcounty area (Takoma Park, Kensington, Silver Spring). Same with the new CoExec Elrich.

They think the solution to Germantown's growth and traffic problems is BRT (buses). Do they realize the distances involved and how impractical that is?

Go to one of the open house forums Mar Elrich is hosting. He may come to realize it wouldn’t work in that area. He does listen, unlike 99% of politicians.

But he’s having TWO of those listening sessions in Silver Spring and Takoma Park - where he LIVES and in places that have been gettings tons of attention the last 8 years. That’s more like a Donald Trump victory tour, post election campaign session than a ‘listening session’.
Nothing for Poolesville, Gaithersburg or Bethesda. We still don’t exist. It stings and I don’t believe that he’s going to be any different than the usu

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The purple line will make things better too

But I admit I am worried about the future of the county

Don't want us to become a county where you move in when you have little and need much and move out when you have a lot and are tired of paying for stuff for other people

+1. There seems to be no recognition that if the tax burden and job situation worsens relative to DC and VA people will move or never come in the first place. People who bombastically claim they will leave the country when a president they don't like is elected are mostly full of it - it is a huge deal to move to a new country, leave your friends (and often family), find a new job, etc.

But moving from MoCo to DC or VA is pretty easy. I can be in each in 10 minutes. I wouldn't need a new job; my commute might even improve. I could keep my existing social circle. Culturally, things are the same. Life just would not be different.

I like MoCo and I moved here for a reason, even knowing it was more expensive in some ways. But if the difference becomes too extreme, it will be hard to justify staying. And if too many people with the means to easily leave do, then you lose the tax base needed for the social services desired.

Who is they? County government is very aware - it was an issue in this last election.

But the people who are aware of the issue, or at least view it as a problem, didn't win in the election. The county government that was elected, and that we have had for a while, is utterly unconcerned about wealthier county residents and how they will react to policies. Based on where they live and their political viewpoints, most of the county government is myopically focused on helping the poorer parts and residents of the county. And to do that, they are more than willing to increase the tax burden on wealthier residents and pour resources into less well-off areas.

This makes sense -- up to a point. There is nothing wrong with having government focus more on helping the poor. The rich are doing fine; they don't need much help. But when you reach the point that wealthier areas and people are viewed as nothing but a piggy bank to fund other priorities, and the tax burden in MoCo greatly exceeds other jurisdictions to which these wealthier residents can easily move, you will have a flood of people leaving.

Many people would probably say, fine let them leave. While it may feel good giving the "rich" a rhetorical middle finger and tell them not to let the door hit them on the a$$ on the way out, an exodus of wealthy residents would have the most profound negative effect on poor residents. The county has serious budget issues as is, but if wealthier residents start to leave, the social program that county politicians trumpet will become truly unaffordable. Or they will try to keep up the level of spending by increasing taxes ever higher, creating a vicious cycle that causes more residents of means to leave.

If Dems takeover on a national level, you can get away with much higher taxes because almost no one will really leave the country over it. MoCo doesn't have that luxury because its wealthier residents can verily easily.

They view everyone here as being ‘rich ‘ and ‘having everything they need’ lumping in the Lerner family right along with the struggling middle class. It’s maddening, stupid and rabidly self serving.

[Anonymous]

Let me see, at the Safeway at Arlington rd in Bethesda, witnessed day laborers comes in and dipi into the olive bar with their bear hands. Yummy. Asked the deli manager about this and she told me to never touch it, they do it all the time. The deli manager is a brown person. Onward to Panera bread on Wisconsin ave, stoppedi in with pre teen daughter only to have her ogled by the middle eastern coffee drinkers that seem to have taken over the place. I told her she was being paranoid and then she went to get our drinks and utensils only to have two of these fools corner her while pressing their bodies against her. Were it not for the quick thinking employee who jumped in to get them away from her I think I would have killed them! The employee told mei really needed to stay by my daughter in there. The employee was a brown person. I can go on and on with examples. So to the racist person on this board, there are plenty of brown people in this county who agree it is a sh t hole county. Left just recently after thirty years and won’t even shop there any longer. It is a social experiment gone crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup.. ^ I could have written that post

Very well said

The same policies I support at the national level absolutely should not be done at the local level

So of you're a Marylander, who did you vote for at the local level?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me see, at the Safeway at Arlington rd in Bethesda, witnessed day laborers comes in and dipi into the olive bar with their bear hands. Yummy. Asked the deli manager about this and she told me to never touch it, they do it all the time. The deli manager is a brown person. Onward to Panera bread on Wisconsin ave, stoppedi in with pre teen daughter only to have her ogled by the middle eastern coffee drinkers that seem to have taken over the place. I told her she was being paranoid and then she went to get our drinks and utensils only to have two of these fools corner her while pressing their bodies against her. Were it not for the quick thinking employee who jumped in to get them away from her I think I would have killed them! The employee told mei really needed to stay by my daughter in there. The employee was a brown person. I can go on and on with examples. So to the racist person on this board, there are plenty of brown people in this county who agree it is a sh t hole county. Left just recently after thirty years and won’t even shop there any longer. It is a social experiment gone crazy.

Wow, BFF who lives in NoVa has had a few similar experiences. Some day laborers followed her into a grocery store in Fairfax.. One guy was whistling at her and started acting creepy that a manager had to get involved. Also, one morning a couple of months ago, as she walked into her car, she found a man sleeping in there. This was in Arlington. You see how this works?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Let me see, at the Safeway at Arlington rd in Bethesda, witnessed day laborers comes in and dipi into the olive bar with their bear hands. Yummy. Asked the deli manager about this and she told me to never touch it, they do it all the time. The deli manager is a brown person. Onward to Panera bread on Wisconsin ave, stoppedi in with pre teen daughter only to have her ogled by the middle eastern coffee drinkers that seem to have taken over the place. I told her she was being paranoid and then she went to get our drinks and utensils only to have two of these fools corner her while pressing their bodies against her. Were it not for the quick thinking employee who jumped in to get them away from her I think I would have killed them! The employee told mei really needed to stay by my daughter in there. The employee was a brown person. I can go on and on with examples. So to the racist person on this board, there are plenty of brown people in this county who agree it is a sh t hole county. Left just recently after thirty years and won’t even shop there any longer. It is a social experiment gone crazy.

Wow. That's awful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Let me see, at the Safeway at Arlington rd in Bethesda, witnessed day laborers comes in and dipi into the olive bar with their bear hands. Yummy. Asked the deli manager about this and she told me to never touch it, they do it all the time. The deli manager is a brown person. Onward to Panera bread on Wisconsin ave, stoppedi in with pre teen daughter only to have her ogled by the middle eastern coffee drinkers that seem to have taken over the place. I told her she was being paranoid and then she went to get our drinks and utensils only to have two of these fools corner her while pressing their bodies against her. Were it not for the quick thinking employee who jumped in to get them away from her I think I would have killed them! The employee told mei really needed to stay by my daughter in there. The employee was a brown person. I can go on and on with examples. So to the racist person on this board, there are plenty of brown people in this county who agree it is a sh t hole county. Left just recently after thirty years and won’t even shop there any longer. It is a social experiment gone crazy.

Wow, BFF who lives in NoVa has had a few similar experiences. Some day laborers followed her into a grocery store in Fairfax.. One guy was whistling at her and started acting creepy that a manager had to get involved. Also, one morning a couple of months ago, as she walked into her car, she found a man sleeping in there. This was in Arlington[/b]. You see how this works?

Scary as hell! It's always been a fear of mine to find some stranger in my car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup.. ^ I could have written that post

Very well said

The same policies I support at the national level absolutely should not be done at the local level

So of you're a Marylander, who did you vote for at the local level?

DP. The problem is there really are no good options, at least that can get through a primary. Blair would have been a decent option. If the Republicans ever nominated someone like Hogan, instead of someone unqualified like Ficker, who knows - but that would be a tough to win even with a moderate.

Ultimately, I voted for Floreen, but who knows if she would have been any better than Elrich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yup.. ^ I could have written that post

Very well said

The same policies I support at the national level absolutely should not be done at the local level

So of you're a Marylander, who did you vote for at the local level?

Floreen. Didn't vote for incumbents really for county council

Didn't vote in gubernatorial election because both had flaws and outcome wasn't in question