Dan Reed is one of our most influential public intellectuals. He didn't run for office, although did apply for a position on the Montgomery County Planning Board a few years back, and his candidacy was supported by several County Councilmembers - unfortunately, not a majority.

Anonymous wrote:

Because he incessantly bemoans about the East-West divide in Montgomery County while being completely clueless as to why it came to be, and while also being ignorant of the fact that there has been an East-West divide for 50 years. The only thing that has changed is that county has gotten bigger and multi-colored.

Because he is a bigot.

Can you share why there is an East-West divide? Or can you share some links to resources that might help me understand your perspective on the divide?

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.

"sprawl by sheer necessity." Can you break that down a bit? Is it home pricing which leads to the need for sprawling?

-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.

In a country this big, with our current population, people should definitely be able to live in less dense areas. Should those less dense areas receive the same amount of public support as more dense areas, eg - regular road paving, transit, utility lines? If so, should people in those areas pay more for the increased cost per capita of providing those resources?

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.

Do you think Elrich referring to himself as a socialist is accurate? If so, what policies does he espouse that supports that?

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.

I think you're referring to my post. And he's not a socialist, by the way, but I agree he is quite left on certain issues. And his rhetoric is often quite left.

But when it comes to his actions, he's definitely not progressive when it comes to things like housing policy. He absolutely seems intent on keeping as many poor and brown people out the county as possible.

Wow, I didn't realize he was so popular to get a thread on DCUM!

I happen to agree with much of what he says. He is fighting for affordability for large segments of the population that don't have the financial means to buy a 6000 foot house in a secluded neighborhood.

Oh, hey Dan!

I never even said I was pro widening 270.

But lots of us pay for lots of things we dont personally use. Thats how budgets/taxes work, and I'm just fine with that.

But I wont be shamed for driving (my hybrid) to commute to a job that pays the bills, that happens to be 25 miles from a house I can afford.

I'm a proud MD dem, but just becauase im not a full on DSA, hard leftist, means I'm somehow racist for caring about property values? Most people's biggest investment of their lives?? Yeah- thats where I get off the train, thanks.

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.

Great - than you alone should pay for widening 270 AND all the downstream roads that will also need to be widened to accommodate the greater volumes of traffic. I take (took) Metro into work and barely use my car and my down county neighborhood is overwhelmed by up county cars everyday making it less livable so you can at least pay for your stupid choice to live in the hell of G'burg.

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.

I'm scratching my head about this.

The reality is that a lot of us in Gaithersburg and beyond depend on cars because transit in Gaithersburg and beyond is lousy. We're forced into cars (those of us who can afford them).

Also, although Elrich is at times referred to himself as a socialist, it's also true that

(1) he has never (to my knowledge) proposed nationalizing the means of production.
(2) he almost always votes with the civic associations, against change.

Dan Reed is a treasure and silver spring is lucky to have him.

Why do I even click through threads on local politics— they are full of stupid takes.

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.

been following him on twitter for a while now! i’m excited to see more progressive voices gain traction in MOCO! ive lived here my entire life and think he’s a voice for good as certain areas become more gentrified! i just hope that more greenery/native plants are in the olán too!

I heard that every time an anonymous commenter posts about Dan Reed on the DCUM forum he grows a little stronger