Anonymous wrote: wow...a lot of hate on MV in this thread....

It's really not a bad place to live, for the inquiring minds, check out the local paper. http://montgomeryvillage.patch.com/

MV ISN'T GAITHERSBURG. IT'S ITS OWN PLACE.

I lived in Montgomery Village for three years. I had a great townhouse with an inexpensive mortgage so that was great. I also liked the fact that lots of shopping was close by so it was convenient-the mall, Target, Costco, Walmart, Home Depot, dcotor and dentist practices close by, etc.. However, the place really went downhill the three years I was there-more crime, several families that lived in my townhouse complex moved out. I didn't feel safe living there so I sold my place in 2007 and moved out. Some areas are nice, there's lots of affordable housing but be sure to check the neighborhood and schools well before moving to particular area.

It took me awhile to figure out North Potomac. If you look on a map 20878 is a very strange shape. NP and 20878 was made up of areas in Darnestown, Potomac, Gaithersburg, and Rockville. The school clusters can be Wootten, Northwest, Quince Orchard and even a few zone to Churchill. Where I live, we are surrounded by Potomac and Darnestown. I actually drive through the real Darnestown (or at least I see the sign welcome to Darnestown) when I go to the grocery store which comes up as being in Gaithersburg (Kentlands). Our neighbors on the main street our neighborhood comes off are zoned for Churchill while we are zoned to Wootten. We are both much closer to Quince Orchard. If you live closer to the Darnestown/Potomac area it is larger lots and more rural suburbs. The Rockville side as smaller lots, newer large homes, more SFH developments and higher end townhouses but very suburban and not walkable. The Gaithersburg section are a mix of older nice SFH developments (Westleigh), townhouse communities (MB/Seneca), the planned communities like Kentlands and Lakelands, and have closer access to services, restaurants.

For someone not living in the area already, it is hard to get a consistent description of what it is like because there is this variation. I came from DC and was easily confused for the first year. The other small thing that can drive you nuts when real estate shopping is that in NP the roads change names and you often have to make a hard turn off a road to stay on the same one. If you drive N on Travilah you need to turn right at one point to stay on Travilah. If you go straight it becomes dufief and then it becomes muddy branch. Bring a GPS.

We too have not had a problem living in MV - great amenities and lots of kids activities that are offered through the MV Foundation. Choice of pools in the summer is great, and easy access to several parks and trails.

Anonymous wrote:We live in the Lakelands. We have been pretty content here actually. I grew up in the Potomac and Chevy Chase. Though I like that area, I prefer not having to deal with all the people that come along with it.

Though we are content here, ideally, we would like to move to Darnestown and get a house with some land. The reason I like this area is because we are close to some wonderful state and county parks. I like nature and space. It calms me. The ease of the Lakelands is nice when you have a young child, but I am craving the space. However, if we want to go downtown, we are not all that far away. It's the best of both worlds for us.

We moved from kentlands to darnestown/north Potomac 2 months and LOVE it. Wish we would have moved years ago. We still enjoy the restaurants, shopping, etc in kentlands but have a great lot. We can have 10-20 friends over and we don't have to worry about parking! It is so calming and peaceful here- driving through kentlands now, I get the feeling of being squished...having to pull over so the other car can get by, etc.

Parts of Gaithersburg are very nice...but just like every area, it has it's pros and cons. For our family, the quality of life is worth it.

Anonymous wrote: wow...a lot of hate on MV in this thread....

It's really not a bad place to live, for the inquiring minds, check out the local paper. http://montgomeryvillage.patch.com/

Montgomery Village isn't all bad. Some of my best friends live there. But there are some pockets of crime for sure. People just have to carefully search for a house in Gaithersburg in general. But there are lovely neighborhoods and lovely people.

I live in kentlands / Lakelands and absolutely love it. I also enjoy the Rio, but agree that Lakeforest mall is not so nice. Most of the negative comments could also be said about other areas in MD and VA.

wow...a lot of hate on MV in this thread....

It's really not a bad place to live, for the inquiring minds, check out the local paper. http://montgomeryvillage.patch.com/

Anonymous wrote:For anyone who lives in Gaithersburg or isn't completely afraid that a few hours in the suburbs might destroy them, the Gaithersburg Book Festival is tomorrow.

Just watch out for that goat... yes, GOAT... on the loose: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-buzz/post/goat-on-the-loose-in-gaithersburg/2011/05/19/AF7efI7G_blog.html

Rumor has it he likes letting his kids (ha, ha!) play on his acre lot and has a voracious appetite for literature.

For anyone who lives in Gaithersburg or isn't completely afraid that a few hours in the suburbs might destroy them, the Gaithersburg Book Festival is tomorrow.

Anonymous wrote:When I graduated high school in MoCo, it was called GaithersPig, or GaithersPuke, not Gaithersburg. For a reason. To the PP whose husband has a 10 minute commute to Quince Orchard Road from their 1 acre lot ... sorry, you are not living in Gaithersburg - you are in Germantown.

No, we're in Gaithersburg. My kids go to Quince Orchard High School which to the best of my knowledge does not feed from Germantown. You do know Quince Orchard intersects Great Seneca, right? That is Gaithersburg, not Germantown. Medimmune, Kentlands... Gaithersburg, not Germantown.

I think Gaithersburg has changed a lot since 1980 when you were growing up and graduated. It's developed now. Do you also remember when no one wanted to live in Bethesda? When no one wanted to live in DC? Gasp! Now people in there. People live in Gaithersburg, too!

We go to Rio every so often, the major issue with Rio is the damn geese that crap all over the path around the lake. You really cant enjoy the lake because the wild attack geese chase you for food and the path is covered with massive green turds. You can't avoid them, they are everywhere. During the summer when the concert series beings Rio is PACKED with people coming from all over for the music. It's insane.

And no, sorry. I do not wear sweat pants (unless I'm working out), I wear make-up, and I weigh 120 at 5'6. No frumpy SAHM here. Nice try though. I do like me some Starbucks, though. Especially the Drive-thru one on Quince Orchard Blvd!

When I graduated high school in MoCo, it was called GaithersPig, or GaithersPuke, not Gaithersburg. For a reason. To the PP whose husband has a 10 minute commute to Quince Orchard Road from their 1 acre lot ... sorry, you are not living in Gaithersburg - you are in Germantown.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Poor people, middle class people who like to commute, and rich people with extremely poor taste.

Yes, we have extremely poor taste because I decided I wanted my children to have an acre of yard to play on. How tasteless of me. For shame. My husband's office off of Quince Orchard Blvd, his commute is ten minutes both ways. I have him at the house with the kids in the morning for breakfast, he attends all school meetings, he's home before dinner 99% of the time unless there's a meeting he has to go into to DC to attend late at night comes up. Poor tasteless us and our crappy family time.

You can keep your daycare from 6am to 6pm, your nanny, your busy lifestyle, your postage stamp lot with no yard, your shitty commutes sitting in traffic longer than the time you spend with your kids all day long. If someone wants to live in Gaithersburg because their quality of life is 100% better than it was living in the city and you think that equates to poor taste then that makes you ignorant and shallow.

Said the righteous, pleasantly plump, sweatpant wearing, makeup less, star bucks frapuccino guzzling SAHM.

Rio poster here. I'm actually surprised about the negative comments about the Rio. Fine, if it's not your cup of tea but some of the comments really sound like they're coming from a teenager who cares more about where it's cool/not cool to hang out. I have a 3 yr old and a 1 year old. We go to Rio because it's nearby, convenient and the kids love it. The playground is great and my kids love running around the artificial lake (thanks to the poster who pointed that out as if we didn't know that). Of course we don't go every weekend but we go often when the weather is nice. To the poster who would rather kill themselves than spend the weekends at the Rio in "ugly suburbia", thanks for letting us know. Fortunately, I only worry about what my family wants to do. I also do hope for your sake that you never come here because it sounds like it would be completely devastating to you.

We live in the Lakelands. We have been pretty content here actually. I grew up in the Potomac and Chevy Chase. Though I like that area, I prefer not having to deal with all the people that come along with it.

Though we are content here, ideally, we would like to move to Darnestown and get a house with some land. The reason I like this area is because we are close to some wonderful state and county parks. I like nature and space. It calms me. The ease of the Lakelands is nice when you have a young child, but I am craving the space. However, if we want to go downtown, we are not all that far away. It's the best of both worlds for us.