Moving to MoCo - Rockville, Gaithersburg, Germantown (Bethesda, Aspen Hill: best neighborhood, houses)

[newbie2md]

Hi All,

I am moving to the area am looking for a little advise. My 6 year old will go to school and I will work in Rockville. I would like to live there but houses are too expensive. I have seen Woodley Gardens, College Gardens, Kentlands and Fallsgrove. Can someone recommend safe, affordable neighborhood that is close by? I heard Flower Hill and Twinbrook are okay and that Germantown and near the Airpark are nice. Your thoughts? Are there any specific neighborhoods to look at or stay away from?

Thanks!

[MinksandRusty]

King Farm is great community with 2 large parks. The community is pretty safe and College Gardens is an excellent school.

[wells1999]

King Farm, Kentlands/ Lakelands are all very nice communities. But King Farm is divided to two school clusters, one is better than the other. you need to make sure which school cluster you might end up going.

Stay away from Lake Forest Mall area!!

[superseiyan]

Originally Posted by wells1999

King Farm, Kentlands/ Lakelands are all very nice communities. But King Farm is divided to two school clusters, one is better than the other. you need to make sure which school cluster you might end up going.

Stay away from Lake Forest Mall area!!

What is wrong with Lake Forest Mall? It's good to qualify or explain those statements for the benefit of the audience that's reading.

[wells1999]

Originally Posted by superseiyan

What is wrong with Lake Forest Mall? It's good to qualify or explain those statements for the benefit of the audience that's reading.

I am told there are quite a lot low-income, illegal immigrants there. I have never been there myself and don't plan to check it out. Do a search in this forum for lake forest and there are more details.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by superseiyan

What is wrong with Lake Forest Mall? It's good to qualify or explain those statements for the benefit of the audience that's reading.

There's nothing wrong with the mall. It's the area around the mall that gets people scared. Too many people of color around there, or something like that.

[newbie2md]

]I made a trip and checked out the area. Rockville is a great area – safe, good schools, community activities and a lot to do. I would not move to Twinbrook or Aspen Hill though.

I looked at Bethesda and Chevy Chase but they are both terribly crowded and expensive.

Gaithersburg is okay – good community amenities but apparently, the area is quickly going downhill, per the police and my observations. I went to Lake Forest Mall – okay stores but NOT SAFE! As I ate lunch at the Silver Diner at 2pm on a Wednesday a fist fight broke out between a group of 4 girls and 1 guy and the security guards stood there and did nothing. An off duty cop was there, broke it up, called his friends and arrested most of the kids. There was blood all over the floor. I will never go there again! Much of Montgomery Village had the same vibe and attitude. There was a visible presence of the gang MS13 in Germantown/Montgomery Village. Too bad because there was some nice neighborhoods.

Germantown was lovely, appears to be some growth up towards Clarksburg and Boyds. Small town feel, some bad pockets but not horrible. Nice lake in the area too.

I spoke to a couple of county cops who agreed with my assessment. They recommended Bethesda, Rockville and Germantown. Bethesda is too crowded, Rockville is very expensive so I think I will focus on Germantown.

Thanks for the advice!

[superseiyan]

Originally Posted by newbie2md

]Gaithersburg is okay – good community amenities but apparently, the area is quickly going downhill, per the police and my observations. I went to Lake Forest Mall – okay stores but NOT SAFE! As I ate lunch at the Silver Diner at 2pm on a Wednesday a fist fight broke out between a group of 4 girls and 1 guy and the security guards stood there and did nothing. An off duty cop was there, broke it up, called his friends and arrested most of the kids. There was blood all over the floor. I will never go there again! Much of Montgomery Village had the same vibe and attitude. There was a visible presence of the gang MS13 in Germantown/Montgomery Village. Too bad because there was some nice neighborhoods.

Lake forest Mall is perfectly safe and ok. I moved in the area, so that's my lcoal mall I've never felt like I'd be stabbed, or mugged or whatever when i was going shopping there. I was expecting a war zone based on previous posts on this forum. I grew up in Bethesda, so I know about Potomac and Chevy Chase too. About the worst area of Montgomery County is parts of Aspen Hill and parts of Takoma Park/Langley Park. And even then they're pretty safe. Hardly what I'd call "unsafe", but I understand we're each brought up differently and fear differnt things so to each their own.

I'm going to ask a question that will seem naive, but perhaps its my youth, other than "young hispanic kids", what is a "visible presence" of a gang? How can one tell the "visible presence" of a gang? I'm legit curious.

[newbie2md]

Superseiyan,

I have lived in major cities all of my life (Boston, New York and Chicago, all more dangerous areas then Bethesda or Gaitherburg) so I am not afraid to walk down the street at night by myself and can take care of myself. But I will not plop down hundreds of thousands of dollars for a place to live in an unsafe neighborhood. If I am going to buy a place I want it to be in the best neighborhood possible. It is not only me but my child as well.

If there are fights in the mall in the middle of the day with no assistance from security, I would not call that safe.

As for identifying MS13 - when I lived in New York they were all over my neighborhood. They have visible tattoos identifying themselves. They intentionally tattoo in visable locations -mainly face and neck. Also I am part Boricua and "young hispanic kids" do not equal gang activity.

[superseiyan]

Originally Posted by newbie2md

Superseiyan,

I have lived in major cities all of my life (Boston, New York and Chicago, all more dangerous areas then Bethesda or Gaitherburg) so I am not afraid to walk down the street at night by myself and can take care of myself. But I will not plop down hundreds of thousands of dollars for a place to live in an unsafe neighborhood. If I am going to buy a place I want it to be in the best neighborhood possible. It is not only me but my child as well.

If there are fights in the mall in the middle of the day with no assistance from security, I would not call that safe.

As for identifying MS13 - when I lived in New York they were all over my neighborhood. They have visible tattoos identifying themselves. They intentionally tattoo in visable locations -mainly face and neck. Also I am part Boricua and "young hispanic kids" do not equal gang activity.

Fair enough.

I realize once you have a family (I don't have kids) or are buying, your considerations change.

I'll just say, and I know I'm treading on thin ice here as it will appear I'm "telling you what to do", but ideally kids wouldn't be too sheltered. When I have kids I'd like them to go to a public school and to have friends from all over the socio-economic spectrum. It's done me a world of good, I went to High School in Bethesda, lived in Van Ness NW DC (rich diplomat area) but I've also known people from Southeast DC, and lived in the "worst" part of MoCo aka. Aspen hill which is "going down fast"

What country are you from?