Wednesday, July 06, 2016

Louis Vuitton closes in Chevy Chase as wealthy exit Montgomery County (Photos)

Washington Business Journal reporter Rebecca Cooper noted a year ago that Louis Vuitton was opening a store in the posh new CityCenterDC development downtown, even though the high-end retailer already had a boutique at the Collection at Chevy Chase. "Will they continue to maintain their presence in Chevy Chase," Cooper asked. 

And now we have the answer.

Louis Vuitton has closed at the Collection at Chevy Chase.

Customers are being directed to the Louis Vuitton collection available on the next block at Saks Fifth Avenue. But the closure, and a planned revamp of the Collection at Chevy Chase property aimed at staunching the bleeding of more expected departures, show more evidence of the exodus of wealth from high-tax and economically-moribund Montgomery County.

The policies of the Montgomery County Council are creating a massive influx of low-income, subsidized residents, and an outflow of wealthy residents to neighboring jurisdictions. What's surprising is that those residents aren't just going to Northern Virginia anymore.

According to the fascinating website How Money Walks, Montgomery County is hemorrhaging money to its neighbors. Now that Montgomery County Public Schools have been declining since 2010, according to a County Office of Legislative Oversight report and massive exam failure rates, other school systems may not seem like a step down for those being overtaxed here.

Surprisingly, Frederick County was the largest benefactor of the most recent expatriates from Montgomery County. Those folks took a whopping $1.8 billion in adjusted gross income with them to "Fredneck." 

Montgomery residents moving to job-rich Fairfax County took $643.09 million in AGI with them, and likely slashing their commuting times in the process. $615 million went with Montgomery residents who fled to Howard County, which is led by a Republican county executive, Allan Kittleman.

Folks drawn to the horse farms, suburban subdivisions, and harbors of Anne Arundel County took $494.85 million with them. Republican County Executive Steve Schuh leads that county, which bills itself as "the best place to live, work and start a business in Maryland." Apparently, quite a few of your former neighbors agree. 

And we haven't even brought up Loudoun County yet!

Of course, the Collection at Chevy Chase has its own flaws, although I've never believed having high-end shopping was one of them. After all, such retail is among the most sound investments, as economists note that the ultra-wealthy never curtail their spending on luxury goods even when the economy tanks.

What is hard to believe, is that a property literally located at a Metro station would not have a substantial residential component. The footprint of the former Chevy Chase Circle retail buildings at the very least should have been redeveloped with housing at a prime smart growth location. Instead, the development is essentially a really high-end strip mall, with an office building on top of one part of it. Not smart growth, and probably also not smart in terms of supporting retail and restaurant tenants.

Which is why I have to laugh when the County Council and their lackeys claim we have to have massive development at non-Metro locations like Westbard or Aspen Hill. Not only are there huge swaths of downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring that have yet to be redeveloped within walking distance of Metro, but here is a site at Metro in Chevy Chase with no housing at all! 

What our incompetent leaders are doing, is essentially shifting the transit-oriented development out to non-Metro areas, and creating more sprawl and traffic. Not only has MoCo already met its projected population increase through the housing it has already approved, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, but it is claiming there is pressure to build outside of TOD areas when there actually is no pressure at all.

Of course, as the numbers show, the high-end residential and retail customers are dwindling by the day. And once again this week, we have an example of how the real world of business operates differently from the political echo chamber of the Montgomery County cartel.

Politicians who created this mess claim there is "no mass exodus" of wealth, and keep on going the way they've been going (but may get a serious wake up call when term limits pass this November). They have no sense of urgency whatsoever about our dire private sector economic stagnation. 

In contrast, business can't bluster and bluff its way out. Retailers have to profit to pay their rent. Business, as with Barnes and Noble cutting back hours in a moribund nighttime economy, is acting swiftly, and cannot stay open or keep doing something that isn't working just to make the County Council feel good.

So the doors have closed at Louis Vuitton.








93 comments:

Andrea said...

What's the reason people are moving out?

Are there also numbers for people moving in?

Anonymous said...

So if rich people are leaving MoCo, and being replaced by poor folks, then then average home sale price should be going down since poor folks can't afford nice houses. Is that actually happening?

Roz614 said...

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Roz614 said...

Really Now

Anonymous said...

A LV standalone store is a nice thing on Rodeo Drive or 5th Ave. or the Vegas Strip, where lots of on-foot, wealthy tourists wander in and are separated from their credit cards. Chevy Chase doesn't get that kind of tourism foot traffic. And the rich people who live in MoCo--and there are loads and loads of them snapping up the seven-figure homes in my neighborhood--buy their LV at Nordstrom, where they can park and eat and stay in the AC or heat. It's the changing face of high-end retail in suburban areas, not any indication of the exit of wealth (and most truly wealthy and not just on-paper wealthy don't flaunt it with LV bags anyway--check the statistics).

I've followed you for a long time, Robert, and you definitely have your pulse on the brick and mortar goings on around here. But you are starting to sound like someone who's losing their grip, all honesty.

Anonymous said...

All those high end stores along that strip are ridiculous. No one I know has thousands of $$$ to pay for a bag in this volatile economy. Walk one block south and you'll see homeless folks and vagrants pissing their pants over the sidewalk. Good riddance!

Poppy said...

Well heeled progressives are still here Robert. Our family normally spends the 4th in the United Kingdom, so maybe that is why it seems like we left you.

And just to clarify, well-heeled Bethesdians really do not gravitate towards Louis Vuitton to begin with. Their wares are very shouty and frankly, quite gauche. My suspicion is they were kept in business as it was from people travelling up from the district to shop there.

Bethesdians are likely glad they closed down. I know we are. Now, that space can be occupied by a line we actually do buy, such as Ferragamo.

Anonymous said...

Did Dyer ever shop there? It's walking distance from his house.

Robert Dyer said...

5:36: The numbers, which come directly from the IRS, speak for themselves. Are you saying the IRS is "losing its grip" as well?

The fact that these same brands are opening in CityCenterDC suggests they are going where the money is, as opposed to going out of business or out of style.

Let's just be honest - the Montgomery County Council is a complete disaster, and there's no way to spin that disastrous record to make it seem otherwise. Even the Chamber of Commerce declined to endorse a single one of them in 2014.

Anonymous said...

"Frederick County [took] $1.8 billion in adjusted gross income with them....

"Fairfax County took $643.09 million in AGI with them..."

"$615 million went with Montgomery residents who fled to Howard County"

"Anne Arundel County took $494.85 million"

Source for any of these numbers? "The IRS" is not a statistic, it is an agency. And did no one move IN to Montgomery County, from other jurisdictions, during this time? How is it that our population has grown nearly 25,000 since the start of this decade?

Anonymous said...

Even if the MoCo CC is a complete disaster, turning it over to a bunch of birdbrains led by Dyer sounds like a suicide mission. Get lost, Dyer!

Anonymous said...

Dyer's rants are really just one long rant that gets a couple of new paragraphs added to it each week.

The Litany of St. Dyer.

Robert Dyer said...

6:13: How can I be the "birdbrain" when I've been right consistently, and the Council has been dead wrong, on the major issues?

They said development paid for itself and then some with new revenue, and by "expanding the tax base." I said that the costs outstrip the new revenue. Just weeks ago, several on the Council for the first time admitted they were wrong, and my position has been proven right.

They said transit was the only solution for the Legion bridge. Meanwhile, I've been saying we need more highway capacity, and I've had an impact on the public discussion. Now, suddenly, the Council is talking about express lanes. I was right, they were wrong.

Etc. Etc.

Anonymous said...

"They said transit was the only solution for the Legion bridge. Meanwhile, I've been saying we need more highway capacity, and I've had an impact on the public discussion. Now, suddenly, the Council is talking about express lanes. I was right, they were wrong."

Liar. In your own candidate's statement you said that would refuse to widen the Beltway between I-270 and the Beltway.

Robert Dyer said...

6:21: If it gets an attaboy from a Councilmember, it's journalism, but if it dares to tell the truth, it's a "rant." OK, got it.

Anonymous said...

Did you ever shop at Louis Vuitton, Dyer?

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Robert Dyer said...

6:24: You're the liar - the widening you refer to was a different plan that would have demolished homes. Are you saying the Council's "Dyer-lite" express lane plan is also going to demolish homes? Berliner is endorsing demolishing his constituents' homes?

Come on, man, you know you're a filthy liar.

Poppy said...

Robert, eve if your logic may be sound, Louis Vuitton leaving is a bad example for you to cite.

If we were losing a Longchamp to DC, then maybe you would have a point, but even then we're talking about a ready to wear brand, albeit one adored by Bethesdians. The culture behind Louis Vuitton just simply does not mesh with progressive tastes.

I'll give you an example. A few years ago when we sent the twins north for summer sailing lessons, the camp provided us with a brand and style guide before we had their bags packed. They specified brands they did not allow and the reasons for the prohibition. Tops on the list was LV. The reason behind this was that gang members were buying Louis Vuitton handkerchiefs and tying them to their belts. At only $400 these were something that were well within the reach of a gang member and the camp cited numerous articles in which the handkerchiefs were the catalyst for violence. If you require further information I implore you to research the term 'Louis Rag.'

Gangs and violence are and will never be core progressive values. I think that is something we can both agree on.

Anonymous said...

Dyer you are a perfect match for Lih Young. You two should marry. Birdbrains of a feather, flocking together. No one believes anything either of you preach, and you will NEVER get elected, that's your primary beef.

Anonymous said...

Locals never shopped there. The Center is being redeveloped, that's been in the news for several months now.

Anonymous said...

@ 6:58 AM - I'm not familiar with Yih Young, but I suspect that she is getting plenty of competition from Janis Sartucci and Deborah Vollmer.

Robert Dyer said...

7:01: Sounds more like spin than "news." Readers want "the rest of the story," and they're getting it on this site, much to your bosses' chagrin.

Anonymous said...

Poppy is right. LV was fashionable with low class trash in 2010. Get with the program Dyer. They are probably selling this brand in K-Mart next to Khole Kardashian brand jeans.

Robert Dyer said...

7:05: Yeah, anybody who disagrees with the MoCo cartel, you automatically label them "crazy". Classic Saul Alinsky tactics.

Anonymous said...

The attacks on other former candidates sound like George Leventhal's recent rants.
Folks, you do know there are sitting members of the county and local municipal councils that didn't win every election, right? That's politics.
Of course incumbents have a huge advantage in having their own media operations. Term limits will help!

Skippy said...

The Collection was a massive fail.
Clyde's and Giant are the only draws on that block.

Anonymous said...

Why no comments allowed on the Karr Greenhill project? Is this bias by the author?

Anonymous said...

More like a cease and desist letter. Closing the comments would conform.

Anonymous said...

7:47 AM Are you really complaining that you can't say something bad about someone on that Greehill article?

Anonymous said...

Why wouldn't he disclose that?

Anonymous said...

Robert works for Karr right?

Anonymous said...

For a second I thought I was reading Bethesda Now and I was like, "Wow, they usually aren't so political."

Anonymous said...

8:09 AM is trolling hard this morning

Robert Dyer said...

8:32: You know the Titanic is taking on water when the MoCo cartel is reduced to celebrating the loss of high-end retail to the District, and calling Louis Vuitton "trash". Next thing he'll be telling us the Dollar Store opening in Friendship Heights is a "win" for the MoCo machine. Nuts.

Anonymous said...

The rich are moving to the countryside. The poor are doomed to be stacked on top of one another in Agenda 21 high rises.

Anonymous said...

He who controls the countryside controls the territory. Those in cities are dependent and surrounded, and can be starved out if need be. It's siege warfare. They guys in the castle always lose to those who control food production and can move about freely.

Anonymous said...

I like how half the time Dyer complains that MoCo is so expensive to live in and we're demoing affordable Class C units for new $1M+ Class A units and half the time he complains that we're poor trash compared to other counties.

The idea MoCo is poorer than before is idiotic. Anyone who has even a vague understanding of the county's real estate knows that. Yes, it's avg. household income has gone down, but that's because of the growth in apartment/condo buildings. I "only" make $80K so I technically drag down the avg. household income, but I'm single, have no kids, use little in the way of public services, and have a lot of discretionary income. I guess I'm making the county "poor," so sorry everybody.

Anonymous said...

10:23 AM You always have some excuse for the data. Keep spinning.

Anonymous said...

Robert I appreciate your blog, I really do, but the analysis that uber wealthy are leaving MoCo is just plain incorrect. The IRS data you reference points to total gross dollars leaving MoCo not an average household. MoCo could be suffering from population loss from any income level. A better hypothesis is to look toward middle income families where they get more value for their dollar in outlying counties like Loudoun, Howard, Fredrick, etc. Even anecdotally we know the top .1% still lives in MoCo, Ted Leonsis moved from Great Falls to here, look at the major executives in the DC area, just as many live in Potomac, Chevy Chase and Bethesda as they do Great Falls and McLean.

The data you present isn't wrong, it just doesn't tell the full story. I think if we actually looked at the full picture, the story is much worse than the wealthy leaving MoCo. If the wealthy leave that's not as bad as the middle and upper middle class leaving. You are also assuming LV is a brand wealthy people care about.

Anonymous said...

10:27 AM - You always have some lame excuse for the hilarious contradictions in Dyer's claims. "Raw numbers" are meaningless in the absence of context.

Anonymous said...

Is Dyer the greatest con man in history? No, of course not. He has never been great at anything - ever.

Anonymous said...

Real estate is now a reflection of Wall Street investment and Corporate asset diversification, not a reflection of real economic activity and families purchasing homes based upon reasonable percentage of their income. The prices may be up, but it has nothing to do with prosperity for the county as a whole. People who believe real estate prices equal prosperity are the same kind of people who believe the US Government doesn't cook the books on employment in this land. Idiots.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who want substantiated facts, instead of twisted and distorted "data" (haha), copy/pasted from a conservative blogger/author, here's some actual facts from the Census Bureau.


Montgomery County, MD
Number of Households making more than 200,000 a year:
2009 - 50,362
2010 - 54,027
2011 - 58,062
2012 - 60,331
2013 - 62,432
2014 - 64,299


Now you tell me. Hard to distort these facts.

Even according to the fraudulent "How Money Walks" (written by a right-wing author who wants to abolish all income tax), Montgomery County lost $6.46 billion in annual AGI* but Fairfax lost $8.57 billion in [cumulative] annual AGI. I can pretty much guarantee you that Dyer won't discuss that minor detail.

Again, don't take my word for it (my name isn't Robert Dyer):
Table B19001 on the Census Bureau's website.

Oh, and the real reason Louis Vuitton is closing is because they have three locations in the area (and are rumored to have a new lease on the ground-floor of the new City Center Conrad hotel).

Anonymous said...

On the bright side, at least the space won't be replaced with some generic Karr/Greenberg P.O.S. building

Anonymous said...

I only came here for the comments after seeing the title. They did not disappoint.

Anonymous said...

1:51pm just schooled Dyer.

Robert Dyer said...

1:51: You're the one twisting - your chart makes it look like we're getting wealthier, but only because you cleverly used the Great Recession years as a starting point. As usual, you try to cherry pick a dubious number and Saul Alinsky yourself into a sidebar argument. The IRS numbers show unequivocally that MoCo is hemorrhaging wealth, and many more are going to Fairfax from Montgomery than vice-versa.

Anonymous said...

Yes. The truth must be told. Would Dyer complain if he couldn't say something bad about Riemer and the county council or county in general?

Robert Dyer said...

11:16: The money itself is what's important - there's less money to be spent when a couple of billion are removed from the County economy. Of course it's not just the rich. But the struggles of high end retail, and the fact that many of the newer developments are downscaling to more mid-market retail, tells us that the number of those who can afford the Collection at Chevy Chase has clearly declined. As far as CEOs, somebody like Ted Leonsis is here because he can afford it, and he is politically aligned with the faction of the Democratic party that currently controls Montgomery County and Maryland.

Robert Dyer said...

12:07: No, that would be Hans Riemer. The guy is in his second term of office, and the local media has yet to investigate why out-of-town Wall Street firms and lobbyists would pour money into his Podunk Junction County Council races, whether he was Obama's youth vote director at victory in 2008 as he boasted or was actually terminated before Obama even clinched the nomination, how exactly he "saved Social Security from George Bush" as he repeatedly told voters and the press, and whether he was aware of illegal activity in the County DLC prior to Election Day 2014, but kept quiet until after the election so as to not damage his reelection chances.

Anonymous said...

What I don't understand is *why* 1:51PM goes to all the trouble & spends so much time researching in his quest to disprove Dyer.

Anonymous said...

@ 3:34 PM - it really doesn't take that much time to find data that refutes Dyer's wild and often contradictory claims.

Anonymous said...

I wish we could throw dyer in jail - he clearly is the worst element in Bethesda and the MoCo machine should be protected from him.

Anonymous said...

Agreed.

Anonymous said...

Same reason some go to all the trouble & spends so much time researching in his quest to support Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Yes thank you!!!!'

Elm said...

3:32 PM The old, local legacy media hasn't conducted one investigative piece on our local government.
In all the years of reading the Gazette (RIP), they never had one enterprising piece of investigative journalism or even a whiff of criticism.

Maybe we're blessed to be governed by the wisest men and women ever to serve in government? Statues should be commissioned of our current Council before they're term limited out. Mr. Reamer's statue will be the water feature.

Robert Dyer said...

3:54: It's part of the proof that he is a paid troll, and posting here in defense of the MoCo cartel is among his Guy Friday duties. The average person couldn't care less about the Council, as the voting results in each election prove, and certainly wouldn't have the time to draw up detailed-but-false Alinskyisms to divert from my devastating critiques.

Anonymous said...

For the record, I'm 1:51.

Dyer at 3:15: Table B19001 ACS numbers only go back to 2009. You clearly missed the fact that: "The [distorted] IRS numbers show unequivocally that [Fairfax] is hemorrhaging wealth" which tears your argument apart, stating that MoCo is inferior. Not only that, but Fairfax has greater a net migration loss than MoCo.

3:54: Haha it literally took me 3 minutes to find and copy/paste those numbers (granted I'm familiar with American FactFinder)

Anonymous said...

"MoCo voters are stupid! Let's ban democracy!" saith Dyer.

Anonymous said...

Robert Dyer is an imaginary character created by George Leventhal in a desperate effort to discredit term limits.

Anonymous said...

Smart. He's doing a great job by making the opposition seem so ludicrous.

Anonymous said...

Watch Dyer completely ignore your point about the data only going back to 2009.

Anonymous said...

Well Rober that's your take and unfortunately like many things, many find your analysis misinformed.

You may label others opinions as FALSE or LYING as you like to say, but that's what many think of your opinion and analysis.

Robert Dyer said...

9:36: The data is misleading by starting during the Great Recession. Of course the numbers would go up as the economy "recovered." Your Alinsky diversions of dubious Fairfax County claims aside, this article is about the impact of wealth leaving Montgomery County. Fairfax County was one of the biggest recipients of that wealth, number two behind Frederick County. And the amount of wealth that moved from Fairfax t Montgomery was dwarfed by the sum we lost to Fairfax. What part of this are you having trouble understanding?

3:22: My report is backed up by IRS data, and I even gave the direct link to the website. That's supposed to be trumped by anonymous troll comments? Please.

3:19: He's doing a great job giving attaboys to his favorite media outlets; stopping term limits momentum, not so much.

G. Money said...

Did Dyer just learn about Saul Alinsky or something?

Anonymous said...

Anyone else going to the MoCo cartel paid troll summer picnic. I hear there will be a bonfire of Westbard complaint letters.

Anonymous said...

"Haha it literally took me 3 minutes to find and copy/paste those numbers (granted I'm familiar with American FactFinder)"

Good for you that you know how to do that. In only 3 minutes? Atta boy!

Anonymous said...

There's a picnic? How do you know?

Anonymous said...

Too funny!

Someone here thinks $200K is rich!

The money that is "leaving" is the $1,000,000 + money. The "old money" has deep roots in MoCo and most aren't leaving. However, most "new money" is wise enough to find a better place to establish roots.

Fairfax County is undoubtedly the center of the DMV private sector economy. That wasn't the case 30 years ago.

Bethesda/Chevy Chase prospered at a time when the District was completely dysfunctional. Now that the DC government is getting its act together there is little reason for those working downtown to live in the suburbs - other than schools. The MoCo school system is not what it once was, which is why most of the $1 million + crowd opts for private schools making the school system a non-factor.

MoCo has very little to offer the $1million + crowd now, but it is a good option the $200-400K crowd and a exceptional locale for lower income families. There is a counterclockwise demographic rotation - eastern MoCo is becoming like PG County, Western MoCO is becoming like eastern MoCo, eastern Fairfax is becoming like Western MoCo once was.

None of this is surprising - this is the destiny that the voters of MoCo have chosen and I expect that most are happy with the results.

Anonymous said...

The picnic invite with your mococartel.org email.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:15 AM - "There is a counterclockwise demographic rotation..."

Why don't you just say what you mean, that "blacks and hispanics are taking over MoCo!"

Anonymous said...

@ 8:49 AM - You're worried about poor whites moving into MoCo from PG?

Sure you are.

Anonymous said...

I'm talking economics. Use your race-baiting tactics on someone else.

Anonymous said...

@ 9:56 AM - Sucks when everyone hears your dog-whistle, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

There you go race-baiting again.

Anonymous said...

G. Money @ 5:04 AM - Rush Limbaugh will be off the air in 25 more days, so someone has to take up the slack.

Anonymous said...

There is no denying that Montgomery County has become steadily more diverse over the past 30 years, but that is not a “problem” it is by design. The trend is not a recent development either – MoCo became majority minority more than 5 years ago. Despite the improved diversity, there is little chance of minorities “taking over” since the local government is still predominantly Caucasian. The recent trend that IS troubling is the economic migration of the newly rich away from MoCo. The county is going to have to survive with less revenue per capita.

Anonymous said...

Hearing inaudible "dog whistles" is a sign of insanity.

Anonymous said...

"Diversity" = Poverty & Crime. There are no examples of it not being true over the course of almost 3 academic generations of time. Legislate all you want. It doesn't change the cold hard facts.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in bethesda and sorry all you maryland libertards robert is right. Just read the crime statistics from montgomery county which are accessible online
Burgulary and home invasions in areas of bethesda that had no crime in all my years growing up
rape right on old georgetown road
We are getting the riff raf from Prince georges ( last dc low income exodus) and now they'll all be in our back yard
Sorry for my political incorrectness but if it it quacks like a duck...

BlairWaldorf said...

All this post proves is that Dyer is a master at cherry picking data. While it's certainly true that people moved from Montgomery County to other counties, Dyer completely glosses over Fairfax's numbers. Per the site Dyer sources, Fairfax lost $2B dollars in AGI than Montgomery, with almost $5B (!) going to Loudoun. Montgomery loses only $643 million to Fairfax but gains $1.29B from DC residents moving in.

All this site (and Dyer's rambling post) shows is that people are moving from older and densely populated counties (Fairfax, Montgomery) to newer, less populated counties (Loudoun, Frederick). Even looking at Harris County, TX-which Dyer would hardly call "moribound", lost $10.43B in annual AGI, with most residents moving to newer housing communities in Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. Plus, there's a considerable amount of baby-boomers retiring and heading south-hardly a problem that is isolated to Montgomery County.

As for Louis Vuitton, it's not a surprise given that the owners of the shopping plaza have planned a redesign that is focused on more everyday stores as opposed to just high-end tenants. If so much money was going from Montgomery to Frederick, why aren't we seeing higher-end shopping develop there?

Robert Dyer said...

8:01: And you are cherry picking data while claiming I am. Listen to your tortured explanation of how some other Saul Alinsky diversions somehow trump the empirical data that Montgomery County is hemorrhaging wealth. It's not about Fairfax, it's about Montgomery, but even so, we're losing more money to Fairfax than they are to us. Period.


There isn't the concentration of wealthy residents yet in Frederick to support high-end retail there, but give them time.

Using the name Blair Waldorf is as ironic as it gets. That TV character wouldn't support your bosses' anti-car, transit-only agenda.

Anonymous said...

So you call someone else's analysis "tortured" I see what a great Levanthal replacement you would be.

Anonymous said...

While Montgomery County has succeeded in becoming more diverse in the aggregate, the benefits of diversity have yet to be realized because there is still de facto segregation. The Montgomery County public school system continues to be a constellation of “haves” and “have nots” and every effort to alter school boundaries and take other steps to diversify every school is resisted. Fairfax County, on the other hand, has benefited from its diversity because that diversity is spread throughout the county.
Our local government must learn the lesson that major corporations have embraced: diversity works!

Jim Collins said...

This isn't an article its an editorial and should be labeled as such.

Anonymous said...

Who are you? Blog police?
Please post the rules.
Thanks!

BlairWaldorf said...

"And you are cherry picking data while claiming I am. Listen to your tortured explanation of how some other Saul Alinsky diversions somehow trump the empirical data that Montgomery County is hemorrhaging wealth. It's not about Fairfax, it's about Montgomery, but even so, we're losing more money to Fairfax than they are to us. Period. "

Oh Robert, your pathetic attempt to distract from my statement is just pitiful. I'll admit Montgomery likely has lost people whom have moved to other counties, but you are the one stating that it is "hemorrahaging" wealth. Using that same logic, then pretty much all of the most populous counties in the US would have "hemorrhaged" wealth from 1992 to 2014. Per the source you linked to, New York, Fairfax, Dallas, Harris, Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara County have all been "hemorrahaging" wealth more than Montgomery, yet home prices and incomes continue to rise in all of these counties. Are you now stating that Manhattan or San Jose are losing wealth based on this lame map? All this map shows this is that you will always have a migration of people moving to newer and developing communities. If you don't believe just look at how much Fairfax has lost to Loudoun. This actually provides support on why the County needs to redevelop areas to allow for much housing.

"Using the name Blair Waldorf is as ironic as it gets. That TV character wouldn't support your bosses' anti-car, transit-only agenda."

I'm not sure who you think I am, but I have nothing to do with Hans or the rest of county council-I actually am in favor in terms limits. I simply chose the name as Blair Waldorf, like myself would not be caught dead wearing something as common as LV in 2016.


Robert Dyer said...

7:16: I would call losing $2 billion from the Montgomery County economy to Frederick County alone hemorrhaging, and that would be a conservative statement.

You must be a backer of the Council, or else why would you be so panicked about the public learning the truth about their economic development record.

Why would we "allow for much housing" if we know that new residential development hasn't paid for the costs it generates, schools and roads are already jammed, and the development *already approved* by the Council fully meets the population increase the MWCOG projects for MoCo by 2040?

Anonymous said...

Spot-on analysis, except for the fact that upper middle / middle are either leaving or hope to leave. How did we choose this?

Anonymous said...

They fixed that issue. Upper middle class areas get nothing. Elementary students in Bethesda are sitting in the aisles as seats are so crowded.

Anonymous said...

Corporate diversity means equal opportunity - companies seek the best & brightest regardless of race. In MoCo, the best & brightest African Americans are increasingly found in private schools, not public. Officials have no incentive to encourage kids to excel - they want to close the achievement gap. Laudable goal, but why is it either/or? It must be AND.