Montgomery County is finally near the top of a list again - but it's not one you want to be high on. The County experienced the second-biggest increase in homeless population in the entire Washington, D.C. region since 2023, according to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. Washington, D.C. itself was number one on the list. COG reported that Montgomery County's arch rival, Fairfax County, was the only jurisdiction in the area to enjoy a decrease in unhoused residents.
Of course, Fairfax County has many more high-wage jobs than Montgomery County, which helps one to afford housing. Politicians often tout MoCo's low unemployment numbers, without mentioning that most of the jobs our residents are employed at are not located within Montgomery County. Fairfax also has a lower total tax burden and cost-of-living than Montgomery County. Property taxes are set to rise again in the FY-2025 budget nearing approval by the Montgomery County Council, in a jurisdiction where property taxes are becoming a second mortgage for many residents as it is. And that's just one part of the total tax and fee burden for MoCo residents.
Rents and home prices, despite relentless construction and delivery of new housing units, only continue to skyrocket in Montgomery County. And thousands of existing affordable housing units are being demolished to clear the way for more overpriced "luxury" housing. A ridiculously-high cost-of-living combined with some of the lowest job creation and job growth numbers in the region are a recipe for increasing poverty and homelessness. Montgomery County has failed to attract a single major corporate headquarters in a quarter century, as company after company has chosen to locate or flee to Northern Virginia over that long, dry period of moribundity. As a result, more jobs, and more high-wage jobs, are created every year in Fairfax County than in Montgomery County - in fact, the numbers aren't even close.
Montgomery County has dropped off of so many top ten lists - Forbes' Top Ten Richest Counties in America, Top School Systems in America, etc. - that it's almost a positive feeling to be on any top ten list. Almost. Perhaps the Montgomery County cartel can create some new slogans: "Montgomery County: We're Number Two in Unhoused Population - We Try Harder (To Make It More Expensive to Live Here)." Or, "The Number of Montgomery County's Unhoused - Rising Almost as Fast as County Councilmembers' Salaries!"
Unlimited immigration by people with mental health issues or criminal histories or very little education is not sustainable for any country.I also think inflation is increasing housing prices nationwide. Time for a change at the top.
ReplyDeleteWhat's funny is you weren't able to include any data in this diatribe because the actual facts immediately disprove your "Fairfax is amazing and MoCo sucks" gibberish.
ReplyDeleteFairfax: 1,278 homeless individuals (1.1% of population)
MoCo: 1,144 homeless individuals (1.08% of population)
Fairfax County's population is larger than ours. It's not surprising they might have a higher homeless population relative to that. But the data gets even worse for MoCo:
DeleteIf it was a nationwide COVID issue, then Fairfax's homeless population wouldn't have shrunk over the last year, while ours went up. Clearly, we failed in comparison.
The report also shows that Fairfax's homeless population only increased 23% since 2020, while ours skyrocketed by 71% over the same period.
The Montgomery County Council just needs to take the L on this one.
Why not list the top five or ten, or is that too much work for you?
ReplyDeleteThe Blue State Model
ReplyDeletethe police need to start sending these people to jail and landlords need to hire security
ReplyDeleteSince they opened the homeless shelter in Nobel in North Bethesda, that area has become a war zone. The number of sexual offenders has exploited, including addicts doing drugs in the middle of the day. The stairs by the 7 11 in Rockville pike were full of blood the other day, and pedestrian, particularly women should use extreme caution at night when walking around the north Bethesda Metro, Nebel, Marinelli and surrounding roads. Unfortunately it is just a matter of time until something bad happens with these people.
ReplyDeleteImagine thinking North Bethesda is a war zone.
DeleteYou really make little sense in this diatribe of yours, with the bad spelling/typos, combined with the jump from one area to another. There are several 7-11's on Rockville Pike, which one are you referring to?
DeleteThey were referring to the only 7-11 anywhere near the shelter on rockville pike. There’s only 1 in that vicinity.
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