One commenter who lives down county and comes up to the Poolesville area to ride horses commented on how unique Poolesville is. She called the town and the area a “jewel”, unique to this region. And it is. If you look back to the 1960′s when the County’s so-called “wedges and corridors” master plan was developed, the idea was to focus development along the “corridors” – the main highways such as Interstate 270 – and leave the “wedges” as lightly developed as possible. At the same time, the plan created one entire “wedge” – the Ag Reserve – as an area that would be devoted to the preservation of farming, open land and forests.
The plan was derided by some but the idea now seems more prescient then ever. In today’s world where concerns about the environment – particularly the release of gasses into the atmosphere by modern society that can lead to the warming of the planet – having a “carbon sink” where green house cases can be absorbed is a significant advantage. Plants and trees do absorb carbon on a massive scale and if you look at maps of our area, the Ag Reserve around Poolesville is one of the last major undeveloped swaths of land in this area. It is sort of like the “Central Park” of our region.
On Monday night, George Coakley, the Planning Commission Chairman for Poolesville, talked about the new master plan for the town that was just adopted. He noted that the top issue for Poolesvillians in the adoption of the plan was to maintain the small town character we have. We have done that successfully and the continued focus on that goal is what is going to help preserve not only the character of our town but the beauty and rural character of the entire Ag Reserve. The town fits the Ag Reserve well in its size, character and “feel”. All of this was brought back to me in the comments of one down county resident who appreciates what we have in our town and our region.
January 12, 2012 at 11:52 am
It might be a jewel now but just wait. No one wants to talk about this for fear of being called racist or not politically correct but the townhouses on both sides of Fisher Avenue are going to be big trouble in the future.
Already these locations are known as the “go to” place to buy drugs. Almost all of the defendants in recent robbery and burglary cases have come from the townhouses. As people turn their properties into rentals and HOC buys up properties things are going to get worse.
In five to ten years these developments will be real trouble spots that will spill over into the decent neighborhoods.
January 13, 2012 at 8:59 am
The economic situation is changing. A part of the challenge in neighborhoods can be that a substantial share of houses are rentals owned by people who do not live in the area. This can mean less involvement and commitment to maintaining homes for example. With the price of housing falling in recent years, townhouses become great starter homes for younger people and families. Some newer folks are buying homes in the townhouses and they are not absentee landowners. So the trends might well reverse. We’ll have to see.