Progress and Science City

By Allen W. Feldman
North Potomac

It is the same old conflict, whether it is about the ICC or widening I-270 or building the Montgomery Science City: people who are against growth.

The writer of the May 3 letter “Montgomery’s science city monster” was from North Potomac, a community that did not exist 25 years ago. I, too, live in North Potomac, and we bought our house from a builder who was converting a tract that had been only rolling land with streams and trees. Once upon a time, Silver Spring, Germantown, Olney, etc., were all fields waiting for houses and businesses to be built on them. I guess the same mentality existed then, with people complaining about inadequate roads and a lack of public transportation. It is an old story: Now that we have ours, we do not want anyone else to have theirs. If you do not want development, stop having children who must live and work someplace.

Science City will generate jobs and housing, expanding the tax base for all of us in Montgomery County. Expansion is not a bad thing. It creates new opportunities and vitality for a community.