In a recent survey, Montgomery residents said they enjoy a high quality of life overall, but nearly 60 percent said they were unlikely to retire in the county.
The 2007 Montgomery County Resident Survey suggested that population growth and a high cost of living might be behind the potential exodus of older residents.
The survey was the first one of its kind conductedsince 1994. The county hired Colorado-based National Research Center Inc. to find out what taxpayers liked and disliked about Montgomery. Of the 2,896 households selected at random that received questionnaires by mail, about 32 percent, or 917, responded.
When asked to name what most needed to be improved or fixed in the county, 27 percent said traffic congestion/flow, 18 percent cited affordable housing and 15 percent cited growth.
County planning officials estimated Montgomery’s population in January to be 956,000, up from 873,341 in 2000, and predict it will reach 1 million by 2010. County officials say the increase is mostly due to a rising birth rate — a record number of babies were born in Montgomery County last year, fueled in part by the county’s growing Hispanic population — and because many immigrants are choosing Montgomery County as their first destination in the United States.
About 82 percent of survey participants felt the rate of population growth in the county was “too fast.”
About a third of those surveyed were foreign-born, and a third lived in households where languages other than English were spoken at home.
More foreign-born residents felt the direction the county was taking was “good” or “excellent” than those who were born in the United States, but County Executive Ike Leggett said this did not surprise him.
“I would suggest that when you have people who come to America, they find conditions a little better,” Leggett said.
Facing a $401 million projected budget gap, County Council President Mike Knapp said the survey will serve as a “blueprint.” The survey said 36 percent of respondents feel they are paying too much for the services they receive. “It will help us decide where to make reductions and where to make further investments,” Knapp said.
