Rockville, Maryland
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Celebrating 150 years of incorporation
The town of Rockville, Maryland, is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland. The city has a rich and unique history which is celebrated today in the buildings and way of life in Rockville. ABJ had the great good fortune of speaking to Rockville’s best ambassadors, Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, who described the unique challenges of keeping the small-town charm of her city while managing the increasing number of workers from Washington D.C. who are looking for a respite from city living.
When we caught up to the dynamic Mayor Marcuccio, Rockville was in the midst of coming out from under the 30 inches of snow that had freshly fallen. There was a time that wouldn’t have affected many people. For years, the town had 2,500 citizens.
Rockville is a town that has been around since the American Revolution. This small town blossomed in the 1870s when the Baltimore and Ohio railroads came to town. Rockville was the spa for people who lived in Washington, D.C. and wanted to escape the hot, musty summer. Being five to 10 degrees cooler than swampy Washington made it the ideal place to vacation.
As a result, Rockville became a crossroad of Montgomery County because the Great roads came from all direction. The Great road to Frederick, of Georgetown and the Great falls road all still go through Rockville to this day. This made Rockville the central location and the logical choice for the county seat of Montgomery County in Maryland. Businesses naturally started to centralise in Rockville, and eventually the Board of Education formed there, as well as the community college, county government councils and executives.
“We are a central business hub of the county, and we have attracted businesses and people of all sorts,” beams Mayor Marcuccio. “We had an executive and mayor who were very insightful in bringing in the high-tech and biotech corridor to this area, and as a result we have lured a lot of individuals with high educations who want to be close to work to Rockville.”
Education
Montgomery’s education system was rated number one in Montgomery County in 2009 by Newsweek. Says Mayor Marcuccio, “The education program is outstanding and individuals who want to send their children to the best school want to come to Rockville.”
These individuals make up a wonderfully diverse community. Today, over 60,000 people live in Rockville, one third of whom are foreign-born. Mayor Marcuccio boasts that 40 percent of the community speak a second language “which is really quite remarkable,” she says. Montgomery College boast 82 different languages spoken on its campus, as well, something Rockville citizens can be proud of.
Quality of life
The quality of life in Rockville does not only consider the young. “It’s a city that not only has interest in the future, but it has a lot of programs for keeping seniors as well,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “We like to see if we can’t keep our seniors in their homes for as long as they please. We have a senior center which services individuals over 55, and we are looking to perhaps make a satellite location to accommodate our aging population.”
“We want to maintain a high quality of life and keep services and businesses in Rockville,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “Every two years we do a survey on the opinion of our citizens on our community. It comes back with roughly 85 percent of the citizens saying they are positive about their neighbourhoods. I think that is quite remarkable!”
Capital improvement plan
Though Mayor Marcuccio contends that Rockville was not immune to the effects of the recent economic meltdown, the county is doing all it can to reverse the damage done, and is in a good position. “We are a financially very stable city with a Triple-A bond rating. That means you are eligible to borrow at an incredibly low interest rate. We are one of only about 50 cities our size with that rating. You are talking about a town that is in control of itself,” she says.
The city council is currently in the midst of the 2011 budget and is looking at options to fill in the gap left by cutbacks to the state’s highway user funds. “The Corridor,” a street that houses the economic engine of Rockville is to undergo development to attract even more business for 2010.
In keeping with the city’s pride in its history, Mayor Marcuccio explains plans to maintain a heritage building. “We have plans for the old post office, built in the 1930s. We plan to change it into our police station, right down in the centre of town. It will be absolutely wonderful because it is a beautiful building and will be vibrant and useful once more.”
Expansion
It’s a bit of a happy dilemma that Rockville faces—how to accommodate the interest in living in its community. “It’s an interesting aspect to be a city that is growing,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “We have always been a highlight spot. Now, because we have a certain amount of resistance to density within our borders, we are seeing all around the edge of our town. This is bringing to our region a tremendous amount of investment, which is a challenge for a community like ours. The challenge is in maintaining our quality of life.”
Rockville is at a crossroads in more than the geographic sense. With Mayor Marcuccio at the helm, Rockville will continue to thrive and, for more and more people, become home.
www.rockvillemd.gov
The town of Rockville, Maryland, is the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland. The city has a rich and unique history which is celebrated today in the buildings and way of life in Rockville. ABJ had the great good fortune of speaking to Rockville’s best ambassadors, Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, who described the unique challenges of keeping the small-town charm of her city while managing the increasing number of workers from Washington D.C. who are looking for a respite from city living.
When we caught up to the dynamic Mayor Marcuccio, Rockville was in the midst of coming out from under the 30 inches of snow that had freshly fallen. There was a time that wouldn’t have affected many people. For years, the town had 2,500 citizens.
Rockville is a town that has been around since the American Revolution. This small town blossomed in the 1870s when the Baltimore and Ohio railroads came to town. Rockville was the spa for people who lived in Washington, D.C. and wanted to escape the hot, musty summer. Being five to 10 degrees cooler than swampy Washington made it the ideal place to vacation.
As a result, Rockville became a crossroad of Montgomery County because the Great roads came from all direction. The Great road to Frederick, of Georgetown and the Great falls road all still go through Rockville to this day. This made Rockville the central location and the logical choice for the county seat of Montgomery County in Maryland. Businesses naturally started to centralise in Rockville, and eventually the Board of Education formed there, as well as the community college, county government councils and executives.
“We are a central business hub of the county, and we have attracted businesses and people of all sorts,” beams Mayor Marcuccio. “We had an executive and mayor who were very insightful in bringing in the high-tech and biotech corridor to this area, and as a result we have lured a lot of individuals with high educations who want to be close to work to Rockville.”
Education
Montgomery’s education system was rated number one in Montgomery County in 2009 by Newsweek. Says Mayor Marcuccio, “The education program is outstanding and individuals who want to send their children to the best school want to come to Rockville.”
These individuals make up a wonderfully diverse community. Today, over 60,000 people live in Rockville, one third of whom are foreign-born. Mayor Marcuccio boasts that 40 percent of the community speak a second language “which is really quite remarkable,” she says. Montgomery College boast 82 different languages spoken on its campus, as well, something Rockville citizens can be proud of.
Quality of life
The quality of life in Rockville does not only consider the young. “It’s a city that not only has interest in the future, but it has a lot of programs for keeping seniors as well,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “We like to see if we can’t keep our seniors in their homes for as long as they please. We have a senior center which services individuals over 55, and we are looking to perhaps make a satellite location to accommodate our aging population.”
“We want to maintain a high quality of life and keep services and businesses in Rockville,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “Every two years we do a survey on the opinion of our citizens on our community. It comes back with roughly 85 percent of the citizens saying they are positive about their neighbourhoods. I think that is quite remarkable!”
Capital improvement plan
Though Mayor Marcuccio contends that Rockville was not immune to the effects of the recent economic meltdown, the county is doing all it can to reverse the damage done, and is in a good position. “We are a financially very stable city with a Triple-A bond rating. That means you are eligible to borrow at an incredibly low interest rate. We are one of only about 50 cities our size with that rating. You are talking about a town that is in control of itself,” she says.
The city council is currently in the midst of the 2011 budget and is looking at options to fill in the gap left by cutbacks to the state’s highway user funds. “The Corridor,” a street that houses the economic engine of Rockville is to undergo development to attract even more business for 2010.
In keeping with the city’s pride in its history, Mayor Marcuccio explains plans to maintain a heritage building. “We have plans for the old post office, built in the 1930s. We plan to change it into our police station, right down in the centre of town. It will be absolutely wonderful because it is a beautiful building and will be vibrant and useful once more.”
Expansion
It’s a bit of a happy dilemma that Rockville faces—how to accommodate the interest in living in its community. “It’s an interesting aspect to be a city that is growing,” says Mayor Marcuccio. “We have always been a highlight spot. Now, because we have a certain amount of resistance to density within our borders, we are seeing all around the edge of our town. This is bringing to our region a tremendous amount of investment, which is a challenge for a community like ours. The challenge is in maintaining our quality of life.”
Rockville is at a crossroads in more than the geographic sense. With Mayor Marcuccio at the helm, Rockville will continue to thrive and, for more and more people, become home.
www.rockvillemd.gov
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