Population: 151,815 Municipal Gaithersburg: 52,821 Unincorporated Gaithersburg: 64,554 Darnestown: 12,030 Travilah: 22,410 Office Market: 11 msf First Settled: 1765 Incorporated: 1878 Municipal Land Area: 10 sq miles Total Land Area: 67.8 sq miles Distance From DC: 21.6 miles Government: Council / Manager

Technically located in Middle Montgomery County but functionally the social, cultural and economic anchor of Up-County, Gaithersburg originally grew as a crossroads when the railroad arrived shortly after the Civil War. Today it’s surpassed most of its rivals to become the third largest incorporated city in Maryland and largest in the immediate Washington suburbs. Gaithersburg is home to three notable activities: Scientific research, biotechnology and new urbanism. In 1899 the International Geodetic Association established six Earth Latitude Observatories around the world, selecting Gaithersburg as the location for one. Since then the city has been an important research center, a claim even stronger since the Federal Government located the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the city in 1961. In the 1990s Gaithersburg and the I-270 corridor emerged as a major player in biotechnology, claiming the title of World Capital (though at least one other region makes a similar claim). Regarding new urbanism, Gaithersburg is well known among planners as home to Kentlands, the first fully livable new urbanist neighborhood and one of the most successfully implemented to date. The city has fully embraced the concepts of the New Urbanist movement and is now home to a number of similar projects.

It’s hard to characterize the size or importance of Gaithersburg. The city limits are actually fairly small. Since Maryland incorporation laws favor counties Baltimore is the only city significantly larger than 50,000. If you include the unincorporated areas that essentially serve as Gaithersburg suburbs (Montgomery Village, North Potomac, etc.) though, the population expands to about 150,000, and if you include everyone with a Gaithersburg address it balloons to include everything from Damascus to the Potomac River and is probably well over 200,000. Within the actual city there are three districts noteworthy for their urbanity: Washingtonian, Greater Kentlands and Old Town: Washingtonian is functionally downtown Gaithersburg. It’s home to the most intense uses, tallest buildings and best entertainment. The immediate lakefront is one of the most enjoyable and vital places outside the Beltway. Unfortunately quality urbanism doesn’t extend off the lakefront much, and within a few blocks the neighborhood can be characterized by suburban (though admittedly statistically dense) apartment blocks. Greater Kentlands serves as a sub-center for the city’s West Side. The neighborhood is easily the most urban significantly west of I-270 and Market Square is quickly becoming the place to be for family entertainment and restaurants. It’s more urban than one would expect from greenfield new urbanism, but can also feel a bit too “cutesy” for people familiar with authentic urbanity. Old Town basically does for the East Side what Kentlands does for the West Side. While Old Town was at one time a truly functional downtown it has lost its place in recent decades. Determined to protect the small-town character of the neighborhood city leaders inserted historical protections and strict building intensity limits such that as the city grew the tiny historic core ceased to function as the heart of town and instead became a quaint little village. Although the late 1990s saw some attempts at revitalization and a new highway exit promises to bring some life to the area, potential seems limited for Old Town. Unfortunately it’s more nostalgic than important.