Wow, this is too funny! But since it's in a Yelp category, I have to put my two cents in! Being a native of Poolesville, something I don't care to admit despite it being listed as my hometown on my Yelp profile, is far from civilization and DC, but also far from a bad place to live.. or at least grow up. My graduating class had a total of 84 people, and 75% of them were classmates since Kindergarten. It's nice to have that long time bond, but at the same time, everybody knows everything. Major crimes are basically non-existent so it's a nice place to raise a family. However, it's mainly a residential community with the usual selection of townhomes and single family houses. There are no condos or apartments. There is a long time family run grocery store named Selby's, a couple banks, a McDonald's, a carry out pizza place, a CVS, Chinese carry out, and a few other businesses to keep you happy. Poolesville is not a shopping destination at all, but the cool thing about what is there is that most of the businesses are locally owned, so no major commercialism. One unique thing about Poolesville is White's Ferry. It's about 6 miles west of town and the only vehicle ferry running on the Potomac taking you from MD to VA (Leesburg) in about 5-10mins. There's a lot of history in Poolesville, so it's worth a day trip up there on a weekend day. In October the famous (or not) haunted woods is open to the public near the town. All in all, I turned out ok, but I wouldn't want to commute every day from Poolesville to anywhere! But do check it out sometime, it's a country get away from the metro area. read more

Here are the main things we tell people about our little town of Poolesville. It's a great place to raise a family. It's about an hour from everywhere. There are one or two of every type of store or service you need. Downtown Poolesville is a four way stop sign. We've been here 10 years now (hard to believe it's been that long) and we love it. read more

Since I've moved up here and been a resident for about a year now, I'd like to review the town from my own perspective. If you had to describe this place in a nutshell to an outsider? You could say, in a word, Mayberry. Essentially, to get to Poolesville, you have to drive through Maryland's Agricultural Reserve area for a ways, where you won't see anything but trees and farmland. All of a sudden, there it is. Residents are tired of Poolesville being described as "quaint" -- but I think that's accurate. The biggest thing Poolesville probably has going for it are the schools. The local high school has been rated the best in all of Maryland, with the elementary and middle schools not that far behind. Crime really is almost non-existent. (There were weeks where the local paper had to publish "historical crime" stories in the crime section because nothing else happened!) You'll occasionally hear about some vandalism or thefts out of parked cars (bored teenagers, typically), or the occasional drunk and disorderly complaint. That's usually it. Economically, it's pretty diverse. You've got everything from farmers who own huge tracts of land worth millions of dollars to farm-hands working on those farms who barely earn a living wage. You've got a lot of commuters who live in Poolesville but work elsewhere in the DC metro area. You've got a number of self-employed folks who probably form Poolesville's "middle class" more closely than anyone else, doing carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, etc. And still others in town are more of "hustlers", involving themselves in all sorts of small business ventures in and around the community. Quite a few Poolesville residents work from home in some capacity, such as book authors, photographers, etc. Interestingly, despite the perception that Poolesville is WAY far away? If you learn to use the right "back roads", you can commute to downtown Bethesda in about 45 minutes, or to Rockville in 35. Germantown is only about a 20-25 minute drive away. With most of the traffic congestion and cities to the east of Poolesville, the daily commute to and from work is a pleasant country drive with little traffic, instead of gridlock and it taking an hour to go about 6 miles. In that sense, I think it's one of the best kept secrets for a good place to live in the DC area. On the downside? Ever since Selby's market closed up, Poolesville hasn't really had a grocery store. You can grab a few basic items from the CVS or one of the 2 gas stations in town, and there's a "Sweet Greens Market" trying to fill in the gaps a bit, offering lots of fresh produce from area farms. But residents have to drive out to Germantown or Gaithersburg to do *real* grocery shopping right now. The town's population (at 5,500 or so and in fact designed not to ever exceed around 6,000) makes it too small for most of the grocery chains to have interest in it. Also, the town's water comes from a series of wells, and it enforces some restrictions on water usage and sewer capacities -- which complicates some new businesses opening up in the area. The relatively hard well-water tends to leave a cloudy film on dishes in the dishwasher and kill water heaters with sediment. (Overall water quality is very good, as far as being safe to drink, though.) All in all? Poolesville was a great find for our family. When I accepted a job in the DC metro area and moved out here, I got sticker shock at the ridiculously high price of housing. In many places, renting a 3 bedroom apartment was well over $2,000 per month. Poolesville still has townhouse rentals in the $1,500/month range by comparison, in a family-friendly place where the kids can safely walk to and from school. read more

I lived in Poolesville, well actually Beallsville, for 1.5 years while waiting for my house to be built in Germantown. Poolesville is a cute little town, and I was glad that most of the stores were family-run, except for the CVS and McDonald's, but that town needs some good food. Again, where are the Thai restaurants, or is that expecting too much? The Chinese restaurant on Fisher is pretty good, but don't try to go too crazy with ordering things you haven't heard of before or seem like non-traditional Chinese or it will go south fast (don't order the Mango Chicken or PadThai). Bassetts...ahhh Bassetts, that place is always crowded, and if you want to have a leisurely lunch or dinner, this is the place. And by leisurely, I mean, ooops the waitress forgot about you. But, you can't get upset, b/c you are bound to bump into person X at Selby's, the hardware store, or Jon's Video Store. Bassett's is supposed to be fine dining, and the food is good but not fine dining by any stretch, they definitely try to be hip - aka Tapas, but you will pay dearly for being the only real restaurant in town. Order the burger, and save some money. The bar is fun, especially during snow storms, but if you are a stickler for smoking laws, stear clear, you can't see an inch in front of your face. Gugini's - this place is good for subs or gelato. The pizza is okay. Selby's-the only grocery in town. Wow! Step into the '80's. Most of the produce looks about that age. Needs a major facelift, and don't expect to see all types of items on the shelves (maybe one-two brands). Jon's Video Store-No Blockbuster here. But, Jon has recent selections and is a true expert on movies! The Hardware store gets points for the free popcorn on the way out. And, I just have to make a comment about the Poolesville McDonald's. How can every kid under 18 who works there mess up fries? C'mon, fry them and put a ton of salt on, it's easy! Don't tell me you are trying to lower our sodium intake. The fries are not cooked enough and bland. read more

Great small town living, and less than a half hour drive down River Road to the Beltway. Friendly neighbors and local businesses...I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in MoCo. read more