Germantown, Maryland

"WalletHub, a finance website that rates things and places, named Germantown as the second most diverse city in the country... Germantown is not an incorporated city but is administered by the Montgomery County government."

"The idea of making Germantown an independent city with its own mayor, tax revenues and roads crews has been kicked around for at least a decade... Germantown has come far from the sleepy railroad outpost it was even in the late 1960s. It is home to 80,000 people, which would make it the largest municipality in Montgomery County were it to incorporate, and second to Baltimore in the state. As developers continue to build along the Interstate 270 corridor between Gaithersburg and Clarksburg, record numbers of first-time home buyers are putting down roots in Germantown's residential villages."

"To incorporate, Germantown residents first would need to draw up a charter and collect signatures from 25 percent of registered voters in the area. If the charter won the approval of the County Council, then a majority of residents would need to approve it in a special referendum. In an area that has a new town center, with shops and restaurants, but lacks a town hall, notions of what constitutes a community are open to many definitions. But incorporation was far from the minds of many Germantown residents gathered recently outside the BlackRock Center for the Arts."

"Yes, the world is coming to us with riches in cuisine, fashion, culture, faith, intellect and socialization... I'm blessed because every day I awake to the sound of geese on Little Seneca Lake and contemplate the variety of people and issues awaiting my attention. We are creating what Martin Luther King, Jr. envisioned in the Beloved Community."

"The take-away from the meetings was that we really saw people sitting down and saying that this could be a goal... Having a local government would give you the ability to identify priorities for Germantown and to have a team dedicated to fulfilling those priorities... What we don't have right now is an ability to say, 'Here's what Germantown needs'... If you had a mayor or a small council or even a city manager who could carry that ball every day, that would help."

"Germantown is certainly a diverse community and I see it on a daily basis because it's reflected in the school populations, social interests, places of worship, languages spoken, and the variety of local restaurants... This is a community that looks within for resources and expertise, and I'm confident that these needs will be met through the efforts of residents, businesses, and community organizations, with a little assistance from our county government, if needed."

"I didn't even know we weren't a city... But I don't know if we have to become one. I think Germantown is pretty well established now, and we're gaining a sense of identity."