Patch User Profile for Taylor Kate Brown

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Email: taylor@patch.com Phone: (301) 760-0016 (text tips are welcomed!) Hometown: Milford, CT Birthday: April 22

Taylor Kate Brown has made the Washington, D.C., area her home ever since she attended George Washington University, graduating in 2008. Taylor has worked in journalism since high school, writing and reporting for the Connecticut Post's CTTeens section in Milford, CT. She returns to the area to her newly adopted hometown of Wheaton after a year at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, where she received her degree in digital media journalism, covering the small-town-within-a-city of Bay Ridge and the New York City public school system. She is a unabashed science fiction geek and a very amateur cook.

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* How would you describe your political beliefs?

I have strong liberal beliefs on social policies but am always willing to hear out and engage with others. Otherwise, I consider myself a fairly pragmatic voter, with an appreciation toward representatives who are responsive and truly understand their communities. As a new Maryland resident, I'm registered as unaffiliated.

Religion

* How religious would you say you are? Casual, observant, devout, non-religious?

I was raised Catholic, and it informs a lot of my sense of right and wrong, but I do not regularly attend church.

Local Hot Button Issues

* What do you think are the two or three most important issues facing the community?

Downtown Redevelopment of Wheaton: The county is in the midst of rewriting the business districts' zoning plan.

Crime/Perception of Wheaton as an unsafe place: Theft from auto is the No. #1 crime in the area, and there's been an unsettling number of house burglaries recently.

Where do you stand on each of these issues? Wheaton has a ton of potential through smart redevelopment projects but needs to be careful to not price out the wealth of independent stores in the triangle shopping area. Costco's not my favorite, but the mall is here to stay, and another anchor store couldn't hurt.   I think Wheaton suffers from an unnecessarily negative comparison to its neighboring towns and is quite safe to walk downtown around during the day.