Downtown Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

I am walking through this evening and the place smells like weed again. What does it take for Montgomery County to get this right. The Gelato place is closed now.

[Anonymous]

It’s a mess with purple line construction. I avoid at all cost.

[Anonymous]

Businesses keep closing and new ones open. cycle repeats...maybe another Parker https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1286439.page#30560553 is what they need on the streets?

[Anonymous]

How is downtown Bethesda or downtown Wheaton compared to downtown Silver Spring these days?

[Anonymous]

I went last week and it was depressing. We live right over the line in DC and it’s not the same anymore. Appears to be a hangout spot for those who may live in shelters. It’s just so much going on you have to keep your head in a swivel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went last week and it was depressing. We live right over the line in DC and it’s not the same anymore. Appears to be a hangout spot for those who may live in shelters. It’s just so much going on you have to keep your head in a swivel.

It's definitely disappointing. I used to spend a lot of time there with my toddler. He's a teen now. It's turned less enjoyable very quickly. I hope that someone will fix whatever has gone wrong, because it was close and a fun place to hang out.

[Anonymous]

Silver Spring has been in a full on nose dive for at least a decade. It’s becoming a place where people flock to who have been gentrified out of the bad neighborhoods in DC, mixed with an assortment of out of shape, shabbily dressed nonprofit workers and ne’er-do-wells. I can’t think of a suburb of DC that’s as depressing. At least places like College Park and Hyattsville are on an upward trajectory and have some vitality and life. Silver Spring has been slowly dying for a while.

[Anonymous]

I've got to think that a lot of the problems will resolve when they finish the Purple Line. I live nearby and agree it's a mess right now. But the neighborhoods surrounding it remain nice (and getting nicer, lots of renovations, young families, etc) so I think the retail/restaurant mix will improve once all the horrible construction is done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is downtown Bethesda or downtown Wheaton compared to downtown Silver Spring these days?

I used to live in downtown Silver Spring and now live in downtown Bethesda (and go every now and then to downtown Wheaton). I love Bethesda and feel safe there. It's pleasantly walkable. I walked everywhere when I lived in Silver Spring, but it's not as pedestrian friendly. I feel that there was a period when SS had gotten a lot better, especially when they opened Ellsworth, the fountain, and all the shops and restaurants there. But it hasn't been able to continue on that trajectory and it still feels economically fragile - I hope things turn around once the Purple Line is finished. Wheaton has revived a lot from its previously run-down and very unsafe atmosphere, but it's still very much a working class neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

I was there 9 PM on a Friday recently. Other than Veteran's Plaza smelling like weed, we didn't have any issues.

[Anonymous]

I go there semi-regularly and it’s fine. The purple line construction has made the roads a nightmare though.

[Anonymous]

Its gotten so bad even the police station moved out.

[Anonymous]

I live a few blocks away and walk around daily and don't have any problems. I also don't see the decline that the PPs seem to see, and I've been here for 15 years. I think the turf and fountain going away made it less toddler friendly, but it's very safe especially given that it's probably the densest place in all of MoCo. The restaurant variety is actually really good (and decently affordably), and there are things like the Fillmore, the indoor swimming pool, two food halls, and two (soon to be three) breweries that make claims about a decline pretty dubious.

[Anonymous]

I live here and like it a lot. A couple of weekends ago I saw the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, for free, a 10-min walk from my house. Great show, really nice crowd.

[Anonymous]

Imagine being so fragile that you smell a smell you personally dislike and it causes you so much trauma you run to an online message board to complain.


I bet you're a Republican boomer too. The generation that won't shut up with the "participation trophy" BS and the party that won't shut up with the "snowflake" BS yet falls apart entirely because of a smell.


What happens if someone farts around you? Should we put you on suicide watch?