Sell me on Silver Spring

[Anonymous]

Grow up, people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I technically live in "silver spring" but remember that it is an enormous area. There is not incorporated silver spring, but there is a downtown area and then a huge suburban area called "silver spring."

I'm pretty happy living in our affordable area off Layhill with half an acre lots, a ten minute or less drive to Glenmont metro. We rarely go to "downtown silver spring" and instead go to Rockville or Kensington or Bethesda if we go out to eat etc... I mean we go if we want to go to AFI...

Right, probably because you live closer to those other places than to downtown Silver Spring.

Much like OP, I hated all the bland high rises that act as wind tunnels in downtown silver spring. So we decided where to live based partially on that issue.

Sadly, MoCo seems intent on approving really large buildings everywhere in the more urban areas of the county, destroying the appeal for me. I love the scale of DC, and wouldn't mind living there if we could afford to own a sfh. But we can't, so it's the burbs for us.

[Anonymous]

New poster here. We have a budget that caps out at $1 million. Could we find a decent house in a nice SS neighborhood. We have two kids. We have been looking within DC but now I’m wondering if we should also look further out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. We have a budget that caps out at $1 million. Could we find a decent house in a nice SS neighborhood. We have two kids. We have been looking within DC but now I’m wondering if we should also look further out.

Yes. If my budget had been a touch higher, I'd have looked in the neighborhood that I think is called Twelve Oaks. This sold recently, and is central to everything: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8401-Cedar-St-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37283013_zpid/

This is Silver Spring address but Takoma Park schools: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7919-Takoma-Ave-Silver-Spring-MD-20910/37313316_zpid/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:New poster here. We have a budget that caps out at $1 million. Could we find a decent house in a nice SS neighborhood. We have two kids. We have been looking within DC but now I’m wondering if we should also look further out.

You could find a beautiful home in 20910 walkable to everything! We love it here even though the downtown can be a little rough around the edges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP.
Do you like Georgia Avenue? I almost bought in Woodside which is a beautiful neighborhood. But the surrounding area is ugly. The Mofongo place makes me mad just to see it and I’ve had it in PR and like the dish. I don’t prefer neighborhoods with check cashing, cape stores, and pawn shops all over the place. DTSS also looks depressing.

You left out the adult video store and the worlds sketchiest aquarium store.

The are you are describing is not what I would consider to be downtown Silver Spring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

Haha
I would never buy a house based primarily on how the downtown looks. I live in SS, love our house and our neighborhood and schools.
But we spend more time in Rockville than downtown than SS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DP.
Do you like Georgia Avenue? I almost bought in Woodside which is a beautiful neighborhood. But the surrounding area is ugly. The Mofongo place makes me mad just to see it and I’ve had it in PR and like the dish. I don’t prefer neighborhoods with check cashing, cape stores, and pawn shops all over the place. DTSS also looks depressing.

Do you like Wisconsin avenue? Rockville pike? They aren't charming either!

I heard it’s called North Bethesda pike now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in downtown SS and love it. We are a ten minute walk from Rock Creek Park, so easy to get to downtown DC, lots of playgrounds. If we could buy in close-in SS (Woodside) or those townhouses across from the metro station I would feel like I've made it in life. We are people who prefer hole in the wall Ethiopian food to high end Bethesda restaurants, and Bethesda has too many White people for me honestly. I grew up in Bethesda and it's nice, but so not me.

When did this become acceptable to say? Smh.

Oh no, you SMHed me! Don't care. There's a reason why there is such a large concentration of White people in Bethesda. Structural racism is everywhere but in Bethesda it is just too much for me. Sorry not sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you sound delightful. Let us “talk you into” moving here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Maybe I’m going to be burned for suggesting Hyattsville to this particular OP, but i live in Hyattsville, and go to SS and Bethesda and the Hill for work several times a week. Hyattsville is diverse, has less traffic, and you can get a great yard and an artsy house. I love it. Right next to UMD, but no skyscrapers. University Park is next door, and while more formal, is just lovely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

Can you give us specific examples of what streets/buildings you like in downtown Bethesda, as compared to downtown SS? Because to me downtown Bethesda is just bland. Would like to see what you think is appealing.

Also there are plenty of houses near DTSS that aren't "ugly." They're probably smaller or less built out than what you'll find in Bethesda, but the styles are similar. The DC suburbs overall are not known for the unusual architectural beauty of their neighborhoods. There's not much like the fantastic early 20th century homes in cities in the midwest or the colorful and elegant regional architecture of California, for example. Too many neighborhoods that were built with conservative cookie cutter houses in the 1950s-1970s, and only sporadic streets that have some lovely examples of pre-war buildings or interesting mid-century modern houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We live in downtown SS and love it. We are a ten minute walk from Rock Creek Park, so easy to get to downtown DC, lots of playgrounds. If we could buy in close-in SS (Woodside) or those townhouses across from the metro station I would feel like I've made it in life. We are people who prefer hole in the wall Ethiopian food to high end Bethesda restaurants, and Bethesda has too many White people for me honestly. I grew up in Bethesda and it's nice, but so not me.

When did this become acceptable to say? Smh.

When whit ppl pay a premium to avoid minorities like in Bethesda and AU Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

You think DTSS meets the definition of “urban grit?” Jesus where are you from?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, didn’t mean to offend anyone. I like the diversity in SS and some of the neighbourhoods are nice. People seem friendly.
It’s just that I have been to downtown SS many times now and it is a bit depressing. I’m fine with urban grit but there is something about the SS downtown that I find jarring. It is not designed well and many of the buildings are ugly and rundown. I love ethnic food. It’s just that the area feels utterly charmless. The WF is nice but the parking lot there gets crazy on the weekends. I was surprised at the traffic and congestion in downtown on Friday evenings. I just feel it would add to my stress level if I had to go there a lot. The farmers market is very nice. Maybe it is fine to live there but avoid downtown and instead frequent Takoma Park, Bethesda and Rockville instead. Even the metro station looks imposing and uninviting. Good to hear there are nice parks around. We are also looking at Kensington. I’m not a huge Bethesda fan but I would say the Bethesda downtown beats SS by a mile. I guess that visual aesthetics are important to me. I could never live in an ugly house even if the inside was very nice.

If you're saying this now then believe me it will be 100 times worse if you move there. The whole area is depressing.