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Silver Spring needs more development to thrive

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2006

For more of your opinions, go to www.gazette.net/letters.

B.J. Sanford, Silver Spring

As a resident of the East Silver Spring⁄Sligo Park Hills area, I dispute the statement attributed to Bob Colvin that most residents in downtown Silver Spring want a moratorium on development (‘‘After six years of redevelopment, more work lies ahead,” Oct. 4 article). In my experience, the majority of residents share my view that redevelopment has just begun.

Downtown Silver Spring requires substantial additional investment to ensure against the return of the decay it suffered during the last quarter of the 20th century. Many types of shopping and services are still unavailable, and parts of the downtown outside the new ‘‘town center” still draw little foot traffic. We need more residents and more retail in order to expand and sustain the extraordinary revitalization we have already experienced.

Has traffic gotten worse? Sure it has. But it pales beside the traffic we’d sit in if we had to drive to Bethesda for shopping, services and entertainment. Even with the traffic, when I don’t walk, I still get through the downtown in minutes and always find parking.

Are small, independent retailers being forced out? Some are. But others are surviving and thriving, and would benefit from the increased business that results from more development. And let’s not over-romanticize small, independent retailers. Most people praise them far more than they patronize them.

Is the downtown becoming a homogeneous yuppie zone? Absolutely not. Anyone visiting the redeveloped portions of downtown would immediately be struck by the exhilarating diversity of our community.

This is not to say I agree with every individual planning decision. For instance, I share Mr. Colvin’s dismay at the closing of Blair Mill Road. But overall, I am excited by the large number of projects in the pipeline for downtown Silver Spring, and hope more are on the way.