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The third ‘Metrohood’ in our series, “Washington on Rail.” Silver Spring, Maryland, was an early Edge City that tried to transform itself for the car but found success only when it became more walkable and transit-friendly.
[Only two more PT to go until the special 100th issue.]
Good article.
Even the downtown roads look to be fashioned from horse/wagoncart routes rather than by a planner.
The fake window looks rather like some projects in Vancouver – Paramount/Electric Avenue.
Apparently the Purple Line has been endlessly delayed and has now been downgraded to LRT or BRT. Opposition comes from a golf course country club that would be bisected by the route and from trail users on a trail that ironically lies on the old B&O ROW (makes a case for not allowing trail development on the Arbutus ROW).
Author
Tim Pritchard sent me an email with the following comments:
I particularly enjoyed the Silver Spring issue as I’ve lived off and on in the Washington, D.C. area since 1987. My first place was at 9th and M Streets NW, definitely a dodgy area in 1987. I was a poor grad student at the time. Then we moved out to Arlington near Ballston. From there, we moved to Falls Church.
Had I stayed in the region – I went overseas for 7 years – I probably would have continued moving west to Leesburg or beyond! Traffic in the early 90s was not nearly as bad in No. Virginia as it is today. No. VA has no growth plan that I can discern.
But when I moved back to the area in 2000 with a new wife and non-government job, we selected Montgomery County, chiefly for its quality k-12 education but also for its proximity to DC and easy lifestyle.
The Bethesda / Chevy Chase area (stretching east to but not including SS) seemed a bit more like an old fashion town where there are neighborhood shops and walking is possible (though most people still drive and park). But moving just north or east of B-CC you quickly enter suburban wasteland.
What’s been happening in SS for the past 10 years signals a major change and I think you captured the spirit of that in your piece. (Too bad Rockville isn’t following suit. Decidedly car culture there.)
I have great hopes that Montgomery County will be able to avoid becoming anything like Fairfax or Arlington Counties to the south and will be able to retain its massive green spaces, expand the walkable pockets being developed (Bethesda Row, SS, Friendship Heights, etc.), develop more public transit and downplay the role of the car.
One last bit: have to give credit to Montgomery County for staunchly resisting the pressure to approve a new highway and bridge that would link Rockville and Gaithersburg directly with Reston and in No. Virginia. Imagine the explosion of unplanned development in MC that would follow!
Last, I congratulate you on not writing Silver Springs. Seems to be an affliction throughout the greater Washington, D.C. area to add the offending s. People seem not be able to accept just one spring. There just must be more!
Thanks for writing these pieces.
A great presentation!
I was struck by your comment: “Elsewhere in Montgomery County, it’s apparent that the road engineers still prevail. Or that the urban designers haven’t quite got it yet.” It’s true in Silver Spring too.
The problem, by the way, is not just the road engineers. (Many of the urban designers do get it, by the way, and they’re extremely frustrated with the county traffic engineering department.) It’s also the county zoning and planning rules. Excessive parking is required, and developers must widen nearby roads to ensure free flow of traffic even when they’re right next to the Metro.
Another important issue you don’t address is that developers in central business districts are required to devote 20% of their land area to “public amenities” in order to build the maximum allowed density. As applied by a bureaucracy that hasn’t entirely gotten over the 1950s idea that urbanism is something to be escaped and empty space is automatically a benefit, this rule puts a streetscape-destroying plaza in front of each building. As a result, the portions of Bethesda and Silver Spring immediately around the Metro, which were designed as the centers and zoned for highest density, are sterile – the successful pedestrian life is on the fringes where the density bonuses did not apply. (Rockville has separate planning rules and its new and very attractive town center avoids this problem.)
In Vnacouver, there’s also an area of downtown that has been rendered sterile due to the excessive presence of plazas – the east end of West Georgia Street where there are 5 plazas in a 5 block length. (401 West Georgia, Library Square, CBC, QE Theatre, Georgia Viaduct heritage square (not sure of the real name) – plus the forecourt of the Post Office makes 6 if you count that one).
I moved to Silver Spring (from Vancouver) five years ago and have been able to witness many of the changes downtown has gone through. This was an excellent overview of the develpment that the area has seen over the last several years.
Also, an image of the crumbling staircase at Downtown Silver Spring would have illustrated the statement “doesn’t seem meant to last” nicely.
Very interesting… thanks.