What are the 'safety' issues of Silver Spring? (violent crime, house)

[ceejamon]

I've lived in Downtown Silver Spring for more than a year, and the only act of violence I've ever witnessed involved the guy in the Discovery Building a few weeks back. You see folks with kids all the time, there's a Farmer's Market and a Whole Foods. You see more BMW's than thugs. It's a far cry from the rough spot it was in years past. It's a very mixed area, to be sure: modest apartment building a few blocks away from 800K homes. There are cheaper, older homes nearby too, as well as a few condo buildings and townhomes. But certainly not dangerous. In fact, some of the areas are quite nice.

Stuff happens everywhere, of course. There's crime all around the DC metro area. Silver Spring itself is a huge area, so it's hard to generalize. But if you look at SpotCrime.com and compare it to other urban areas, you'll find very little violent crime. Theft? Yup. Don't park your car on the street with your GPS / iPhone in view. Lock up your bike at the metro. Muggings? Rape? Shootings? Negative.

Any time you're in or near "The City" you have to be smart about what you do, but I love this area.

[lynnz]

I have lived in silver spring my whole life (26 yrs) There have been a lot of changes in my own "hood". Even when I was in high school (1998-2002) Green Castle blvd was sketchy, when you live around an area with people who aren't of the same social and economic backgrounds thats what happens, crime, ghettoness. I would wanna live in silver spring any day rather than SE DC or PG near exits 1-7 off 495. You have to watch yourself anywhere though, you can't look like your just lollygagging around...Bascially the further north of MOCO you go the better or west, bethesda area.

[Ashley Wilis]

Hi everyone
Silver spring is completely fine including every area, just need little more stringent traffic management rules. We should be happier that it is getting more and more urbanized day by day.

[bballniket]

As mentioned earlier in the thread, Silver Spring covers a HUGE area. I wouldn't say Asians aren't well-represented...hell people who are Asian (including those who are part Asian) are ~11.2% of Silver Spring's population as of 2009. Moreover, the nearby areas of Burtonsville and Colesville have Asian population proportions closer to 20%. Yeah, there are more blacks (half of whom are African-born) and Latinos than Asians, but Silver Spring definitely has a sizable Asian demographic. Do not be mislead.

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by bballniket

As mentioned earlier in the thread, Silver Spring covers a HUGE area. I wouldn't say Asians aren't well-represented...hell people who are Asian (including those who are part Asian) are ~11.2% of Silver Spring's population as of 2009. Moreover, the nearby areas of Burtonsville and Colesville have Asian population proportions closer to 20%. Yeah, there are more blacks (half of whom are African-born) and Latinos than Asians, but Silver Spring definitely has a sizable Asian demographic. Do not be mislead.

Just looked that up, and quite interesting. Many african-born reside in SS. Yeah, about 50% of the black residents are from Africa.

That's gotta be kind of interesting, adding a good diversity of cultures.

Are there any particular African-born groups that stand out in SS...or is the entire continent of Africa fairly well represented?

[westsideboy]

Ethopia! Washington D.C. has the second largest Ethopian population in the world (behind only Addis Ababba sp?) I personally know many Ethopians that live in Silver Spring, facinating people.

[$mk8795]

Originally Posted by Avtomat Kalashnikova

I don't care what no one says, Castle Blvd is not safe that area is crime ridden despite on how it may look to you. Someone was just killed around there for no reason. If you value you peace and life, don't move in Briggs Chaney.

What you stated can EASILY be stated about Columbia Heights.........

[Internal Breathing Fire]

Originally Posted by $mk8795

What you stated can EASILY be stated about Columbia Heights.........

lol um no the breed of thugs are different in MoCo they always feel like they have something to prove so therefore they commit more crimes for no reason. I used to live in Columbia Heights and I think its safer than Castle blvd, especially since more and more people from the gully parts of D.C. move out there.

[tymoore]

Silver Spring is safe. The only "bad" areas are white oak and briggs chaney and those even areas aren't as bad as other places in the metropolitan area. They're just cheaper compared to the rest of montgomery county and they have a lot of section 8 and low income housing, so the standard of living on Lockwood Drive or Castle Blvd will be a little less.

[winter098]

Originally Posted by Avtomat Kalashnikova

It really depends on what apart of Silver Spring, because its a very large area.

But heres the best I can break it down.

Downtown Silver Spring is the most vibrant part, mostly always bustling during the day and even on weekday nights you'll see a lot of traffic because its a major commercial/transit hub in the that part of Montgomery county. On the weekend nights (fri and sat) is when it gets the busiest because people from all over the area come to hangout, most are teenager and younger people. There are times when fights will breakout among teens and sometimes knives do get pulled out. Most violent in Downtown S.S. isn't random its more of a case of teen groups who don't get along and when they collide, things do happen. That aside, Downtown Silver Spring is still a relatively safe area nevertheless.

Outside of downtown Silver spring you have areas like Wheaton, Four Corners, White Oak, Briggs Chaney, Fairland, Aspen Hill, and Glenmont. Most of all of these areas are relatively safe however I will point out some places you do need to avoid.

-Anything in the Castle Blvd area of Briggs Chaney, you might just wanna avoid Briggs Chaney period.
-Lockwood Drive and Stewart lane in White Oak
-The apartments on Hewitt in Aspen Hill
-Bel-pre road in the Layhill area
-Rosemary Hills just west of Downtown Silver Spring
-Sligo Ave on the southern section of Downtown Silver Spring

Not saying all of these areas are like the South Bronx, but they do have higher crime than other areas of MoCo.

Does the above still apply? I'm thinking of moving to either Rosemary Hills or the area south of Sligo Ave. What's the crime like in those neighborhoods?