Arlington VA *vs* Downtown Silver Spring (middle-class, condos, homes)
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I second the comments made by coldbliss. I have also lived in both Arlington (for 5 years) and now Silver Spring (for < 1 year). Here are my additions:
1) Arlington has effected the great change that they wanted to create. However, in the process they have destroyed much of their history. Case in point: Clarendon. Nearly all of the Vietnamese-owned businesses (mostly restaurants) have been driven out by the forces of growth. They call it "smart growth", but really it's just a cash cow. Tangential to this is the affordability problem that was also mentioned. There is a distinct middle class that has effectively been priced out of Arlington housing. The rich are fine; the poor are getting affordable units. The middle class are getting $1800/month rents for a one bedroom apartment.
2) Silver Spring, on the other hand, has done a much nicer job of integrating its existing community with the new development, save for the Downtown SS development, which is all new/chain stores. Fenton Village and Georgia Ave. have a ton of eclectic local shops. I credit this to the county's planning decisions, the designation of SS as MoCo's official arts district, and the proximity of Takoma Park (offical capital of weird in the D.C. area...I mean that affectionately
3) Silver Spring does have more crime than Arlington. That said, a little common sense goes a long way here. I feel like the MoCo police have been doing an excellent job of helping to get rid of the gangs and hooligans that plagued DTSS; hopefully that will continue. I feel like the proximity of PG County also hasn't helped SS in this regard, as they don't seem to have been as effective at fighting crime and revitalizing communities there.
If I had to choose, I would pick D.C. :P Just kidding, but neither AC or SS will ever be as cool as the District. That said, I currently prefer Silver Spring as I appreciate the diversity and history that it preserves.
Side note: Silver Spring shows how above-ground metro can be done effectively. However, note to Tysons: you CANNOT run a transit line down the middle of a 4-lane highway and expect it to spur high-density growth. Not going underneath Greensboro Drive was the biggest mistake they could have made, and they made it.
Silver Spring is way over rated and has many of the social problems brought on by a large population of inner city African Americans from nearby DC and PG County and a large population of illegal aliens who live in Langley Park nearby. Arlington is so much nicer.
I found the posts offensive that said Silver Spring was better because it had less white people! So because Arlington has more white people and is not as ethnically diverse, that makes it bad? What a sad state of affairs our country has become when we can say a place is bad because it has a majority white population!
I think it's equally offensive that you think Silver Spring is worse because of the large population of African Americans and Latinos that you claim are the cause of the social problems. I hate to tell you, but rich suburban white kids do drugs too.
I think what Weekend Traveler was referring to was that one sees elements of low-income behavior exhibited in Silver Spring that we don't see in the Clarendon section of Arlington for example. no_cre0 is absolutely correct that drug use unfortunately spreads across all races and socio-economic classes. But I must agree that I do feel much safer and am around more of my contemporaries when dining in Clarendon versus Silver Spring. For me, Arlington works much better and I think it's just great we live in a free country where we can choose where we want to live.
Actually the clown blamed "social problems" on the "large population of inner city African Americans and a large population of illegal aliens who live in Langley Park nearby." Quite racist even with socio-economic speel to patch it up.
Glad we can choose not to live in a racist hub that I now associate with the precious White VA.
I second the comments made by coldbliss. I have also lived in both Arlington (for 5 years) and now Silver Spring (for < 1 year). Here are my additions:
1) Arlington has effected the great change that they wanted to create. However, in the process they have destroyed much of their history. Case in point: Clarendon. Nearly all of the Vietnamese-owned businesses (mostly restaurants) have been driven out by the forces of growth. They call it "smart growth", but really it's just a cash cow. Tangential to this is the affordability problem that was also mentioned. There is a distinct middle class that has effectively been priced out of Arlington housing. The rich are fine; the poor are getting affordable units. The middle class are getting $1800/month rents for a one bedroom apartment.
2) Silver Spring, on the other hand, has done a much nicer job of integrating its existing community with the new development, save for the Downtown SS development, which is all new/chain stores. Fenton Village and Georgia Ave. have a ton of eclectic local shops. I credit this to the county's planning decisions, the designation of SS as MoCo's official arts district, and the proximity of Takoma Park (offical capital of weird in the D.C. area...I mean that affectionately
3) Silver Spring does have more crime than Arlington. That said, a little common sense goes a long way here. I feel like the MoCo police have been doing an excellent job of helping to get rid of the gangs and hooligans that plagued DTSS; hopefully that will continue. I feel like the proximity of PG County also hasn't helped SS in this regard, as they don't seem to have been as effective at fighting crime and revitalizing communities there.
If I had to choose, I would pick D.C. :P Just kidding, but neither AC or SS will ever be as cool as the District. That said, I currently prefer Silver Spring as I appreciate the diversity and history that it preserves.
Side note: Silver Spring shows how above-ground metro can be done effectively. However, note to Tysons: you CANNOT run a transit line down the middle of a 4-lane highway and expect it to spur high-density growth. Not going underneath Greensboro Drive was the biggest mistake they could have made, and they made it.
I put the two in BOLD that were most interesting.
SO TRUE - the middle class get the $1,800/month RENTS! Yeah, that has been irking me for some time. They build affordable housing everywhere, but I can't qualify that, and I can't pay for the middle class ones either! lol
I also didn't know that TAKOMA PARK is the official 'capital of weird' in the DC area...that's a PLUS
Just my opinion, but having been in both Silver Spring and Arlington (Orange Line corredor) within the past several weeks, my impression was that the revitalization of Silver Spring has reached a plateau and the Orange Line corredor has only gotten nicer and more attractive to people in their 20s/30s over the past two years since this thread was started. And I don't mean to suggest that there aren't any projects currently underway in Silver Spring, but only that it generally doesn't feel much different to me now than it did five years ago.
I don't doubt, though, that Silver Spring is more diverse and more affordable than North/Central Arlington, and that might make it a more plausible or a more attractive choice for some. If I were only in a position right now to choose between South Arlington and Silver Spring, I'd pick Silver Spring right now.
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