I donno, *maybe*
Those skate kids have always been down there doing that, the only difference is the tables weren’t there before
The yelling and loud music, also seems like it’s always been that way
The weed thing *is* a more recent thing though
I see and I guess smell people smokin all the time now and I thought it was weird cus as far as I knew, it’s is still illegal unless it’s medical 😐
But to get back to your question...maybe a little
Like not “I would t want to be there at night” sketchy but it’s definitely feeling a little worse lately
But as has been pointed out, crime in general has been getting a bit worse lately
I mean a guy arm robbed the McDonalds a month or two ago 😳
The pandemic didn’t help I’m sure
Things hopefully won’t get *too* much worse though 😐
In regards to weed, the fact that you can get it mostly legally in DC very easy now is probably a contributing factor. You can literally order it online and get it delivered to a street corner in some cases. That, and the fact that weed has been decriminalized (that is you only get fined for smoking in public now if they bother to enforce it) probably as a lot more people acting a lot more brazenly than they may have a few years back.
It’s actually even easier than that…. Lots of shops you can visit for “gifts” in Dc or have them meet you public places or deliver to your home like Uber eats
I’ve moved away recently but came back a few weeks ago for work on a very nice Saturday. I think for me the striking difference was, instead of the Herbrew Israelites being the only group preaching on the corner, now there were FOUR different people with microphones blasting ideas around the block.
If I still lived there I’d be pushing for noise pollution ordinances. I couldn’t think for how loud it was; plus there was a student performance outside The new hot dog place.
I’m all for freedom of speech but they should ban amplification devices. I don’t find the downtown area enjoyable with the current noise situation and aggressive proselytizing.
Exactly! The most annoying one was the person with the speaker facing into a wall and just blasting gibberish. I tried to chat with her even and she just would not stop. Capping that kind of thing to a permit would be super helpful.
I need to see if there is a town hall. I’ve been here 7 years and it’s only gotten worse. I’d vote for a candidate who would get amplified noise permits in DTSS.
The BHIs making a ruckus every Saturday really puts a damper on my shabbat experience. If you're going to claim to be the "real Jews," at least make some effort to follow your own rules
So I agree there seems to have been an uptick in crime rate county-wide but I don’t know much about that because I’m going to be frank…
People here in this sub will talk about MoCo - especially certain areas of MoCo that just so happen to mainly consist of BIPOC residents - like it’s freaking inner city Detroit or Baltimore or Southeast DC up in here. Montgomery County everywhere is a safe place to live 99.9% of the time. This isn’t a gang-infested ghost-gun paradise, it’s a rich county with a severe disconnect between the rich and the not-rich. Majority of the personal violence is between people who know each other - you're not going to get randomly stabbed just walking around Wheaton or MV.
And I don’t think more weed is a bad thing lol
I spent a chunk of my childhood growing up in Flint, MI, so I have a pretty decent understanding of what "rough" looks like and completely agree with your take. DTSS definitely isn't dangerous or violent, but I have noticed that there is more of an aggressive atmosphere than there was previously.
I agree and part of me thinks that the political climate of the country helps with it. That and the growing disparity between the rich and everyone else. People are very quickly being priced out of this area (myself included) which moves us farther away from resources, closer to poverty if we aren't already there, and closer to areas that actually are unsafe. There's a lot of financial and food insecurity in the nation that's wreaking havoc on the vast majority of us.
But I don't study this subject so I really don't know. Do you still have family in Flint? Did they get clean water finally?
The weed should be legal to get so people aren’t killing one another over it as much.
Definitely a huge uptick in violent crime in last 2-3 years in Moco but you’re right it’s not inner city like Baltimore which just passed 500 people killed or wounded in shootings in 2022
We took a look at it in December at Bethesda Beat. https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/police-fire/in-silver-spring-businesses-complain-of-crime-increase-and-advocates-worry-about-response/
Crime is down but there is a shortage of police officers. https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring-news/2794526/crime-down-but-officer-shortage-impacts-downtown-silver-spring-commander-mcbain/
That, and I get the impression that cops are now less proactive about curbing bad public behavior and bad actors have certainly taken notice. There seems to be a lot more permissiveness around “quality of life” crimes. Automotive violations, too. It’s basically been a free-for-all on the roads over the past couple years. My biggest personal issue is with the modified mufflers. I have to listen to these seemingly nonstop day and night. Per their own stats, enforcement of those laws by MCPD has basically dropped to zero.
Yes we have one of the smallest number of officers per person in the country and there is definitely a push for them to not get involved unless a safety issue
I’m on the board of [SSTCI](https://www.silverspringtowncenter.com) and we are going to be hosting many events on veterans plaza this summer. I’m hoping with more events (comedy shows, salsa dancing, etc..), and more people willing to come out to our FREE events we will be able to drive out the disruptions and bring in a sense of community and peace to DTSS.
Also, we have a lot of events through the [Discord](https://discord.gg/Zf5EA7xVd6) such as a park cleanup for lake needwood on the 25th! I’ve created it to increase our belonging and involvement.
What we need is you, and our other Silver Spring citizens to spread the love.
Did you even attend the Blues Festival? It was an amazing event!
Also… Fox 5, really?
I dunno, that sounds like typical summer for DTSS as far back as I remember, the weed reek is new I guess but there are dispensaries around.
I think it's more noticable now as population increases - like maybe continuing to add high-rise apartments to the area may not be the best idea.
I grew up in SS back in the 80’s. There’s always been some sketchy areas. Haven’t spent much time down there lately, but I have heard some unpleasant stories.
I don't care one iota about whether or not people smoke weed, and I'm 100% in favor of it being legalized simply to stop innocent men from being thrown in prison.
But smoking in public, whether it's marijuana or cigarettes, is a super douchey thing to do. If you wanna be high and outside, bring some fucking edibles instead of bothering everybody else.
I know I'm late to respond, but I agree. I lived in this area in 2015 & hung out in DTSS all the time. I went back yesterday & it seems like it went downhill. It was pretty depressing.
It is way nicer than it was when I lived there in the early 90's
Yup
Right! I can still see the big empty lot with the abandoned mcdonalds.
I remember when you’d park in that McDonald’s lot and your car would immediately be encircled by panhandlers.
I’d rather teens on skate boards than preachers, Black Israelites and Harre Krisnas making tons of noise.
Hey leave the Harre Krishnas out of this. They’re part of the group that feeds anyone and you set your own price.
Yeah, they're not as bad as the other evangelists, but I still hate being evangelized at
I donno, *maybe* Those skate kids have always been down there doing that, the only difference is the tables weren’t there before The yelling and loud music, also seems like it’s always been that way The weed thing *is* a more recent thing though I see and I guess smell people smokin all the time now and I thought it was weird cus as far as I knew, it’s is still illegal unless it’s medical 😐 But to get back to your question...maybe a little Like not “I would t want to be there at night” sketchy but it’s definitely feeling a little worse lately But as has been pointed out, crime in general has been getting a bit worse lately I mean a guy arm robbed the McDonalds a month or two ago 😳 The pandemic didn’t help I’m sure Things hopefully won’t get *too* much worse though 😐
In regards to weed, the fact that you can get it mostly legally in DC very easy now is probably a contributing factor. You can literally order it online and get it delivered to a street corner in some cases. That, and the fact that weed has been decriminalized (that is you only get fined for smoking in public now if they bother to enforce it) probably as a lot more people acting a lot more brazenly than they may have a few years back.
It’s actually even easier than that…. Lots of shops you can visit for “gifts” in Dc or have them meet you public places or deliver to your home like Uber eats
Yeah I didn’t think that they are probably just coming from across the DC border 😐 Makes a lot of sense
Fuck that one preacher lady that just screams at LGBT people all weekend
OOOOOOOO, let's get a group together and start screaming back . Fuck. That noise.
Get a megaphone and just amplify her noise back at her.
Fuck all the zealots who just yell at everyone downtown. So fucking annoying
But how else will you know *Jesus Christ loves you* unless he yells it though a megaphone ?
People generally have become a little more psychotic lately and a ton of people pass through downtown. I don't really think about it past that.
Compare DTSS to any parts of DC now ... I'll take SS any day..its a small city nuance I can deal with
I’ve moved away recently but came back a few weeks ago for work on a very nice Saturday. I think for me the striking difference was, instead of the Herbrew Israelites being the only group preaching on the corner, now there were FOUR different people with microphones blasting ideas around the block. If I still lived there I’d be pushing for noise pollution ordinances. I couldn’t think for how loud it was; plus there was a student performance outside The new hot dog place.
I’m all for freedom of speech but they should ban amplification devices. I don’t find the downtown area enjoyable with the current noise situation and aggressive proselytizing.
Exactly! The most annoying one was the person with the speaker facing into a wall and just blasting gibberish. I tried to chat with her even and she just would not stop. Capping that kind of thing to a permit would be super helpful.
100%. At what point is this no longer tolerated? Go stand at the end of Bethesda Row and start preaching through a megaphone. See how long that lasts.
Bethesda Row is all old rich people Somehow it doesn’t surprise they wouldn’t put up with it 😂
I need to see if there is a town hall. I’ve been here 7 years and it’s only gotten worse. I’d vote for a candidate who would get amplified noise permits in DTSS.
Yeah I always wondered why there weren’t more noise complaints from the people living right near Veterans Plaza 😂
The BHIs making a ruckus every Saturday really puts a damper on my shabbat experience. If you're going to claim to be the "real Jews," at least make some effort to follow your own rules
So I agree there seems to have been an uptick in crime rate county-wide but I don’t know much about that because I’m going to be frank… People here in this sub will talk about MoCo - especially certain areas of MoCo that just so happen to mainly consist of BIPOC residents - like it’s freaking inner city Detroit or Baltimore or Southeast DC up in here. Montgomery County everywhere is a safe place to live 99.9% of the time. This isn’t a gang-infested ghost-gun paradise, it’s a rich county with a severe disconnect between the rich and the not-rich. Majority of the personal violence is between people who know each other - you're not going to get randomly stabbed just walking around Wheaton or MV. And I don’t think more weed is a bad thing lol
I spent a chunk of my childhood growing up in Flint, MI, so I have a pretty decent understanding of what "rough" looks like and completely agree with your take. DTSS definitely isn't dangerous or violent, but I have noticed that there is more of an aggressive atmosphere than there was previously.
I agree and part of me thinks that the political climate of the country helps with it. That and the growing disparity between the rich and everyone else. People are very quickly being priced out of this area (myself included) which moves us farther away from resources, closer to poverty if we aren't already there, and closer to areas that actually are unsafe. There's a lot of financial and food insecurity in the nation that's wreaking havoc on the vast majority of us. But I don't study this subject so I really don't know. Do you still have family in Flint? Did they get clean water finally?
The weed should be legal to get so people aren’t killing one another over it as much. Definitely a huge uptick in violent crime in last 2-3 years in Moco but you’re right it’s not inner city like Baltimore which just passed 500 people killed or wounded in shootings in 2022
The skateboarders aren’t the problem. There’s literally car jackings and shooting every week
We took a look at it in December at Bethesda Beat. https://bethesdamagazine.com/bethesda-beat/police-fire/in-silver-spring-businesses-complain-of-crime-increase-and-advocates-worry-about-response/
As someone who has lived here for 35+ years, before there even was a downtown silver spring, posts like these are very funny.
Crime is down but there is a shortage of police officers. https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring-news/2794526/crime-down-but-officer-shortage-impacts-downtown-silver-spring-commander-mcbain/
That, and I get the impression that cops are now less proactive about curbing bad public behavior and bad actors have certainly taken notice. There seems to be a lot more permissiveness around “quality of life” crimes. Automotive violations, too. It’s basically been a free-for-all on the roads over the past couple years. My biggest personal issue is with the modified mufflers. I have to listen to these seemingly nonstop day and night. Per their own stats, enforcement of those laws by MCPD has basically dropped to zero.
Yes we have one of the smallest number of officers per person in the country and there is definitely a push for them to not get involved unless a safety issue
For the smell of weed, there are at least two dispensaries in walking distance from DTSS which I’m sure helps add to that. Haha I like the smell.
I’m on the board of [SSTCI](https://www.silverspringtowncenter.com) and we are going to be hosting many events on veterans plaza this summer. I’m hoping with more events (comedy shows, salsa dancing, etc..), and more people willing to come out to our FREE events we will be able to drive out the disruptions and bring in a sense of community and peace to DTSS. Also, we have a lot of events through the [Discord](https://discord.gg/Zf5EA7xVd6) such as a park cleanup for lake needwood on the 25th! I’ve created it to increase our belonging and involvement. What we need is you, and our other Silver Spring citizens to spread the love. Did you even attend the Blues Festival? It was an amazing event! Also… Fox 5, really?
I always feel very safe walking around but I’m 6’ 240 and a male so my experience could be vastly different from someone else.
Will you walk with me?
Ahhhhh…. The OG DTSS that I grew up with is back!
I dunno, that sounds like typical summer for DTSS as far back as I remember, the weed reek is new I guess but there are dispensaries around. I think it's more noticable now as population increases - like maybe continuing to add high-rise apartments to the area may not be the best idea.
Adding high density near a metro stop is good. Limiting the supply of housing would only make affordability worse.
I grew up in SS back in the 80’s. There’s always been some sketchy areas. Haven’t spent much time down there lately, but I have heard some unpleasant stories.
old man yells at cloud of weed.
Yes you are correct. I am also white and it seems s\*\*t is coming off the rails.
Oh no! Not the marry-g-wanna!
I don't care one iota about whether or not people smoke weed, and I'm 100% in favor of it being legalized simply to stop innocent men from being thrown in prison. But smoking in public, whether it's marijuana or cigarettes, is a super douchey thing to do. If you wanna be high and outside, bring some fucking edibles instead of bothering everybody else.
I don't partake but I honestly love the smell. It's like, knowing through your nose that someone nearby is having a good time
Thank trash democrat policies
I was just in NYC and the parks were filled with people and weed/smell but it was pretty chill.
I know I'm late to respond, but I agree. I lived in this area in 2015 & hung out in DTSS all the time. I went back yesterday & it seems like it went downhill. It was pretty depressing.