Long Overdue: Long Branch Conversation

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The Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board is holding a panel conversation on Long Branch at their next regularly scheduled meeting MONDAY NOVEMBER 8th , 7pm at the Civic Building.

Come share your stories about this vibrant Silver Spring neighborhood… Engage others about its history… Visualize the future…

There are definitively lots happening in Long Branch. One of the best source of information – and opportunity for input – is the on-going Long Branch Sector Plan being coordinated by the Planning Department. Their web-site is simply magnificent; check it out at:
http://www.montgomeryplanning.org/community/longbranch/index.shtm
(The Plan is also available in Spanish.)

What is Long Branch? This is a complicated question, with as many different answers as there are people being asked…

For those of us that frequent Long Branch, it is a place that radiates energy in the vitality of its residents and the offering of its economic and entrepreneur activities.

Of course there is the excellent food… Everything from fine dining in white table clothed restaurants with ample seating (and jazz music on Wednesday nights); to casual dining on the second story of a bar; to breakfast in a honky-tonk type diner straight out of the fifties; to those wonderful pupusa trucks.

And then there’s the shopping… Want fresh seafood? NO problema!; Want root plants (yucca, etc.)? Its available in any of Long Branch’s numerous groceries!; Want nick-nacks? They are everywhere!

Wanna a haircut or your hair done?... Take your pick from the many – many! – salons in the area.

Plus, don’t forget to stop by the library, get your car worked on, or enjoy one of its many nearby park areas.

For those of us that live close by, and have friends there, it is refreshing to know that Long Branch offers housing choices for most income levels. It is a mix of multi-family and single family homes across all price ranges.

Ok ok ok… Not everything is picture perfect Norman Rockwell (or George Lopez, for that matter.)… There are definitively ‘issues’… And that is exactly why we are working on a plan; that is exactly why we are working with the community on safety and security issues; that is exactly why the Neighbors Campaign is active there; and that is exactly why the SSCAB wants to have this conversation… But, let’s work from the ‘position of strength’; let’s start by affirming the community’s assets; let’s build on what is there.

Monday’s conversation may not resolve major issues nor convince naysayers that Long Branch is on a journey of constructive discovery… But, koodos to the SSCAB for having this conversation; for providing a space to advance fresh ideas; and, for supporting the many on-going efforts to work with the Long Branch community.

See you on Monday, November 8th, 7pm at the Civic Building!

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