Saturday, July 28, 2007

Silver Spring not so Forward: Birchmere in doubt

Only one side of the street of downtown Silver Spring is renovated, while the other side contains an ugly hulking space of the old JC Penney building. There is a huge outpouring of support for the anticipated arrival in the space for the Birchmere, shown by groups like silverspringforward.org.

The latest news is the county has cancelled its negotiations with the Birchmere for the space, according to the Express, the Gazette and the Washington Business Journal.

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2 comments:

Zinzindor said...

Just what is "progressive" about soaking taxpayers to subsidize entertainment for local yuppies and profits for the Birchmere owners?

Progressives should be fighting this kind of corporate welfare, not promoting it.

Beltway Progressive said...

Thanks for your point. I am not familiar with how taxpayers will be "soaked" for this particular project, but I do agree that business needs to take on more responsibility for the cost of its operations like commercial space. Sports stadiums are a great example. Keep in mind, though, that taxpayers paid for the Silver Spring commercial open space across the street, and for the mall, too, and they will likely contribute much to whatever goes in this empty space.
However, I'd much rather have it as a music or arts space, which may need more help from taxpayers, then another Gap or Starbucks. We will get paid back for our investment with an improved quality of life and property values.