20910 Downtown Silver Spring questions (Rockville, College Park: apartments, renting, condos)

[UMDGradStudent]

I am going to be a grad student at the University of Maryland College Park this fall, and I am thinking of renting a house in Silver Spring. It's in the zip code 20910 in the downtown area. The house is on a street that is a block south of Sligo Avenue, and it is about half a mile east of Georgia Avenue. Is this a generally safe/nice area?

How would the commute be to College Park? GoogleMaps tells me it would probably be about 15 min. Is that accurate?

Also, how would the commute be to Rockville? Google suggests taking 495 to 270, but from what I understand that area gets very congested.. are there any back roads to take that might make it easier/quicker?

[BKmachine]

That area is okay, in a scale from 1 to 10 on safety/niceness I'd give it a 7-8, during the summer it maybe a 6.5 but overall its like living in a reg. city neighborhood with the pros and cons and everything in between.
If commuting from Silver Spring to Rockville it might be a good idea to take Georgia Ave to Viers Mill Road instead of taking the interstates.

[Cheasare]

Originally Posted by UMDGradStudent

I am going to be a grad student at the University of Maryland College Park this fall, and I am thinking of renting a house in Silver Spring. It's in the zip code 20910 in the downtown area. The house is on a street that is a block south of Sligo Avenue, and it is about half a mile east of Georgia Avenue. Is this a generally safe/nice area?

How would the commute be to College Park? GoogleMaps tells me it would probably be about 15 min. Is that accurate?

Also, how would the commute be to Rockville? Google suggests taking 495 to 270, but from what I understand that area gets very congested.. are there any back roads to take that might make it easier/quicker?

Okay I keep reading threads where folks want to know about the "safest" areas but safe is such a subjective word and it really depends on your comfort level. Some people have led very sheltered lives so their idea of safe probably differs a great deal from mine.

With that said, I think the area south of Sligo btw Fenton and Georgia has a very "industrial" feel. I just made a recommendation on another thread about a body shop in the area that's on Sligo across from the Greyhound--there are many body shops, car repair and other auto related businesses in the area. It gets very residential along Gist when you go East of Fenton. I would say the area is okay--not the best but okay.

I would add another 10 minutes or so to that commute if you drive during peak hours to CP.

Getting to Rockville is another story because it depends on where you want to go. You could take EW Highway going west to 355/Rockville Pike make a right and head to White Flint. You could take Georgia Ave North, go left to get on Veirs Mill Rd by the Wheaton Metro then left on Randolph until it hits 355/Rockville Pike (it becomes Montrose when you cross the Pike) to get to the Montrose shopping center with the Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, Target & Marshalls. Also, instead of turning left on Randolph, you could stay on Veirs Mill Rd until it runs into 355 in downtown Rockville where the court house and other government buildings are located. Again there are several back roads you could take depending on where in Rockville you are trying to get. It's always gonna be tough if you are driving during peak hours.

C.

[TheJetSet]

To be honest that area is not so great, and I wish the county would focus on redeveloping those areas (if only Takoma Park would disappear). I wouldn't feel that comfortable walking there at night that part considered East Silver Spring is old and has aged is the problem, too many mid rise garden apartments, it's kind of weird how many there are. These things need to be demolished all the way to flower and university IMO.

There's really nothing but residential in that area which is part of the problem because the housing stock is just not that great just like wheaton.

The problem with that area is that it will probably take you 20-25 min to walk from there to the metro station and to get to the UM shuttle. You could take the MARC to Rockville's center on week day evenings.

[kjg1963]

Originally Posted by TheJetSet

To be honest that area is not so great, and I wish the county would focus on redeveloping those areas (if only Takoma Park would disappear). I wouldn't feel that comfortable walking there at night that part considered East Silver Spring is old and has aged is the problem, too many mid rise garden apartments, it's kind of weird how many there are. These things need to be demolished all the way to flower and university IMO.

There's really nothing but residential in that area which is part of the problem because the housing stock is just not that great just like wheaton.

The problem with that area is that it will probably take you 20-25 min to walk from there to the metro station and to get to the UM shuttle. You could take the MARC to Rockville's center on week day evenings.

You might be thinking of a different area than the OP is stating. I work a block down from Sligo Avenue off of Fenton. I believe this is the general area they are talking about. The immediate residential area (off of Fenton) is mostly single family homes. There are a couple of midrise buildings on Sligo and smaller one or two building complexes but I don't believe there are too many LARGE garden style complexes. The business area on Fenton right before Sligo is known as Fenton Village and is one of the last areas in downtown SS to be revitalized. The office buildings are older, there are no highrises (yet), and there are quite a few auto repair shops and small mom and pop businesses. However, there are projects in the planning stages (and some demolition has already started) to revitalize this little slice of SS.

You can get to the Metro fairly quickly on the free shuttle that runs around downtown SS. Walking would probably take 15 minutes or so.

I know during the day, the area is completely safe. Don't know about in the evenings, however.

[TheJetSet]

Originally Posted by kjg1963

You might be thinking of a different area than the OP is stating. I work a block down from Sligo Avenue off of Fenton. I believe this is the general area they are talking about. The immediate residential area (off of Fenton) is mostly single family homes. There are a couple of midrise buildings on Sligo and smaller one or two building complexes but I don't believe there are too many LARGE garden style complexes. The business area on Fenton right before Sligo is known as Fenton Village and is one of the last areas in downtown SS to be revitalized. The office buildings are older, there are no highrises (yet), and there are quite a few auto repair shops and small mom and pop businesses. However, there are projects in the planning stages (and some demolition has already started) to revitalize this little slice of SS.

You can get to the Metro fairly quickly on the free shuttle that runs around downtown SS. Walking would probably take 15 minutes or so.

I know during the day, the area is completely safe. Don't know about in the evenings, however.

No I didn't stutta, that's the area I'm talking about. Sure it has a few nice single Family homes but it aint no woodside that's for sure. All the nasty old mid-rise 1970s brick boxes(idiots actually bought some as condos!) sprinkled with the shady retail spots make it less than desirable.

Also it is not the Fenton Village area, it's the beginning of East Silver Spring, one of the most blighted areas in the county that stretch all the way to university blvd and beyond, full of crime and decay.

Fenton Village is technically within the bounds of the CBD which has special zoning rules an area that I can see progress happening and that has some good enough bones, street grid and layout. It just happens to border east Silver Spring.

Walking around there during the day is fine but wouldn't feel as comfortable walking around there at night as I would in downtown as there's no reason to be there anyways.

To get to the entrance of the metro station from there will not be 15 min, I've walked it, maybe if you ran, depending how far out you lived on that stretch of sligo will take def more than 15min.