“And the Quote of the Year Goes To…”
By Silver Springer • Nov 14th, 2006 • Category: Uncategorized
William G. Robertson, chief executive of Adventist HealthCare and former chairman of the county chamber. Robertson proclaims,
“When you go to a place that does not have growth, you realize that you would rather be in a place that has growth,” Robertson said. “The chamber believes that in the best interests of our community there needs to be growth going on or we will become a stagnant community, and stagnant communities become dying communities.” [COUGH]Takoma Park,MD, Long Branch[/COUGH], in addition,
“When the chamber is very effective, what happens is that the vibrancy of the economy grows and supports all of the good things we like, such as good schools, roads, growing access to the library system — it’s the economy that ultimately supports that,“
The quotes were part of a Washington Post article about the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce. The chamber is looking for a new president and chief executive.
The Chamber, in particular — is focused on increasing the counties employment rate.
The article was quite refreshing, perhaphs they’ve been reading the blog? I would argue that instead stopping growth in its entirety, the concern should be about type of growth we are getting and the specifics of the developments in planning. Does it put an emphasis on the greater need and is it a high-quality project?
NIMBYs and slow growth advocates (one and the same?) need a lesson in Economics 101. Unless they prefer places like in the above photo.
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And to think, the Long Branch community doesn’t want Adventist (doctors, nurses, health care practitioners) in their community.
Thank you for bringing that up. Long Branch is mess, do the people living there actually think it’s some kind posterchild community for a good neighborhood?
I believe in greater business investment in MontCo. There has to be balance though. Having more restaurants and retail shops are not enough to revitalize downtown SS.
There are two kinds of Silver Spring people. I really believe it’s along political lines.
You have Silver Springers who are more welcoming of business and condominium development into the community. They see the revitalization benefits in terms of property value increases. These people tend to be moderate political voters.
You have another group of Silver Springers who are weary of widespread business and condo development. They bitterly oppose the Purple Line and they are strong supporters of anti-growth candidates. These are the left-of-center Green Party people who share the same values as their Takoma Park neighbors.
I sympathize with the latter group on many issues. I don’t think they oppose economic development in Silver Spring as much as they oppose incoming big chain stores that destroy independent local shops.
However, the NIMBY activism goes too far in some cases. I see TK PK as a stagnate community that offers little choice in terms of shopping and very little business growth. You don’t see offices or commercial strips sprouting up. Silver Spring cannot afford to be a “bedroom community” like TK PK.
Well put, IHY. I figured after all the bashing you could use a (deserved) compliment.
The resistance to the new medical building in Long Branch comes from the Silgo Branview neighborhood. This medical building should be looked at as a gift to this community. I just don’t understand what they are thinking.
ihateyuppies,
Yes indeed, you stated that well. Although it is a very hard balance to strike between keeping ethnic diversity, affordability and the cold reality that it takes the kinds of deep pockets that developers and corporate or upmarket chains to put up the money that can really revitalize a place. Takoma Park, while pretty left-of-center with quirky businesses, is also predominantly made up of well-meaning white people. The up-and-coming minorities that keep Silver Spring vital do prefer chains, which they can afford rather than quirky independant businesses, which still have a predominantly white clientele.
Quote:
“You have another group of Silver Springers who are weary of widespread business and condo development. They bitterly oppose the Purple Line and they are strong supporters of anti-growth candidates. These are the left-of-center Green Party people who share the same values as their Takoma Park neighbors.”
Re:
No, these would be left- and right-wingers who either don’t see the environmental advantages of public transit, or are too rich to care about it being built through their country club.
I’m a few notches left of center myself, and know how economic growth works. In fact outside of downtown Silver Spring, I know nobody in the area who doesn’t support the growth and maturation of the city. I don’t think anyone thought about the investment in terms of property value increases, at least at first, and certainly it is not at the forefront of their minds today unless the increases actually made it difficult to pay their property taxes.
PennSter: “No, these would be left- and right-wingers who either don’t see the environmental advantages of public transit, or are too rich to care about it being built through their country club.”
Actually, Silver Spring and Takoma Park are heavy Democratic voting areas. The biggest bloc of Green Party voters in Maryland come from SS-TK PK. I seriously doubt you will find any right-wing Republicans living in this district.
Furthermore, I doubt very few Silver Springers belong to country clubs or travel to Monaco for weekend getaways.
Pennster: “I don’t think anyone thought about the investment in terms of property value increases, at least at first, and certainly it is not at the forefront of their minds today unless the increases actually made it difficult to pay their property taxes.”
It’s a double-edged sword for long-time Silver Spring residents. The good news is that your house is worth double or more than say 10 years ago. The bad news is that your property taxes are hitting your budget hard. There’s a real groundswell in Montgomery County against higher property taxes. For some people, paying higher taxes IS the issue. I would imagine many residents have fixed incomes or salaries that haven’t caught up with the housing boom.
Regarding the Purple Line issue…the NIMBY behavior of East Silver Spring/Sligo Creek residents takes it too far. I don’t see serious gentrification issues with an Inner Purple Line connector. I think these people are worried about the noise and changed views outside their back yards.
Here’s a NIMBY article in the Takoma Voice:
http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2006/11/news/prpl-line.html
Dude, that quote makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Why did you cite it to prove your point?
First he says “When you go to a place that does not have growth, you realize that you would rather be in a place that has growth”. WHa?!? I mean, huh?
“When the chamber is very effective, what happens is that the vibrancy of the economy grows and supports all of the good things we like … it’s the economy that ultimately supports that.” So which one keeps the community growing? The chamber or the economy?
This is an example of stupid political talking 101.
But I agree with his non sensical gesticulations. Long may he reign as our supreme leader.
What are you talking about the quotes made perfect sense.
Ironically, all the places in the county that have a bastion of NIMBYs and Slow Growth advocates are the ones with the increasing crime rates and gang activity.