"Oh, you talk about “walkability” and “community,” you just really want to walk to the bar."
Yes, I do! I don't want to have to worry about a designated driver! I don't want to have to worry about other people NOT picking a designated driver! I know you're paraphrasing but I can't believe people actually make this argument.
I live in a suburban part of Seattle city proper, and one of the nicer developments of the past few years has been the renovation of a derelict building at the end of our road that was grandfathered into being a corner store before strict zoning, so they’ve made it a little corner store that sells some staples plus has a espresso bar and deli and a little seating area that serves beer and wine. It’s become a neighborhood gathering place, and they turn their little parking lot into a seating area with food trucks one night each week during the summer. Everyone walks there since it’s basically just the immediate residential neighborhood that knows about it. It closes too early to be nightlife and it’s not substantial enough to do one’s full grocery shoppIng, but it’s really nice to have something walkable like that in a decidedly residential area.
Silver Spring just made #1 on a list of best places for families in Fortune magazine. Setting aside how stupid it is to pick a number one in the whole country for something like that, it at least suggests that the county must be doing something right to attract younger people? I guess the thing is that I am old enough that people who are starting families *are* young people to me. OK, they're probably not 25, but they're far from old! Combine that with the fact that we definitely don't have a bunch of vacant housing we desperately need to attract more people to - like, where are all these young single people even gonna live? and it seems reasonable to me if the county doesn't think more nightlife is a top issue to address. Maybe a place can't be all things to all people, and that's OK.
As someone who visits friends in the DC metro a lot, one of the things that has surprised and impressed me about it is how full of young families it is. It’s a very family-oriented place.
"Oh, you talk about “walkability” and “community,” you just really want to walk to the bar."
Yes, I do! I don't want to have to worry about a designated driver! I don't want to have to worry about other people NOT picking a designated driver! I know you're paraphrasing but I can't believe people actually make this argument.
I live in a suburban part of Seattle city proper, and one of the nicer developments of the past few years has been the renovation of a derelict building at the end of our road that was grandfathered into being a corner store before strict zoning, so they’ve made it a little corner store that sells some staples plus has a espresso bar and deli and a little seating area that serves beer and wine. It’s become a neighborhood gathering place, and they turn their little parking lot into a seating area with food trucks one night each week during the summer. Everyone walks there since it’s basically just the immediate residential neighborhood that knows about it. It closes too early to be nightlife and it’s not substantial enough to do one’s full grocery shoppIng, but it’s really nice to have something walkable like that in a decidedly residential area.
Silver Spring just made #1 on a list of best places for families in Fortune magazine. Setting aside how stupid it is to pick a number one in the whole country for something like that, it at least suggests that the county must be doing something right to attract younger people? I guess the thing is that I am old enough that people who are starting families *are* young people to me. OK, they're probably not 25, but they're far from old! Combine that with the fact that we definitely don't have a bunch of vacant housing we desperately need to attract more people to - like, where are all these young single people even gonna live? and it seems reasonable to me if the county doesn't think more nightlife is a top issue to address. Maybe a place can't be all things to all people, and that's OK.
As someone who visits friends in the DC metro a lot, one of the things that has surprised and impressed me about it is how full of young families it is. It’s a very family-oriented place.