Silver Spring Park

It’s fitting that the word ‘park’ is in the name of the Silver Spring Park neighborhood. With manicured gardens in spacious lawns, fully grown trees and porches to enjoy the view, this neighborhood feels like a woodland getaway. Silver Spring Park preserves the lifestyle of the classic suburb with its midcentury houses, where kids can bike down the street, neighbors fly flags out front to show off their favorite sports teams and seasonal decorations festoon porches on every block.

Adding to the picturesque feel of this DC suburb is the diversity of its residents and its strong community spirit. “Everyone is welcome,” says Natalie Perez, a real estate agent with The Phoenix Group of Compass. Community events are always going on, especially in any one of the neighborhood’s numerous parks, she notes.

Residents of Silver Spring Park prefer to live here because the homes are not “cookie cutter,” Perez says. The houses are quaint and charming, and people who move intend to stay in the neighborhood, she emphasizes.

Older homes in the area, often renovated, date to the mid-20th Century, with Cape Cods, Colonials, Tudors and spacious split-level styles. The median price for a single-family home runs around $665,000, but new contemporary-style homes, especially with multiple bedrooms, can run north of $1 million. For an economical choice, there are also numerous town house complexes in Silver Spring Park; the median price for this style sits around $400,000. Condos provide another option. Two-bedroom condos can start at $150,000, while three-bedrooms can range from $200,000 to $375,000. The price of the condo can depend on its proximity to the city.

Students attend well-rated schools that match the well-tended atmosphere of the neighborhood. Sligo Creek Elementary features a French language immersion program, student newspaper club, and fiction writing for fourth and fifth graders. Silver Spring International Middle School places an emphasis on a global perspective in the curriculum, with options for a French or Spanish immersive language program or Model U.N. practice in global diplomacy. Montgomery Blair High School boasts an overall grade of A-plus from Niche.com, and it ranks at No. 11 among public high schools in Maryland. It also ranks as the No. 1 the most diverse public high school in the state.

Sligo Creek serves as an anchor for outdoor recreation in Silver Spring Park. Sligo-Bennington Neighborhood Park runs along Sligo Creek and the Sligo Creek Trail, which offers routes for hiking and biking. The park also features walkable routes through its picturesque woods and picnic grounds, playgrounds and tennis courts. Dale Drive Neighborhood Park, one of the oldest parks in Montgomery County, sprouts off the Sligo Creek Trail and offers the perfect paths for running and walking. The Nolte Community Garden, which features 19 accessible gardening tables for community members, is a highlight of Nolte Local Park.

For those who enjoy the arts, Silver Spring Park offers a superlative choice of creative activities and experiences. Bookworms can revel in the catalog of titles at the Long Branch Library, where events for children include bilingual pajama story time and the chance to read to therapy dogs. Carpe Diem Arts Center offers community song and dance events, after school and summer camps for kids, and many chances to volunteer. Or, get creative with free art supplies from the Takoma Art Free Library. Live music lovers have their pick of concerts at The Fillmore, a well-known music venue in downtown Silver Spring, only a 5-minute drive from the neighborhood.

Dining out in this neighborhood means enjoying a plethora of Salvadoran, Mexican and Latin restaurants located here. La Casita Pupuseria and Market offers traditional Salvadoran pupusas; Chicken Loco cooks up pollo a la brasa (charcoal broiled Peruvian chicken). What’s great about the cuisine here isn’t just its diversity, but the fact that these eateries are owned by people who live in the neighborhood, Perez says.

A short distance to DC, Silver Spring Park gives its residents a historic feel, welcoming spirit and chances to retreat into nature.

Written By

Colleen Seidel

Photography Contributed By

Jack Adams

Video By

Dan Mack