Thanks for joining us for the first in our five-part neighborhood interview series. We spoke with several community members who are actively engaged in their neighborhoods. Learn about your neighbors and the neighborhoods they call home, including some history, current state, as well as possible futures.
Our first interview is with Sean Emerson, author of Around the Corners which focuses on the Four Corners neighborhood. Four Corners is the commercial and residential area surrounding the intersection of Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Its boundaries are roughly Lorain Avenue on the northwest, Woodmoor Drive to the northeast and I-495 to the south. It borders the neighborhoods of Sunset Terrace, Northwood park, Indian Spring Village, Franklin Knolls, Indian Spring Terrace and North Hills Sligo Park (Updated note: as with most neighborhoods in Silver Spring, and Silver Spring itself, the specific boundaries of Four Corners are often debated, and we’ve received several suggestions as to those boundaries, some included in the notes or on our Facebook page). Here are some highlights from the audio:
“[blogging] is still very valuable. This summer, we saw The Gazette close down which I think is a big blow to local news coverage in the county. Thankfully, things like Bethesda Beat have stepped up to cover it and the local blogs like you, Just Up The Pike and other things have always been good local level news that a local paper like The Washington Post doesn’t cover so well.”
“One thing I’ve felt that Four Corners suffers from, and a few other communities as well in what I call the postal service Silver Spring, they lack a sense of place and a unique neighborhood identity.”
“If I say ‘Four Corners’ to someone in who lives in Arlington, they have no clue what I’m talking about. They think I’m talking about Seven Corners.”
“Developing a sense of place is a very important thing to do and a lot of the ways you can do that is through either modest development or large-scale development. It all depends on what the appropriate context is. In Four Corners’ case, I would say it would have to be very modest development.”
“Architecturally speaking, the Woodmoor shopping center is iconic: great art deco design.”
These are just a few insights from Sean’s in-depth discussion about Four Corners. Listen to the audio for the full interview, and let us know your thoughts on the Four Corners neighborhood in the comments. You can follow Sean on Twitter and Facebook.
4 COMMENTS
I miss 4 Corners and Fred and Harry’s hand Katz-
Four Corners is 5 neighborhoods: North Hills of Sligo, South Four Corners, Northwood Four Corners, Woodmoor and Indian Spring. The Four Corners area is bounded by Sligo Creek Parkway, Franklin Avenue and Capital Beltway to the south, Renfrew Road and Dallas Ave to the west, Eisner St and Northwest Branch to the north, and University Blvd and Capital Beltway to east.
Is there a written transcript of this whole interview, for deaf and hard-of-hearing folks?
Thank you,
Colleen Holt
Hi Colleen, thanks for the message. Unfortunately, we don’t currently have a full transcript available. We’re still trying to figure out the best media to deliver interviews and other news.