Before Silver Spring Inc was even a kernel of an idea, Thayer Ave was keeping everyone informed of Silver Spring goings-on, thanks to the creator, Eric Robbins. An Alabama native, he was lured to Silver Spring by his brother and lucked into a great home on, you-guessed-it, Thayer Avenue.
“Our block, not just Silver Spring, not just the neighborhood, not just our street, our block is awesome… it’s this sense, not just of Silver Spring as a town and a community, it’s our block as this microcosm of how we want to live in a place at a given time.”
Thayer Ave provided Silver Spring news, announcements, and colorful commentary on the area. Along with Just Up The Pike, Silver Spring Singular, and The Silver Spring Penguin it kept the area pretty well informed, albeit with a fair amount of self-admitted snark. Much to everyone’s disappointment, and maybe even a few cheers, the last post was in 2012.
“With kid, family, work, life just got in the way. I didn’t blog as often… ”
Eric made moves to simplify blogging by trying out Tumblr, and he’s still active on Twitter. The blog Thayer Avenue, however, is not necessarily shut down:
“Maybe someday I’ll get back in the game. I’m going to hold onto the Thayer Ave domain name.”
In addition to Thayer Avenue, and many other contributions, Eric is also a co-founder of the Silver Spring Zombie Walk. Now a marquee event, it came about organically through exchanges online.
“…[Silver Spring Singular] wrote a post asking, ‘where would you go in Silver Spring when the Zombie Apocalypse came’… The winner was the new fire station… I made some comment about ‘what if we all got together and dressed like zombie’s and marched through downtown Silver Spring and created mayhem’. Little did I know there was something called a zombie walk.”
The first year culminated in nearly 180 people dressed as Zombies, events promoted by AFI Silver and the Quarry House and included several shenanigans.
“Between the Quarry House and AFI, we accosted a bus… that was fun.”
While it’s a fairly laid back event without overly strict rules, Eric does have one things to say about it.
“Don’t f**k s**t up.”
From his posts on Thayer Ave, to his live-tweeting East Silver Spring Citizen’s Association (ESSCA) events, and organizing of the zombie walk, Eric spends a lot of time contributing back to Silver Spring in one way or another. He obviously has opinions on the area, and while he doesn’t share them through the blog right now, he did share a few thoughts on what would make Silver Spring better.
“Two things are really going to make a difference: Transit Center and Fenton Village… I can’t wait to see what happens with Fenton Village.”
While Eric has many good things to say about the area, true to the appeal of his blog, it’s more fun to ask him what he doesn’t like:
“Safeway.”
In addition, he notes a glaring issue that Silver Spring needs to address:
“Lack of local governance. Downtown Silver Spring needs a mayor.”
While those items stand out as issues of concern, and he has his share of complaints, Eric provided a few parting words about how Silver Spring could be a better place:
“I can be a real d**k, as evidenced by some of the posts on my blog. I’m more guilty of it than most, but step back, take a deep breath, and appreciate what you have. At least we’re not getting annexed by Virginia.”
2 COMMENTS
This Takoma Park resident takes umbrage at your statement. I’m boycotting Silver Spring.
Oh, who am I kidding? I love Silver Spring and Eric. Also, I’m coming over for happy hour.
Suck up.