Neighborhood Interview – Carlos Perozo, Long Branch

Thanks for joining us for the final 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 final interview is with Carlos Perozo, owner of ZP Tax and president of the Long Branch Business League. Long Branch is the very diverse area between downtown Silver Spring and Langley Park. With two future purple line spots, the face of the community could change drastically. Carlos was kind enough to speak with me about what that might mean for the neighborhood, and how they’re working to ensure that the purple line development does not displace the established community.

“As a business person, what we have been experiencing is the rents have been going up where the purple line is going to be passing through.”

“There is a stigma. People for some reason, even though nothing has happened here, think [Long Branch] is unsafe, and it’s not.”

“What we started to do as a business league was to try to make this a pretty place. We decided, ‘why don’t we start to paint murals?’… We also did block parties, pop up music at the park… We started without telling anybody. We just brought a band on a Saturday at 12. The next Saturday we brought another band. The next Saturday, I brought my band.”

Listen to the full interview to hear all about the area, and how you can find out what’s going on with community initiatives in Long Branch.

Pete Tan

Silver Spring Inc

A DC Native, people say I'm rude and abrasive; I say I'm passionate. I've been working in marketing since 2005. My brothers and I paid Geppi's rent through the 80s and 90s. My relief at an indoor wavepool never materializing in Silver Spring is balanced by my disappointment that City Place has dozens of shuttered storefronts. I love what you've done with your hair.