Equitable Engagement
Stakeholder engagement for the Plan happened in four phases: Listening, Visioning, Refining and Sharing. The first phase kicked off in July 2020 with a series of Listening sessions. Planning staff connected with over 500 residents, community organizations, property owners, civic associations, condo boards, employers, business owners, Montgomery College and county agency partners and heard what people wanted to see in the future of Silver Spring.
Then, during the Visioning Phase, planning staff imagined the future of Silver Spring with the community through:
- Visioning Workshops – Over 150 stakeholders participated in our virtual, interactive Visioning Workshops organized by different areas of the plan. View the recordings of the Visioning Workshops.
- Chat with a Planner series – Planning staff held five informative conversations with experts from the planning team about: parks, sustainability, housing and urban design at Veterans Plaza. View the recordings of the Chat with a Planner series.
- ReactMap – This interactive, online mapping tool received over 500 comments. View ReactMap.
During the final phases of the engagement process Planning Staff provided updates to the community via community updates and regular e-letters. View the full list of meetings and events.
Visioning Sessions
Over March and April 2021 the team conducted a series of six visioning sessions with the community. Each session focused on a different geographic area of the plan. Community members participated in lively discussions on a range of topics in breakout rooms with planning staff. The team used Google’s Jamboard tool to record everyone’s thoughts and ideas about the issues. Recordings and PDFs of the Jamboard documents are below.
South Silver Spring Visioning Workshop – March 23
- Introduction
- Breakout Session 1: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
Metro Center/Ripley District Visioning Workshop – March 30
- Introduction
- Breakout Session 1: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
Fenton Village – April 6
- Introduction
- Breakout Session 1: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
Adjacent Communities – April 13
- Introduction
- Breakout Session 1: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 3: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
North Silver Spring – April 20
- Introduction
- Breakout Session 1: Video | Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
Adjacent Communities – April 27
- Introduction*
- Breakout Session 1**: Jamboard
- Breakout Session 2**: Jamboard
- Breakout Session 3: Video | Jamboard
- Conclusion
*This introduction was recorded during the April 13 workshop.
**Unfortunately, due to a technical error, recordings for Breakout Room 1 and Breakout Room 2 were not captured.
Chat with a Planner Series
Chat with a Planner: Parks and Public Open Spaces – May 11
Chat with a Planner: Creating a Sustainable Downtown – May 18
Chat with a Planner: Affordable Housing – May 25
Chat with a Planner: Civic Building/Veterans Plaza/Ellsworth Place – May 27
Chat with a Planner: Civic Building/Veterans Plaza/Ellsworth Place – June 3
