Today on Greater Greater Washington, Dan Reed (Just Up The Pike) asserts that “South Silver Spring needs better parks, not just more:”

Citing a lack of open space, some South Silver Spring residents oppose a planned condominium apartment building. But the problem isn’t that there aren’t enough parks, but that existing parks aren’t being used.

Reston-based Comstock Homes seeks to build a 7-story, 200-unit building with ground-floor shops on a 1-acre property at the corner of Newell Street and Eastern Avenue currently home to a self-storage facility. wants Montgomery County to buy the $2.8 million property and turn it into a park.

As Reed points out, newer apartment complexes and buildings are required to have “Public Use Space” (usually in the form of an outdoor park) and the area surrounding the intersection in questions already has five such spaces and the small Acorn Park; but that said, “many of the neighborhood’s pocket parks are poorly designed and seldom used.”

He concludes that “no matter what gets built at Newell and Eastern, it’s clear that there’s a desire for quality park space in South Silver Spring hopefully, the community can come together to make it happen.” More broadly, the central question in this piece is both essential and worrisome: due to planning, location, or safety, are the parks in our neighborhoods inaccessible for some (or many) residents?

Just yesterday, we talked a little about the importance of sports and play for kids; and of course, safe and accessible outdoor space is crucial in everything from organized sports practices to spontaneous, healthy outdoor activity. So what are some improvements that could render public space, and local parks, more welcoming and usable for everyone in the neighborhood? What is your favorite outdoor space in or near Silver Spring and why?