Commentary: Saving Soylent Green

That synthetic, seizure-inducing green "lawn" on Fenton and Ellsworth streets had its detractors when it suddenly sprouted more than a year ago. But as the Washington Post's Marc Fisher points out, it's become a magnet for--well, everyone in the area. It's a backyard for thousands of apartment dwellers, an AstroTurf oasis (above).

Yet development marches on. Construction on the long-awaited civic center begins next spring, and there are no plans of retaining the green or replacing it with actual grass. Instead, the designs show a paved plaza and an ice rink. Gary Stith, director of the county's Silver Spring Regional Center, tells the Post that kids will love the new scene, and that it will have a "variety of activities, with a lot of landscaping" (below).

While an ice rink is a plus, the county should reconsider its complete elimination of Soylent Green. The community would be better served by an open lawn (either natural or artificial) than by a paved plaza. Try to picnic or make out on that kind of surface. Not comfortable.

Nothing can be gained by building one civic center at the expense of another.

Major props to Chiwiri for the pugs on Soylent Green. And thanks to Machado and Silvetti for the sketch of the new civic center.

"Silver Spring's 'Turf' Hangout a Dream Cut Too Short" (Washington Post)
"Silver Spring Town Center" (Machado and Silvetti)