The Montgomery County Planning Department has had some problems getting the opinions of the young adults living in the city.
These millennials just haven’t been drawn to the public community meetings that are shaping the Bethesda Downtown Plan–the framework that will guide the next two decades of development in the city.
But the planning department wants the input of these 21- to 35-year-olds. They make up 40 percent of the residents who live in downtown Bethesda and many more work here as well.
So they enlisted the help of Streetsense, which partnered with The JBG Companies and Clark Construction, to throw an event to attract millennials. And Wednesday night’s event at Streetsense’s headquarters near the Bethesda Metro station certainly did that.
Hundreds of young adults swarmed the event (most likely for the free food and beer.) They snacked on cheese, sipped beers and socialized in the park area near the metro station. Cornhole boards were set up in the grassy area where the ice rink used to be.
“We’re very grateful,” said Margaret Rifkin, a planning department staff member. “What is really important to us is engaging the underrepresented population of young adults who live and work in the city.”
To do that, each person who entered the event provided their name and email address. Planners were on hand, armed with tablets, to administer visual surveys. There was also a large poster where attendees could fill in the blank to the statement, “I want _______ in Bethesda."
Rifkin said the planning department will use the email addresses to reach out to the attendees to update them on the latest information about the Bethesda Downtown Plan as well as to establish a feedback loop to receive more opinions on the direction the planning department is taking.
Raleigh Vos, a Streetsense marketing manager, said they had more than 650 RSVPs for the event.
Planners now have the challenge of incorporating the interests of these young adults and merging them with the interests of other residents. An intial framework of the plan will likely be presented this fall.
Scott Davidson, 23, was one of the attendees. He said he works in Bethesda and lives in the District.
“I’d love to see more dive bars,” Davidson said. He added that there’s not much in the city to keep him here after he leaves work. “I don’t come and hang out here really.”
Picture: The bread and cheese spread at the event. Credit: Andrew Metcalf