Editing Silver Spring, Maryland (section)

===21st century===
[[File:Veterans Plaza SS MD.JPG|thumb|Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza in June 2012]]
At the beginning of the 21st century, downtown Silver Spring began to see the results of redevelopment. Several city blocks near City Place Mall were rebuilt to accommodate a new outdoor shopping plaza called Downtown Silver Spring. As downtown Silver Spring revived, its 160-year history was celebrated in a 2002 PBS documentary entitled ''Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095032/ |title=Silver Spring: Story of an American Suburb (2002) |date=December 6, 2002 |publisher=IMDb |access-date=May 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405024653/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1095032/ |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2003, [[Discovery Communications]] moved its headquarters from nearby [[Bethesda, Maryland|Bethesda]] to a new building in downtown Silver Spring. In 2017, [[Discovery, Inc.]] CEO [[David Zaslav]] announced that the company was relocating to [[New York City]] to operate close to their "ad partners on [[Madison Avenue]]", "investors and analysts on [[Wall Street]]", and their "creative and production community".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/09/discovery-communications-is-selling-md-headquarters-and-moving-to-new-york/ |url-access=subscription |title=Discovery Communications is selling Md. headquarters and moving to New York |author=Abha Bhattarai |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=17 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181018043244/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/01/09/discovery-communications-is-selling-md-headquarters-and-moving-to-new-york/ |archive-date=October 18, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>) 2003 also brought the reopening of the Silver Theatre, as [[AFI Silver]], under the auspices of the [[American Film Institute]].

Beginning in 2004, the downtown redevelopment was marketed locally with the "silver sprung" advertising campaign, which declared on buses and in print ads that Silver Spring had "sprung" and was ready for business.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2004/06/silversprung.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040823100637/http://www.takoma.com/archives/copy/2004/06/silversprung.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 23, 2004 |title=Takoma Voice: News |publisher=Takoma.com |access-date=July 17, 2009}}</ref> In June 2007, ''[[The New York Times]]'' noted that downtown was "enjoying a renaissance, a result of public involvement and private investment that is turning it into an arts and entertainment center".<ref>Eugene L. Meyer, [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/realestate/commercial/13silver.html "A Dose of Art and Entertainment Revives a Suburb"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170920142404/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/13/realestate/commercial/13silver.html |date=September 20, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 13, 2007</ref>

In 2005, downtown Silver Spring was awarded the silver medal of the [[Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence]]<ref name="Bruner Foundation">{{cite book |last1=Shibley |first1=Robert |last2=Axelrod |first2=Emily |last3=Farbstein |first3=Jay |last4=Wener |first4=Richard |title=Downtown Silver Spring and Discovery Communications world headquarters. Silver medal winner |date=2005 |url=http://www.rudybruneraward.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/01/04-Downtown-Silver-Spring-1.pdf |work=Reinventing downtown : 2005 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence |pages=47–78 |publisher=Bruner Foundation |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |language=en-US |isbn=1-890286-07-9 |oclc=71837571 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403100407/http://www.rudybruneraward.org/wp-content/uploads/2005/01/04-Downtown-Silver-Spring-1.pdf |archive-date=April 3, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rudybruneraward.org/winners/downtown-silver-spring/ |title=Rudy Bruner Award: Downtown Silver Spring |website=www.rudybruneraward.org |publisher=Bruner Foundation |language=en-US |access-date=April 3, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403101049/http://www.rudybruneraward.org/winners/downtown-silver-spring/ |archive-date=April 3, 2020}}</ref>

In 2007, the downtown Silver Spring area gained attention when an amateur photographer was prohibited from taking photographs in what appeared to be a public street. The land, leased to the Peterson Companies, a developer, for $1, was technically private property. The citizens argued that the Downtown Silver Spring development, partially built with public money, was still public property. After a protest on July 4, 2007, Peterson relented and allowed photography on their property under limited conditions. Peterson also claimed that it could revoke these rights at any time. The company further stated that other activities permitted in public spaces, such as organizing protests or distributing campaign literature, were still prohibited.<ref>Marc Fisher, [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002354.html "Public or Private Space? Line Blurs in Silver Spring"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007020856/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/20/AR2007062002354.html |date=October 7, 2017 }}, ''[[The Washington Post]]'', June 21, 2007</ref> In response, Montgomery County Attorney Leon Rodriguez said that the street in question, Ellsworth Drive, "constitutes a public forum" and that the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]]'s protection of [[free speech]] applies there. In an eight-page letter, Rodriguez wrote, "Although the courts have not definitively resolved the issue of whether the taking, as opposed to the display, of photographs is a protected expressive act, we think it is likely that a court would consider the taking of the photograph to be part of the continuum of action that leads to the display of the photograph and thus also protected by the First Amendment."<ref>[[Ruben Castaneda]], [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001639.html "County Opinion Rejects Photo Limits"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202205853/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/30/AR2007073001639.html |date=December 2, 2016 }}, ''The Washington Post'', July 31, 2007</ref> The incident was part of a trend in the United States regarding the blurring of public and private spaces in developments built with both public and private funds.

In 2008, construction began on the long-planned [[Intercounty Connector]] (ICC), which crosses the upper reaches of Silver Spring. The highway's first section opened on February 21, 2011; the entire route was completed by 2012. In July 2010, the Silver Spring Civic Building and Veterans Plaza opened in downtown Silver Spring.

Between 2015 and 2016, the long-struggling City Place Mall was renovated and reopened as Ellsworth Place The old [[Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station|B&O Passenger Station]] was restored between 2000 and 2002, as recorded in the documentary film ''Next Stop: Silver Spring''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://silverspringtrain.blogspot.com/ |title=Next Stop: Silver Spring |publisher=Silverspringtrain.blogspot.com |date=September 3, 1964 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827073035/http://silverspringtrain.blogspot.com/ |archive-date=August 27, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rKVuyz4Nw |title=Next Stop: Silver Spring – Trailer |website=[[YouTube]] |date=November 15, 2007 |access-date=July 17, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619114510/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6rKVuyz4Nw |archive-date=June 19, 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In May 2019, Peterson announced a $10 million renovation of the Downtown Silver Spring development that will include public art and a new outdoor plaza, featuring green space.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Diegel |first1=Mike |title=Downtown Silver Spring to Get $10 Million Renovation, New Tenants |url=https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring/downtown-silver-spring-10-million-renovation-new-tenants/ |website=Source of the Spring |date=May 21, 2019 |access-date=19 October 2020 |archive-date=October 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201020193606/https://www.sourceofthespring.com/silver-spring/downtown-silver-spring-10-million-renovation-new-tenants/ |url-status=live}}</ref>