Can Later Bar Hours and 'Noise Areas' Make a D.C. Suburb Hip?

As urban areas across the country compete for those coveted young professionals, "unhip" suburbs have a particularly tough challenge. In Montgomery County, MD, a taskforce has issued its recommendations for addressing this challenge.

1 minute read

October 24, 2013, 11:00 AM PDT

By Jonathan Nettler @nettsj


"Later closing times for bars, relaxation of noise ordinances and a 'concierge' service to help new businesses maneuver the Montgomery County bureaucracy are among the proposals of a task force charged with lifting the hipness quotient of a place many millennials find bland and inhospitable," reports Bill Turque. 

"For six months, the 21-member group has discussed tweaking public policy to make the county — specifically Silver Spring, Bethesda, Wheaton, Rockville and Germantown — competitive with places such as the District and Arlington County as destinations for the young. Panel members hope that its series of 33 proposals, finalized at a meeting Monday evening, will let a thousand food trucks, brew pubs and live music venues bloom."

Monday, October 21, 2013 in The Washington Post

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