October 24, 2014
Maryland Department of Planning
Smart Growth, Transportation
#PLCC, Economic development, Montgomery County, public transit, purple line, purple line community compact, purple line corridor coalition, red line, transit, Urban and Regional Planning
By MDP Staff: , Director of Communications; , Director of Smart Growth; and , Communications Intern
National Center for Smart Growth
State and county officials and local advocacy groups are leading an effort to create a livability strategy to ensure that people living and working in the communities along the proposed Purple Line benefit from the new light rail transit system.
But how will that work, exactly?
The stakeholder groups, led by the Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC), will develop a community compact that will lay out strategies for revitalizing and stabilizing mixed-income neighborhoods, preserving community assets, supporting small businesses and connecting workers to jobs, all intended to create healthy and vibrant communities. Similar to Baltimore’s Red Line Community Compact and Minneapolis’ Central Corridor Funders Collaborative in planning their Green Line, the compact will address things like maintaining affordable housing for residents, maximizing labor market potential and creating transit-oriented places. More
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August 4, 2014
David T. Whitaker, AICP
Smart Growth, Transportation
bethesda center, MARC, maryland department of planning, md department of transportation, Metro Centre at Owings Mills, MTA, planning for tod, prince george's plaza, tod, WAMATA
By Scott Hansen, MDP Transportation Planning, & David Whitaker, AICP, MDP Communications
Models & Guidelines 30: Planning Tools for TOD
Owning a parcel near transit can open a wealth of development opportunities. Yet, how to achieve the most benefits from those locations can be a challenge. Transit-oriented development (TOD) is not any type of growth occurring near transit station. Instead, TOD features a well-designed and relatively high intensity of mixed land uses within a comfortable walk of a rail or bus transit station. More
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September 18, 2013
David T. Whitaker, AICP
Transportation
Complete Street, transportation, Urban and Regional Planning
Completing Our Streets: The Transition To Safe And Inclusive Transportation Networks, a new book by Barbara McCann – (Island Press, October 14, 2013, ISBN 1610914317)
How to transition to “Complete Streets” is the focus of a new publication by Maryland and DC resident Barbara McCann. This book by the founder and originator of the complete streets movement tells a story of change in how we plan and use the streets within our communities. It offers unique insights, tips, strategies and tools about the process of converting a community’s transportation investments to ensure safe streets for everyone.
From the outset the author places less emphasis on street design, instead focusing on key policies and regulations that underlie transportation decisions from the local to the national levels. She describes the decision making processes inside agencies and offers insight into changing decision making, updating design guidance, providing training and education and finding new ways to measure transportation connectivity and move communities from mono-modalism to viable transportation choices. More
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June 27, 2013
Brian Bieretz
Bike Ped, Transportation
Bicycling, cycling, Maryland Department of Transportation, traffic
Observations from an occasional cyclist
Bicycling has many advantages to the individual from health to pleasure. To the city, bicycling can help spur development and promote economic vitality by getting people to interact with community around them. Many of those benefits are enumerated elsewhere. Instead, this article looks at the areas of tension that occur between cars and bicyclists.
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March 28, 2013
Ryan Sigworth, AICP
Bike Ped, Bike trails, Transportation
adams morgan neighborhood, Bicycle sharing system, bicycles, cycling, mass transit, public private partnership, Segregated cycle facilities, transportation, Walkability
So I am one of “those” people.
Who am I you may ask. I am a completely car-free urban planner. No, I am not crazy and I am not a “tree hugger.” I do, however, believe in smart growth, walkable communities and mixed uses. In my line of work I am not alone in these beliefs but often when you dig a little deeper you find urban planners with these beliefs living the car dominated suburban “dream.” I like to practice what I preach so for the last three years I have been totally car-free living in northwest Washington, DC while working in Baltimore – approximately 40 miles from my home. More
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March 27, 2013
John Coleman
Transportation
Fuel tax, Public transport, traffic congestion
In case you missed it, we wanted to share this Baltimore Sun editorial, Higher gas tax needed to support transit, on the importance of supporting an efficient transit system.
KEY POINT– To suggest that spending on public transit is inherently wasteful is not only unfair but inaccurate. Maryland traffic congestion is already ranked among the worst in the nation. How much worse would it be if not for transit? A full bus may take 60 cars off the road, a full rail car 200.
Our view: Gas tax opponents are wrong to claim that spending more on public transit shortchanges motorists (or anyone else living in Maryland) March 27, 2013, BaltimoreSun.com More
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December 7, 2012
David T. Whitaker, AICP
Bike Ped, Smart Growth, Transportation
Brookings Institution, LOCUS, Real estate, smart growth, Walkability, WalkUP
“The market is flashing very large and very loud signals: ‘Build more walkable urban places,’” says Christopher B. Leinberger
For many decades urban and regional planners have chased the elusive “walkable community” much like the Holy Grail. From Radburn to Columbia to your local mixed use center, walkability has often been a planning goal, although rarely achieved. This is now changing. An emerging land use in the second decade of the 21st century are walkable urban places. More
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