CSG and Prince George's ACT: Metro Development is Ticket to Prince George’s Future
MEDIA RELEASE
Coalition for Smarter Growth and Prince George’s Advocates for Community-based Transit
For immediate release
August 12, 2010
Metro Development is Ticket to Prince George’s Future
Candidates urged to make it #1 priority
Today, Prince George's Advocates for Community-based Transit and the Coalition for Smarter Growth called on Prince George's County candidates to make building quality development around the County's 15 Metro stations a top priority. The group released the Smart Growth Platform for Prince George's County which lays out eight priorities to realize the economic development potential of the Metro station area development.
The Platform also provides a blueprint for improving the quality of life for all county residents by guiding growth to the inside-the-Beltway communities, prioritizing fixing backlogs on public services in all existing communities, enhancing transit service, walk/bicycle access and reducing scattered development across the county. A Metro-oriented development led economic strategy forms the basis for building the tax base the county needs to invest in better schools, public safety and local job growth.
"Our elected officials need to do more than simply say they support transit and transit-oriented development. We need leaders who will direct growth and public dollars to Metro stations and older communities, and say no to big developments scattered far from transit," said Karren Pope-Onwukwe, co-chair of Prince George's Advocates for Community-based Transit.
Bradley Heard, a Capitol Heights resident and smart growth activist, noted: "The county's 15 Metro stations are invaluable assets for sustainable economic development. We need to elect officials who will have the discipline to work together and guide growth to our Metro stations and established communities. We've got to start working together if we are to build great walkable communities and realize the potential of transit-oriented development."
The groups' platform specifies eight principles to support smart growth for the county:
- Increase the county's investment in the inner Beltway region by focusing at least 66 percent of all new development countywide in the Developed Tier.
- Commit to building great walkable communities around the county's 15 Metro stations as a top investment and policy priority.
- Support transit-oriented centers with policies that ensure new urbanist design, green infrastructure, interconnectivity and pedestrian/bicycle friendliness.
- Reduce the development capacity of the Developing Tier and conserve the Rural Tier, protecting farmland, open space, forests and natural areas by restricting public infrastructure extensions and supporting land conservation.
- Target public funds to address backlogs in maintenance, repair and service upgrade in all existing communities.
- Build a multimodal transportation system that fosters reinvestment in existing communities, fully utilizes the county's 15 Metro stations, and supports sustainable economic development for the 21st Century economy.
- Create inclusive housing and workforce policies to ensure all Prince George's residents share in the emerging prosperity.
Cheryl Cort, policy director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth sees great opportunity for capitalizing on the County's assets, "the September 14 primary gives voters an important choice about how and where the county grows. It's a choice between capturing the surging future demand for convenient, walkable places around Metro, or be left behind with old models of spread out suburban growth where people are forced into their cars for every trip."
Lisa Lincoln, co-chair of the Prince George's Green Power Coalition, explained, "We need to build green buildings in transit-oriented locations. Prince George's 15 Metro stations are key assets to building a green and sustainable economy. Retrofitting existing communities rather than continuing to build new ones on farm fields and forestland is critical to restoring our environment and creating a more sustainable county."
Commenting on her frustration with the lack of development at Metro stations, community activist Yvette Jardine said, "There's no political will to focus on transit-oriented development. Instead, our elected officials push for spending hundreds of millions in public dollars for highway projects to support giant new developments like Westphalia - 6000 acres that consumes open fields outside the Beltway. At the same time, our Metro stations sit practically vacant. We need leaders who will say no to sprawling development and work to rebuild our older communities and create vibrant mixed use places around our Metro stations."
The full platform is available at the Coalition for Smarter Growth's website
or Prince George's ACT website.
To schedule an interview, please contact:
Laura DeSantis
202-244-4408, ext. 125
laura@smartergrowth.net
Cheryl Cort
202-244-4408, ext. 112
cheryl@smartergrowth.net
Karren Pope-Onwukwe
301-927-3145
princegeorgesact@gmail.com
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