Maryland

Maryland has beautiful farmland throughout the state and miles of waterfront along the Chesapeake Bay and rivers such as the Potomac, Anacostia and Patuxent. In the past decade, particularly under former Governor Glendening, Maryland has sought to protect these treasures through open space preservation and through planning smart development that provides access to jobs and shopping while presenting options for transit, biking or walking.

Scattered development, however, continues to increase in Maryland, particularly in the suburbs surrounding Washington, DC. Proposals for outer beltways and new Potomac crossings  threaten to divert investment and economic growth away from the region's core. The key to solving Maryland's traffic congestion and loss of open space and the way to protect air quality and water quality in the state is to prevent further sprawl and to create smarter growth in town centers and at transit stations (transit-oriented development).

The two counties in Maryland who share borders with the District of Columbia are Montgomery County and Prince George's County. Much of the growth that is occuring in the DC area is in Montgomery County, which further reinforces the regional divide.

View our Regional Smart Growth Solution: Blueprint for a Better Region

More on Maryland:
Contacts
Elected Officials

"Paving the Way: Sprawl in Maryland" (Maryland Public Interest Research Group)
Legislative Scorecard (Maryland League of Conservation Voters)