Author: Elena Sorokina

Fault Lines: Key takeaways and how to get involved

Fault Lines: Key takeaways and how to get involved

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

Thank you to all who could join us for our recent screening of the powerful Fault Lines film at the Angelika Film Center in Fairfax. Whether you were with us in the theater or couldn’t make it this time, we are grateful to have you as part of this growing conversation about housing affordability, livable communities, and the future of our region.

The evening began with Fault Lines, a documentary that brings to life the human stories behind the Bay Area’s housing crisis. Following the screening, our panel of regional leaders reflected on the challenges and opportunities closer to home for addressing our own serious housing affordability challenges.

Fairfax Chairman Jeff McKay stated, “We are not talking about the number of units. We are talking about humans here. We are talking about kids, we are talking about parents, we are talking about hardworking people, people with disabilities […] We need to humanize it as much as we can.”

Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi emphasized that housing should be a central issue for communities that value the environment, health, equity, small businesses, and overall economic vitality of the region.

Key takeaways from the discussion:

  • Increasing and diversifying housing supply, including market-rate housing, is crucial.
  • Increasing the state housing trust fund, which today is only about $80 million per year.
  • Local and state collaboration is key to advancing housing solutions. State- and local-level regulations and processes need to be streamlined and predictable.  
  • Community engagement is important and needs to be done in a productive and results-oriented way. 

Thank you to our elected officials who sponsored and participated in this event, Senator Salim and Delegates Simon and Seibold, Fairfax Chair McKay and Supervisors Palchik and Alcorn, Mayor Hardi and Mayor Read! Thank you also to Carmen Romero of True Ground Housing, Keith Waters of GMU, and McLean Quinn of EYA for joining our panel discussion.

Lots of work ahead, but we know it can be done. Your voices and your energy are exactly what we need to continue advancing livable communities in our region. 

Here are more ways to get involved:

  • Follow CSG’s updates for your local upcoming site tours and public engagement opportunities, including hearings where you can join CSG in supporting local mixed-use, housing developments. 
  • Join us at the Homes for All VOICE Assembly on October 19th. CSG is a cosponsor.
  • Attend other Northern Virginia housing forums, including the NVRC Housing Symposium and the Regional Elected Leaders Institute (RELI) Webinar.
  • Reach out to your elected officials, both state and local, in support of policies that will provide more housing options and greater affordability.
  • Join CSG supporters on Thursday, October 30, at our annual Smart Growth Social to connect with fellow activists and be inspired! Our guest speaker this year is Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins. RSVP now.

Thank you for all you do.

Testimony: SRA 25-02 — No more barriers to new homes on corridors (MoCo)

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

September 15, 2025
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Ave
Rockville, MD 20850

Re: Support for SRA 25-02

Dear Council President Stewart and Councilmembers:

Thank you for accepting this testimony on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all.

I write to you to share our support for SRA 25-02, and to urge you not to further limit lot consolidation or add additional barriers to the review and approval of new homes under ZTA 25-02 and SRA 25-02.

The guidelines provided for in SRA 25-02 align with those put forward for public consideration during the passage of ZTA 25-02, and are thoughtfully informed by the Council’s discussions with and feedback from community members both for and against the More Housing N.O.W. package.

Lot consolidation can provide needed flexibility in site layout to preserve mature trees, meet stormwater requirements, and provide for more homes than may be possible if each lot were developed separately.

As Planning staff shared (see starting at page 220) during the Council’s worksessions on ZTA 25-02, limiting lot consolidation will severely limit the number of homes that can feasibly be built under this ZTA by making it impossible to meet stormwater management, parking, and site coverage requirements on certain sites. In the R-60 zone, for example, a single standard-sized lot can only feasibly accommodate a duplex, whereas two- and three-lot consolidation could allow for four to seven townhomes or eight apartments with significantly more greenspace and workforce income-restricted units.

Please do not create additional obstacles to building the new homes we need near transit, jobs, and amenities by further limiting lot consolidation or requiring additional layers of review above what was agreed upon during the Council’s consideration and passage of ZTA 25-02.

Sincerely,
Carrie Kisicki
Montgomery County Advocacy Manager, Coalition for Smarter Growth

CSG in the News: The W&OD Trail is a Northern Virginia treasure at risk

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

September 11, 2025 | Sonya Breehey, Kevin O’Brien | Greater Greater Washington

The W&OD is a popular 45-mile linear park and trail, providing communities from Arlington to Purcellville a vital connection to active transportation, recreation, and conservation. Yet Dominion’s clear-cutting and a potential long-shot commuter rail proposal could significantly change this important corridor.

As we enjoy and celebrate the W&OD, let’s not be complacent or take it for granted.

Together with the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, CSG co-authored an op-ed for Greater Greater Washington explaining why we must act now to protect the trail.

The op-ed has been supported by Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, Friends of Holmes Run, FairfaxForward, Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets, Northern Virginia Bird Alliance, Nature Forward, and Bike Loudoun.

Read the full story!

Get Involved: Sign the petition demanding that Dominion halt its clear-cutting plan and return to the negotiating table with NOVA Parks, and stay informed about the campaign.

Testimony: Support for University Boulevard Corridor Plan (MoCo)

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

September 10, 2025
Montgomery County Council
100 Maryland Ave
Rockville, MD 20850

University Boulevard Corridor Plan

Dear Council President Stewart and Councilmembers:

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Carrie Kisicki, and I am the Montgomery
County Advocacy Manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. CSG advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the metro D.C. region to grow and provide opportunities for all.

We ask for your support for the goals of safe streets, vibrant and inclusive communities, and transit-oriented homes and businesses laid out in the University Boulevard Corridor Plan and in our county’s 30-year general plan, Thrive 2050.

This plan is responsive to the leading concerns and goals that community members shared during extensive outreach conducted by Planning and county partners.

One pressing concern is the need for safer streets. You do not have to be a traffic engineer to understand that being a pedestrian on University Boulevard does not feel good. There is a wide gap between the experience of being a pedestrian or riding your bike in the plan area today, and the community that people want to see where anyone walking, biking, or rolling feels safe getting around.

Community members have also expressed a desire for thriving local retail, more gathering
spaces, and accommodates people at different ages, household sizes, and incomes.

How do we get from here to there? That is exactly what this plan is designed to do. It outlines clear steps that bridge the gaps between the challenges our communities have identified today, and what they would like to see in the future. Wider sidewalks, an expanded bike network, more frequent transit service, allowing more types of homes near transit, allowing more of the kinds of multi-family buildings that are small enough to fit with the scale of the community, but actually large enough to support space for local businesses and subsidized affordable housing—this is just a short list of the specific steps laid out in the University Boulevard Corridor Plan to achieve the goal of a welcoming, thriving, and sustainable community.

These recommendations did not spring from nowhere—they are a direct response to the needs that community members shared, and spring from our county’s core values of accessibility, equity, and sustainability. Each of these measures is how we get from here to there.

We urge you to support the recommendations of the University Boulevard Corridor Plan as drafted by the Planning Board, and to follow through on this vision for a safer, more accessible, and more sustainable community.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Carrie Kisicki
Montgomery Advocacy Manager

Event: Fault Lines. Screening of a housing documentary, followed by a panel discussion and a social hour

Posted on by Elena Sorokina
Image credit: Fault Lines

What: 

A screening of Fault Lines, a documentary exploring housing and policy, followed by a panel of regional leaders and a community social hour. The panel will examine Northern Virginia’s housing challenges and explore strategies to build more inclusive and livable communities in our region.

Why it matters:

Housing affordability remains a pressing issue across the region. This event brings together elected officials, advocates, and community leaders for an important discussion focused on finding solutions. 

Program: Sunday, September 7 

3:00 Doors Open
3:20 Opening Remarks
3:30 Film Screening
4:50 Panel Start
5:55 Happy Hour at Kirby Club
7:00 Event End

Where: Angelika Film Center at Mosaic District near Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro

2911 District Ave, Fairfax, VA 22031

Panelists:

Click below to view bios:

Delegate Marcus Simon (VA District 13)
Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay
Fairfax County Supervisor Dalia Palchik
City of Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi
McLean Quinn – EYA President and CEO
Carmen Romero – True Ground Housing Partners CEO
Keith Waters – GMU Fuller Institute
Stewart Schwartz – Coalition for Smarter Growth Executive Director

Important note: SOLD OUT. Members of the press are encouraged to contact Elena Sorokina at elena@smartergrowth.net to reserve press seating.

Opportunities to stay engaged and connected:

As we prepare for the upcoming General Assembly in Richmond, we are looking forward to supporting win-win state legislation that promotes housing development and connects communities. 

NVRC Housing Symposium – Oct. 6 (Additional information)

The Northern Virginia Regional Commission recently published a migration report highlighting the need for middle-income and first-time homebuyer housing. This symposium provides an opportunity for regional leaders, planners, and advocates to work together to find housing solutions that promote an economically resilient community. 

RELI Webinar: Housing: Is NOVA on the Road to Meeting our Region’s Housing Needs? – Oct. 10 (Register today)

RELI serves to connect and inform Northern Virginia’s regional leaders from both the public and private sectors. This webinar will explore the NoVA’s progress (and lack thereof) towards meeting the region’s housing needs. 

Homes for All VOICE Assembly – Oct. 19 (Register today)

New polling shows that housing is the #1 concern of Virginia voters. Join fellow advocates on Oct 19 in Herndon from 3:30pm-5pm for an assembly with elected leaders to demonstrate widespread support for housing reforms. 

CSG supports the multi-family developments in consideration across the NoVA region, including the Franconia Government Center Site and the 3033 Chain Bridge Road Site. 

Sponsors and partners:

The event has the generous support of our diverse partners and sponsors, including elected officials, non-profits organizations, and business:

Senator Saddam Salim, Fairfax Mayor Catherine Read, Delegate Holly Seibold

Greater Greater Washington, True Ground Housing Partners, Falls Church Forward, VOICE, YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, Sierra Club – Potomac River Group, Urban Land Institute – Washington, Wesley Housing

EYA, Northern Virginia Building Industry Association, Northern Virginia Association of Realtors

Contact: 

Stewart Schwartz, Executive Director
stewart@smartergrowth.net

Elena Sorokina, Communications Director
elena@smartergrowth.net

Image credits: Fault Lines, CSG.

Press Release: CSG welcomes Governor Moore’s executive order to boost housing production in Maryland 

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 3, 2025

CONTACT:
Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery Advocacy Director
carrie@smartergrowth.net

The Coalition for Smarter Growth commends the Moore-Miller administration for enacting the Housing Starts Here executive order, demonstrating Maryland’s commitment to building the homes we need in a strategic, sustainable, and inclusive way. 

“The Moore-Miller administration recognizes that housing means opportunity,” said Carrie Kisicki, Maryland Advocacy Director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “This executive order will not just reduce barriers to building the homes we need—it promotes building these homes near transit, jobs, and schools, which is absolutely critical. Promoting sustainability, housing affordability, and access to opportunity go hand in hand.”

###

The Coalition for Smarter Growth is the leading organization in the Washington, DC region advocating for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the region to grow and provide opportunities for all.
Coalition for Smarter Growth  — smartergrowth.net

Maryland: Comments on Frederick draft Climate and Energy Action Plan

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

August 22, 2025
Rayla Bellis
Climate and Energy Manager
Department of Climate and Energy
Frederick County, MD

Jenny Willoughby
Sustainability Manager
City of Frederick

Re: Comments on Frederick draft Climate and Energy Action Plan

Frederick County and City of Frederick officials and staff:

On behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, I am submitting the following comments on the draft Frederick Climate and Energy Action Plan. Our organization advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. We have been working in the region for over 28 years.

We commend Frederick County and the City of Frederick for preparing this plan and setting targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030 (from 2010 baseline) and 100% by 2050.

1. Set necessary VMT reduction and EV adoption performance benchmarks to achieve transportation and overall emissions reductions

  • Reduce per capita light duty VMT by 20% by the 2030’s and further by 2050
  • Set both ambitious and feasible goals for EV adoption by 2030 and 2035 consistent with State of Maryland and regional targets 

Transportation is the county’s biggest source of emissions, almost half (49% total; 45% on-road), so it is critical to set sufficiently strong benchmarks that reflect what is needed to achieve the plan’s overall GHG reduction targets. 

We are glad to see that the plan sets strategies to both speed up adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) and reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) – strategies T1 and T2, and the list of action categories under T2.

The plan should set performance benchmarks for these two metrics so decisionmakers and stakeholders can track progress. 

  • The National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board’s (TPB) 2021 Climate Change Mitigation Study found that the region must more urgently move to walkable, transit-oriented communities and implement more robust travel demand management programs in addition to transitioning to electric vehicles. 
  • The study (similar to national studies) found that the region must reduce per capita VMT of passenger cars by about 20% by 2030, with further reductions of around 25-30% in later decades, for the region to achieve the COG GHG targets, which are similar to Frederick County and City’s targets. (This level of VMT reduction is accompanied by a relatively aggressive shift to EVs, 50% of light duty sales by 2030).  
  • The draft Frederick plan assumes a “reduction in vehicle miles traveled of 7% by 2035 and 9% by 2050, which would result from land use changes, travel demand management strategies, transit enhancement, and bike, pedestrian, and micro-mobility improvements” (p. 58) Note that the plan is unclear if this is per capita VMT, total VMT, and/or specifically light duty VMT; and if the percentage reductions are aspirational goals or assumed based on currently programmed projects. In any case, the plan’s future VMT levels appear to be inadequate to achieve its overall GHG targets.
  • The need to reduce per capita VMT by 20% and further, are why numerous states, including the State of Maryland, have set goals to reduce per capita VMT by 20% or more.
  • Fostering a more walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly Frederick County and City – enabling residents and workers to drive less for daily needs – also increases affordability for families and workers, provides health and safety benefits, and results in cleaner air and water that EVs alone cannot provide. We appreciate that the plan reflects this in the descriptions of strategy T2 and the action categories. 

2. Redirect transportation investment away from highway and arterial expansion to safe, convenient walking, biking and transit, and also to making existing transportation resilient to the impacts of climate change

The Climate and Energy Action Plan should acknowledge the role of induced demand, by which highway and arterial widening causes net increases in driving and emissions, while not solving congestion.

Achieving the plan’s strategy to “Harden Transportation infrastructure to withstand future climate impacts” will require significant financial investment. The high cost of planned highway and arterial widening and new interchanges in Frederick County would take resources away from hardening existing infrastructure, while also worsening the County’s transportation emissions. 

3. Focusing new housing and affordable housing near jobs, transit and services is an important climate and equity action and needs follow-on implementation in planning and zoning

CSG applauds the plan’s action category T2.4 “Support population growth with new housing developed in communities that are walkable, bikeable, transit-supportive, and mixed-use.”

To accommodate a growing population while promoting sustainability, this measure will encourage the development of new housing in communities that are walkable, bikeable, transit-supportive, and mixed-use. Prioritizing these types of communities helps reduce car dependency, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance quality of life for Frederick’s community members. It is imperative that transit-friendly design is incorporated into the planning processes in Frederick as development patterns will be instrumental in influencing the number of community-wide VMT. (p. 66)

It is critical that the County and City establish concrete actions and policies in planning, zoning, and housing that implement this. 

4. Add an action category to strategy T2 for Transportation Demand Management (TDM) and operations programs that both reduce emissions and improve mobility 

Transportation demand management programs should be added to complement the plan’s transit, bike and pedestrian action categories. The TPB’s Long-Range Plan Study showed that more robust travel demand management programs would be one of the top mobility strategies for the region – much more effective than highway expansion. The TPB’s Climate Change Mitigation Study and follow-on Implementation Considerations study also showed that travel demand management and pricing programs will be critical to reducing GHG emissions. 

Operational strategies can complement TDM. The I-270 Innovative Congestion Management program is an example of how even modest operations improvements have travel benefits without highway capacity expansion.

Thank you for your consideration and work on this plan.
Sincerely,
Bill Pugh, AICP CTP
Senior Policy Fellow
CC: Mobilize Frederick

CSG in the News: Rally Against Widespread Tree Removal On W&OD Trail Planned In Vienna

Posted on by Elena Sorokina

August 28, 2025 | Emily Leayman| Patch

The Rally for W&OD will be held on Saturday, Sept. 6, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the Vienna Town Green (144 Maple Avenue E), which the trail runs through. The rally seeks to stop tree cutting along the trail and get elected officials and decision makers to negotiate a new agreement on the tree maintenance policies. Event sponsors include the Sierra Club Great Falls Group, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling, Coalition for Smarter Growth, Nature Forward and Fairfax Families for Safe Streets.

Read the full story!