Category: Prince George’s County

Better Buses for Prince George’s

Better Buses for Prince George’s

The Bus 028 photo courtesy of Prince George’s Department of Public Works and Transportation

On July 20, 2021, local and regional bus experts, along with stakeholders discussed where we are and where we want to be with Prince George’s bus service.

View the event recording on YouTube.

Speaker presentations: 

Anthony Foster, Chief, Transit Planning, Prince George’s County Department of Public Works & Transportation

James Hamre, Director, Office of Bus Planning and Scheduling, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

John Hillegass, Manager, Regional Mobility & Infrastructure, Greater Washington Partnership

This event was co-sponsored by: RISE Prince George’s, Coalition for Smarter Growth, and MetroNow.

RISE Prince George’s 5/18/21 event with Angie Rodgers

RISE Prince George’s 5/18/21 event with Angie Rodgers

On May 18, 2021, RISE Prince George’s convened a virtual event to discuss the future of housing & economic development in the County. The talk was titled: “We can’t have quality economic development without affordable housing: so how do we get it all?” with:

Angie Rodgers, Prince George’s Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Economic Development, and Scott Nordheimer, Co-Founder and Senior Advisor, Urban Atlantic (lead developer at the New Carrollton Metro Station) 

View the recording of the event on Youtube.

 Take the survey: Please answer this brief survey to let us know more about what you want from RISE Prince George’s. 

RISE Prince George’s event with Angie Rodgers – Materials

RISE Prince George’s PPT discussion of mission statement and advocacy theme

New Carrollton Station vision https://greaterwashingtonpartnership.com/capital-region-rail-vision/

Housing Opportunities for All Work Group https://pgccouncil.us/628/Housing-Opportunities-For-All-Work-Group

Housing Indicator Tool: A Dashboard for Measuring Progress Towards Meeting Regional Housing Needs

Missing Middle Housing study: to begin in FY22

RISE Prince George’s

RISE Prince George’s

Image: Cheryl Cort

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RISE Prince George’s Platform 2022

On December 13, 2021, we launched our RISE Prince George’s election platform to educate candidates and the public about how to build a better Prince George’s. We will be working with constituents and allies to reaching out to candidates targeted County Council and General Assembly races to build support with our future elected officials to build a more sustainable, prosperous and inclusive County.

Learn more >>>

RISE Prince George’s group meeting.

Mission Statement: RISE Prince George’s is a group of County residents and allies advocating for policies and practices that build shared, sustainable prosperity in Prince George’s County by creating safe, walkable, inclusive and transit-oriented communities.

Vision: We seek to build a prosperous, equitable and sustainable future Prince George’s that contains:

  • Multiple thriving transit-focused downtowns (North, Central, and Southern parts of the County)
  • Inclusive, safe, and connected neighborhoods and municipalities
  • Preserved open spaces and natural areas

Assumptions: With 15 Metro stations, another 11 Purple Line stations on the way, and 8 MARC stations, the County’s transit assets are THE competitive advantage – for promoting future job growth, local economic development, and generating needed increases in the County’s tax base. Prince George’s also has the benefit of planning for a future which currently forecasts increased job growth, demand to live near transit, and the need for more homes near jobs and transit.

Objective: Through developing a strategy for shared prosperity and equitable development that is generated from and advocated by and for Prince Georgians (and their allies), we can create a virtuous cycle of economic growth which retains homegrown talent and businesses, attracts new investment, and improves both people and places  – especially those historically excluded from wealth and opportunity.

Equitable economic development through transit-oriented development (TOD) will create the base of public and private resources that are necessary to support high-performing schools, community-oriented public safety services, increasing the amount of high-quality housing for people of all incomes close to jobs and essential services, as well as better employment, entrepreneurship, retail amenities, and wealth-building opportunities for all County residents.

How RISE Prince George’s will accomplish its vision: We will work with our members to educate, engage and mobilize for a policy agenda that reshapes policy and budget priorities to build on the County’s assets – transit, established communities, and the kinds of anchor institutions which drive job creation and economic growth.

We meet regularly (every 4-6 weeks), host programming (both virtual and, eventually, in-person) to educate/engage our members, and, in turn, formulate action plans for specific policy change campaigns.

Summary of potential long-term policy agenda:

  • Win equitable placemaking and transit-oriented development projects that begin to demonstrate what an inclusive walkable urban and smart growth future in Prince George’s could look like
  • Win land use and housing policy changes to sustainably grow the economy, livability, community benefits and equity of opportunity among residents
  • Win key transportation investments and policies to greatly improve the quality, safety, affordability and reliability of public transportation and access to daily needs, especially for low income people and communities

We embrace the Prince George’s Rising proposed county-wide Alliance for Equity and Prosperity, and see our group contributing to it, specifically focused on the TOD organizing strategy for equity.

Join us! Sign up here.

CSG in the News: Prince George’s Zoning Rewrite Stalls Over Unique Ethics Rule

CSG in the News: Prince George’s Zoning Rewrite Stalls Over Unique Ethics Rule

UPDATE 4/12/2021: The revised bill, HB 980, passed both the Maryland House of Delegates and the Senate. Thanks to all those who took action! The final bill was amended (changes we supported) to address concerns and ensure broad support. View final bill here.

“First on FOX 5: Prince George’s County has spent millions of dollars over six years on a massive countywide rezoning plan. Leaders say it’s crucial to make the county more competitive and business friendly, but after all that time and money, the process has hit a hurdle.” View FOX 5 story here.

CSG testified in support of the state bill because adjusting the County’s unique ethics rules for the Countywide Zoning Map amendment will be the final step in implementing the years-long update to the zoning code. Adopting the modern, updated zoning regulations is a once in a generation opportunity. Montgomery County and Baltimore City do not have this ethics rule, unique to Prince George’s, and have already adopted their next-generation zoning regulations.

View CSG’s testimony in support of completing the Countywide rezoning here. View our action alert here. The proposed legislation can be viewed here and final bill is here.

Photo Credit: C. Cort