The deficit invited criticism from advocacy groups, including the Coalition for Smarter Growth (CSG), which promotes walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented growth in the Washington, D.C. region.

Jad Donohoe, the senior vice president of The Donohoe Companies; Carrie Kisicki, the Maryland Housing Advocacy Manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth; and Natalie Avery, the executive director of the Friendship Heights Alliance were among those who voiced support for the plan at Monday’s public hearing.

Carrie Kisicki, the Maryland housing advocacy manager at the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said she hopes future projects in White Oak will exceed the county’s affordable housing minimum. Still, she said, even Viva White Oak units that aren’t designated as moderately priced will help people live more affordably by shortening costly commutes.

“The loss of 100,000 jobs in our region has affected everything, including transportation –  commute trips in particular and add to that this horrible crackdown on… our hard-working immigrant community,” said Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the pro-transit Coalition for Smarter Growth.

Bill Pugh, transportation and climate director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, argues that while interstates funded by the federal government are comparatively safe, the most dangerous roads are state-owned arterials in urban areas, and funding should go to fixing them.