FOR
RELEASE:
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
December 19, 2002
Dan Pontious
410-539-1369
x207
8:00 AM
Theresa Pierno 410-269-1870
Brent Flickinger
410-539-1369
News
Release
NEW
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES NEAR PROPOSED RAIL SYSTEM
Could Absorb 44 Percent of Region’s Job Growth to 2025
Speaking at an area breakfast promoting an expanded 109-mile rail transit
network for the
Baltimore
region, a coalition of nonprofit groups says the
envisioned routes are ripe with development and revitalization opportunities.
The Baltimore Regional Partnership, an alliance of 1000 Friends of Maryland,
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Citizens Planning and Housing Association, Greater
Baltimore Urban League, and Environmental Defense, hired a consultant to compile
various plans and concepts from the region’s local jurisdictions.
The coalition found the following capacity for growth and revitalization
around the envisioned Baltimore Region Rail System Plan:
“This
survey shows there is tremendous potential for development related to the new
rail system,” said
Dan Pontious
, director of the Baltimore Regional Partnership
and author of the report. “Not only can this new rail system give current
residents and workers mobility choices, it can also help us manage the
region’s growth. We hope this
report helps spur dialogue on how land use plans can work together with a new
rail system as both move forward.”
The report, funded through a grant from The Abell Foundation, includes plans for
development compatible with transit and the new rail system in each of the
region’s five largest jurisdictions:
Partnership members also pointed to the potential of this development to
lessen pressure on outer suburban areas that have recently faced the highest
growth pressures in the region. “Last
year our coalition released a report showing how current plans will mean losing
more than 82,000 acres of rural open space over the coming two decades,” said
Theresa Pierno,
Maryland
executive director of the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation, speaking at the breakfast cosponsored by the Greater Baltimore
Committee and others. “Focusing
more development around a quality transit system can protect the
Chesapeake Bay
by helping to preserve more farms and
forests.”
Revitalization of areas served by an expanded rail system could boost the
fortunes of those neighborhoods, as well, stated
Brent Flickinger
, transportation director of the Citizens
Planning and Housing Association, another cosponsor of the breakfast.
“The growing market of people looking for walkable neighborhoods served
by high-quality transit could mean rejuvenation of areas in the city and in the
counties that currently struggle with vacant properties,” he said.
Business leaders cited the
economic benefits of development around an expanded regional rail system.
“The capacity for people to move about efficiently is the economic
lifeline of a region,” said Donald C. Fry, president of the Greater Baltimore
Committee, lead sponsor of the breakfast. “This rail plan would not only meet
a vital transportation need in our region, but it would create substantial new
economic opportunities in the process.”
Ronald M. Kreitner, executive director of
Westside Renaissance, Inc., pointed to that project as a possible early success
story in light of the Partnership report. “Given current fiscal concerns, this
report is useful in highlighting opportunities to make prudent public
investments that strengthen the Westside of Downtown Baltimore, increase the
effectiveness of transportation sources and help localities manage growth,” he
noted. “The proposed rail plan is
another reinforcement of the Westside's potential to accommodate more than 3000
market rate residential units as well as underscore the potential for increased
transit ridership that ultimately will save county farm and forest land.”
The report cites the local initiatives listed above,
Maryland
’s Smart Growth and Smart Codes programs, and
Maryland Transit Administration involvement in development projects like
Symphony
Center
and
Owings
Mills
Town
Center
as promising signs that the land use potential
offered by the proposed Baltimore Region Rail System can be realized.
The report encourages state and local elected officials, as well as
planning and economic development staff, to keep a close eye on opportunities
presented by the new rail system and to take advantage of them as the rail
system and land use initiatives move forward.
“If history is a guide, this is a chance that only comes around every forty
years or so,” said Pontious. “With
more and more talented people looking for fun places served by high-quality
transit, this proposed rail system for the Baltimore region comes at an ideal
time for state and local officials to seize the initiative and take advantage of
these opportunities.”
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