Former HUD official Harriet Tregoning will discuss strategies for disruptive technological, social and economic changes over the next decades
Silver Spring, MD – The Montgomery County Planning Department, part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, will hold the second session of its three-part 2019 Winter Speaker Series, “Imagine the Future of Montgomery County,” on February 13, 2019 at 6 p.m. The series focuses on the upcoming General Plan update for Montgomery County and the broad trends and challenges facing the county over the next 30 years.
These challenges include climate change and other environmental, technological, social and economic changes over the coming decades. The February 13 event, titled “What is Real Resilience? Positioning our Communities to Thrive in Changing Times,” will discuss ways to address the changes headed our way.
Harriet Tregoning, this session’s featured speaker, served in President Barack Obama’s administration as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Community Planning and Development at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. She also served as Washington, DC’s Planning Director.
Tregoning will examine the meaning of resilience and strategies to deal with changes affecting the region, county, cities and towns. She will discuss ways to position various communities to not just endure, but thrive through proactive planning and policies.
The 2019 Winter Speakers Series aims to offer lessons from jurisdictions in the DC region that have updated, or are currently updating, their comprehensive plans. It surveys today’s best planning practices to address issues, such as resilience, mobility and equity, that will inform Montgomery County’s General Plan update.
The series of events, held in Montgomery Planning’s auditorium, is free and open to the public and planning professionals. These events are approved for members of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) attending the sessions to earn 1.5 credits for certification maintenance (CM). Attending landscape architects can earn 1.5 credits for the Landscape Architecture Continuing Education System (LACES).
About the General Plan
The General Plan for the Maryland-Washington Regional District in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, also known as the Wedges and Corridors Plan, was first adopted by the M-NCPPC in 1964. The plan has been revised and amended numerous times through local area master plans and countywide functional plans. Its core concepts of wedge-shaped areas of land situated between major road corridors connecting different communities have shaped the county for the past 54 years.
The goals of the General Plan — efficient use of land, preservation of open spaces, opportunities for outdoor recreation, protection of environmental resources, connective transportation systems and a variety of living environments, among others — are as valid today as they were in 1964. But the technological, social, environmental and economic changes that have occurred since the plan’s adoption have led to the pressing need to refresh the plan for Montgomery County and set a direction for the future.
About the Speaker
Harriet Tregoning works on planning, smart mobility, disaster resilience, housing and community development issues. She is the former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Office of Community Planning and Development at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. In that position, Tregoning helped states, regions and communities across the country to build a strong foundation for resilience in the face of a changing climate. Tregoning was previously Director of the DC Office of Planning.