From vision to reality: How Montgomery Planning is helping build a more competitive economy

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In Montgomery County, all development projects go through rigorous application review processes that ensure adherence to zoning and planning regulations, including public noticing requirements. These processes also allow community members to provide testimony before the developer can advance to the permitting process and begin to build. Typically, these processes take several months to many years as multiple applications for a single project move thorough staff analysis and agency coordination, before Planning Board’s review and approval.

Montgomery County, however, offers a fast-track process that speeds up the review of priority projects that meet certain conditions.

Expedited Approval Plans, which consolidate multiple applications and cut the review timeline in half for certain projects focused on housing, job creation, and attracting biohealth … Continue reading

Housing as Community: The Return of the Cottage Court

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What happened to the cottage court in America?

In 2002, my wife read an article in The New York Times regarding family camps that compelled her to call the Boston YMCA about the Sandy Island Camp on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. The camp features small craftsman-style cabins in clusters that can be rented for one of the nine weeks available each summer. For 10 summers, friendships were generated and a tremendous respect for the idea of clustered housing as community was strengthened. That idea was not new. Clustered housing dates back centuries in England and Spain. Methodist summer camps began the American courtyard tradition in the 1800s – first with tents and later with small houses around a common … Continue reading

An open letter to the residents of Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties

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Artie Harris has also shared his full Commission priorities in a video.  

Dear fellow residents,

My name is Artie Harris, and I have the honor of serving as Chair of the Montgomery County Planning Board. This fiscal year, I am also proud to serve as Chair of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

As a longtime Takoma Park resident, I have enjoyed spending time in both of these great counties. Whether it’s National Harbor in Prince George’s or the Agricultural Reserve in Montgomery, our bi-county region is full of great places to gather and have fun with family, friends, and our fellow neighbors.

As I step into this role … Continue reading

A career shaped by one belief: Everyone deserves a place to live

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By Montgomery Planning staff

While attending the University of Texas at Austin in the early 2000s, James Hedrick witnessed what happens when a city’s population growth outpaces its housing supply.

Austin, already tight on housing, was booming with new tech companies–and the high-paid workers who followed. As rising rents left more residents unhoused and forced others out of lower-income neighborhoods, Hedrick joined  the local mayoral campaign of Max Nofziger, which was centered on the city’s affordable housing crisis.

“People have got to live somewhere,” Hedrick said. “If you don’t plan for and provide the amount of housing that you need, it’s the community that suffers.”

While his candidate lost, Hedrick would go on to devote his career to providing more … Continue reading

ADUs across the country: What actually works, and why it matters for our neighborhoods

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An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is a second dwelling unit that is subordinate to the principal dwelling on the same lot and they have been a part of the American housing tradition for over two centuries.  ADUs within existing neighborhoods can solve many of the housing problems faced by Montgomery County residents today. Imagine a backyard cottage that lets an aging parent live close by, or a basement apartment that helps a returning college graduate afford a place to live in the neighborhood where they grew up, or a converted garage rented to a local teacher that helps an owner pay down a large mortgage. These small units, which can be found tucked into backyards, basements, and converted garages … Continue reading

Tracking the Changing Child Population in Montgomery County

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By Alanna Anderson and James Lee

Montgomery Planning’s Research and Strategic Projects Division periodically develops demographic profiles of Montgomery County population groups by analyzing the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources. These profiles provide important information to planners and decision makers to help them understand a population’s characteristics and create equitable and inclusive communities for current and future generations. In April 2026, the division released its Children in Montgomery County Profile, and this blog summarizes several key findings.

A big change in population share

The Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey (ACS) data show there were more than 243,000 children (ages 17 years and younger) in Montgomery County in 2024—that’s 54,471 more than in 1970. … Continue reading

Montgomery Planning Board Commissioner Josh Linden wants communities that welcome cyclists and walkers

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By Montgomery Planning staff

Josh Linden, a Montgomery County Planning Board Commissioner, starts his mornings with a pressing question from his 4-year-old daughter: “Are we taking the bike today?”

The answer is usually yes. The 15-minute ride to preschool aboard their electric cargo bike brings waves from passing neighbors as Linden’s daughter sings along to “Moana” and other Disney soundtracks wafting from a small speaker attached to the back.

“It’s the best part of my day,” he said.

Even so, they must stick to neighborhood streets and the Sligo Creek Trail, careful to avoid Sligo Avenue. Their stretch near downtown Silver Spring has narrow sidewalks and no bike lanes, stop signs or traffic signals, all of which leave cars … Continue reading

Complete Communities are not complete without a corner store

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One of the fondest memories I have as a young child was visiting the corner store a few blocks away from my grandparents’ house in Iron Mountain, Michigan. My brother, sister and I would walk down the tree-lined street to the store without our parents, exploring the neighborhood and feeling cool and independent in search of an ice cream cone or an ice-cold Coke. The store was on the first floor of a Victorian house on the corner of two residential streets with a front stoop, a couple signs dangling down and an apartment upstairs. Everyone walked to the corner store except for a couple of people who drove up and parked out front to grab a loaf of … Continue reading

Montgomery County planners want to make sure everyone benefits from the Purple Line

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This blog post is also published as a Greater Greater Washington guest column.

As Montgomery County eagerly awaits next year’s anticipated opening of the Purple Line, we know few communities stand to gain as much from the massive light-rail investment as those located south of the Capital Beltway between Sligo Creek and the Prince George’s County line.

That area will have three Purple Line stations: Manchester Place, Long Branch, and Piney Branch Road. At the same time, the county has plans to add fast, frequent bus service, known as bus rapid transit (BRT), to University Boulevard and New Hampshire Avenue, complementing today’s BRT line on Colesville Road.

When built, many of the area’s 37,000 residents will live within … Continue reading

Greening the gaps: How local students are transforming small spaces into community parks

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Imagine, for a moment, that you are in your favorite outdoor place. What things would you expect to see there? Children playing soccer? Tall trees and flowering shrubs? Maybe there is a pond or stream. This place deserves your attention and care.

People love parks. Not only do they provide the benefits of being outdoors, such as improved mental health outcomes, but parks provide a space to gather socially. Think of the very name of this blog, The Third Place – the social realm separate from home and the workplace. “Pocket parks” are one way to ensure equitable access to greenspace, and Montgomery Planning’s Reforest Montgomery program is helping one ambitious and environmentally minded high school student make his … Continue reading