Planning starts with people: Inside Montgomery County’s new academy for civic engagement

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University of Maryland student Ricardo Hernandez wonders how he’ll afford to continue living in Montgomery County when he moves out of his parents’ home. Community organizer Sergine Yango is concerned about clean air. Restaurant owner Radwan Chowdhury has wondered how local governments decide to issue new construction permits.

They and 45 other Montgomery residents were among the first graduates of our new Community Planning Academy, a free online course that explains the ins and outs of the planning process. The 10 interactive and self-paced lessons, each 30 to 45 minutes long, cover everything from zoning basics to the development review process to how to weigh in on your community’s Master Plan.

Starting December 1, the virtual academy will open … Continue reading

How corridor planning can provide the housing we need—and the walkable, transit-friendly communities people want

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

Anyone who has walked, bicycled, or used a wheelchair along major Montgomery County roads as traffic whizzes past uncomfortably close has faced the results of a 1950s-era planning goal: Move as many cars as quickly as possible.

Anyone who has struggled to pay our soaring rents and home prices has felt the impact of our severe housing shortage, a result of single-family zoning laws that restrict our ability to efficiently use the county’s dwindling available land.

Meanwhile, we continuously hear from residents who want to live and work close to transit stops. They want “complete communities” with stores, parks, and daily needs within a safe and … Continue reading

How a devastating hurricane launched a planning career

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Montgomery Planning is proud to have a team of planners who reflect Montgomery County’s rich culture. As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we are highlighting some of our planners working to craft a better future for our diverse county.

When Hurricane Maria roared through Puerto Rico, Justine Gonzalez Velez saw how homes that had been allowed in areas prone to landslides and flooding were destroyed and swept away.

“A lot of people, a lot of families in Puerto Rico, lost their houses,” said Gonzalez Velez, who was in his first year of college at the time. “They lost their lives. They lost all the things they had worked for their entire lives – and that was a byproduct … Continue reading

Montgomery and Prince George’s planning directors celebrate and reflect on Community Planning Month

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By Lakisha Hull and Jason K. Sartori

October marks National Community Planning Month, a time to recognize the visionary work of planners and community leaders in Montgomery County and Prince George’s County who shape the places we call home and who stand out for their thoughtful, methodical, and innovative land use and sustainable development strategies.

We’re not just reshaping landscapes but also enriching lives through transit-oriented development, preservation of green spaces, and inclusive housing initiatives. As planning directors for Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, we are proud to lead departments that not only envision the future but actively engage residents and a variety of other community stakeholders in realizing it. Montgomery Planning and Prince George’s Planning are both departments … Continue reading

Findings from the 2024 American Community Survey: Montgomery County, Maryland, and the United States

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This September, the U.S. Census Bureau released the 2024 American Community Survey data, 1-year estimates, providing a wealth of new statistics about Montgomery County. This blog highlights key demographic and housing information about the county from this new data release and how the county compares with Maryland and the United States.

Key demographic statistics for 2024

Montgomery County had 1,082,273 residents in 2024 and continued to be Maryland’s most populous county with 17% of the state’s population. Since 2020, the county’s population has increased by more than 20,000 people, or 1.9%, higher than the state’s growth rate (1.4%) but lower than the national growth rate (2.5%).

In addition, the county had 389,161 households in 2024. However, the number of … Continue reading

Building community one bike ride at a time

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By Montgomery Planning Staff

Montgomery Planning is proud to have a team of planners who reflect Montgomery County’s rich multiculturism. As part of National Hispanic Heritage Month, we are highlighting some of our planners working to craft a better future for a diverse Montgomery County.

Almost every Friday, Mario Emanuel Perez and his two children set off for a 30-minute bike ride to their Silver Spring elementary school, picking up dozens of other students and parents along the way.

Perez, who goes by “Ema,” organizes the weekly “bike bus” to encourage people of all ages to ride. The cycling trips, he said, benefit their health, take traffic off the road, and shorten the school’s car drop-off line. Meanwhile, he … Continue reading

Planning for the storm: Solutions for more resilient communities

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By Montgomery Planning staff

Flooding is a growing threat to Montgomery County due to severe storms caused by climate change. Whether it’s damaging homes, disrupting traffic, or harming local ecosystems, the impacts of flooding are real and intensifying.

As the agency responsible for land use and planning for the future, we’re uniquely positioned to help reduce flood risks and build a more resilient county. Our approach is rooted in smart growth, environmental stewardship, and interagency collaboration.

Understanding the problem

Flooding happens when rainfall overwhelms the land’s ability to absorb water and the capacity of natural and built drainage systems like streams, wetlands, and storm drains. In Montgomery County, many neighborhoods were built before modern stormwater standards existed, leaving them … Continue reading

How rethinking stairwells could boost housing in Montgomery County

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

A key contributor to Montgomery County’s housing crisis might surprise you: Stairwells.

As in most of the United States, Montgomery County apartment buildings taller than three stories must have two stairwells connected by a hallway. It’s part of a century-old building code requirement to help residents quickly escape in case of a fire.

But many experts now say double stairwells have become redundant amid modern sprinkler systems, fire-resistant walls, and other vastly improved fire-protection technology. Moreover, the requirement significantly increases building costs, takes up space that could be used for additional or larger apartments, prices out smaller developers, and makes it difficult to build on smaller lots … Continue reading

Delivering more benefits for communities through development

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Montgomery County just updated its policy that drives the amenities communities receive with new development

Every day, Montgomery County residents and visitors enjoy the public benefits of private development.

At Pike & Rose in North Bethesda, sculptures and colorful murals and landscaping greet diners and shoppers. Another nearby development, Strathmore Square, encircles a 1.2-acre publicly accessible park with space for pop-up markets and performances. The United Therapeutics office building in downtown Silver Spring generates its own solar power, giving it a net-zero carbon footprint. Marriott’s high-rise headquarters in downtown Bethesda includes a wide, lighted walkway between Wisconsin and Woodmont avenues. Many of these developments also offer subsidized, affordable housing options for county residents.

Such amenities help make new developments … Continue reading

Meet the new Montgomery Planning

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Following the adoption of Thrive Montgomery 2050 in 2022, the big question on our minds at Montgomery Planning has been – what’s next in terms of implementation? Thrive, the county’s updated General Plan, has big implications on how we grow as a county in the decades to come and marks a shift in how we plan. As we began developing Montgomery Planning’s new Strategic Plan, which outlines internal goals and objectives over the next five years, we realized we need to look at the department’s structure to position our organization for that shift.

We felt the timing was right to do so. The last time we had a comprehensive organizational structure update was in 2011. A lot has changed … Continue reading