Thrive Montgomery 2050 Implementation
This document is therefore a guidebook, not an exhaustive list of prescriptions.
Thrive Montgomery 2050 establishes a framework for responding to economic, demographic, social, and environmental change in ways that are rooted in enduring lessons about what has made places successful in the past, while remaining adaptable to unforeseen circumstances. That is why the plan emphasizes the basic concepts of compact form; diversity of building types and design; and complementary transportation infrastructure, instead of attempting to predict the pace and direction of technological innovation or the consequences of catastrophic events, whether natural or man-made, whose long-term effects are impossible to forecast with certainty.
View the Planning Board Draft Conclusion
What can Thrive Montgomery 2050 Achieve?
Planning helps to facilitate the success of human settlements in specific places – in this case, the 504 square miles comprising Montgomery County. Planners have influence over the physical development of the communities where they work but their power is limited. They do not have the expertise, resources, or authority to control decisions not directly related to real estate development, transportation infrastructure, or the administration of parks. Land use regulation can prevent or impose conditions on real estate development, but it cannot compel the owner of a property to build on it. Planning agencies can help other governmental bodies identify problems and suggest solutions but generally do not control budget decisions relating to public infrastructure or services.
For Montgomery County in the early to mid-21st century, planners can formulate strategies designed to strengthen economic competitiveness, reduce and reverse environmental degradation, and ensure that the benefits of development and growth are widely shared across lines of race, ethnicity, and class while countering related inequities in the spatial distribution of resources and opportunities. It also requires creating solutions for improving the depth and breadth of civic engagement, fostering a sense of place, and building strong community bonds.