Thrive Montgomery 2050 seeks to create a pathway for balancing these three outcomes—a healthy and robust economy should equally benefit all segments of the community while preserving and enhancing the health and resilience of the environment. A negative disruption to any one of these three outcomes will require a response by the public and private sectors to eliminate or mitigate the threat, implement innovative solutions and restore the desired level of performance for the county’s economy, equity and resilience.
Keeping a holistic view of all three is needed to make sure that changes in one area will not create negative consequences for another outcome. For example, an action to improve the county’s economy could also cause environmental harms. Montgomery County should look holistically at how we can balance sometimes competing priorities or mitigate negative impacts on one of these outcomes in order to achieve a thriving Montgomery.
Drivers of Change
Montgomery County is a desirable place to live and work due to a strong economy, high-quality education, abundant human capital and a commitment to protecting the environment and equitable growth. Yet chronic issues, such as housing affordability, continue to be a challenge despite significant investment by the county. The future will hold new challenges and drivers of change. A change can be positive or negative and, therefore, is an opportunity to succeed if it is properly managed and harnessed to our advantage. But it can become a threat in the absence of an adequate response.
The following drivers of change were identified during the pre-planning work by the staff and the consultant as part of developing the strategic framework and will be discussed and further refined with the community as part of the General Plan Update development process:
Economic disruptions, such as the impacts of global trade, technological innovations and growing competition among regions and jurisdictions.
Climate change and its potential impacts on the economy, infrastructure, agriculture, health, recreation and natural habitat due to more frequent and severe storms, floods and extreme temperature fluctuations.
Demographic changes, such as international migration, an aging population with more people working longer than the average retirement age in the past, increasing diversity, family size and structure, decreasing birth rates and a changing mix of household types.
Technological innovations, such as Internet of Everything, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, robotic deliveries and many others that are going to influence how we live and work, plan our communities, build and maintain our infrastructure, and develop our economy over the next 30 years.
Changes in lifestyle and locational preferences for walkable communities with easy access to amenities over suburban cul-de-sacs and office parks. The dominance of the traditional nine-to-five job schedule is declining with the growth of telecommuting and flexible work hours, which is creating new dynamics for commercial office space and commuting patterns. The We Company (previously WeWork), which offers physical and virtual shared spaces and office services for individuals and companies, is now ranked as the largest commercial space lessee in the world.
Major Issues
The drivers of change and related emerging trends are creating new issues as well as exacerbating existing ones. The following is a summary of major issues that Thrive Montgomery 2050 should explore to ensure the General Plan Update provides helpful and relevant planning guidance:
Economic competitiveness, changing employment dynamics, role of higher education in economic development, diversifying economic sectors.
Forest and tree canopy protection and expansion, stream water quality and habitat protection, adaption to the impacts of climate change.
Racial, social and economic inequality, unequal distribution of amenities and services, stagnant incomes, increasing poverty and wealth gap, displacement, gaps in educational performance and achievement, discrimination, economic segregation and east-west county divide.
Housing affordability, including low-income and workforce housing, and provision of a variety of housing types to meet diverse community needs.
Multimodal transportation options, congestion, Vision Zero safety issues and impacts of new mobility options.
Cross-cutting impacts of technology on land use, transportation, employment and other issues.
Water and sewer capacity, aging infrastructure, resilient utility infrastructure, high speed internet access.
Future of the Ag Reserve in a changing agricultural context and economy.
Role of the major corridors in the land use evolution of the county.
Growth management framework in the light of changes in land use and development from greenfields to infill development.
The design of the public realm and its changing role in the community life, arts and cultural resources for a diverse county, compatibility of infill with existing development.
Access to better health care options and healthy food choices, parks and open spaces, community cohesion and community facilities, such as education, recreation, and safety.