News – Page 17

NCSG’s work on Maryland Housing Needs Assessment featured by Maryland Department of Planning

The Maryland Department of Planning featured NCSG’s work on the Maryland Housing Needs Assessment in a new blog post. Check it out here.

There is a common misconception of what affordable housing is and who needs it, which adds to the challenge of providing affordable housing while need increases and supply continues to decrease in many locations across the country. To address this issue for Marylanders, the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) commissioned the Maryland Housing Needs Assessment & 10-Year Strategic Plan (Housing Needs Assessment) to “chart a course for Maryland to become a more affordable place to live by 2030.”

Nick FinioFeb 08No Comments

PLCC featured in the Washington Post

The NCSG’s Purple Line Corridor Coalition was featured in a Washington Post story about rising rents and potential displacement along the train’s alignment. Read the story here. Gerrit Knaap and Sheila Somashekhar were quoted in the story.

Even as most construction on Maryland’s Purple Line stalled for the past 16 months, a group of academics, housing advocates, companies and nonprofits has continued to try to prevent the rail line from pricing out the residents and businesses it is intended to serve.

Leaders of the Purple Line Corridor Coalition, which operates out of the University of Maryland, say the lull in major construction since the project’s prime contractor quit in September 2020 has granted more time to try to ward off the fast-rising rents that typically follow new transit stations. The concern is particularly acute for areas along the rail alignment that have remained relatively affordable in eastern Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

“You really need to start early if you want to get ahead of what we see happening in the D.C. region and beyond,” coalition director Sheila Somashekhar said. “Sometimes when you invest in communities, it doesn’t benefit the people who have been there a long time. … We’re already seeing rents rising along the [Purple Line] corridor in areas that, in some ways, are the last bastions of affordability in our region.”

Nick FinioJan 12No Comments

The Secret to Safer Communities: More Services UMD Study Finds Investing in Communities Over Policing Programs May Be More Effective

“A new University of Maryland study conducted in a neighboring Prince George’s County community suggests that creating safer Black and Latinx neighborhoods doesn’t require more policing, but more investment.

The research examined outcomes of a four-year crime reduction project in Langley Park, demonstrating that more streetlights, mental health services, youth outreach and public art are as important—and possibly more effective—at boosting community safety in immigrant neighborhoods than programs designed to build trust with local police.

The study by Associate Professor Willow Lung-Amam in the Urban Studies and Planning Program, doctoral candidate Nohely Alvarez and Howard University Professor Rodney Green was published this month in the Journal of Community Practice.”.

Journal Article: Read here

Maryland Today Article: Read here

Nick FinioDec 02No Comments