News – Page 53

A Green Infrastructure Approach to Leveraging Local Priorities

The University of Maryland Urban Studies and Planning Program and
the National Center for Smart Growth’s 2014 Brown Bag Webinar Series continues with

Warrington, Pennsylvania:

A Green Infrastructure Approach

to Leveraging Local Priorities

Presentation by:
Monica Billig & Jennifer Cotting Environmental Finance Center

Wednesday, December 3
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Preinkert Field House – Conference Room 1112V
University of Maryland College Park

In 2012, the citizens of Warrington Township passed an Open Space Referendum, authorizing the Board of Supervisors to borrow up to $3 million over 20 years to purchase and protect open space. While the commitment to invest $3 million to acquire and improve public lands, trails, parks, and historic sites is significant, the Township recognized that to accomplish their local open space priorities would require stretching these dollars as far as possible. The University of Maryland’s Environmental Finance Center (EFC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worked together with the Township to inform local investment decision-making. EPA provided resource mapping to help the community identify and prioritize parcels based on their ecological and environmental benefits, and the EFC identified a number of overlapping local priorities, potential partnership opportunities, and additional funding programs the Township could leverage. Learn how using a green infrastructure approach to resource management will enable this community to amplify the impact of their financial commitment to open space preservation.

Monica Billig, Program Manager – Pennsylvania Satellite Office – Monica serves as the EFC’s Pennsylvania satellite office director, managing multiple water resource financing projects with municipal clients across the state. In this role, she works directly with municipalities in the Chesapeake Bay region to assess municipal stormwater management programs and provide financing recommendations enhance level of service. She communicates with decision makers, policy experts, and legal experts in the environmental field providing insight into the regulatory landscape and disseminates project findings via policy briefs, research papers, and presentations. Ms. Billig joined the EFC in August 2010, first holding a position as a program/graduate assistant. Since receiving her Master in Public Policy at the University of Maryland in May 2012, Monica joined the EFC full time. Prior to the EFC, Monica worked as a Research Associate at edCount, LLC, a Washington, DC based education policy consulting firm specializing in policy related to assessments, standards, and accountability. Monica received her B.A. in Economics and a minor in Mathematics from Smith College in Northampton, MA.

Jennifer Cotting, Research Associate – Green Infrastructure – Jennifer is a Research Associate for Green Infrastructure at the University of Maryland’s Environmental Finance Center. Prior to this she served for three years as the Center’s Assistant Director and five years as a Program Manager. As a Research Associate, Jennifer manages EFC’s green infrastructure programming throughout the Mid-Atlantic covering large landscape conservation and habitat management, as well as urban land use and stormwater management. Jennifer serves as a guest lecturer on green infrastructure financing for Virginia Tech’s Executive Masters in Natural Resources Program as well as the Conservation Fund’s course Strategic Conservation Planning Using a Green Infrastructure Approach. Current and recent projects include: Assessing Federal Green Infrastructure Programming; Improving Local Government Capacity to Implement Watershed Planning; and EFC’s Sustainable Maryland Certified program. She received her M.S. in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland and her B.A. in Communications from Marymount University.

Nick FinioDec 09No Comments

UMD National Center for Smart Growth Hosts Bi-National Symposium

UMD National Center for Smart Growth Hosts
Paris Urban Planners for
Bi-National Symposium

From October 16 to October 20, 2014, UMD’s National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG) hosted a symposium titled the Transit, Development, and Urban Form with the visiting LABEX consortium of research universities in Paris, France. The multidisciplinary approach to transit oriented development (TOD) involved scholars, urban planners, and government practitioners joining together to explore the potential relationship between two of the globe’s most prominent capital cities: Paris and Washington, D.C. Ideas and concepts were exchanged on the development of sustainable transportation while maintaining or improving the urban community’s standard of living.

The conference consisted of two days of paper presentations and discussions and one morning of reflection while considering the steps in moving forward. Paper topics included:

Paris-Washington: Comparative Timeline of Planning, Architecture, and Transportation;
The Linear City: A Case Study of Connecticut Avenue;
The Effects of Bike Share on Transit Ridership;
A Paradigm Changing How We Live and Travel or More of the Same? Impacts of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in the Washington Metropolitan Area;
Transit Equity and Suburban Poverty in Landley Park, MD;
Transit-Induced Gentrification: Who Will Stay, and Who Will Go?;
Measuring TOD’s Impact on Retail; and
An Analysis of Firm Location and Relocation around Maryland and Washington D.C. Metro Rail Stations.

After each presentation, lively discussions occurred between delegated United States and French participants. US discussants ranged from Environmental Protection Agency project manager, Kevin Nelson to Valdis Lazdins of Montgomery County Planning Department. At a formal dinner, many of the participants were able to listen to Gabe Klein, the former Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation and recent fellow at the Urban Land Institute speak about the future of public transportation. His innovative ideas fueled energetic conversation amongst the participants while enhancing excitement for future discussion.

In the spring 2015, many of the US participants will travel to Paris to hear their different paper presentations as well as participate in discussions regarding those topics. The goal is to use the combined papers as a foundation for the creation of a book-length publication that will bring global recognition to UMD as it is utilized by policymakers as a resource for advancing urban equity and sustainability. NCSG and LABEX are excited to share their unique interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary outlook on urban planning and sustainable transit development with all regions looking to better their metropolis area.

For more information or to read the paper presentations please visit: http://smartgrowth.umd.edu/DC_Paris_Symp#Paper%20Sessions or contact Shannon Kennedy at skennedy@umd.edu with any questions or interests.

Nick FinioNov 10No Comments

Do Rail Transit Stations Encourage Neighborhood Retail Activity?

The University of Maryland Urban Studies and Planning Program and
the National Center for Smart Growth’s 2014 Brown Bag Webinar Series continues with

Do Rail Transit Stations

Encourage Neighborhood

Retail Activity?

Presentation by Jenny Schuetz Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System

Wednesday, October 8
12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

Preinkert Field House – Conference Room 1112V
University of Maryland College Park

Over the past 20 years, California has made substantial investments in intra-metropolitan passenger rail infrastructure, expanding existing systems and building new ones. According to advocates of New Urbanism, such investment should encourage the growth of mixed-use transit-oriented development, defined as a high-density mix of residential and commercial uses within walking distance of rail stations. Little research to date has examined whether rail investment stimulates retail activity, which is a key component of mixed-use development. In this paper, I test whether the opening of new rail stations across California’s four largest metropolitan areas is associated with changes in retail employment near the stations. Results indicate that new rail stations were located in areas with previously high employment density, somewhat outside the city centers. New station openings are not significantly associated with differences in retail employment in three of the four MSAs, and negatively associated with retail in the Sacramento MSA. There is weak evidence that areas around new suburban stations serving commuter rail lines are more likely to gain retail employment, while centrally located, intra-city rail stations see decreases in retail activity.

JENNY SCHUETZ is an Economist in the Consumer and Community Affairs Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Her main research interests are urban economics, real estate and housing policy. She has written numerous journal articles related to land use regulation, urban retail patterns, and neighborhood change. Her research has been cited by media outlets including The Economist, the New York Times, National Public Radio and Slate. Prior to joining the Board, Jenny was an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California’s Price School of Public Policy, where she taught courses in real estate finance and policy analysis. She worked previously for New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, the Fannie Mae Foundation and Abt Associates Inc. Jenny received a PhD in Public Policy from Harvard University, a Master’s in City Planning from M.I.T., and a B.A. with Highest Distinction in Economics and Political and Social Thought from the University of Virginia.

Nick FinioNov 04No Comments

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