A new report by the University of Maryland’s National Center for Smart Growth says Maryland could be doing a better — or “smarter” — job of developing around mass transit.
The January report, called Maryland’s Smart Growth Program Needs to Get Smarter, says “Maryland has not made substantial progress toward improving its performance in many of the areas pertaining to smart growth.”
The verdict does come with qualifiers, and noted that Maryland’s smart growth program may well have prevented congestion and irresponsible land use from getting worse in the last decade. It also said good things take time.
“Many changes in technology, social attitudes, prices, and the built environment occur slowly,” it said.
Here’s the general breakdown from the report:
- Population: The population growth rate in Maryland approximately equals the national average. However, “[there is no] evidence that the Smart Growth Program either increased or decreased the amount or composition of population growth statewide.”
- Employment: From 2000 to 2009, Maryland had the 13th-highest rate of job growth among the 50 states. However there’s no indication that its smart growth program contributed to this growth.
- Transportation: “Maryland looks like other states: Congestion and car ownership have risen consistently over time.” Its higher transit ridership may be attributed to its proximity to Washington and the transit infrastructure in Baltimore that pre-dates the state’s smart growth program.
- Development patterns: “Urban development continued in Maryland at densities lower than several comparison states from 1990 to 2000.”
- Housing: “Although the single-family share of new housing construction has fallen recently, the single-family share of housing in Maryland is high for a highly urbanized state.”
- Natural areas: “The trends for acres of farm and forest land have been steadily downward in Maryland and the U.S. for a long time, but data suggest that rate of decline is decreasing.”
