Livable Communities

Montgomery County grew less than 1% last year and that downward trend has been happening for decades.   The era of runaway growth is ending, creating the need for a new paradigm for discussing development, transportation, and growth in Montgomery County.   
 
What we have instead are many residents sharing housing. Many teachers, police officers, and families have to do this in order to live here. Our roads continue to be congested because people must drive long distances to their jobs. It has become almost impossible to walk to your neighborhood supermarket, pharmacy, library, coffee shop or restaurants. Children cannot hop on their bicycles freely and go for a ride—there are no accessible sidewalks or paths in our neighborhoods.

In today’s slow-growth environment, we need to think about our future and how we can make our community more livable.

Livable Communities are what we must achieve. In District 4, we should strive for:

• Mixed use/mixed-income re-development around Metro stations
• Job Centers closer to where people live, to shorten commutes
• More amenities like, restaurants, libraries, movie theatres
• Bike paths, sidewalks, pedestrian friendly neighborhoods
• Support transportation projects such as the Purple Line, and the Corridor Cities Transitway

Moreover, in order to achieve a shared vision for our District, we must carry-out targeted outreach to all segments of the community and gather their input.   I have led this effort at the Board of Education, and I will continue to do so at the County Council.