Cheverly Metro. Photo by Genista.

The September 14th Democratic primary could dramatically change Prince George’s County’s current trajectory of lagging behind the region on job growth, Metro station area development, and quality public schools. Or, with poor choices, it will get more of the same, just with new faces.

For all practical purposes, the primary is the “main” election in this overwhelmingly Democratic county. As a result of term limits, the County Executive and five of nine County Council seats are turning over.

My choice to buy a house close to the Addison Road-Seat Pleasant Metro station reflects the potential of a broader trend in our region. It is predicted that within the next 15 years, over 70% of the nation’s households will consist of my demographic (single professionals with no children), retirees, and/or empty nesters. These types of households tend to prefer living in urban mixed-use areas that are compact and walkable, close to transit, with convenient access to restaurants, retail services, and jobs.

I specifically chose to move inside the Beltway, close to the Addison Road Metro Station, because I saw the promise of this area. It has all the building blocks of becoming a great community: two Metro stations within walking distance of each other and directly adjacent to the District of Columbia; a nearby shopping center with grocery and drug stores and plenty of space for restaurants; and acres upon acres of vacant or underutilized land just waiting to be developed or redeveloped with high-quality, mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly and transit-oriented buildings.

Unfortunately, the potential of my Metro station area, and the other 14 Metro station areas in Prince George’s County, is far from realized. Missing sidewalks, poor street lighting, hazardous street crossings, aging infrastructure, and poorly designed buildings, coupled with the perception and reality of high crime, has left many inner-Beltway communities struggling. Meanwhile, other Metro station areas in the region are thriving, including the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington, and the U Street corridor in the District.

Prince George’s 15 Metro station areas represent the county’s greatest untapped economic development opportunity. In one sense, we all know that, and we’ve all be saying that for nearly 30 years, ever since the first Metro stations were built in this county in the early 1980s. But tapping into that golden opportunity will take more than words—it will take coordinated, collaborative, and disciplined leadership on the part of our County Executive and County Council. That is why this election is so important.

The 86 square miles of land area inside the Beltway, known as the “Developed Tier,” is far larger the than the whole of the District of Columbia (which is only 68 square miles). If properly planned, the inner-Beltway area could accommodate most of the county’s growth and development for the next several decades. Yet the lion’s share of new development in the county is scattered across the countryside, outside the Beltway, in the areas that we call the “Developing” and “Rural” tiers. This sprawling development obligates taxpayers to support and maintain thousands of miles of costly new roads, public services, and infrastructure. It also undermines our efforts to keep up with backlogged infrastructure improvement needs of existing communities such as fixing roads, installing missing sidewalks and streetlights, and replacing worn out water and sewer pipes. Allowing scattered development across the whole of the county—particularly in areas that are currently green fields—destroys our environment, makes traffic congestion worse, and ultimately leads us down the path of economic ruin.

It’s time for sensible solutions that will lead us to a shared and sustainable prosperity. I’ve collaborated with the Coalition for Smarter Growth, Prince George’s Advocates for Community Based Transit, and the Prince George’s Green Power Coalition to create a “Smart Growth Platform” (which will be released next month) for candidates, which provides recommendations in detail on how the county can change course and truly commit to investing in our existing communities and leveraging the economic development opportunity of 15 Metro stations. Here are a few key recommendations:

  • Embrace the mixed-use transit-oriented development recommendations of Envision Prince George’s, which call for directing two-thirds of the county’s future growth at and around the existing 15 Metro Stations and in other priority areas inside the Beltway.
  • Ensure that walking and bicycling become safe and practical ways to reach transit stops and more of life’s everyday destinations.
  • Prioritize public works and transportation funding to reinvest in existing communities throughout the county by addressing maintenance, upgrade, and repair backlogs in public services.
  • Protect and preserve our precious farmland, open space, and natural preserves by refusing to permit scattered low density development and new “town centers” planted in open fields far from existing Metro stations, transit corridors and established communities.
  • Recommit to inclusive housing and workforce policies that allow for a broad economic spectrum of residents to share in the county’s growing prosperity.

We need elected leaders who will do more than just talk about the benefits of transit-oriented development. We need them to have the discipline to work together to make it happen. This means that, in addition to aligning the Department of Public Works and Transportation’s budgets and procedures with the county’s stated land use plans and priorities, the county must also stand firm against developers and other special interest groups who seek to build anything they want, anywhere they want, without regard to the smart growth and transit-oriented development standards that have been outlined in the county’s General Plan and the various area master plans.

With the right leadership, Prince George’s County could become the jewel and the envy of the Washington Metropolitan Area, with exciting Metro station-centered urban areas, revitalized main streets and commercial corridors, beautiful parks and thriving farms—all while creating jobs and fostering economic prosperity. The citizens of Prince George’s County must not sit on the sidelines in this election. Instead, we must vote our values and ensure a new and more prosperous direction for our future.