This was one of GGWash’s most popular articles in 2021. We’re sharing some of our hits again over the holiday season. This article was originally posted on September 2.

A little later than some jurisdictions, Prince George’s County has signed on to the transit-oriented development (TOD) revolution to boost its economy while helping the environment. A new economic development platform announced in June by County Executive Angela Alsobrooks calls for dense, walkable, bikeable, mixed-use development around four Metro stations on the Blue Line: Capitol Heights, Addison Road, Morgan Boulevard, and Largo Town Center.

“What County Executive Alsobrooks has done is elevate the importance of transit-oriented development to a new level and then focused on a key corridor that unites the county,” said Cheryl Cort, Policy Director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. In the plan’s own words: “The Blue Line Corridor will become a major economic engine for the County by catalyzing development, creating jobs, and incentivizing the development of a sports and entertainment-branded corridor.”

The vision is actually larger: to use the Blue Line as a laboratory for building future transit-oriented development (TOD) throughout the county around Metro, MARC, Amtrak, and future Purple Line stations. The Blue Line would be the template for a much-needed economic boost for Prince George’s County that simultaneously helps the environment and maintains affordable housing. If all goes as planned, the Blue Line will become a model of sustainable development for other jurisdictions.

This is a radical break for a county with a history of developing in “a spread out and automobile dependent” fashion, said Janet Gingold, chair of the Prince George’s Sierra Club Group.

Earlier plans for the county have emphasized growth around automobile-dependent regional centers such as Kontera, Brandywine, and Westphalia, Cort said, but in recent years the county has begun to turn toward transit-oriented development, even before the Blue Line plans were announced. Still, Cort said, growth in car-dependent areas of the county remains higher than it should be; the Blue Line plan is part of the work that needs to be done to shift that development toward transit.

What the plan will do

The Blue Line plan emphasizes business and economic development, crucial in a county with plenty of housing but relatively few jobs.

“Business development has been a challenge for our county for a long time, and we have to make sure that this project draws in sustainable businesses,” said County Councilmember Jolene Ivey, whose district includes the Morgan Boulevard Metro station.

To accomplish this, the plan’s first goal is to increase the number of people who live and work in the county, partly by “attracting large, institutional employers.” This, according to the plan, could help to raise the average annual salary by 18%, to $100,000, in line with the rest of the DC region. The plan also aims to increase skills and education in order to boost equity alongside economic development.

The plan’s second broad goal is to increase commercial tax collection by $100 million annually, enhancing much-needed local services. Third is increasing the population by 50,000 in areas near transit, including a mix of incomes and housing types.

The county wants to make all that growth equitable and serve its long-term residents. Thus, the plan’s fourth goal is preserving affordable housing and a diverse housing stock even in the midst of growth (more about this below). Fifth, the county aims to increase food retail options in low-income areas to make fresh, healthy food widely accessible.

Finally, to make each Metro station area and destination unique, the plan calls for enhancing “identifiable character and a sense of place.” Cort points to plans for an amphitheater as one of many such ideas, while Ivey is pushing for water features, such as public fountains.

An aspirational plan with a strong foundation

Redeveloping the Blue Line is in the early phases of an expected twenty to thirty year process, according to Angie Rodgers, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Economic Development at Prince George’s County.

Visionary sketches show the transformation of concrete wastelands that currently surround Metro stations into vibrant centers with outdoor dining, parks, trees, and street art. Specific details will unfold over the coming years.

While for now the plan is partly aspirational, the county has already laid the groundwork that will allow it to become a reality.

“Right now, there is definitely the political will,” Ivey, the councilmember, said. “The county executive has made this a priority and I think the whole council is on board.” Ivey cautioned that momentum won’t necessarily result in instantaneous results, recalling how it once took six years to get a bicycle path built in the county. Following through on the Blue Line plan thus depends on political will over multiple elections — but the signs are promising.

In 2014, the county passed Plan Prince George’s 2035, a blueprint for sustainable development. In 2017 the county adopted another crucial piece, the new Urban Street Design Standards “to improve multimodal travel for pedestrians, cyclists, transit and other alternatives to the automobile.” Finally, new zoning regulationscurrently in the works are designed to incentivize “revitalization and economic, transit-oriented, and mixed-use development.”

Financially, the Blue Line plan is off to a serious start. According to the plan, Prince George’s County has secured $45.7 million for Blue Line corridor projects; these will help leverage private investment as the project unfolds. And it has other assets on which to draw, such as an AAA bond rating and a population in which 40% of residents hold college degrees, with household incomes in the top 4% nationally.

A healthier environment

Not only is Prince George’s County’s new plan expected to lower greenhouse-gas emissions, but if done right it will also be more resilient in the face of climate change. We “know more about the dangers and effects of flooding than we did 30 years ago,” said Rodgers, “and get to incorporate some of the new thinking that’s developed.”

Rodgers expects new buildings along the corridor to at least meet LEED certification or Enterprise Green Communities certification. In the face of increasing disruption as climate change intensifies, she also expects an increased mix of public transit, perhaps with rapid buses supplementing Metrorail to boost resiliency in case of climate-related incidents like flooding.

If all goes as planned, the entire built environment along the Blue Line will be much healthier for the environment, and for people. Local centers around Metro stations in the county currently generate only about two thirds the greenhouse gases annually per household from driving as do car-dependent town centers, and only half as much as outlying areas, according to a Coalition for Smarter Growth analysis. With the Blue Line plan, transit centers can improve on their already low emissions.

Public health is a related issue, since walking and biking are far healthier than sitting in a car. One ambitious project in the plan is to build out the Central Avenue Connector Trail, a bike and pedestrian trail that would run from Capitol Heights out to Largo, Rodgers said.

Also crucial to the plan’s success are trees and other vegetation, according to both Ivey and Gingold. Having trees “cools us, cleans the air, and removes greenhouse gases,” said Gingold, and it’s important to preserve existing trees as much as possible.

Will housing stay affordable?

One huge and growing concern when it comes to new construction is affordability, particularly in a region where housing prices continue to rise. Affordable housing takes on particular importance in the transit-accessible areas around the Blue Line, particularly given that low-income households are especially likely to depend on transit to get around.

Prince George’s already has more affordable housing than much of the DC region. For Ivey, therefore, “the conversation doesn’t need to be about what Prince George’s needs to do to provide more affordable housing,” but “what are these other jurisdictions doing to provide affordable housing.”

Despite that, if the Blue Line plan succeeds, issues of affordability and gentrification are likely to arise. The plan is proactive on this issue, calling for building 26,000 new residential units, 75% of which would be dedicated as affordable to households making less than 120% of the area median income. While 120% will not serve the lowest income people, it might be a realistic number for creating middle income housing in a county that already has relatively low housing costs.

Prince George’s has already been moving to increase affordable housing, said Cort, with “a really thoughtful, forward-looking strategy to address concerns about rising prices.” The county recently set up its Housing Investment Trust Fund, dedicating some $10 million a year to maintaining affordable housing. Cort also said that the county has become much more aggressive in implementing its Right of First Refusal Program, allowing the county, or a third-party, to purchase multi-family property and maintain affordability. The Blue Line plan would build on this work.

If the development outlined in the Blue Line plan comes to fruition as planned, boosting the economy while helping the environment and maintaining equity, Prince George’s County could become a model for transit-oriented development in the DC region and beyond.