The Brookside Gardens project focuses on three major spaces; the Visitors Center Plaza and Lawn, the Azalea Garden, and the Camellia Garden. The project focuses on thoughtful interventions for these areas that provide ADA pathways, connections between gardens, stormwater solutions, gathering spaces, and plantings.This project has been created by the students of the University of […]
Read More… from Thoughtful Interventions Brookside Gardens, Montgomery County, MD
The positive benefits of exposure to nature and green spaces related to wellness are well-documented. A structured walk in a garden or park setting, in combination with reflective journaling, has proven to be invaluable and life-changing to community members suffering from the adverse effects of stress and trauma suffering from grief, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder […]
As a continuation of the Fall 2017 PALS project, Spring 2018 semester students from the community planning and engineering programs used advanced computer mapping tools (geographic information system, or GIS) to provide Prince George’s County with potential sites to build a second animal shelter. The team attempted to find land that the county already owned, […]
At the request of the Montgomery County Department of Parks, eight county recreation trails were visualized via 360° photos and video, to help develop a state-of-the-art bike stress index tailored toward mountain bike trails. Using the Google Street View platform to publish photos online as well as several GIS open-source datasets and analytic tools, approximately […]
Read More… from Visualizing Recreational Trails: Montgomery County, Maryland
Considering the economics, demographics and the background of the site, the vision for its development is an affordable residential project. The area surrounding the site is home to a older housing stock, with little to no new development in the immediate area. The economic makeup of the area is largely low-income and working-class citizens, many […]
Fairmount Park Apartments is the first rental apartment building in the Town of Fairmount Heights, Maryland, adjacent to Washington, D.C. It is a sustainable and community-oriented mixed-use development on 4.4 acres, of 171 units, 102 market-rate units and 69 affordable units aimed at 60 percent of AMI. It will include 7,000-square feet of ground floor […]
Through their work with the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, the Montgomery County Planning Department commissioned this report from the university’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS). PALS works with local jurisdictions throughout Maryland to identify projects and problems that can be taught through university courses where students focus […]
Read More… from A Long Life for Long Branch: Tools to Preserve Independent Retailers
The Silver Spring Regional Center sought a report detailing the economic and fiscal impacts of the Silver Spring Civic Building at Veteran’s Plaza (SSCB) on Montgomery County’s economy in 2017. The SSCB is an indoor community facility for events, festivals, trade shows, conferences and conventions, and other activities available to county residents and out-of-town groups. […]
Read More… from Silver Spring Civic Building and Veteran’s Plaza Economic Impact Analysis FY-2017
As Downtown Silver Spring continues to urbanize, it becomes increasingly important to provide its residents and workforce with adequate recreational space. In conjunction with the the Maryland- National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), this report investigates which areas of Downtown Silver Spring are adequately served by parks and those that lack robust access to […]
Read More… from Park Supply and Demand Part II: Downtown Silver Spring