Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21474

The Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS) is administered by the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD). It is a campus-wide initiative that harnesses the expertise of UMD faculty and the energy and ingenuity of UMD students to help Maryland communities become more environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable. PALS is designed to provide innovative, low-cost assistance to local governments while creating real-world problem-solving experiences for University of Maryland graduate and undergraduate students.

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    The State of Affordable Housing in Brunswick, MD
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Anderson, Will; Edmondson-Deigh, Kaya-Nadine; Lehman, Erin; Pearson-Merkowitz, Shanna
    Brunswick is a rapidly growing city in rural Maryland that needs an affordable housing stock to keep up with its population growth. We examine if and how an Inclusionary Zoning program in the city could be used to create affordable housing units and how it would assist the city in its goal of a more integrated community. We will evaluate if an Inclusionary Zoning program would be appropriate, and we make specific recommendations for city policy. Mixed-income housing is one potential tool to provide affordable housing options to Brunswick residents. Several key factors in planning mixed income housing are evaluated, including the allocation of units to different income levels, proximity among income levels, density and housing type, tenure, and duration. Finally, we discuss why mixed income housing is right for Brunswick, and how planners can make it attractive to both subsidized and market rate occupants. Subsequently, we discuss state and federal opportunities for affordable housing, such as Community Development Block Grants and active grant opportunities through the Notice of Funding Opportunities. We highlight a federal program that provides funding for affordable senior housing. We also discuss how the support of nonprofit organizations is beneficial to this process. Finally, we end with final recommendations for Brunswick.
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    Cycling for Change
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Engel, Max; Gernstein, Anna; Goldstein, Jeremy; Tarjamo, Markus; Clark, Patrina
    This research presents a comprehensive proposal for an introduction of a Cycling 101 class at the University of Maryland (UMD), developed in collaboration with the Prince George's County Planning Department. This initiative aims to bridge the gap between the UMD cycling community and policy awareness, addressing issues such as sustainability, mental health, and physical wellbeing. Through collaboration with experts like Michael Jackson and Professor Kimberly Driver, it evolved into a passion project, empowering students through cycling education. The proposed course, designed as an "I-series" course, covers a range of topics including cycling mechanics, safety, environmental sustainability, and mental and physical health benefits. The research outlines the process of creating the course, emphasizing the importance of a well-structured syllabus and efficient review by university committees. Potential locations for the course within UMD's academic structure, particularly in the School of Public Health and School of Public Policy, are explored. Extensive literature supports the positive impact of cycling on physical and mental health, reinforcing the course's potential benefits. The research findings suggest that Cycling 101 aligns with UMD's commitment to sustainability and offers tangible advantages for students' wellbeing. The proposed collaboration is significant for both UMD and the Prince George's County Planning Department, contributing to a cycling-friendly environment and promoting holistic urban mobility. In conclusion, this research validates the feasibility of introducing Cycling 101 at UMD, highlighting its positive impacts on students, the university community, and urban planning in Prince George's County. The collaboration serves as a catalyst for sustainable practices and holistic wellbeing, aligning shared goals between the university and the Planning Department.
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    Artist Crossing
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Ajaero, Ucheya; Bullock, Abigail; Perkins, Abigail; Rahming-Williams, Nichelle; Riffle, Brianna; Boland, Margret; Gomez, Jose; Gross, Hannah; Mora, Adrian; Watson, Omari; Deist, Chase; Demircan, Zeynep; Garcia, Aylin; Jones, Amory; Mulé, Maya; Hernandez, Kevin; Hussien, Abdureuf; Merino, Sandra; Pipatpongsa, Chayaporn?; Bell, Matthew; Matthews, Georgeanne?
    The ARCH 700 Urban Design Graduate looked at the Four Corners site and the Arts District area in Hyattsville with the intent to understand what problems each of these communities had and how to apply best practices in urban design to each. At Four Corners, the focus was on creating a sense of place and community along University Boulevard where little of that kind of experience existed previously, and at Hyattsville, how to reimagine the urban design of the Arts District and the vacant County Service building so that a more vibrant town center could emerge. Students explored issues such as multi-modal circulation, the city grid, densification through the addition of various building typologies, community place-making, and ‘complete street’ design. All of the proposals sought to integrate new residential and other developments and create a framework for parks and urban spaces that embrace diversity and maintain historic cultural assets.
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    Four Corners (re-sestablisher)
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Ajaero, Ucheya; Bullock, Abigail; Perkins, Abigail; Rahming-Williams, Nichelle; Riffle, Brianna; Boland, Margret; Gomez, Jose; Gross, Hannah; Mora, Adrian; Watson, Omari; Deist, Chase; Demircan, Zeynep; Garcia, Aylin; Jones, Amory; Mulé, Maya; Hernandez, Kevin; Hussien, Abdureuf; Merino, Sandra; Pipatpongsa, Chayaporn?; Bell, Matthew; Matthews, Georgeanne?
    The ARCH 700 Urban Design Graduate looked at the Four Corners site and the Arts District area in Hyattsville with the intent to understand what problems each of these communities had and how to apply best practices in urban design to each. At Four Corners, the focus was on creating a sense of place and community along University Boulevard where little of that kind of experience existed previously, and at Hyattsville, how to reimagine the urban design of the Arts District and the vacant County Service building so that a more vibrant town center could emerge. Students explored issues such as multi-modal circulation, the city grid, densification through the addition of various building typologies, community place-making, and ‘complete street’ design. All of the proposals sought to integrate new residential and other developments and create a framework for parks and urban spaces that embrace diversity and maintain historic cultural assets.
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    Urban Design Proposals for Four Corners and Hyattsville Arts District?
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Ajaero, Ucheya; Bullock, Abigail; Perkins, Abigail; Rahming-Williams, Nichelle; Riffle, Brianna; Boland, Margret; Gomez, Jose; Gross, Hannah; Mora, Adrian; Watson, Omari; Deist, Chase; Demircan, Zeynep; Garcia, Aylin; Jones, Amory; Mulé, Maya; Hernandez, Kevin; Hussien, Abdureuf; Merino, Sandra; Pipatpongsa, Chayaporn?; Bell, Matthew; Matthews, Georgeanne?
    The ARCH 700 Urban Design Graduate looked at the Four Corners site and the Arts District area in Hyattsville with the intent to understand what problems each of these communities had and how to apply best practices in urban design to each. At Four Corners, the focus was on creating a sense of place and community along University Boulevard where little of that kind of experience existed previously, and at Hyattsville, how to reimagine the urban design of the Arts District and the vacant County Service building so that a more vibrant town center could emerge. Students explored issues such as multi-modal circulation, the city grid, densification through the addition of various building typologies, community place-making, and ‘complete street’ design. All of the proposals sought to integrate new residential and other developments and create a framework for parks and urban spaces that embrace diversity and maintain historic cultural assets.
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    Maryland’s Missing Middle Housing
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2024-05) Eldadah, Samaa; Carter, Niambi; Dawkins, Casey
    As Maryland localities struggle to meet the demand for a diversity of housing types at a range of income levels, the predominance of detached single-family zoning constrains available land for building new housing and limits the expansion of the housing supply. In this context, local governments have considered zoning change in detached single-family neighborhoods to better accommodate missing middle housing. As of May 2024, however, there have been no significant zoning changes to accommodate missing middle housing in single-family neighborhoods. However, counties are planning for future upzoning initiatives to increase density in residential neighborhoods through comprehensive plans. This report compiles lessons learned from four counties—Montgomery, Frederick, Anne Arundel, and Howard—about successes and challenges in preparing for upzoning to accommodate missing middle housing. These counties employ a range of strategies to address the market and political challenges to upzoning. Lessons learned from counties include using small area planning and zoning overlays, building political will through extensive stakeholder engagement, and offering incentives to developers to build missing middle housing.
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    Impact Consulting Fellowship: Strategic Recommendations for Community Forklift
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Doncheva, Alexandra; Salunkhe, Ashish; Sfakiyanudis, Dimitri; Patel, Harshil; Huang, Julia; Lek, Kim; Mahajan, Mohnish; Cassell, Peter; Murumkar, Tanvi; Patil, Rutwik; Farshchi, Nima
    A visit to the Community Forklift warehouse, allowed us to view operational processes and bottlenecks, and social media and advertising data, our team has the following suggestions to meet Community Forklift’s goals to boost revenue, increase consumer base, engage the community, donate items away, and help keep items out of the landfill by finding them new homes. Community Forklift has a unique spirit, and we believe people will want to be part of an organization with a great mission, acting to make a difference. We believe Community Forklift is a great cause and our suggestions aim for smoother and more effective ways to meet the mission.
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    Impact Consulting Fellowship: Strategic Recommendations for Community Forklift
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2023-12) Doncheva, Alexandra; Salunkhe, Ashish; Sfakiyanudis, Dimitri; Patel, Harshil; Huang, Julia; Lek, Kim; Mahajan, Mohnish; Cassell, Peter; Murumkar, Tanvi; Patil, Rutwik; Farshchi, Nima
    A visit to the Community Forklift warehouse, allowed us to view operational processes and bottlenecks, and social media and advertising data, our team has the following suggestions to meet Community Forklift’s goals to boost revenue, increase consumer base, engage the community, donate items away, and help keep items out of the landfill by finding them new homes. Community Forklift has a unique spirit, and we believe people will want to be part of an organization with a great mission, acting to make a difference. We believe Community Forklift is a great cause and our suggestions aim for smoother and more effective ways to meet the mission.
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    Parking Lot Redesign
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2024-05) Boutselis, Kat; Flores-Chevere, Alejandro; Johnson, Nuelle; Wimbush May, Jillian; May, Peter
    The gatekeeper for this proposal to redesign the parking lot at M-NCPPC’s Largo Headquarters, is the Prince George’s County Planning Board, which will approve the new parking lot design. The proposal is specifically addressed to Lakisha Hull, Director of the Prince George’s County Planning Department. With the board members, Ms. Hull will review the suggested layout and direct the planning and design team who will sketch out and implement the rain garden. The primary contact for this proposal is Theodore Levy of the County Planning Department, overseeing the planning and architectural team. Another audience for this proposal is horticulturalists, plant ecologists, landscapers, garden designers, and construction contractors. The horticulturalists bring knowledge of plant materials native to Largo that would thrive in the rain garden. Landscapers can suggest best designs for feasibility and maintenance. The contractors will be responsible for the building the new layout. All these individuals will advise the design team and provide insight on the best way to implement the new layout. A final audience are the employees who work at the Largo Headquarters and community members who live in the area. The parking lot is mainly used by employees who can give insight into the most useful features of the parking lot that should be kept. As well, community members can provide insight into what they would like to see in their community and what they would use.
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    Preserving and Developing Affordable Housing in Riverdale, MD
    (Partnership for Action Learning Sustainability (PALS), 2024-05) Bardsley, Jesse; Dwyer, Maura; Edullantes, Hoang; Gordon, Samuel; Haddad, Sarah; Jones, Amory; Keen, Paul; Mule, Maya; Prendergast, Caila; Rahming, Nichelle; Velasquez, Deisy; Howell, Kathryn; Finio, Nicholas
    As the Purple Line construction nears completion, the light rail’s opening will bring significant development pressure to every community along the corridor. This report focuses on one of these communities: Riverdale. The Purple Line Corridor Coalition is the primary sponsor of this report and contributed guidance throughout its creation. This work was also guided heavily by a PLCC partner organization, Greater Riverdale Thrives, a community coalition in Riverdale concerned with issues including affordable housing and political advocacy efforts. Riverdale is a majority low-income, renter, immigrant, Latino, and Black Prince George’s County bedroom community. This report focuses on the hyper-local context of Riverdale while investigating macroeconomic issues of wealth inequality, discerning the impacts of ownership and power distribution on the region’s housing market. Riverdale’s built environment has not seen much change since its initial development as a beltway suburb of Washington, D.C. in the 1950s and 1960s. After several generations, this community has morphed dramatically, and the needs of its residents have grown proportionately. The apartment complexes, built more than 50 years ago, are showing their age, and many have been bought by corporate landlords who have a minimal desire to maintain the properties. The shopping plaza—once deemed a cultural destination for the area—has fallen into disrepair at the hands of neglectful property ownership and disinvestment in the community at large. As the Purple Line development puts substantial pressure on the existing housing stock in the area, it will also incentivize the building of new housing near the station. Issues of affordable housing preservation and development, gentrification, and displacement are key areas for intervention and advocacy efforts. This report examines how housing can both be preserved and produced in a way that can benefit the community of Riverdale, by leveraging existing policy frameworks such as rent stabilization, while also looking at new opportunities such as a community land trust. The report includes a network map, which can be used to ensure that Riverdale maintains its cultural significance for its community members. The report also provides examples of how transit- oriented development can happen with minimal displacement based on experiences of other communities in the Washington, D.C. area, and other localities around the US that have undergone similar changes. Discussions of power dynamics in community advocacy are centered to highlight ways to empower the Riverdale community. Finally, this report offers tools that can be used by the community to expand ownership in the face of impending development. The Purple Line will radically change Riverdale and the surrounding community in the next few years. Ensuring that the community has a voice in the future development of Riverdale is of the highest importance to maintaining its cultural significance for years to come.