National Center for Smart Growth

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/21472

The National Center for Smart Growth (NCSG) works to advance the notion that research, collaboration, engagement and thoughtful policy development hold the key to a smarter and more sustainable approach to urban and regional development. NCSG is based at the University of Maryland, College Park, housed under the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, with support from the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, the School of Public Policy, and the Office of the Provost.

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Prince George's County

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    Reimagining Wilmer's Park
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Adams, Thomas; Akers, Bryce; Contreras, Edenilson; Dashiell, Isiah; Erwin, Abby; Gonzalez, Carlos; Hargrove, Cierra; Jeon, Ryan; Mohan, Madison; Ourand, Matthew; Shelton, Gabrielle; Steuernagle, Emmeline; Thomas-Cogar, Kennedy; Yang, Charlotte; Cakil, Yasemin; Kweon, Byoung-Suk; Seiz, Audrey
    Wilmer’s Park is a “80-acre parcel containing the ruins of a dance hall, motel, ranch house, covered stage, baseball and football fields. As a major stop on the Chitlin Circuit, Wilmer’s Park opened its doors to African-American musicians, entertainers, athletes and fans from the early 1950s through the late 1960s. Arthur Wilmer used his experience and connections developed as the owner of a night club in Washington, D. C. to bring both popular acts and up-and-coming performers to rural Prince George’s County; the bandstand at Wilmer’s Park showcased everyone from Duke Ellington and Otis Redding to the Temptations, Patti La Belle, and a young Stevie Wonder. The former tobacco farm played an important role in exposing emerging musicians to local African Americans during a time of segregation.” The park has been closed for 10+ years and the purpose of this project is to transform Wilmer’s Park for the residents of Brandywine or nearby communities. For this project, students work in teams of three to design a master plan along with an individual detailed site plan. The design program for these plans came from the residents’ comments from community engagement workshops, notes from Councilman Harrison’s interview, important stakeholders, the field trip, and guest lectures. The master plan does not include all 80 acres of the park and often identifies a phasing plan for the entire project.
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    Scenario Planning for Restorative Justice in Lakeland
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Abban, John; Abe, Danielle; Asamoah, Heather; Dyson, Katharine; Farieta, Maria; Hackman, Michael; Jett, Connor; Kaku, Upasana; Kaushik, Redowan; Madden, Maureen; Mekonnen, Elizabeth; Mitchell, Caitlyn; Nkwantabisah, Pamela Owusu; Ripley, Benjamin; Spaniol, Matthew; Whiteheart, Rachel; Irazabal, Clara; Cameron, Hannah
    This report begins with a discussion of the concept of restorative justice and the three themes that guided and organized our work — community infrastructure, housing and land use, and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Following this introduction of the three guiding themes, the report contains a summary of our analysis of existing conditions, including a review of different planning sectors, a brief history of Lakeland, and a summary of plans and policies that have influenced the course of Lakeland. The next section of the report is a summary of the findings of our various community engagement approaches, including recommendations for future best practices for the city and the Restorative Justice Commission as they continue this work. Finally, we present the three planning scenarios — Status Quo, Reform, and Revolutionary — that envision various alternative futures for Lakeland.
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    Neighborhood Perceptions and Biking in the Port Towns of Prince George’s County, Maryland
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Friel, Andrew; Goldscher, Paige; Ortiz, Cristian; Solan, Jennifer; Sorensen, Jacob; Cooper-Jean, Ebonie
    The relationship between biking and gentrification in the Port Towns has yet to be fully understood. While working with the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, students from the University of Maryland sought to identify barriers to biking access in the Port Towns of Prince George’s County, Maryland, and how Port Towns residents perceive development, gentrification, and biking.
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    Non-Traditional Maryland Mainstreets
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability, 2022) Kim, Tae; Simeen, Afia; Singh, Udai; Yu, Jiaxin; Hoang, Ryan; Garchitorena, Arvyn; Lin, Arthur; Alale, Oreoluwa; Farshchi, Nima
    In Prince George's county, there are many communities and towns that have a main road lined with unique businesses that are central for local residents, but the structure of these places does not fall within the classical definition of a "main street.” What financial and cultural resources can municipalities with non-traditional mainstreets use to grow these small business corridors?
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    Developing a Bicycle Network Map for Prince George's County
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Abban, John; Luna, Alondra; Gaunaurd, Pierre; Bardsley, Jesse; DelMonico, Jeffrey; Franklin, Kristen; Johnson, Nicholas; Mitchell, Caitlyn; Woldu, Marta; Spaniol, Matthew; Bernish, Andrew
    A class of Urban Planning and Geography students use county data to categorize every road in Prince George's county and assign it a stress value for bikers. Working with PG Planning and the local Vision Zero team, the GIS application depicts every county road color-coated with bike difficulty.
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    GIS Youth Sports Facilities Map Application
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2021) Bardsley, Jesse; Johnson, Nicholas; Luna, Alondra; Jones, Asia; Gaunaurd, Pierre; Nkwantabisah, Pamela Owusu; Whiteheart, Rachel; Abban, John; Bernish, Andrew
    A class of Urban Planning and Geography students comb through county data to create a GIS application that maps all baseball and softball fields in Prince George's County.
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    Prince George’s County Park Facility Energy Data Analysis
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Cathcart, Dylan; Solomon, Dagwami; Lou, Iskander; Kim, Do; Yin, Zhaojie; Gruga, Thitna; Rainsford, TJ
    The PG Parks and Recreation department is responsible for operating and maintaining facilities at local and regional parks providing recreational services and programs. Providing recreational services requires capital investments into building facilities and maintaining parks throughout the Prince George’s County area resulting in the use of vast amounts of energy and resources to accomplish these goals. It is our job to help the department manage its expenditures and energy usage while still enabling them to fulfill their mission and commitment to the County. We will accomplish this by analyzing their energy dataset and providing information driven guidance on the future sustainability of facilities.
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    Pawndering Dog Parks for Prince George's County Parks
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Abban, John; Abe, Danielle; Abel, Paul; Asamoah, Heather; Bardsley, Jesse; Cargill, Christina "Winnie"; Dyson, Katharine; Farieta, Maria Fernanda; Gebru, Dominique; Hackman, Michael; Jones, Asia Vernai'; Kaku, Upasana; Kaushik, Redowan Kabir; Madden, Maureen; Mekonnen, Elizabeth; Melmed, Andrew; Nkwantabisah, Pamela Owusu; Ripley, Benjamin; Santana, Ariana; Seyedebrahimi, Ebrahim ; Van Allen, Max; Velasquez, Deisy; Whiteheart, Rachel; Thomas, Louis L.
    Over the Spring 2022 semester, students investigated this topic while learning the skills associated with qualitative planning research. The researchers used methods that included archive and document analysis, environmental/behavioral and participant observation, soundscape and video documentation, critical cartography, and interviews. This study aimed to better understand how dog parks are used and the report makes recommendations for how to best design and locate dog parks to ensure their success. Questions of community, access, and equity were central to this inquiry. Seven case study sites were selected to examine a variety of park types, including variations in design, scale, location (urban/suburban), ecology (slope/stormwater issues, etc.), and material (grass/synthetic).
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    Incorporating Wifi into Watkins Regional Park
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2022) Accomando, Delaney; Barton, Grace; Cavender, Nicole; Chow, Kianna; Cowley, Deanna; Duary, Rahat; Fan, Elin; Hammet, Bridgette; Hess, Jacob; Kirshenboim, Lital; Liriano, Alondra; Peterson, Luke; Rodrigo, Karisha; Shallbetter, Elise; Stebbins, Zaria; Steele, Alyssa; Xu, Yike; Ziolkowski, Theodore; Kweon, Byoung-Suk
    The need for new approaches to ensure internet access that would bridge society's "digital divide" became evident when instruction shifted online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Project BRIDGE, a UMD project funded by the National Science Foundation, aims to bring free Wi-Fi to public parks while creating technology that could bridge the digital divide and provide internet access to individuals and communities who now struggle to get online. In this studio, students explored community needs by conducting a community engagement session in Watkins Regional Park and then proposing design solutions to accommodate Wi-Fi use in various areas of the park.
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    The Sounds of Prince George’s County: An Introduction to Creative Placemaking
    (Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS), 2021) Kuhlman, Julia
    The phrase “creative placemaking” is described by the American Planning Association as a set of different but related practices that engage “community members, artists, arts and culture organizations, community developers, and other stakeholders use arts and cultural strategies to implement community-led change.” Most often, creative placemaking strategies are generated by arts practitioners and struggle to find funding and partners in local government. This places Prince George’s County Park and Planning in a unique position: if it chooses to use creative placemaking, the burden of finding resources is somewhat more easily achievable, though it will need to find and engage community members and arts practitioners. The agency can help to scale-up projects that are already underway.