Maryland APA Biennial Conference Re-cap: Negotiating Change: Balancing Development, Climate Change, and Preservation in Maryland

Speakers from the Citizen Planning Academies Session

Ed mcMahon Delivers his Keynote Address

As a small, densely-populated state, Maryland is in a constant struggle to find and keep this balance in both its urban and rural areas.

The conference started with a mobile session of Downtown Cumberland. It explored the Redevelopment of Baltimore Street and the Civic Master Plan for the area. Led by Eric Woolridge of consultant firm Destination by Design, the presentation included an overview of the plan’s impetus, purpose, and proposals, analysis and stakeholder input essential to its formulation, and potential implementation measures. Participants were able to visualize key master plan recommendations regarding the downtown’s urban form, street and trail connectivity, infill development, housing availability, streetscape and walkability, parking and transit, and proposed gateways.

Monday’s keynote speaker was Ed McMahon. He currently holds the Charles E. Fraser chair on sustainable development at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC where he is nationally known as a leading authority and thought-provoking speaker on economic development and land use policies and trends. Through his keynote, he addressed current trends in place-making and economic development and how a shift in workforce preferences is re-energizing urban cores. He argued that as new employees seek out interesting places to live over particular job opportunities, employers have been motivated to relocate to unique, beautiful places that value alternative forms of transportation, historic buildings and adaptive reuse, and community gathering spaces, markers of a place-driven economy rather than the market-driven economic model of the past.

Over the next two days, sessions range from changes in land use, emerging technologies in planning, climate change and its impact on planning and historic preservation, barriers to infill and adaptive reuse, education, citizen planning academies, rural broadband and much more.

The Awards Ceremony highlighted planning achievements within the last two years. The award recipients were:

The 2019 Award Winners Are:

OUTSTANDING PLAN: Livable Frederick Master Plan

OUTSTANDING PROJECT: Transportation Action Guide for Urban Communities

STUDENT PROJECT: A Framework for Preservation and Growth in Creswell

NEW PLANNER: Ashlee Green

More information about our award winners can be found here.

Conference session slides are available here.