300 years and counting. This year’s National Planning Conference, my first, converged on a city simultaneously honoring three centuries of rich history and culture, the City of New Orleans. While the Crescent City was celebrating its tricentennial with performances, dignified gatherings and community reunions, planners across the country like myself were taking it all in and delving deep into the issues facing our communities now and in the future. Of course, New Orleans, rife with immeasurable challenges over the last ten plus years, was an appropriate host to a conference for a profession centered on striving for resilience and equity in the built environment. For those grappling with how to tackle flooding without straining local resources, as many Maryland localities are, New Orleans showcased its leadership in that realm and how to thrive in cooperation with water, but not without major setbacks along the way.

Governor Larry Hogan joined state representatives, stakeholders and national experts in smart growth practice last month to examine current smart growth policies for Maryland and strategies for bringing them into the 21 st century. Hosted by the National Center for Smart Growth, Smart Growth @ 20 reflected on how smart growth has performed over the past twenty years and began a new conversation about smart and sustainable development for the next two decades, addressing some of the state’s most pressing issues, including climate change, social equity, energy conservation, economic restructuring and technological innovation.

On Monday April 9, 2018, the Maryland General Assembly completed it’s 2018 legislative session with Sine Die. Sine Die literally means “with no appointed date for resumption,” despite the fact that the legislature will reconvene on January 9, 2019.