- Greater Washington 2050: Thanks to our involvement and that of key officials, the new vision for our region is a smart growth plan.
- Metro: We responded to safety and funding challenges by bringing together stakeholders and amassing grassroots support, including over 1200 petition signatures, for our region’s great transit system.
We helped support our region's great Metro system in a difficult year.
2009 Year in Review: Working at the Regional Level
It’s not enough just to work at the local level. It’s also important to win regional commitment to smart growth solutions. We have played a central role on the Greater Washington 2050 committee, helping to craft the “Region Forward” vision plan. We participated in crafting the public survey, scenarios analysis, framing of the solutions and public outreach, including our November 12th forum Visions for the Washington Region. “Region Forward” recognizes the energy, climate, demographic, economic and environmental challenges we face, and chooses a sustainable, smart growth future focused on green buildings, transit-oriented development, walkability, transit, affordable housing, equitable economic development and green jobs.
Metro has had a hard year. The recession increased pressure on an already cash-strapped system, while the tragic accident in June and other safety problems caused ridership to decrease. Ever champions of our region’s great transit system, we responded with a coordinated campaign. Within a few days, 1,000 people signed our petition supporting better funding for Metro. We issued a press release highlighting how much safer Metro is than driving and are working with Greater Greater Washington to craft accountability and transparency recommendations. We were also helped to convene the Transit First coalition, connecting conservation and transit advocates to support investment in bus and rail.
We serve on other key regional bodies including the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative focused on business/government sustainability initiatives and the ChesapeakeBay “Choose Clean Water” Coalition. As part of “Choose Clean Water” we’ve been helping to link smart growth solutions to saving the Bay.
Read on to learn what else we've been doing in the region in 2009:
