View slides from CSG’s presentation to the Montgomery County Young Democrats on May 20, 2025.
Category: Event materials

Learn about Prince George’s Transit Vision Plan

On May 22, 2025, RISE Prince George’s and CSG hosted a discussion on the county draft Transit Vision Plan (TVP), which seeks to create a more vibrant and connected county for all. The Transit Vision Plan is a five-year strategic framework for improving the county’s public transportation, developed through extensive public input. The county is seeking input from the public – go to an upcoming public meeting and check out the website.
Event materials – click here to view the presentation and video recording.
Transit Vision Plan video recording on CSG YouTube channel
Transit Vision Plan website

Mayor Letty Hardi’s Remarks from our 2025 Livable Communities Leadership Award Event – May 14, 2025

Livable Communities Leadership Awardee Mayor Letty Hardi
Good evening everyone!
First – thank you to the Coalition for Smarter Growth for this incredible honor. And to our federal workers and contractors – who have been impacted, who are worried, or who keep showing up – we stand with you. You are the quiet engines behind so much
of what keeps our country running. We see you and we appreciate you. Thank you so much to CSG. I am thrilled to be here to share the Little City story – and deeply humbled.
As mayor of Falls Church – aka The Little City, or the Little City with Big Ideas – this award isn’t just mine. It belongs to the entire community of people who show up to meetings in City Hall, who lead walking tours, paint rainbow crosswalks, who inspect new buildings for safety, march in our Memorial Day parade, repair sidewalks, plan Halloween bike parades, or plant trees on Arbor Day together. And some of you all are here tonight. So I want to make sure we recognize everyone.
Some of my City colleagues –
● Vice Mayor Debbie Hiscott Councilmember Justine Underhill
● Former Mayor Dave Tarter
● Former Councilmember and current Planning Commissioner Phil Duncan
● Vice Chair of Planning Commission Tim Stevens
● Former Chair of Planning Commission Rob Puentes
● EDA Chair Ross Litkenhous
● Phenomenal city staff led by long time City Manager Wyatt Shields,
● Akida Rouzi, Zoning Administrator
● Amanda Stout Brain, Public Works Director
● Kerri Oddenino from Planning
And some of my favorite planners and visionaries around, Jim Snyder and Paul Stoddard, who are great examples of how we often import and then export talent around the region.
All of us are here tonight because we passionately share the idea that where we live, how we get around, and who gets to be part of our communities matters. It shapes our health, our economy, our climate, and most importantly, our sense of belonging. And we share a collective responsibility on how we’re going to leave it better for the next generation.

Now, if you’re not familiar with Falls Church – first of all, come visit! We’re known as The Little City because we clock in at just 2.2 square miles. We’re small but mighty. But what we lack in size, we make up for in heart – and ambition. And grocery stores, I might add 🙂 I did the math and I think we might have the highest grocery store per capita around.
And I truly believe that’s why we’re being recognized tonight — the heart and ambition
part (not the grocery stores part!)
In Falls Church, we’ve embraced smart growth – not as a trendy buzzword, but as a
guiding principle.
● We’ve been working to be a 15-minute city – the idea where you really can get your daily needs met within a 15 minute walk, bike, or bus/transit ride – before it was cool – or before we knew it was cool.
● We’ve rezoned to allow more mixed use and housing. Over the next few years, we’re adding 25% more housing supply, doubling our affordable housing stock, and welcoming 20% more population – who will be our new neighbors, friends,
and customers.
● And we’re tackling middle housing pragmatically – 8 years ago we were the first on the east coast to allow for cottage housing. And because we wanted to allow for infill and smaller development and hadn’t built townhomes in the city in over 20 years, we modernized our transition zoning last year and have 2 townhome projects underway now.
● And just last month, we got our ADU ordinance over the finish line – with what Mercatus has told me was the most progressive in the Commonwealth, without the poison pills of parking requirements and owner occupancy.
Can we finally say that housing and density aren’t bad words?
But none of this happened overnight. For 10+ years, we’ve been relentless at getting things done and adding supply – the
idea of abundance is not new to us in Falls Church. I’ve been reflecting a lot on how we got here. This success is made possible by 5 different things:
- It’s been years of ambitious plans and progressive direction – thank you Jim,
Paul, and others for being visionary and reminding us that cities need to evolve,
parking codes need to be modernized, and we can’t pull up the ladder after the
last zoning change is done. - Elections have consequences – we clearly know that now. In Falls Church, we’ve
had consequential voices like Phil Duncan and Ross Litkenhous, urging us to
add and diversify to our tax base – that we should build our way to excellent
services and infrastructure vs tax our way there. I’ve been fortunate to serve with
and learn from them and others. - Persistence and work by professional staff – thank you for the diligent, steady
leadership starting from the top. Wyatt, especially for your patience with me.
Especially when I don’t take no for an answer – and you smile and nod and hope I
don’t ask again 🙂 - Public engagement and accessibility – projects are made better when we listen.
But we also are learning how to go to the people, so we’re not just listening to the
loudest voices in the room and what it means to give people a voice but not a
veto. - Thoughtful, fact based decision making. As a data nerd, I make decisions
anchored in facts and write about it in my blog, hopefully informing a few more
people each week. But if nothing else, even if you disagree with me, maybe you
can appreciate that I engaged with you and see how I came to my vote. While
not every decision can be based on numbers only – it certainly helps that I can
rely on good fiscal modeling from staff and actual data that combats all the FAQs
about traffic, stormwater, parking, school capacity. And then we go back,
measure how we’re doing, and learn from that to move forward.
Facts and yes voices in the room helps us on the dais take the brave votes.
And the results show it.
● Besides new buildings, restaurants, a growing tax base and population, we’ve
also managed to build generational investments in new high school, city hall,
library, sidewalks, parks, trails while lowering the tax rate 14 cents over the past 5
years (and it will be another penny lower when the next fiscal year starts in 2
months).
● We’re consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, we have a terrific and
intimate school system, decreasing traffic volumes according to VDOT data –
because as Rob Puentes reminds us – more people doesn’t always mean more
cars when you also invest in multimodal transportation.
● And we’re ranked by US News and World Report as the healthiest community in
the US, because I truly believe smart urban planning leads to better physical and
mental health.
My favorite gauge of our progress is the “Letty coffeeshop metric” which some of you
may have heard before. - When I first ran for City Council in 2016, we just opened our first independent coffee
shop. One of the special things about the Little City is all of our small businesses, with
coffeeshops among them.
Since 2016, we now have 6 – with 3 more on the way and all of them are packed daily. I share this with you, not because I run on coffee, but because coffeeshops are those third places that create opportunities for social connection. It’s because welcoming more people, giving them an opportunity to live where there are jobs, transportation, and amenities, and building great places – means those people also become the customers to help sustain the small businesses we cherish. This is a virtuous cycle that not only supports business, reduces sprawl, and is more equitable and greener. Growth is not mutually exclusive from being green.
At its core, creating a livable community means creating places where people can thrive and truly, Falls Church is special. We have come a long way, and I try not to take it for granted. Because when I try really hard to listen to who’s not at the table, they remind me – in the nicest possible way – that there’s still work to do. We need to keep leaning into a future that’s inclusive, sustainable, and community focused. I challenge all of us to hold up our progressive values in the mirror and decide if we’re doing enough to take real steps to welcome more neighbors of different incomes and backgrounds. Or are we just resting on our laurels of being affluent, educated, and centrally located? And are we doing enough on climate change – and making our city resilient to this existential issue and doing enough in the region to transition our buildings and transportation modes away from high carbon emissions? And I can’t ignore what’s happening at the federal level. Is our region resilient enough over the next few years? Will we be able to protect the most vulnerable and weather the storm?
In times of uncertainty, I go back to what’s in my sphere of control and that’s at localgovernment. Local government is where we can get things done. And at the end of the day, I believe that most people want to see progress – so I try to be a builder. There is so much good we can do, individually and collectively as a region. We have the opportunity to create believers in democracy again if we focus on delivering results and making government work for people, solving problems that matter vs kicking the can down the road, and reversing the fear of scarcity politics.
The work is incremental and pragmatic – I’ve learned there is no silver bullet, otherwise we would have done it long ago – but the little things do add up. Change doesn’t happen all at once – it happens one policy, one sidewalk, one brave vote at a time.
Let me end with this: if Falls Church can lead on these issues – if our Little City can take bold steps toward big goals – then we all can. We’re proof that political courage and community vision are not measured in square miles. They’re measured in values – and
in action.
Thank you again for this incredible recognition.
Let’s keep going.
Thank you.
– Mayor Letty Hardi 2025 Livable Communities Leadership Awardee

Event: Zoning for Positive Change in DC
How can plans and zoning regulations shape vibrant, mixed-use, walkable communities? On April 23, 2025 we hosted a discussion with Code Studio, one of the national leaders on using innovative form-based approaches to zoning to guide change and protect what’s best about our neighborhoods.
Speakers: Colin Scarff and Rene Biberstein, Code Studio; Moderated by Ellen McCarthy, Ward3Vision
This event is part of our informational series as the District kicks off DC 2050 — the Comprehensive Plan rewrite in spring of 2025.
Review the recording on YouTube here.

Co-sponsored by Coalition for Smarter Growth and Ward3Vision

Downtown DC walking tour, March 18, 2025
Resources:
Here are some key Downtown DC revitalization documents for you to review. The latest edition of the State of Downtown Report, by DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID), will be available April 22, 2025.
- The Downtown Action Plan
- Revitalizing Downtown – Current Actions and Initiatives, Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED)
- Downtown DC Public Realm Plan, DC Office of Planning
- State of Downtown Report 2023, May 2024, by DowntownDC BID
- Golden Triangle BID 2024 Annual Report
- Housing in Downtown Program, DMPED
- Office to Anything Program, DMPED
- Downtown Parks Master Plan
DC’s downtown is vital to the success of the entire city and region. We’ll stay engaged and partner with DowntownDC BID, Golden Triangle BID, DC government, and the community to catalyze downtown’s transformation into a great place to be – to live, work, shop and visit.

Building a shared prosperity for Prince George’s candidates briefing
A briefing for County Executive candidates on linking economic development, housing, and smart growth

February 18, 2025, Solid Rock Church, Riverdale MD
Video Recording
Sponsors
RISE Prince George’s is a group of county residents and allies advocating for policies and practices that build shared, sustainable prosperity in Prince George’s County by creating safe, walkable, inclusive and transit-oriented communities. Platform brief 2025.
LISC – DC is a mission-based investor, convener and technical assistance provider. We work with a wide variety of partners to build neighborhoods where every person, regardless of race or income level has the chance to live and thrive. Briefing 2 pager
Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND) is a nonprofit membership collective working across the private, public, and social sectors to collaborate in the production and preservation of affordable housing in the Capital Region of Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond. Representing the ecosystem of partners who bring equitable communities to fruition, HAND works to disrupt the systems that perpetuate inequity in the communities we serve. We do this by embedding racial equity into our operations, practices, and programming, and activating our membership through policy forums and advocacy designed to drive impact for Black and brown communities residing at the sharpest intersections of inequity. HAND One Pager
Enterprise Community Partners’ mission: to make home and community places of pride, power, and belonging, as well as platforms for resilience and upward mobility. Enterprise Mid-Atlantic Overview
The Capital Market (TCM) is a community-based farmers’ market that: provides healthy, affordable food options to our neighbors in the Capitol Heights neighborhood and surrounding vicinity; supports the growth of local-businesses and farms owned and operated by people of color; advocates for equitable and culturally-aware food systems.
Sowing Empowerment & Economic Development, Inc. (SEED) provides food, clothing, education and training while promoting self-sufficiency and empowerment directly to low- to moderate-income families and communities. Through community services, education and community development, SEED will create environments where all individuals are empowered, all children are nurtured, families are strengthened and communities are transformed. SEED is also the developer of 250 units of affordable housing on the Purple Line Corridor’s Riverdale Road Station in partnership with Lincoln Avenue Communities. SEED brochure
Housing Initiative Partnership, Inc. (HIP) develops innovative affordable housing, revitalizes neighborhoods, and equips people to achieve their housing and financial goals. Our vision is that every person lives in high-quality affordable housing in a thriving community. HIP handout
The Purple Line Corridor Coalition (PLCC) is a public-private-community collaborative working to leverage Maryland’s largest transit investment in the 21st century to ensure equitable change for all who live, work and invest in the corridor. PLCC flyer
Coalition for Smarter Growth advocates for walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities as the most sustainable and equitable way for the Washington, DC region to grow and provide opportunities for all. Blueprint for a Better Region
The sponsors are 501(c)(3) organizations and this is a permitted educational activity. By law, these organizations do not endorse or work on behalf of any candidate for public office.
Pictured: left to right: Pastor Mike Dickson, Solid Rock Church; Stanford Fraser, RISE Prince George’s; Sheila Somashekhar, Purple Line Corridor Coalition; Steven Palmer, HAND; Albert Slocum, candidate; Moisette Tonya Sweat, candidate; Kyle Reeder, The Capital Market and RISE Prince George’s; Marcellus Crews, candidate; Bryan Franklin, LISC; Stephanie Proestel, HIP; Cheryl Cort, CSG; David Bowers, Enterprise; Marcus Robinson, LISC; Bernard Holloway, RISE Prince George’s. Photo credit: Lesia R. Bullock, HIP
Event Materials: Fixing zoning to build more affordable housing & walkable communities (DC)
How can we build more homes while ensuring neighborhood-friendly buildings and great public spaces? Emerging approaches to zoning offer simpler rules for creating great places, while reducing delay, uncertainty, and the cost of new housing.
Event Materials: Transportation and Climate Alignment Act virtual rally
Thank you so much for attending the Transportation and Climate Alignment Act Virtual Rally! If you missed it, check out the recording and slides. If you are interested in getting more involved or receiving email updates about the bill, please take a couple minutes to fill out our action form.

Event Materials: “Complete Streets” Policy Update (Prince George’s)
People walking to transit, stores, schools, and elsewhere are often at risk as they traverse wide, high-speed roads. With Prince George’s leading the region in traffic and pedestrian deaths, we’ve been asking how we can make roads safer for people walking or biking to their destinations.
Event Materials: Blueprint Launch Webinar
In this webinar, we dived into the different ways that better land use, housing, and transportation policies can address our region’s interconnected challenges.