Category: CSG in the News

CSG in the News: Elrich vows to push back on approved More Housing N.O.W. legislation

“Every new home helps, but the Council must also adopt the other tools in the package to meet our county’s great housing need. Most important is the approach reflected by [the ZTA] —making it much easier to build duplexes, triplexes, and small apartments near transit and jobs,” Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, wrote in an email statement to Bethesda Today.

CSG in the News: MoCo residents polarized over proposed workforce housing legislation

March 11, 2025 | Ginny Bixby | Bethesda Magazine

Supporters who spoke at the hearing in general praised the legislative package’s aim to increase the county’s housing supply and create realistic homeownership opportunities for more county residents.

“It’s a plain and simple fact that our county needs more housing,” said Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a Washington, D.C. metro region nonprofit focused on housing affordability and transit access. “People want housing that they can afford, and they do not want to have to spend their lives sitting in traffic just to get to work.”

Read the full story here.

CSG in the News: Jawando urges County Council to pause attainable housing plan

The Coalition for Smarter Growth, a nonprofit that, according to its website, advocates for “walkable, bikeable, inclusive, and transit-oriented communities” in the Washington, D.C. area, released a statement Tuesday afternoon saying the organization is “deeply disappointed” by Jawando’s comments.

“Smaller, multi-family units like those proposed in the Attainable Housing Strategies recommendations can be built and sold more affordably than single-family detached homes. Expanding housing choices also offers creative pathways and opportunities to produce subsidized affordable homes, a feat that is financially prohibitive to accomplish with single-family detached homes,” the nonprofit wrote.

CSG in the News: County board split over possible I-495 toll lanes from Springfield into Maryland

“That the additional capacity of the HOT lanes would generate more traffic trying to travel to and from the lanes via connecting roads like Route 1, Telegraph and Van Dorn wouldn’t be surprising,” Bill Pugh, a senior policy fellow at the organization, said in a statement released by CSG after the committee meeting.

CSG in the News: Officials must act on promise to fix the region’s Visualize 2050 transportation plan

This plan is important because it shows how the region’s transportation investments collectively succeed or fail in addressing important issues, and, under federal law, major projects must be in the plan to get built. The plan also demonstrates where the region’s priorities are – endlessly widening roads to move vehicles, or giving people affordable and sustainable travel options and proximity to jobs and services.

CSG in the News: A law to get climate and transportation on the same page in Maryland

Maryland estimates it must invest about $1 billion a year in measures to quickly reduce planet-warming pollution to safe levels, which will provide benefits like lower energy costs and less flooding for its residents. However, if the state simultaneously spends billions in public funds on highway expansion, that makes it harder to achieve those climate goals. That problem is what the Maryland Transportation and Climate Alignment Act (TCA) aims to address – making sure transportation projects do not worsen climate pollution and giving people options to travel more affordably and sustainably.

CSG in the News: Montgomery County Council bill would loosen parking requirements for new housing developments

“Removing mandatory parking minimums in locations with great access to transit is a common-sense fix,” said Carrie Kisicki, Montgomery Advocacy Manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth. “It complements our county’s investments in more frequent transit, protected bike lanes and bike sharing, and safer walking throughout the county.”

CSG in the News: Montgomery County leaders want to change parking rules, reduce driving

“Parking can be a shockingly large expense, and that expense gets passed on to residents in higher rents,” said Carrie Kisicki, the Montgomery advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, an advocacy group that pushes for affordable housing, better public transit and safe streets in the greater Washington region.