Last week, Preservation Maryland and its statewide program, Smart Growth Maryland, convened in Brunswick, Maryland for a first-of-its-kind roundtable discussion on the intersection of smart growth, historic preservation, and affordable housing.
Legacy cities like Charleston and New Orleans are no strangers to the economic and cultural benefits of historic preservation. For many main streets, it spurs growth and investment, bringing new businesses, residents, and tourists. The cities with some of the oldest preservation movements have seen these benefits for more than 100 years.
One of the primary goals of the Smart Growth movement is to create density where development already exists, which can prevent sprawl and preserve greenspaces. Smart Growth Maryland is eager to encourage infill redevelopment, which takes underutilized lots and land in urbanized areas and returns them to efficient use. While the concept is straightforward, there are a number of approaches to accomplishing effective infill redevelopment. Read on to find out more about four common initiatives communities across the countries use to encourage infill.
Frederick County farmland near Jefferson, Maryland. Flickr user Mike Procario.
The American Farmland Trust has just released its “Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing and Abundant Future” report, an ambitious modeling effort to project how climate change and development will affect agricultural land, which clearly demonstrates the need for smart growth and good land-use planning that encourages infill and redevelopment.
“Farms Under Threat 2040: Choosing and Abundant Future” represents a multi-year effort by the American Farmland Trust to document the status of and threats to the country’s agricultural lands while offering real policy solutions to save that land. The report projects the outcome of several different approaches to land use for the years 2016-2040 adjusted for population growth and projected coastal flooding:
The Build Better Cities scenerio is one that adheres to smart growth ideals and implements infill and redevelopment policies, and it has the best projected outcomes.
The “Farms Under Threat” report also includes a look at the same scenerios state by state. It projects that if recent trends continue, Maryland stands to lose 178,000 acres of farmland by 2040 – a whopping 8% – and 67% of that conversion will occur on Maryland’s Nationally Significant land. That is the equivalent of losing 1,400 farms, $144 million in farm output, and 3,200 jobs. The report also names Frederick, Howard, and Montgomery as the hardest hit counties.
Fortunately, this devestating result is not a foregone conclusion. In the face of the dire projections if development continues at current rates, the report advances the follow policy recomendations to protect and retain farmland:
This report shows clearly that Maryland’s policymakers and land-use planners must act to promote compact development and reduce sprawl. Smart Growth Maryland has long advocated for such policy and, armed with the findings of this report, will continue to do so.