News

PALS Program Shares First Semester Project Results with City of Annapolis, Anne Arundel County

College Park, Md. — University of Maryland (UMD) students and faculty met with Annapolis city and Anne Arundel county officials this week to present findings from 14 projects, the first results of a yearlong partnership between the City of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, and UMD’s Partnership for Action Learning in Sustainability (PALS) program. The projects, which stem from social, economic and environmental sustainability priorities identified by city and county government officials, aim to offer regional stakeholders fresh ideas for old challenges.

 

“This is a collaborative effort that spans every aspect of Anne Arundel County,” said Anne Arundel County Executive Steve Schuh. “The work these students have done is top notch and they did it in a very short period of time. I think their fresh eyes on some very old problems really paid off.”

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Delivering on the Promise of the Purple Line

The Washington Post
By Gerrit Knaap, Published: May 2

When funding for the Purple Line appeared in President Obama’s budget in March, the light-rail project connecting Montgomery and Prince George’s counties began to take on an air of inevitability. To be sure, critical steps and uncertainty remain, but Maryland transit officials are planning to break ground on the 16-mile line next year. “When,” not “if,” has become the appropriate question.

The Purple Line can deliver many social and economic benefits. But the checkered history of light-rail projects around the nation tells us that these will not fully materialize unless we actively plan for them. Concerns about employment, housing, construction disruptions and the like will fall through the cracks. The promise of this project could disintegrate into myriad problems.

Read the rest of the Op Ed article at The Washington Post.

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