MD Planning Secretary Hall’s Letter to Sun Editor Clarifies the Facts About Septic Law

Maryland Planning Secretary Richard E. Hall

Published in the Baltimore Sun‘s Readers Respond, March 11, 2013, titled “Clean water requires everyone’s help“

I am writing in response to Sen. E.J. Pipkin‘s letter to the editor in which he called me the state’s land planning czar (“O’Malley is waging war on rural Maryland,” Feb. 26). The senator may think such name-calling and his “war on rural Maryland” slogan is strategic for him. However, it is bad for rural, suburban, and urban Maryland. This type of rhetoric damages the “One Maryland” approach that has helped bind all of the state’s communities together for many years. As a matter of fact, the state provides more assistance per capita in rural counties than it does in the more suburban and urban counties in Central Maryland.

“Reclaim the Chesapeake Bay” Public Awareness Campaign

All of us who live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed are linked to the Bay by many pathways. Whether we live right on the water or miles from the Chesapeake, our actions have a profound effect on the Bay.

Awards for Sustainable Growth Leadership

Trophy presented to awardees

The Maryland Sustainable Growth Commission held its first annual Sustainable Growth Forum & Awards Ceremony on February 5, 2013 in Annapolis, MD. The focus  of this first forum was economic opportunities created by smart growth.

Christopher B. Leinberger,  noted speaker and author on sustainable growth and “walkable urban places” delivered the keynote address uinder the theme ”Economic Growth through Smart Growth: How Smart Growth Makes Economic Sense for Maryland.” Mr. Leinberger is a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

View the videos and pictures from the 2013 Sustainable Growth Forum & Awards Ceremony at http://bit.ly/sgforum13.

A conversation with Bernie Fowler

As a young man in the 1950s, Bernie Fowler stood chest-deep in the Patuxent and was able to see his feet on the river bottom while netting blue crabs.

Senator Fowler held the first Patuxent “wade-in” in 1988 to assess whether he could still see his white sneakers while wading into the river.

This became known as the “Sneaker Index.”

This is a conversation with Bernie where he tells of his love for this river and his desire to see it restored for future generations.

Story of the Suburbs in an Infographic

The following inforgraphic appears in the April 30, 2012 post, “Burbs Going Bust“ by Megan Jett, on the archdaily.net archictectural website. It tells the story of the dcline of the suburbs. The author says that “we should begin thinking about how to retrofit the suburbs for the needs of our changing culture, reinventing Suburbia as a sustainable alternative to urban life.” I found this to be a very effective use of data and charts as narrative. Enjoy!