by Jeff Lemieux

 An Economic Development Conference hosted by the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, June 2015

October 4 Meeting
On Sunday October 4, the Greenbelt Community Development Corporation (GCDC) is hosting a public panel discussion on economic development in Greenbelt. The forum will be held at the Old Greenbelt Theatre from 1-3 pm. I’ll be the moderator, and we invite you to join us and bring your questions and ideas for our panelists:

• Senator James Rosapepe, State Senator for District 21 in the MD State Senate and Chair of the College Park/University Partnership
• Stuart Eisenberg, Executive Director, Hyattsville Community Development Corp.
• Lara Fritts, CEcD, Director, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP
• David Harrington, President and CEO, Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce, former MD State Senator and Prince George’s County Councilmember
• John Henry King, Director, Economic Development, for the City of  Bowie
• Valerie Watson, artist, Board Member, Gateway Community Development Corp. (Hyattsville)

Why discuss economic development?
For years, I paid no attention to Greenbelt’s financial fortunes or politics. That changed when I started riding my bike around town. Greenbelt has some decent bike lanes, but they could be better in several key places.

So I volunteered for the Advisory Planning Board and spent a couple years working on the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan. But after a while it became obvious that the city was slow-walking the plan. Why were we dragging our feet on this?

The answer was: money. As in, the city didn’t have much to spare for bike lane improvements. When I asked our city planner about the city’s plan to expand the tax base, there was no plan.

But at least we’re thinking about it now. Recently, the City paid for an economic development report from a consultant. There is talk of hiring an economic development staffer or firm. College Park and Hyattsville seem to be doing quite well with their recent economic revitalization efforts along Route 1. Should Greenbelt do something similar?

When we discussed these questions at GCDC, we came up with a list of topics that we felt would be important to Greenbelters, including an emphasis on environmentally friendly redevelopment of existing developed areas rather than using open space; maintaining a diversity of housing options so residents can stay in Greenbelt even as their lives and incomes change; attracting high-quality professional and commercial services; improving bus, bike and pedestrian access; making Greenbelt more inter-connected; re-purposing existing unused parking lots (a personal mission); and so on.

What ideas would you add to our list?
Earlier this summer I attended an economic development workshop sponsored by the Prince George’s Chamber of Commerce. Lots of bigwigs and politicians attended, and the discussion was mostly focused on large-scale mega projects, such as the MGM casino-hotel near National Harbor, the new hospital in Lanham, and the FBI relocation to (maybe) Greenbelt Metro.

But I was more interested in smaller-scale projects to attract people and small businesses that fit in our towns and neighborhoods. In Greenbelt, even relatively low-cost initiatives (like the Farmer’s Market) can make a huge difference in our quality of life. Could smaller, less expensive amenities be just as effective in re-energizing our city?

For example, look closely at the mural on the wall in the picture above. For small business, just having nice streets like the mural depicts would be a big improvement. We don’t have many streets like that in Prince George’s County! Notice the street amenities: traffic calming, brick raised crosswalk, wide sidewalk, rain garden, bike lane, trees right up to the curb, bus shelters, street furniture, trash can, street café seating, signage, offstreet parking.

Close-up of the Mural at the State Highway Administration’s Greenbelt (District 3) Office

As a local shopper and a bike rider, that’s what I’d like to see more of in Greenbelt! Instead, we mostly have highways through town that divide our neighborhoods. In my opinion, these highways aren’t particularly friendly for small businesses other than maybe some chains and drive-throughs.

Not-so-Beautiful Streetscapes on Greenbelt Road

Personally, I’m hoping our economic development discussion in Greenbelt will focus on nicer streets. I’m also interested in hearing what Greenbelters and our panelists think about adding more housing in the city, especially near transit and bus routes. Now that so many people can work from home, and so many of us have chosen to age in place here in Greenbelt, does that change the way we should think about streets and roads and economic growth and the city’s finances? Our apartment buildings and office parks and strip malls aren’t getting any younger. What would be the best way to revitalize those areas?

Please join us on Sunday October 4, 1-3pm at the Old Greenbelt Theatre to share your ideas and help spark new thinking on economic development in Greenbelt.

All photos by the author.