In the years following World War II, with a growing economy and the vast expansion of automobile ownership, there was broad support for investment in highways that would knit the country together. While there was already 1944 legislation envisioning a ...

Tagged with: highways Joe Nathanson Transportation

Another Earth Day has come and gone. For over 50 years we have marked April 22 as a reminder of the obligations we have to protect the environment for the benefit of all life on the planet. But here in ...

Tagged with: climate change Joe Nathanson

The plaque had been missing for some months. But, a few days ago, it reappeared in its new location near the newly reconfigured entrance to the Village of Cross Keys in north Baltimore. The plaque sits in front of a ...

Tagged with: Columbia cross keys james rouse Joe Nathanson planned communities

The 2020 U.S. Census data release, known as P.L. 94-174, made headlines locally and nationally when it was made available earlier this month. Attention has rightfully focused on the use of the data for its intended purpose – the drawing ...

Tagged with: Baltimore census Joe Nathanson

One of my earliest childhood memories is that of being lost … in New York City’s Pennsylvania Station. It was only a brief time that my four-year-old self was separated from my mother, but I certainly felt then and remember ...

Tagged with: Joe Nathanson

The recent tragic events in Atlanta have had me thinking about a consulting assignment I undertook in the region about 15 years ago. The Atlanta Regional Commission, the regional planning entity with responsibility for a 10-county metro area, was assessing ...

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Among his earliest childhood memories, Brian McLaughlin recalls riding his little bike and playing in the green spaces afforded by his Columbia, Maryland, neighborhood. I had a chance to interview McLaughlin recently after hearing him speak about his new role ...

Tagged with: Joe Nathanson

Schoolchildren stranded as they wait for a bus to get home from school. Workers constantly risking loss of a job due to lateness as they encounter unreliable transit connections. Persistent reports of buses out of service due to mechanical breakdowns, ...

Tagged with: Joe Nathanson

We know it has been a tough year, but as 2020 comes to an end and we enter the new year, we have been receiving a flurry of announcements of major development projects suggesting that we may be coming out ...

Tagged with: Joe Nathanson

Gov. Larry Hogan’s recent announcement of grants totaling $19.3 million for eviction prevention benefiting communities around the state is a welcome recognition of a looming crisis. The funds include $2 million for Baltimore city, $3 million for Baltimore County and ...

Tagged with: Joe Nathanson Maryland covid-19 response