JULY 2009

Wed, July 1 Residential Design Awards registration and payment deadline.

Thurs, July 23 Residential Design Awards board submissions due to AIABaltimore at 4:30 p.m. SHARP.

SEPTEMBER 2009

Fri, Sept 4 22nd Annual AIABaltimore Golf Outing.

Reality Check Plus Implementation

As the fifth most congested state in the country, Maryland is expected to grow by another 1.5 million people by 2030. In a concerted endeavor to plan for where all these additional people will live, work and play, several organizations launched Reality Check Plus last spring. ULI – Baltimore (Urban Land Institute), 1000 Friends of Maryland and the University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth partnered with several other organizations. AIABaltimore contributed $5000, and dozens of our members worked as volunteer facilitators and recorders at the four events held throughout the state. These daylong exercises enabled about 850 of Maryland’s community and business leaders to face the challenging issues of growth, and to work together to reach consensus on policies and actions to deal with projected population increases.

The work did not end with the four events in June. In September a report was released with the first analysis of the Reality Check vision contrasting the development path we are on now. You can get your own copy on the website www.realitycheckmaryland.org. This is full of useful information including a number of benchmarks such as how much new pavement would be needed and the amount of impervious surfaces we can expect in different development plans.

This work continues to put the Reality into Reality Check. Issue-specific forums were held last fall to get fresh ideas on transit, density and open space. Research is being conducted on varied scenarios to best inform decision-makers on ways we can grow smarter and how to benchmark our progress. There are meetings with county government, businesses and citizen groups.

This legislative session there are even a few pieces of legislation that impact growth, and for the most up-to-date information on these, visit www.friendsofmd.org.

We encourage you to stay involved in this effort. Please contact Dru Schmidt-Perkins at 1000 Friends of Maryland, 410.385.2910 or dru@friendsofmd.org.

AIABaltimore meetings and events are open to and provide all architects – members and non-members – with Maryland continuing education credits required for licensure.