The Odenton Town Center (OTC) project develops a 3.5-acre site in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The new Odenton Town Center is the result of collaboration between the Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce and a team of undergraduate Landscape Architecture students at the University of Maryland, made possible by the Partnership for Action Learning in […]
Primary Partner Type: County Government
Messaging Sustainability for Environmental Health
The Montgomery County Department of Parks has asked our team of Environmental Science and Policy majors at the University of Maryland, to assist in developing creative ways to effectively message sustainability as a way to protect the health of County citizens. This paper highlights suggestions for ways to effectively do so. It focuses on the […]
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Greywater Implementation in Montgomery County
The Montgomery County Parks Department needs to adopt an alternative water source to secure the future of their water supply at their Damascus and Cabin John facilities. A greywater system is a viable option. Greywater is a sustainable, innovative water source collected from sinks and ice shavings for reuse options, conserving water, and reducing energy. […]
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Creating Connections Between Environmental and Human Health and Messaging a Call to Pro-Environmental Action
The Montgomery County Department of Parks, and other environmentally-oriented organizations, have historically had a difficult time communicating the importance of environmental issues to the general public. A major reason is that much of this communication has promoted environmental protection for the intrinsic sake of the environment, and not for human well-being. As a result, people […]
Upper Marlboro Community Center Trail Implementation Plan
The Upper Marlboro Community Center offers a wide range of services for the surrounding community, but is currently totally isolated from the multimodal network. No dedicated bike or pedestrian routes connects it to surrounding communities. Despite the lack of pedestrian infrastructure, community members still walk to and from the Community Center, along the edge of […]
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Selecting A Second Site for Prince George’s County Animal Shelter
Our PALS project team worked with Prince George’s County Animal Control to identify potential sites for a second animal shelter. After reading a 2016 feasibility study and meeting with Chief Rodney Taylor and other stakeholders, our team developed a hierarchy of site selection criteria. These included zoning, parcel size, transit access, and more. We then […]
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Economic Impacts of Montgomery County’s Parks
This project’s goal is to analyze how the presence and quality of local parks and open spaces affects adjacent property values and the local economy, and to gauge the public perception of parks in Montgomery County to better understand public opinion and concerns surrounding parks. This project will also recommend how those concerns can be […]
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Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse in Montgomery County Parks
Stormwater management is a vital practice that allows urban areas to mitigate negative water quality impacts associated with urban development. The Montgomery County Department of Parks seeks to increase their reuse of stormwater as part of its commitment to furthering sustainability practices within the parks system and to minimize their impact on the environment. The […]
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Silver Spring Connect: People and Places on the Purple Line
Farm to Fork: Opportunities and Constraints
Our team devised a three-stage system to implement a food distribution network to serve Anne Arundel County clients including private retailers, public institutions such as schools and hospitals, and eventually privately-owned restaurants. The goal is to maximize the supply of locally sourced produce for customers as the demand for local food continues to rise. This […]