What is NeighborSapce?
NeighborSpace (NS) is named and modelled after a Chicago land trust which seeks to preserve open spaces in developed areas (urban land trust). In the case of Baltimore County, where 77% of the population live on about 30% of the County land area, NS tries to protect open spaces inside the URDL, the urban rural demarcation line which Baltimore County adopted in 1967 (!). Back then, in the middle of a period when new-towns, urban renewal and urban expressways were all the rage, concerns about the environment and the protection of rural areas were already flaring up. Concerned citizens in the green valleys of northwest Baltimore County formed already 1962 the Valleys Planning Council and found out through studies of the development patterns how threatened these beautiful landscapes were.
Baltimore County government listened and created the line which became famous as the URDL. The 1967 growth boundary puts Baltimore County 13 years ahead of Oregon and its famous Metro boundary around Portland.
Land outside the URDL was protected through revolutionary zoning of 1 unit per 50 acres. Back then this was considered to be almost undevelopable (the era of McMansions on huge lots had not yet begun). And it worked. The County, compensating for the fact that it had taken so much land away from developers, created three towncenters in which new development was encouraged to happen: Owings Mills, White Marsh and Security Square. The latter was later decommissioned as a designated center (although some signs that call the Security Square Mall area a towncenter still remain). At the same time similar towncenter concepts took root in Howard County (Columbia) and in Fairfax County (Reston).
The focus back then was clearly on protecting the rural valleys and just like in Oregon, there was less consideration for what should happen inside the development boundary. As it turned out, there was still plenty of space inside the URDL allowing sprawl, large lot development on well and septic and many less than well designed subdivisions. The town centers of White Marsh and Owings Mills were nothing but huge malls in a sea of asphalt (in the case of Owings Mills eventually even with a subway connection which was kept in a safe distance from the mall) surrounded by standard vinyl suburbia, so drastically disconnected from the malls that the whole notion of town seemed outright frivolous. While all this went on, the older established historic communities of the County aged without much investment. It took a good while (around 1994) until under Executive Dutch Ruppersberger (now Congressman Ruppersberger) an understanding set in that the "inner ring suburbs" would follow the fate of "inner city neighborhoods" if there wouldn't be a push for "renaissance", investment and increased quality of life. It was in this period that the idea for NeighborSpace was first bounced around, then became part of the County Comprehensive Plan and was eventually implemented as a resolution-bill (sponsored by County Councilman Kamenetz) which established a County funding mechanism to allow a non-profit land trust to buy easements or land inside the URDL. The correct thought here is that the concept of concentrating development in already established communities needs to be complemented with measures that increase the quality of life. Good accessible open space for playgrounds, active or passive recreation or just as an environmental restoration area is a key component of this quality of life strategy.
Today NS is nearing its 10th year of existence and has protected nine green spaces with a total of 26 acres for about $625000. Some sites are less than a 1/3 of an acre small, some are up to 7 acres large. At least two more sites are in the immediate future. All sites are cared for by local "stewarts". Efforts are underway to create criteria for evaluating sites regarding the value they offer from environmental to recreational with special emphasis on networking and creating a system of spaces. With the new stormwater regulations in effect that put stringent nutrient reduction protocols in place to protect the Chesapeake Bay, small open spaces in built up environments have value from yet another perspective.
Thus urban green space protection and smart growth can not only co-exist but are actually conplementary to each other.
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| Gwynn Oaks green space dedication |
I am Vice President of NeighborSpace, a 501c3 non-profit organization.
Links:
NeighborSpace
Slide Presentation at the Honor's Breakfast
History of Baltimore County land protection
Rural Land Preservation facts, Baltimore County
National Statistics on Land Trusts
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