Infrastructure & Sustainability

The infrastructure of our city is key to the overall long-term well-being of Baltimore. From our transportation systems to parks and water, we must ensure that public resources are leveraged and used in ways that benefit the lives of residents today and tomorrow and will also exist in years to come.

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Together, we can:

1. Advocate, along with partners such as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, for the Red Line to be reconsidered.

2. With an East-West Connector back on the table, move forward on an integrated, efficient, transportation system that:

• Is driven by equity in funding and access
• Demand efficiency
• Is multi-model: effectively linking existing bus, light rail and rail line, the water taxi, bike routes and pedestrian pathways; and
• Is increasingly green.

3. Leverage Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) to:

• Better leverage Baltimore-Penn Station and MTA’s light rail system as the foundational elements of a TOD strategy
• Incentivize developers to build mixed-income (market and affordable) housing at TOD sites and advocate strongly for the success of current inclusive TOD efforts like Innovation Villageand State Center

4. Pay particular attention to sustainable, efficient modes of transportation, including:

• Exploring and identifying corridors for Bus-Rapid Transit (BRT) deployment, and then layer the TOD strategy on those corridors
• Making pedestrian safety a priority in road upgrades to reduce traffic-related pedestrian injuries in the City Moving forward on implementation of the Bike Master Plan with comprehensive bike lane routes

5. Establish sustainable, efficient modes of transportation:

• Implement comprehensive bike lane routes and rapid installment
• Expanding the role of car sharing, Smart City Solutions, and other private sector actors in the City’s transportation system

Current Status:

Source: Baltimore Neighborhood Indicators Alliance analysis of U.S. Census American Community Survey data, five-year average, 2009 -2013.

All Baltimore residents have access to parks and green spaces

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1. Work with the Department of Recreation and Parks and non-profit and community partners in Baltimore to develop an overarching plan for the expansion, maintenance and restoration of our parks and green spaces. This plan should include continued and reinvigorated efforts to:

• Expand the tree canopy;
• Transform vacant lots into pocket parks and urban farms;
• Restore and then maintain our one-of-a kind, world class, Olmsted-designed interconnected park system.

2. Link students (high school through college) to green jobs maintaining city parks and working for local and statewide small businesses, and other leaders in the industry

Baltimore is a leader in addressing climate change and protecting the environment

1. Assess the implementation of Baltimore’s Sustainability Plan (initially completed in 2006) and create an updated plan to guide the next 10-years of investment and action, paying particular attention to:

• The development of green infrastructure through tax credits for homeowners and businesses for retrofitting, and installing solar panels, green roofs and stormwater capture.
• Stormwater management (through the use of revenue generated from the stormwater fee and a possible cap and trade program) to support the further “greening” of Baltimore
• The protection and expansion of wetlands in the Inner Harbor; and
• Energy efficiency retrofits in publicly owned properties — returning savings for re-investment — and in private homes.

2. Prioritize the repair of aging water and sewer lines in areas of the city hardest hit by sewage over flows, consistent with the EPA consent decree.

Every Baltimore resident has access to technology

Together we can:

• Partner with local tech firms, Silicon Valley partners, and the philanthropic community to provide every resident with free Wi and broadband access.
• Expand access to technology by partnering with non- profits and philanthropy to equip City recreation centers with computer labs, coding lessons, and other services to enable youth and families to integrate into the 21st century economy.
• Develop a 5-year Technology Master Plan focused on encouraging innovative city-wide programming, such as Popscope, by intentionally supporting and creating networking opportunities and increasing awareness of applicable funding streams, in line with the existing work of initiatives such as Technical.ly Baltimore.

Authorized by Citizens for DeRay McKesson — Nakeia Drummond, Treasurer