The Role of Developers in Complete Streets: Reflections from Josh Greenfeld

Developers play a key role in shaping what our city looks like. We sat down with developer Josh Greenfeld to talk about how transportation influences development, and how development influences transportation.

When deciding to pursue an economic development project, what are some of the key aspects you consider? 

When we look at potential real estate development projects, we endeavor to create housing, retail and services that neighbors want and need evaluated against the challenging realities of rents, land costs and construction costs in the Baltimore market. As primarily an urban infill developer, we are creative in re-using existing structures and building new projects adapting to modern lifestyles whether it is co-working office space, modular construction or our next project - a tiny home community for those wishing to downsize and live with a smaller environmental footprint. We believe people want to live, work and play in their neighborhoods and providing them opportunities to do so, especially if they can walk or bike to their destination, is an important part of our development process.

What role does multi-modal transportation play in your development projects? 

Multi-modal transportation is at the forefront of our development philosophy. Currently, our work is focused on the Harford Rd Main Street, a street devoted to fast, efficient vehicle transport for the last half century. As a result of prioritizing vehicles over people, the corridor has seen decreased commercial investment as businesses moved north into the suburbs. While we have been successful in bringing increased activity to the corridor, we believe the Main Street will not reach its full potential until people have multi-modal access to amenities and they feel safe and comfortable walking and crossing the street. For our part, we have supported Councilman Ryan Dorsey's Complete Streets legislation and Complete Streets treatment of the Hamilton Business District, we are planning for bikes, scooters, and electric vehicles on all of our projects and we have applied for grants to improve pedestrian safety through art in the right of ways and new traffic calming bump-outs.

In what ways have the improvements to biking infrastructure on Harford Rd impacted your development projects there? 

Since the Complete Streets re-design of Harford Rd in the Hamilton Business District, at least three new businesses have opened. For our own company, we are looking forward to building two residential projects off Harford Rd, and we are excited that our new residents will live on a safer, more walkable and bikeable street. We also believe increased safety and comfort along Harford Rd. will be a strong selling point to new residents and businesses. We look forward to continuing this street treatment along Harford Rd all the way from downtown to meet the improvements already made in Hamilton.

What makes a healthy commercial corridor? 

Healthy commercial corridors are places where people feel safe and comfortable walking, biking, driving or busing to coffee shops, restaurants, grocery stores, doctor's offices, salons, bars and other businesses meeting their wants and needs. Successful commercial corridors tend to have slower vehicle traffic, reliable bus service, inviting storefronts and safe bike and pedestrian access. In the past, Baltimore had dozens of healthy commercial corridors. Unfortunately, too many have been eroded by suburbanization, car culture and lack of investment in street level retail and services. Our firm believes people have a right to live, work and play in their neighborhoods and that is why we have chosen to re-invest in the Baltimore's commercial main streets.

Why is it important to plan for walking and biking access when developing a project? 

Many people in Baltimore, by necessity or choice, don't own personal vehicles, and research tells us that people who walk or bike to businesses spend more at those businesses. For both social and economic reasons, planning for walkers and cyclists is the right thing to do. While vehicle access and parking remain an important element of commercial leasing, most of the retail and service oriented tenants we see are now looking for bike lanes, bike parking, and safe "complete streets" when considering where to locate their business.

What do you see as the next steps for Baltimore to take in order to become a more walkable and bikeable city? 

Many areas of Baltimore are already very pedestrian and bike friendly with wide sidewalks, bike lanes and paths, and reliable bus corridors. But for Baltimore to take the next step, we must fill in the gaps while providing new services to those neighborhoods not yet adequately served. For example, both Central and Northeast Baltimore, where our firm mostly works, have areas that are pedestrian and bike friendly, but it is difficult to get from one to the other without a car. Completing the 33rd Street Greenway Trails project connecting Central to Northeast Baltimore as well as finishing the Complete Streets treatment along Harford Rd from Downtown through the Hamilton Business District, among other worthwhile projects city-wide, is how Baltimore takes the next step.

A key part of our role as transportation advocates is coalition building. We bring together people from different sectors to demonstrate the widespread value of improved transportation. With developers, this sometimes this looks like consulting on best practices for bike friendly workplaces, sometimes looks like pushing back again bad development, and sometimes looks like education and relationship building to bring together a strong Complete Streets Coalition.

Developers have widespread impacts on our communities and on what our streets look like. Help us continue to partner, educate, and advocate to ensure that the needs of communities are met, and to advocate for good policy that will provide equitable economic development for Baltimore.

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The Future of the Department of Transportation

Our work is focused on improving the way the City operates in regards to transportation. This past year, the City’s Department of Transportation had some challenges that impacted their ability to improve mobility for everyone.

When the former BCDOT Director was appointed by Mayor Pugh, we were skeptical but tried to keep an open mind. Mayor Pugh had consulted with Bloomberg Associates and NACTO, asking for a pool of candidates that could begin to right a long sinking ship. It turned out those recommendations had been discarded for this hire. In our first meeting with the Director, we witnessed some of the specific behavior later referenced in the Inspector General's report that led to her eventual resignation. In the period between her hire and her resignation, many promises were made. We were assured that the bicycle program would be reinvigorated, that resources would be allocated to begin construction of the newly adopted Separated Lane Network Plan. 

It turned out not to be true. No money was allocated by BCDOT for bicycle infrastructure. Some of our talented BCDOT staff began looking for employment elsewhere and departed.

It wasn't all bad. In losing staff, we gained new staff, including a talented new shared mobility coordinator, to oversee what has arguably been the most successful BCDOT program in years: scooters. Later, we gained another talented staffer to replace our departed bike program coordinator. And, some other talented staff leading our Complete Streets program implementation, working in planning, and leading our Transit Division remained on board through all of the turmoil. 

As the Mayor resigned in the wake of the Healthy Holly scandal, the last act of her senior staff, Jim Smith, was to tear out the Roland Avenue protected bike lane, counter to agency engineering recommendations and best practices in safe street design. Shortly thereafter, Acting Mayor Young ordered removal of a block of protected bike lane on Monument Street, again ignoring agency recommendations and best practices.

And then the Office of Inspector General released their report on abusive practices within the Baltimore City Department of Transportation and the Director resigned. 

But again, it wasn't all bad. Steve Sharkey, formerly the head of the Department of General Services and a renowned agency "fixer," was appointed by Mayor Young to lead the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. While Director Sharkey doesn't have a deep transportation background, he has immediately brought transparency, responsiveness, and communication to the agency. We have been very pleased with his first few months, even if this transparency has led to some painful truths, like the true extent of our backlog of grants, promises, and failures to deliver on infrastructure. 

This year, BCDOT will again propose no new money in the Capital Improvement Program for bicycle infrastructure. They are using $500,000 allocated by the Planning Commission last year to engage a series of consultants to bring project management, grant management, community engagement, and engineering expertise into the program. They’re promising to use program money that went unspent over the past few years to implement some quick build infrastructure to close gaps, provide maintenance of existing facilities, and implement projects on routine resurfacings. This is meant to be a one-year reset period where they get caught up. 

We've heard promises like this before. But this time the consultants have been hired and they have started their work. Longstanding promises seem to be getting fulfilled, including exploration of a dedicated striping contract for complete streets facilities like bike lanes and high visibility crosswalks. We are thankful for Director Sharkey's leadership, hopeful that this next year will truly be the year we get back on track. We are ready to advocate for the program's success.

We are entering the new year optimistic that for the first time in awhile, there are good people at DOT ready to move projects forward — ready to create safe streets for all. But in order to hold the City accountable, we need you.

Whether donating your dollars to support our work, or donating your time attending community meetings and being a voice for complete streets, our work to build a force for biking in Baltimore starts with you. Building a city for people means bringing a community together. Our community is ready to keep riding bikes together and keep fighting to make our streets a place for people, not just cars. 

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Bikemore's Best of 2019

Dear supporters,

As we reflect back on 2019, we have a lot to be proud of.

1. Our team grew from a staff of three to five.

2. Our Mobile Bike Shop fixed 90 bikes and talked to 200+ people about how to make their neighborhood streets safer for walking and biking.

3. The dockless bike and scooter permit program became permanent, with ridership peaking at  282,817 in September.

4. At Cranksgiving 240 people rode and volunteered, donating over 1300 pounds of food.

5. Baltimore Rec and Parks purchased a mobile pump track, providing biking recreation opportunities in neighborhoods across the city.

6. Steve Sharkey was hired as the new Director of the Department of Transportation, bringing leadership and transparency to the department.

7. Ten neighborhood leaders, elected officials, and agency staff joined our staff for a study tour about transportation and community development.

8. We won Advocacy Organization of the Year from the League of American Bicyclists.

9. We increased protected bike lanes, with Monument Street and Covington Street lanes built and President Street under construction.

10. Our Complete Streets bill is becoming the Complete Streets Manual, ensuring that all future streets are designed for people not cars.

And it’s you, our community and supporters that have made this possible. We’re ready to build on these wins in 2020, and we hope you’ll join us in building a city for people.

From our team to yours, we’re wishing you the best in the new year!
— Clarissa, Danielle, Jed, Liz and Menelik

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The role of Neighborhood Leaders in Complete Streets: Reflections from Keisha Allen

We first met Keisha Allen, a neighborhood leader in South Baltimore and resident of Westport, when we were working with South Baltimore Gateway Partnership to study the viability of a pump track. In our conversations with her, it was clear that, as a long term community leader, she had powerful insight into what her neighborhood needed in terms of Complete Streets.

In July, she joined us on our Memphis Study Tour, part of the PeopleForBikes grant that we were awarded along with funding for the Big Jump. We chose Memphis because of how the city has embraced addressing needs for a better transit system, and because it  carries a similar history and demographics to Baltimore. We recently caught up with her to ask about her reflections on the trip. 

Why is it important to have a neighborhood that is safe for biking and walking?

People in cities are increasingly getting rid of their cars or opting out of obtaining a driver’s license to use public transportation. As this trend continues to grow, we have to invest in protected bike lanes and safer, wider sidewalks. Since cars are still necessary for many of us, we need to ensure everyone has a safe experience regardless of what method a person decides to use.

What do you see as the biggest challenge to making your neighborhood safer for biking and walking?

Convincing my neighbors that the true purpose of changing the design and layout of our roads and sidewalks is not a precursor for gentrification and/or displacement. Recent history has shown that it has been. I live in a neighborhood where transportation improvements have been promised but delayed for 20 years with all kinds of silly excuses. Now that active real estate development is happening nearby, we expect people to make bike lanes a higher priority over dozens of other requests that remain unfulfilled from multiple master plans that we believe are more important. When my neighbors and I petition to the city for improved lighting, crosswalks, sidewalks, traffic calming modifications or bus shelters, we are ignored or simply told no. The rejection of addressing these safety related improvements force us to make dangerous decisions on how to navigate around the neighborhood.

What was something you learned or experienced in Memphis that surprised you?

Despite bike lanes being a relatively new concept in Memphis, drivers were extremely courteous and patient to cyclists. For instance, I remember struggling to pedal through an intersection on Mississippi Blvd when the light turned green for the car traveling in the opposite intersection. I shouted, “I’m sorry”, and the woman shouted back, “Get it Girl! Take your time!” We cycled through dozens of intersections and not once did a driver blow their horn or swear at us. 

What strategies did you learn from people in Memphis that will help you promote biking and walking in your neighborhood?

Hearing directly from residents in South Memphis on how bikes were introduced to their community as an alternative to Memphis’s long wait times for using public transportation. Listening to a particular woman’s story confirmed that if you want community buy-in, fellow community members must lead the mission, not special interest groups or lobbyists.

What part of the trip had the most value as it relates to your role as a neighborhood leader?

The most valuable part of the trip was the people who traveled with me to Memphis. There were community leaders like myself, bike activists, and elected officials sharing the same experience. We all returned home with a better understanding on how bikes and walking can add value to all of Baltimore’s 278 neighborhoods.

What are your hopes for the future of biking and walking in Baltimore?

I would love to see cyclists, pedestrians and drivers form a meaningful collaboration to promote a culture of mutual respect, patience and understanding, but most importantly, safety awareness.

Keisha emphasizes the need for people to be on the same page, coming from a belief that everyone deserves respect and safety on the street. She shares how her experiences in Memphis solidified that getting community buy-in requires leadership from the community and widespread agreement, truly seeing how people who bike, walk, take transit, and drive could respect and collaborate to create safe options for multi-modal transit. And she calls to attention the historic pattern of city government ignoring and deprioritizes neighbors’ requests for improved walking and transit access, but addressing requests when they’re aligned with development interests.

We were excited to bring Keisha on this trip to continue cultivating relationships with neighborhood leaders that have been doing the work of building streets for people much longer than we have. We know change starts at the community level, and that is why we’re investing our more of energy into leaders like Keisha in 2020.  

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Emphasizing Community in Policy: Reflections from Delegate Melissa Wells

We first met Delegate Wells (40th District) when she was running for office, impressed with her campaign and her work as a labor organizer. We were excited to engage more with her district, and with her work on the Environment and Transportation committee. 

Back in July, she joined us on our Memphis Study Tour, part of the PeopleForBikes grant that we were awarded along with funding for the Big Jump. We chose Memphis because of how the city has embraced addressing needs for a better transit system, and because it  carries a similar history and demographics to Baltimore. We recently asked Delegate Wells about how she was impacted by the Memphis trip.

What were your perceptions on biking in Baltimore before you went to Memphis?

My main perception is that there is a lot of animosity and resistance to accepting inclusion of biking and pedestrian infrastructure in Baltimore.

What was something you learned in Memphis that surprised you? 

I learned that it was strong executive leadership support for expanding access to pedestrian and bike infrastructure. It was because the Mayor could see the positive impacts on health and mobility as well as an opportunity to implement equitable investment in infrastructure in areas of the city that have been historically underinvested.

What did you find most valuable about the trip? 

Learning about the genuine community engagement process that yields support and buy-in from the community. Genuine community engagement is incorporated to identify problems as they are defined by the communities in the impact area and that provides space to be part of the planning and implementation of these community identified solutions. This type of engagement is something that many communities struggle with and that has made acceptance of biking infrastructure contentious, especially in low-income communities of color.

What value do you see biking, walking, and transit infrastructure providing for your district in Baltimore? 

Multi-modal infrastructure provides an opportunity to move people in a balanced and safe way. It means people who are not in vehicles, who are often the most vulnerable, can get to where they need to go safely and with dedicated routes that match the mode of movement that they are using. It makes our communities safer and also encourages development and placement of resources that are accessible by walking or biking. I am also familiar with data that shows business on main corridors are more likely to get more foot traffic and therefore business.

What do you see as some of the biggest barriers to improving transportation choice and safety on our roadways? 

I think a challenge that we suffer from in Baltimore is that oftentimes the conversation is already framed around biking, specifically that we lead with biking, which is a barrier to getting the buy-in of communities that sorely need multi-modal design. I learned that we can say we are designing with the community in mind, but that we also lead the conversation in ways that don’t genuinely offer a level starting point. Doing this often means we are asking for community sign-off rather than genuine space for discussion of the problems, needs and solutions. We also have limited city and state resources to support expansion of biking and walking infrastructure. I also think public safety may have an impact on buy-in from city residents who don’t have to rely on public transportation but might otherwise consider using it if they felt safer, and arguably even residents who might be public-transit dependent but use ride-share instead. Public safety also keeps all residents from considering even leisure walking and biking and forces many to see this issue as a frivolous.

How do you see what you learned in Memphis influencing your work on the Environmental Transportation Committee? 

It helps me think more about what resources are needed to support equitable engagement of disparate communities around design. It has helped me think more about how not to come to a conversation with preconceived ideas and definitions of the problem, but to let the community lead the way. 

What is your biggest hope for transportation policy in Baltimore? 

Generally, people are resistant to change, but I think the trip to Memphis helped me think more about how to frame initial conversation and steps toward cultivating genuine community input and design. I think that in my district as well as other areas there is alignment in the need for more multi-modal options, but we are often lacking in establishing an engagement and design model that offers upfront input. I would also add that leadership is key, and that it makes me think about my own leadership as well as that of our City Executive. 

Through the Memphis Study Tour, we were able to learn alongside elected officials like Delegate Wells. We wanted to provide an opportunity for elected officials to learn from other cities, so that we can transform what the process looks like together back in Baltimore. 

We know we must change how the political process works in our local and state system. In 2018, we passed the Complete Streets Bill with these principles in mind: it changes the way the Department of Transportation interacts with communities. We’re supporting more Complete Streets champions in office and partnering with them to build political interest and capital through programming and outreach. This is how we build streets for people equitably.

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