Economic Impacts of Vision Plan

Columbia, Maryland

Columbia, Maryland was created by developer James W. Rouse in the 1970s as a “New Town.” Located between Washington, DC and Baltimore, Columbia has developed into a desirable community, but its downtown has not achieved full vitality. The community, along with Howard County, conducted a visioning process to guide future downtown development, targeting a mix of pedestrian-oriented uses to accommodate housing, employment, retail, entertainment, and active recreation. As stakeholders reviewed implementation steps, including funding major infrastructure and event programming activities, BAE was engaged to prepare an Economic Benefits analysis.

BAE utilized IMPLAN in conjunction with localized development assumptions and the Howard County Budget to assess the number of jobs, economic activity, and public revenues that will occur as a result of investing in the Vision, compared to a No Plan alternative.  Our work included extensive discussions with the master developer, General Growth, to document phasing and amount of space to be developed.  BAE described the economic benefits at the county, state, and national levels of the combination of public and private investment expected from the Vision, and provided a framework for discussion of these benefits in public meetings.  BAE also completed several case studies to illustrate the ability of attractive suburban communities to support denser downtowns, including Reston, VA and Walnut Creek, CA.