Lunch will be served.
The purpose of the Mayor's Red Line Summit is to engage community leaders, businesses, institutions and organizations in a conversation about how we can all make the most of the Red Line Transit Project. As the Red Line moves into its final planning stages, Mayor Dixon wants to leverage every possible opportunity to make the Red Line work for our communities. This means focusing not just on where the line will run and where stations will be located, but more importantly how the Red Line fits into our communities. The Red Line Project will generates jobs, present economic opportunities and offer housing choices, while preserving our unique urban environment and historic districts.
The Mayor's Red Line Summit will bring Baltimoreans together with local and national experts and community leaders from other cities to discuss ideas and plan for the maximum possible benefit we can achieve with the Red Line. Our goal is to bring together 300 people from the Baltimore region to help develop our Red Line plan. Community leaders, business owners, institutional representatives, environmental activists, transit riders, local government employees, and anyone else interested in making a regional transit system work for our City is invited.
This workshop will focus on how the design and construction of a transit project like the Red Line can bring additional job opportunities to the citizens of Baltimore. The panelists should highlight their experiences in the developing job training programs and local hiring agreements related to construction projects. Additionally, presenters will discuss opportunities for small, minority and women-owned businesses to participate in design and construction contracts for the Red Line.
This session will focus on how modern bus and train stations can be designed to fit and complement the surrounding community. The panelists in this area should focus on stations that have been built in their community which have sparked community revitalization efforts and the role that community groups played in working with state/city transit agencies to make these stations safe and user friendly. The session will also include community improvements the city and state could undertake such as the revitalization of parks, public buildings (such as libraries), and the streetscape of roads and sidewalks. Transit Oriented Development (TOD) will also be discussed in the context of how new stations, if constructed properly could bring new businesses and patrons into areas that were previously inaccessible.
This session will focus on the economics of housing projects near transit stations, and how community groups can work with the transit agency to be sure that affordable housing is part of any transit-oriented development. Creating housing choices that allows those who provide essential services in our community - its municipal employees, firefighters, police officers, and teachers - to actually live in that community. Affordable housing in conjunction with TOD will enable Baltimore to have a varied housing that is connected to the transit network. An increased investment in public transit could provide more connections among jobs and housing.
This session will focus on the natural environment such as: stream protection/restoration; trail interfaces, improving air quality, etc. The panelists in this session should go over various conservation measures that were taken in the projects that they helped to design and build. The process of environmental stewardship and low-impact construction methods will also be discussed. Panelists will share how community groups and environmental activists can engage with City and State agencies to achieve the highest possible standards of environmental conservation through the Red Line Project.
This session will focus on how a properly built transit line can preserve historic structures and features of growing cities and improve citizens’ access to them. Panelists in this session will share their knowledge of how historic sites and buildings were preserved in different cities where systems similar to the Red Line have been built. Construction methods that safeguard historic structures will be discussed, as well as how a new transit project can support current historic preservation measures. Panelists will highlight how funding from transit projects can be used to further maintain and improve/restore historic structures.
