Urban Maryland Development Map

Last summer I created a custom Google map of new high-density development projects (residential, retail, and commercial) in the Maryland side of the Washington Metropolitan Area. I used a smaller map, created by the Bethesda/Chevy Chase Regional Services Center for tracking development in Bethesda, as a template. The map is still incomplete, but after investing a ton of time in it I've managed to add locations/info on over 150 projects.

Included in the map are high-density developments (ranging from large scale multiple building mixed-use projects to single residential buildings) including mid-/high-rise buildings (5+ stories) completed since 2005,  under construction, or in planning stages. For each project there is a photo and description of the project. I'm a stickler for accuracy so to my knowledge all of the info is up-to-date and correct. 

My original plan was to cover all of the urban areas in Central MD from the DC suburbs to Baltimore (and maybe DC and Arlington Co./Alexandria), but with the rapid growth this area is experiencing (although it's currently threatened by a looming sequester) that quickly proved to be impractical. Currently the map includes all high-density projects in the following areas:

- Silver Spring (downtown)
- Bethesda (downtown)
- Friendship Heights/Village
- North Bethesda/White Flint
- Wheaton (downtown)
- Rockville (Twinbrook Area)
- Rockville (downtown)
- Rockville (office parks near Shady Grove Rd)
- other random projects

As I mentioned before, I probably won't be adding many more areas in the foreseeable future due to the amount of work involved (adding what I have currently took far longer than I expected it would). I would like to add certain projects in Gaithersburg and Germantown in Montgomery County, as well as College Park/Hyattsville/Riverdale Park, New Carrollton, and National Harbor in Prince George's County though. I will continue to constantly update projects already marked.



View Urban Maryland Development in a larger map

As you can see, there has been a significant amount of high-density development in the area over the past eight years with plenty more to come. Long established urban areas like Bethesda and Silver Spring are experiencing renaissances as new residential and commercial developments make them more attractive to prospective residents and businesses. At the same time heavily-suburban areas comprised of seas of parking lots and strip malls, such as North Bethesda/White Flint, downtown Hyattsville, and downtown Wheaton are transforming into high-density mini urban meccas. 

University Town Center in Hyattsville

Even more important is the fact that the vast majority of these new developments are going up around transit stations (particularly Metro, although some are going up around MARC stations as well as future CCT/Purple Line stations). This type of transit-centric urban development, termed "smart growth," is more sustainable and practical than the sprawl-type development that drove growth in suburban MD (and Northern VA) during the 1990's and decades prior. Unfortunately there are still some remnants of sprawl-type development in both Prince George's and Montgomery Counties.

North Bethesda Market II in White Flint
(will be the tallest building in MD's DC suburbs)