Thrive 2050

Image: Montgomery Planning


We WON! After over three years of advocacy, it’s done. On October 26, the Montgomery County Council passed Thrive 2050, which is now the new general plan for the county. You and your neighbors have sent thousands of emails to Planning Commissioners and County Councilmembers, testified multiple times, and attended dozens of meetings. You have taken action again and again, and the County Council listened.

Thrive is an overwhelming success. It unabashedly embraces smart growth as the best way to grow to provide opportunities for everyone while fighting climate change. It envisions a network of complete communities connected by green boulevards with a range of housing opportunities for people of all backgrounds. It recommits to the county’s Agricultural Reserve and seeks to create a world-class transit system that is safe, efficient, and sustainable. With Thrive, we can all thrive in Montgomery County.

Our Partners

Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers

Not only is Thrive the right direction, but it’s popular

In a poll, 55% of likely Democratic voters expressed support for Thrive, with strongest support from Black or African Americans, people under 45, and renters. In a questionnaire, over 60% of BIPOC survey respondents said Thrive “absolutely fits” their vision for where the county should be going.

Residents also support the ideas in Thrive. In another poll, 61% of respondents supported the construction of duplexes, townhomes, and/or apartments in their own neighborhood and 76% supported redesigning roads to prioritize safety over vehicle speeds.

Why do we need a new general plan? The general plan was last comprehensively update in 1969, and our county has changed and grown a lot since then. The way we’ve grown has worsened climate change by exacerbating sprawl and entrenching existing racial and economic segregation that was created through redlining, zoning, and restrictive covenants. The county’s demographics are also significantly different than a few decades ago. Over the next 30 years, our built environment must adapt to an aging population, smaller household sizes, and increased multigenerational living.

Where we live and how we get around is core to everything — it impacts our health; social networks; and access to jobs, food, daycare, schools, and more. By adjusting how we grow to use land more efficiently and make more neighborhoods affordable to more families, we can improve sustainability, inclusivity, quality of life, and access to opportunity for everyone.

Our role: Montgomery for All first came together in 2019 to create a platform for what we wanted to see in Thrive 2050. A draft of the plan was approved by the Planning Board in April 2021. Throughout 2021 and 2022, we advocated to the County Council to maintain the Planning Board’s bold vision, while making it even stronger. After years of advocacy, Thrive 2050 passed in October 2022!

What’s next? After winning our vision in Thrive 2050, Montgomery for All’s advocacy will ensure that the general plan is implemented as rapidly, effectively, and equitably as possible. To make Thrive a reality will require changing what we allow to be built in certain places, investing more in transit and affordable housing, redesigning our roadways to be safe for all users, and much more.