Manifesto
We want to build Owings Mills in a way that discourages its
presently sprawling patterns of development. We would rather
see Owings Mills grow in a manner which encourages an
urbanistic, civic life.

We value dense development for two main reasons: because it
encourages a sense of community and because it is more
environmentally reponsible.

We want to value and express the systematic connections between
Owings Mills and the outside world. The highway, the metro, and
the parkway connect Owings Mills to Baltimore and to other
towns in the area. The Red Run Stream and the Gwynn's Falls
River are part of a riparian system which also connects Owings
Mills to Baltimore and to the Chesapeake Bay.

To accomplish these goals, we have established our own
guidelines for structuring Owings Mills:

	There should be a mixing of uses for most areas in
		Owings Mills.
	Places of gathering (town squares, plazas, community
		centers, farmers markets, etc.) should be readily accessible
		from different areas of the town.
	The connections between the more urban, commercial,
		civic area (near the mall) and the more residential area (on
		the hill) should be clearly expressed.
	A diversity of transportation should be available and
		encouraged: 	
		Owings Mills should be a place where bikers and
			pedestrians should be accommodated.
		A system of public transportation should be developed. 
		Car traffic should not imede these other modes of 
			transportation.
	Parking should be on the street as much as possible. Overflow
		parking should be accommodated in structured parking and in
		lots.
	Roads should have a scale and route which suggest their
		relative importance, i.e. bigger roads lead to more public
		spaces, smaller roads lead to more quiet and private places.
	Buildings and landscapes should have a discernable hierarchy.
	Buildings should be mostly in human scale.
	The town should be an energy-efficient place: including solar
		power, natural lighting of buildings, improved hydrology.
	The stream and its buffer zone should be left as park land,
		recognizing that it is both environmentally sound to prevent
		the stream's pollution, and also culturally important for the
		town to share a common park space.
	A system of urban hydrology should be developed which not only
		serves to manage storn water, but which also organizes and
		structures the circulation and gathering of people. This urban
		hydrology mitigates the damaging effects of dense development
		on the stream, and it also acts as a measuring device for
		weather and climate changes throughout the course of the year.