Owings Mills
Our Moment
Owings Mills is Baltimore County’s boldest experiment in mixed-use development and also its most instructive lesson. From Metro Centre to Foundry Row to the Owings Mills Mall redevelopment, the area includes every element of a modern urban-suburban hub: transit access, retail, housing and office space as a potential as a hub of financial services and technology industries.
The developers behind all three of these projects lacked county leadership that provided vision and coherence. The result is disjointed pieces rather than a unified whole.
The assets are undeniable:
- A Metro station linking directly to downtown Baltimore
- Easy access to I-795
- A central regional location that should make Owings Mills the gold standard for smart growth
But more than transit adjacent development, Owings Mills is a example of why equitable leadership is important in these projects. Just beyond the storefronts, poverty rates remain high with 97% of local middle and high school students qualifying for free or reduced meals.
Our Mission
The next chapter for Owings Mills must be one of collaboration, where government, developers and community institutions act with a shared purpose to build a connected hub that serves the entire community.
To achieve this, we must align planning and zoning into true Transit-Oriented Development by intentionally integrating housing, retail, offices and public spaces around the Metro.
My consolidated County planning department will work with community organizations to draft a small area plan anchored in data and public input.
That plan will drive new investments that create jobs, training and affordable housing for nearby families. We will engage local schools, business associations and faith-based organizations to proactively connect the mixed-use projects with surrounding neighborhoods.
Owings Mills already has the bones of a vibrant regional hub. What it needs now is leadership, coordination and a commitment to equity. Done right, it can transform isolated developments into a single thriving community.