My HoCo By Design Testimony

Posted on June 16, 2023June 16, 2023 by Jenny

This past Wednesday, I testified in person at the Howard County Council's first public hearing on the HoCo By Design general plan update. While I ran short on time and had to skip over a few parts toward the end, this was largely what I stated (and sent) to the Council: Good evening, council members. My name is Jennifer Solpietro, and I am on the Board of Directors of the Howard Progressive Project and a member of the Howard County Housing Affordability Coalition. I am a resident of Harper’...

Time For Spring Cleaning on Housing

Posted on March 20, 2022March 20, 2022 by Jenny

Hey y'all. It's spring in Maryland... the grass is turning green, trees are starting to bud, and Mother Nature is throwing out random temperatures like she's picking Powerball numbers. It's also spring in an election year, so local candidates are out and about canvassing, doing interviews, and making social media posts. Which means that the usual myths and bellyaching about housing, adequate public facilities, and school capacity are making the rounds in Howard County's metaverse. So tod...

The Voices of Roslyn Rise

Posted on October 3, 2021October 3, 2021 by Jenny

Roslyn Rise is an aging income-restricted housing community in Wilde Lake Village in Columbia. It has fallen into disrepair in recent years, and the former property owner struggled mightily to afford the upkeep as the deterioration worsened. Recently, Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit started by Jim and Patty Rouse, purchased the property and created plans to redevelop it, ensuring that existing Roslyn Rise residents can live in modern, safe, and healthy homes at below cost. Residen...

Perception vs. Reality

Posted on July 10, 2021July 10, 2021 by Jenny

This is a multi-part series making yet another effort to correct misinformation and false narratives surrounding housing in Howard County. See the post Tale As Old As Time for the first part in the series. In Tale As Old As Time, I noted that there are some ubiquitous narratives surrounding development in Howard County that are little more than old wives' tales. I went on to list three tenets that contradict these narratives (our infrastructure inadequacies are the fault of elected official...

Tale As Old As Time

Posted on July 8, 2021July 8, 2021 by Jenny

This is a multi-part series making yet another effort to correct misinformation and false narratives surrounding housing in Howard County. There are a lot of old wives' tales out there, well-worn precepts that are nearly universally believed because they contain a tiny grain of truth, but are otherwise bogus. You'll catch a cold if you go outside with wet hair in winter. You should wait an hour after eating before going swimming. Developers have ruined Howard County with overdevelopment and ...