An account of the origin, enactment, and implementation of Maryland’s Smart Growth land use program begun in 1966.

Sprawl & Politics: The Inside Story of Smart Growth in Maryland (Suny Urban Public Policy)

Business & Money

Frece, John W.

Economics

State Univ of New York Pr

An account of the origin, enactment, and implementation of Maryland’s Smart Growth land use program begun in 1966. Sprawl and Politics is a political history of the origin, enactment, and implementation of Maryland’s well-known Smart Growth and Neighborhood Conservation initiative. It is an insider’s look at the political pressures and decisions made by Parris N. Glendening, the former governor of Maryland, and his top staff as they worked to enact and implement a new program to manage growth and curtail sprawl. The book traces the evolution of the Smart Growth program from its substantive underpinnings to the political and public relations strategies needed to assure the program’s adoption. Known around the country almost immediately after it was enacted, the program’s incentive-based approach served as a model for other states struggling with growth pressures but reluctant to regulate land use. With a perspective only a participant could provide, John W. Frece examines the incidents, issues, pressures, and personalities responsible for shaping the program as well as the challenges faced putting the ideas into practice. “…Sprawl and Politics is the first thorough examination of the political history of the smart growth program in Maryland, and it is an important book for anyone interested in understanding the politics behind urban growth management … It is a short, concise, and interesting read, offering a unique inside glimpse into the politics around managing growth in Maryland.” — Environment and Planning C: Government and Policy “This topic is terribly significant. The conversation about how America ought to grow, and the reasoned responses that Governor Glendening fashioned, are nationally significant.” — Keith Schneider, Director of Program Development, Michigan Land Use Institute “This book is written in a smooth, engaging style and should appeal to planning and environmental activists who need to know the challenges of making Smart Growth happen.” — Carl Abbott, author of Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest

Sprawl and Politics: The Inside Story of Smart Growth in Maryland (Urban Public Policy)

State University of New York Press

Gun control, voting rights, family planning, and environmental protection—these are all hot-button issues today, but they were also the same difficult and intractable issues that Senator Joseph D. Tydings of Maryland faced during his tenure in the Senate in the 1960s. In this timely memoir, Tydings looks back on a life of public service, from the Maryland General Assembly to chief federal prosecutor in Maryland and ultimately to the United States Senate. As an early “Kennedy Man,” Tydings’s political stock soared, but it just as quickly crashed because of his willingness to go “against the grain” on perhaps one progressive issue too many. As the adopted son of a US senator, grandson of an adviser to three US presidents, and step-grandson of perhaps the wealthiest woman of her age, Tydings nevertheless made his own way, rising from horse platoon corporal in war-ravaged Germany to legislative reformer. He prosecuted fellow Democrats for fraud, stood up to presidents over Supreme Court nominees and the war in Vietnam, and faced down segregationists over voting rights. His family planning initiatives are still in effect. He battled the National Rifle Association over gun control—and suffered the consequences. After a decade of political assassinations, from the Kennedy brothers to Martin Luther King Jr., and a turn to the right with the election of Richard Nixon, America’s political climate soured for progressive politics, and Tydings narrowly lost reelection. My Life in Progressive Politics provides an important, insider account of a landmark era in American politics.

My Life in Progressive Politics: Against the Grain

Biographies & Memoirs

Tydings, Joseph D.

Historical

Texas A&M University Press

My Life In Progressive Politics

Tydings, Joseph D. (Joseph Davies)

College Station : Texas A&M University Press

Self-Destruction: The rise, fall, and redemption of U.S. Senator Daniel B. Brewster

Hollywood-handsome Daniel B. Brewster had it all: inherited wealth, stellar education, combat Marine, prestigious horse farm, gorgeous and talented wife, and two young sons -- even a seat in the United States Senate. He was called "the Golden Boy of Maryland Politics." In 1964, as a stand-in for Lyndon Johnson in Maryland's Democratic Presidential Primary, Brewster defeated the segregationist George C. Wallace, a victory that was credited with clearing the way for congressional passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.\nBut then, debilitated by alcoholism, Brewster self-destructed. He lost it all -- a breathtaking descent into divorce, electoral defeat, a bribery scandal, financial collapse, and personal shame.\nAs a 20-year-old Marine lieutenant on Okinawa, Brewster fought in some the most savage combat of World War II. During the three-month siege, he was wounded seven times, including by one bullet that tore through his helmet. He was later decorated for valor. He returned from war bursting with ambition. He earned his law degree and quickly rose in politics: state legislature, Congress, and the Senate. He won his first 12 elections, almost always as the leading vote-getter. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer both got their start in Brewster's Senate office. He became friends with Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.\nBut Brewster's long marriage to Carol de Havenon collapsed after he reunited with Anne Bullitt, the ambassador's daughter who had jilted him 24 years before. Not long after their marriage, however, Brewster's drinking and other political missteps led to his 1968 election loss to Republican Charles McC. Mathias, Jr., a lifelong friend. After fleeing to Ireland, Brewster was hospitalized for alcoholism, only to learn that a once loyal aide had accused him of accepting bribes. It was rock bottom.\nBut Dan Brewster had a third act. He survived his six-year legal ordeal, quit drinking, and married Judy Aarsand, whom he had met in rehab. He became a doting father to their three children. Gradually, he reclaimed his dignity, helped other recovering alcoholics, joined hospital boards, and quietly found equilibrium and happiness in a life filled with enormous highs and lows.

Leaders & Notable People

Loyola College/Apprentice House

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