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It's Monday morning, parents are walking to the downtown Silver Spring Metro station after dropping off their children at summer camp for the arts and grabbing a quick cup of coffee at Panera Bread. A new bicycle shop is opening its doors for the first time, fulfilling a longtime dream of a new business owner, and the AFI theater is gearing up for another film festival for the summer.

Now instead of downtown Silver Spring, picture Addison Road or New Carrollton. Last month, on a beautiful Friday morning at the Naylor Road Metro Station, Gov. O'Malley, surrounded by community activists and elected officials, outlined a vision for Prince George's and the Maryland that was as promising as it was bold. The Department of Housing and Community Development is moving to Prince George's.

We see evidence every day of the stimulus effect of transit-oriented development, or TOD, around us — through the success of the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring and the residual development of downtown Bethesda. Each is anchored with large employers who contribute to the local and state economy in significant ways and continue to build a community where all can come to eat and play.

We can bring this same sort of progress for Prince George's County. With 14 Metro stations, Prince George's has the largest untapped TOD potential in the state.

The county has struggled to attract an anchor business or federal agency that would lend itself to a fully realized vision for community and true economic development, which can represent a major turning point in economic development not just for Prince George's but for the state.

TOD is a critical component of the state's Smart, Green and Growing initiative aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, sprawl development and traffic congestion, while fostering economic growth. It also offers residents a convenient commute to jobs, shopping and entertainment in the region.

If a TOD site is chosen from among the many potential sites in the county, it would represent a major step by the state to increase our competitiveness in attracting more federal agencies to our state and Prince George's, which has had a demonstrated stimulus effect on our sister state of Virginia.

During the 2008 session, the General Assembly and the Prince George's County delegation appointed a task force to study whether a site in Prince George's County, where no state agencies are headquartered, could meet an agency's needs, and it was determined that DHCD would provide a large enough anchor to jump-start the vision of so many that has never been realized.

Moving DHCD not only will stimulate the economy of Prince George's County, but it will go a long way toward creating another downtown Silver Spring or Arlington, Va. — increasing our competitiveness in attracting federal agencies and businesses that support those agencies, while creating a stable economy that can sustain itself in the future and for generations to come.

Raymond Skinner, Baltimore

Raymond Skinner is secretary of the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development.