Families that live along Metro's proposed Purple Line route, including working families like Maria and Jorge's (photo above), urgently need your help.

Communities surrounding the Purple Line Corridor need a Purple Line Compact—an agreement that the benefits of transit will be shared by everyone along the Purple Line Corridor, not just developers and large business owners. 

While this 16-mile light rail transit project promises a greener way to travel and easier access to jobs and schools, it also carries the risk of fast-rising rents that will push out low-income families. Children will be forced to leave their schools and friends. Vibrant parishes, like the Comunidad Catolica of Langley Park, of which Jorge and Maria are members, and other community groups may simply disappear.

The State of Maryland is investing more than a billion dollars of tax-payers' money into the Purple Line project. We want to make sure that the project benefits everybody, not just developers. We can do that by asking our elected leaders to establish a Purple Line Compact, a "community benefits agreement" which would protect low-income housing and promote job opportunities for all.

The new Purple Line will connect New Carrollton to Bethesda, passing through the communities of Riverdale, College Park, Langley Park, Silver Spring and Bethesda. These communities are home to many low-income, working families struggling to make ends meet. If economic development along the new Purple Line is not intentional in addressing the need for good jobs and affordable housing in these neighborhoods, we risk having the mass displacement of many already stressed families, resulting in severe social consequences, especially for children and youth.

Without a Purple Line Compact, expensive condos will replace the already limited number of affordable apartments. Without protections, the small, family-owned stores and restaurants that serve the many immigrant and minority communities along the proposed route will be priced out of business.

A strong Purple Line Compact will guarantee affordable housing, foster the growth of new jobs, protect small businesses and strengthen our communities. It's the right, moral, and smart thing to do and we want and need our elected leaders to support it.

En español: Estamos hablando aquí de parte de muchas familias trabajadoras pobres y grupos comunitarios, como por ejemplo los que habitan en Langley Park y Riverdale, que podrían ser desplazados por el desarrollo económico de la Línea Morada. Urgimos a las autoridades locales a establecer un acuerdo para la Línea Morada, que asegure vivienda accesible, aumento en las posibilidades de empleo, y protección de grupos comunitarios y pequeños negocios, localizados a lo largo del corredor de la Línea Morada.