City updates 2025 visioning data report; staff says it will inform Build Gaithersburg 2040 master plan

City planning staff presented an updated Visioning Data Report on Sept. 8 and told the mayor and council the 2025 analysis will serve as a baseline for the Build Gaithersburg 2040 master plan process. "This is a joint work session presentation on the 2025 update to the visioning data report," said Kirk Eby, a city planning staff member, introducing the report.

The report compiles data from sources including the American Community Survey (ACS), the Economic Census, CoStar, Esri and Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD), and—where necessary—uses an internal methodology to compare 2016 tract boundaries with 2022 tract boundaries, staff said. "The 2025 report uses the year 2022 for the current year of interest and 2016 as a comparison year," Eby said.

Staff summarized four broad topic areas—demographics, housing, economics and transportation—and highlighted persistent east/west differences east and west of Interstate 270. Emily Fishman, a city planning staff member, said the report’s findings will feed updates to the land use and transportation elements of the master plan and that a consultant report on retail and multifamily markets will follow in early 2026. "It will play a big role in guiding the development master plan recommendations," Fishman said.

The presentation noted limits to the analysis: many data sources use different methods and margins of error can make apparent changes statistically insignificant. Staff also warned that the 2022-based report does not reflect ongoing federal policy changes and recent federal workforce reductions. The report used Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) Round 10 forecasts (adopted 2023) to show projected growth through 2050: roughly 23% population growth, 32% household growth and 37% job growth for Gaithersburg under that forecast.

Staff identified implementation questions for the master plan: whether to prioritize preserving and expanding local employment, whether to encourage conversion of underused office space to other uses, and how to ensure multifamily development includes larger units and preserves affordable units. Laura Mayfield, a city planning staff member, summarized housing implications: "The city should affirm its policy position to ensure that multifamily developments include an appropriate share of larger multi‑bedroom projects," she said, and noted the city's adopted housing element requires 15% affordable units in new multifamily projects.

There was discussion among council members and attendees about how the data should shape policy choices—whether to accept market-driven trends or to adopt proactive land‑use changes such as rezoning to grow local employment. No formal policy action or vote took place at the work session; staff framed the report as an analytic input for forthcoming master‑plan decisions and public engagement.