Maryland county tames suburban mess

North Bethesda, Md.

CONGESTED and derided, the Rockville Pike thoroughfare, which connects Bethesda and Rockville, troubled local residents, officials and developers for years.

"I've lived in this area most of my life, and people would ask where I was from," said Amy Ginsburg, executive director of Friends of White Flint. "I wasn't really from Rockville, and I wasn't really from Bethesda. There was no sense of place, just shopping centres and horrible traffic up and down the pike."

Her organisation, a nonprofit funded by residents, businesses and proper…