IN THE BALTIMORE area, regionalism spawns much more hot air than concrete action. Water and sewer systems and transportation planning are largely regional efforts, but that's about it. A few years ago, there was talk of tax-base sharing, as in Minneapolis, and regional land-use planning, as in Portland, Ore. But that draws little support -- then and now. "They'd string me up," Julia Walsh Gouge, a Carroll County commissioner, says.

Yet development rapidly sprawling over Maryland's farms, forests and wetlands is one of the state's greatest long-term problems, affecting the vast majority of Marylanders. Over the next 20 years, the state will grow by more than a million residents, resulting in the loss of another half-million acres to development and an almost 50 percent increase in Central Maryland's developed land.

Sprawl's costs are pervasive, including: construction of highways, utilities and related infrastructure; air and water pollution and water shortages; lost time in traffic jams; spatial mismatches between jobs and workers and between schools and students; and concentrated poverty in urban areas. These boost Marylanders' tax bills, far outstrip the current projected $1.8 billion state budget deficit and increasingly will gnaw at the state's resources -- unless growth is better managed.

That can only happen with exceptional political leadership from Gov.-elect Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Unfortunately, there are many reasons for him not to take action. For now, the state budget crisis bars new initiatives. Smart Growth was Gov. Parris N. Glendening's initiative. Anti-sprawl measures challenge closely held local powers. And in any case, Maryland politicians have long ignored sprawl.

But that's no longer possible. If there was a common issue in local elections across the state this fall -- particularly in the suburbs of Central Maryland, whose voters elected Mr. Ehrlich -- it was poorly managed growth. Sprawl increasingly constrains Maryland's progress and may well become one of the top issues in the next gubernatorial campaign.

For Mr. Ehrlich, a major attack on sprawl in the Baltimore region would take political vision. It would involve selling the notion that as Baltimore goes, so goes the region and the state. It would involve extending many of Mr. Glendening's Smart Growth initiatives. As better economic times return, it would mean markedly increasing state investment in more sustainable patterns of development:

Rural land preservation: Thirty years ago, northern Baltimore County was largely protected by down-zoning to one house per 50 acres. Rural zoning in the rest of the Baltimore region is hardly that protective; preservation hinges on buying land or development rights. But state land preservation funds have been cut by almost half, even as rising values make such purchases more expensive. Maryland needs to significantly increase these investments in saving dwindling rural land.

Suburban managed growth: Under Smart Growth, every county has had to designate growth areas. But most Baltimore-area counties aren't fulfilling the intent. Over the next 20 years, 75 percent of the region's newly developed acreage is expected to be outside growth areas. The governor-elect should back a proposal by the Home Builders Association of Maryland to require counties to tally by a consistent standard all potential building lots. The results would show a shortage of buildable land and the need for closer-in, higher-density development. Stepped-up state incentives to specifically reward that should follow.

Urban redevelopment: Every dollar spent wisely on city crime-fighting, drug treatment and schools invests in the well-being of the entire region and state. Right now, the city rises in desirability as baby boomers age and their children leave home. Property in parts of Baltimore is red-hot. To extend that, Mr. Ehrlich must protect the recently reduced state historic preservation tax credit for developers; increase funds for the Community Legacy program, which last year received $100 million in applications statewide for $10 million in urban neighborhood revitalization plans; and provide tens of millions of dollars for Baltimore's new targeted approach to clearing land for development.

Regional mass transit: Investment in the Baltimore rail plan would tie these efforts into a coherent strategy to spur private investment along transit corridors. This is a 20- to 40-year commitment, but time for Mr. Ehrlich to back the plan's first lines fast approaches with next year's federal transportation authorization, which could provide at least half the initial $2 billion. Ultimately, the rail plan may require a sales tax increase, but the region and the state can't afford to lose any more time in seizing this singular opportunity to counter the outward pull of development.

In 1922, Henry Ford vowed, "We shall solve the city problem by leaving the city." His creation and government subsidies enabled that exodus. Now is the time to lessen many of the land-use, environmental, transportation and economic problems of the Baltimore region and the state -- by returning to the city. Now is the time for concrete action to raise suburbia's quality of life -- by a commitment to Baltimore's health.

Twenty years, more than a million people, another half-million acres, and an almost 50 percent increase in Central Maryland's developed land. The path toward solutions goes back through Baltimore -- and must be led by the governor of Maryland.