Regional Community Development News – , 2007 [regions_work]


A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

1. Regional cooperation key to Louisville's success -

Clarksville and Hopkinsville leaders gathered last week to take a deep look at how Louisville and southern Indiana are working together on regional economic development.

What they found were groups on two sides of the Ohio River and in different states working on an interesting mix of communication and cooperation.

The key issues being tackled are business recruitment, transportation improvements and education.

"Regionalism is where the action is, " Metro Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson told delegates from Clarksville and Hopkinsville. "It (is) purely economic. I prefer to work hand-in-glove on interstate cooperation and see a company locate in nearby southern Indiana rather than in Memphis."

The framework for collaboration in the Louisville region is chambers of commerce and economic development agencies in several counties in both Kentucky and Indiana.

Greater Louisville Inc. is the merged Chamber of Commerce/economic development agency for the Kentucky side. One Southern Indiana is a similar entity for two counties, Clark and Floyd, in southern Indiana.

These agencies joined with other groups and businesses to form a Regional Leadership Coalition. Grants totaling $400, 000 from two nonprofit foundations helped get the organization off the ground.

The regional approach has led to some concrete action. In April 2007, Greater Louisville Inc. and One Southern Indiana signed a formal agreement to cooperatively market, attract and retain businesses in the region. The two groups also helped form the Ohio River Bridges Project, a regional effort aimed at solving a key transportation problem — aging and inadequate bridges across the river.

...

"Economic development used to be about 'location, location, location.' Now that's shifting to 'work force, work force, work force, '" said Michael Dalby, president of One Southern Indiana.

As a result, the regional coalition is working to ...

RC: Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency

2. KC should look to Seattle for inspiration - Kansas City Star - MO, USA

More than 120 Kansas City area civic leaders saw a lot to like and imitate during their three-day visit this week to the Puget Sound.

Top lessons learned: The Kansas City region simply must invest more time and money in higher-quality universities, in life-sciences research, in a regional transit plan and in a lively downtown.

Still, the trip will have yielded little more than some business networking and late-night bar tabs unless the people who came to Seattle address key questions in upcoming months.

...

•When will suburban mayors realize their job isn’t solely to preside over a nice place for people to live and shop, but to help support a thriving metropolitan area?

...

•Do some of Kansas City’s major institutions — the Mid-America Regional Council, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce — need new leaders? Or new missions?

Smart, hard-working veterans lead the agencies’ staffs: David Warm at MARC, Jewel Scott at the Civic Council and Pete Levi at the chamber.

While having a gung-ho, younger leader might be intriguing at all three institutions, the truly basic problem is that all three groups follow the traditional conservative leadership style of Kansas City: Get involved, but don’t push too hard or too publicly for change.

One of the prime stumbling blocks is the ongoing suburban vs. urban tussles between political and business officials.

For example, the elected officials on the MARC board have chosen not to act together to implement earth-shaking changes such as a region-wide transit system, even though Warm and his staff developed a pretty good SmartMoves plan.

Seattle is far from perfect. But the recent trip ought to help energize key Kansas City area political and business leaders to work more smartly to improve life for their residents and their employees.

3. Local leaders in Denver for inspirational-com - Birmingham, AL, USA

Look for obvious and not-so-obvious solutions to improve regionalism, research-based economic development and mass transit in Denver that can be applied

in Birmingham - and then go back and start working on them, UAB President Carol Garrison told a delegation of community, business and elected leaders Sunday.

The group of more than 110 people is in the Mile High City with the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce for a 48-hour crash course on lessons leaders there have learned when they worked to establish funding for transit, bolster research-based development and unify Denver's seven-county metro area.

"There is much to learn in Denver, " Garrison, the chairwoman of the chamber's board, told the group as they noshed on chili, spicy chicken salad and ranch beans at the Hyatt Regency hotel Sunday afternoon during the chamber's sixth Birmingham Innovation Group, or BIG, trip.

Attendees include the mayors of Birmingham, Hoover and Gardendale; representatives from the Jefferson County Commission, economic development officials and state legislators.

"A community is much like a college or university in that it should never stop striving to be the very best it can, " Garrison said.

She added that Birmingham "is making significant progress, had made significant progress and will continue to make significant progress."

She urged attendees to strive to work together to produce real results from the Denver trip. To help promote that, the chamber for the first time will organize subcommittees after the group returns on specific topics such as regionalism, public transportation and public-private partnerships to promote university research and economic development.

"We've been going on these trips for six years, so this is a natural progression, " ...

RC: Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham

4. Solid waste deserves a regional approach - Lynchburg News and Advance - Lynchburg, VA, USA

In just three minutes last Tuesday night, the Board of Supervisors in Amherst County dealt a body blow to the concept of regionalism in Central Virginia.

On a 4-1 vote, the supervisors decided not to join the regional solid waste commission, which the counties of Nelson and Campbell along with the cities of Bedford and Lynchburg have already formed. Under the pact, the members would have started hauling their waste to landfills in each of the member jurisdictions, beginning first with Lynchburg.

That would have continued for six years, or until the city’s landfill filled up. Then the member localities would have turned to Campbell County for the next nine years.

...

Region 2000 has been studying the concept of a regional solid waste initiative for several years and thought a stop-gap solution to the long-term problem of trash disposal had been devised. By forming a regional authority and utilizing landfills in Lynchburg, Amherst and Campbell on a rotating basis, planners hoped to gain a 20-year bit of breathing room, time to develop new, high-tech, cost-effective ways to deal with solid waste well into the 21st century.

Now, thanks to shortsightedness on the part of Amherst County’s elected leaders, that’s all thrown into doubt. At the very least, that 20-year window of opportunity has been severely shortened.

Amherst County, whether its elected leaders like it or not, is part of a regional economy, is part of Central Virginia. The county’s residents commute to jobs in Lynchburg, Bedford or Campbell. Lynchburgers come to Madison Heights to buy cars or eat out.

Bottom line, Amherst is not an island unto itself, divorced from its neighboring jurisdictions. Amherst’s elected officials have bought into the concept of regionalism when it’s benefited them: Economic development, transportation planning and the regional jail authority ...

RC: Region 2000 Regional Commission

5. Economic Development Collaboration Funds Research of Fragmented Government in Northeast Ohio - Fund for Our Economic Future

The Fund for Our Economic Future voted today to assist in paying for a research project that will assess the costs and benefits of Northeast Ohio's fragmented governance structure.

The Fund, which unites philanthropy to support regional economic development, will contribute as much as $100, 000 to the study, which will measure the costs of government to the typical citizen of Northeast Ohio compared to analogous regions with fewer governments per capita or more substantive forms of government collaboration.

"This study is a proactive effort to bring facts to a sometimes emotional debate. With no preconceived notions, we hope to learn the costs and benefits of having many local governments, " said Brad Whitehead, president of the Fund. "We hope the study's findings will provide the region with guidance on how best to proceed to maximize government efficiency and effectiveness in Northeast Ohio."

Increasing government efficiency is one of the four focus areas of the region's economic action plan, Advance Northeast Ohio. The Fund is working with partners in the public and private sectors to implement the plan.

The fragmented government study is expected to cost $175, 000, with additional funds being used for communication and citizen engagement. Other funders of the study include the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber and the Samuel H. and Maria Miller Foundation. Pending funders include the George Gund Foundation and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The Fund and its partners in the study intend to retain the Center for Governmental Research, Inc. (CGR) of Rochester, NY, which has conducted several similar studies in other regions. CGR will research the costs of government in the four Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Northeast Ohio: Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Youngstown. The findings will be compared with costs of government in communities outside of Northeast Ohio.

"Taking an objective look at the structure and cost of local governments in the region will provide a fact-based starting point for identifying opportunities to improve how local government services are provided in Northeast Ohio, " said Charles Zettek Jr., CGR's director of local government management services.

6. Tokyo's neon lights to dim as Japan ages - Washington Post, United States

... suburbs of Tokyo, built by the government to accommodate people who flocked to the capital from the countryside as Japan's population exploded in the past few decades, will be hit hard as Japan's population shrinks to an estimated 90 million in 2055 from around 127 million today.

Experts predict that some of these suburbs of high-rise apartment complexes could become ghost-towns ...

Some senior citizens who can afford to buy property in central Tokyo are moving out and the population is already starting to decline in some areas, hurting the local economy. Corner stores are shutting down and streets are often deserted.

...

Development experts say the Tokyo metropolitan government should start preparing now for the city's grey future, such as building old age homes for the millions of elderly people who will need nursing care as their health declines.

"Few local governments appear to recognize this, " said Kosuke Motani, an expert on regional development at the Development Bank of Japan.

Some experts say the Tokyo metropolitan government, now busy with its bid to host the 2016 Olympics, is turning a blind eye to its likely demography in less than a decade.

COMPACT CITIES

Though greater Tokyo does not yet have a clear strategy for dealing with its graying population, some other Japanese cities are already taking steps of their own.

Aomori, near the northern end of Japan's main island of Honshu, has banned development work in suburbs to bring those living on the outskirts back to the city centre.

Aomori's attempt to turn itself into a "compact city" by concentrating the dispersed population in the city centre near railway stations is seen as a model for many other cities in Japan and abroad that are facing steep drops in population.

...

7. Taking faith in community - Citizens Voice - Wilkes-Barre, PA, USA

Patty Conklin watched the neighborhood around her church fade from a manicured corner of a busy business district to a place she wouldn't want to be at night.

...

She and other religious people throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania are acting through their churches to take on very secular issues of community development and government.

About a dozen congregations have joined in an ecumenical group called Faith Speaking With One Voice. They hope to transform the region by taking on crime and drugs, as well as a lower-profile scourge: the fractured array of postage-stamp municipalities.

...

Small municipalities struggle to deliver services and are taxing themselves out of existence as they try to keep up. The lack of cooperation, the group feels, hampers the region's ability to attract employers and jobs.

Church groups are getting involved now because they see a languid economy and loss of good jobs as one cause of consolidating churches, closing parochial schools and even the departure of Scranton's last kosher butcher.

"We are not just doing this because it's right or because we are nice people, " said Faith Speaking State Coordinator Pete da Silva. "There is some self interest in play - like any community institution, we need people to survive."

Most faith systems, da Silva said, can be boiled down to three exhortations: prayer, study, and action. Far too many, in his view, fail on the action.

Many regions have ecumenical councils of churches, some with hundreds of member congregations. But meetings rarely attract more than 20 representatives who focus on relief for hurricane victims or injustices in Darfur, da Silva said, but rarely confront problems in their own communities.

Although Faith Speaking is comprised of people from various churches, Conklin said many people wrongfully view it as a religious group.
...
RC: Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance (NEPA)

8. Bruns talks regional cooperation - Wyoming Business Report - Cheyenne, WY, USA

The National Center for Atmospheric Research’s new super computer project will help expand the technology corridor from the Colorado Front Range north into Wyoming, according to Cheyenne LEADS President Randy Bruns.

And Bruns said that’s important because the Front Range corridor communities all need to work together to surmount growing work-force shortages.

“We’re all going to benefit up and down the Front Range, ” Bruns said of the NCAR project. “And we all need to, because we’re in a race, a race for workers…. That shortage is not going to go away. That shortage is going to hit nationally.”

Bruns said he supports the regional push to “cement our future on the backs of computers, the computer industry and technology. NCAR is a piece of that.”

But, he added, “we’re going to have to work together to establish ourselves as a corridor, as a center for technology, or we’re all going to lose out.”

...

9. Dreaming big in a small valley - Napa Valley Register - Napa, CA, USA

...

Beaulieu, who chaired the Contra Costa County Cultural Commission for the past four years, attended the American Canyon meeting to offer his experience and encourage the community to think regionally about the arts.

“A rising tide raises all the ships, ” Beaulieu said. “At some point, all this energy can come together and we can create a more regionally powerful and cohesive art community.”

On a county level, that’s exactly what Arts Council Napa Valley is engaged in this month, with four more “town hall” meetings from Napa to Angwin.

“This is a movement, ” said Arts Council director Michelle Williams.

The cultural planning process began, Williams said, when valley leaders realized that between 2004 and 2006, “we lost 12 arts organizations, including galleries, performance groups, dance groups and theater companies.”

The lack of planning made it difficult for the arts to thrive, Williams said. Beginning early this year with support from the Community Foundation, Arts Council began working on what will eventually become the valley’s cultural plan.

“It’s a series of recommendations to help strengthen the arts, and it’s a road map, ” Williams said.

The “town hall” meetings like Monday’s are at the heart of the planning process: This is when anyone can weigh in during a conversation moderated by consultant Morrie Warshawski.

Williams said language should be no barrier to Spanish-speaking residents: Arts Council will have a translator, “whisper machines” and Spanish-language materials at each meeting.

10. U.S. regional communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Highlighted words are Google search terms. In this and the following section, links to websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story. In most cases, where a full name is present a Google search will quickly get one to that organization.

.10 Cooperation needed to create a climate for entrepreneurs
Surry Business – NC, USA

Regional cooperation in rural America is rare, however, he said. In most successful regional collaborations, Drabenstott continued, “there is an organization that brings the community together — a ‘King Arthur’ who creates the regional roundtable. In many cases, the catalyst of regional cooperation is either a non-profit group or a university or community college.” ...

.11 Breakfast meeting promotes regionalism
The Southern - Carbondale, IL, USA

Organizers of the first-ever Prosperity through Partnership breakfast called in one of regionalism's biggest boosters to help them promote the concept to the novices in the room. ...

.12 Making smarter use of region's hydropower
Buffalo News - NY, United States
Think of the giant hydropower plant north of Niagara Falls as a set of jumper cables with enough juice to help restart the stalled regional economy. Smart allocation of the low-cost power it generates could give a boost to key business sectors deemed as having the best growth prospects. ...

.13 Region can soar with aerotropolis
Detroit Free Press - United States
Passenger and freight rail will take on new importance to our region. Plans are already underway to connect Detroit and Ann Arbor through commuter rail. ...

.14 Doak: Iowa isn't enough. Sell the best region in the nation: the Midwest

DesMoinesRegister.com - Des Moines, IA, USA
Iowans need to start thinking more regionally - not just regionally within the state but regionally across state lines. We should begin to see ourselves as a part of something bigger - the Midwest. ...

.15 Southwest Tenn. Development District gets a new CEO
Jackson Sun - Jackson, TN, USA

Joe Barker, executive director for Tennessee Tomorrow Inc., recently accepted the position as chief executive officer with the Southwest Tennessee Development District. ...

.16 New program hopes to tap into state's rural assets
Palladium-Item - Richmond, IN, USA

... program is based on one developed in Nebraska and aligns with the Rural Indiana Strategy for Excellence 2020, a 15-year initiative addressing regional planning, education and health care, among other topics.

.17 BOC sends letter to OPAC protesting state's proposed methods of establishing Marine Reserves
Curry County Reporter - Gold Beach, OR, USA
... concerns regarding the establishment of Marine Reserves and Wave Energy in the first three miles of the Curry County coast. ... "Why can't one reserve be established within a bioregion with all habitat types in it? ...

.18 Drinking Water on Decline in Charles, Study Finds
Washington Post - United States
The agency, which is finishing a study of Southern Maryland's water supply, briefed local officials on the findings at a Tri-County Council for Southern ...

.19 Detroit Renaissance joins state to promote growth
DetNews.com - Detroit, MI, USA

... an official corporate partner with the Michigan Economic Development Group. ....

The MEDC has partnerships with 132 economic development organizations to promote development and create jobs, ...

.20 Freeholder candidates want less county power
Cherry Hill Courier Post - Cherry Hill, NJ, USA
"As opposed to let's chop up a neighborhood, we need a serious long-term solution, " said Marino, suggesting instead a regional, tri-state solution to create ...

.21 Atlanta Regional Commission to vote on $67 billion to-do list
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
The Atlanta Regional Commission is scheduled to vote Wednesday on the Regional Transportation Plan, a 25-year to-do list of $67 billion worth ...

11. Other in the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 EU still aims for balanced economic growth
Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
From its earliest days, the European Union has aimed for balanced economic development across its many regions. ...

.11 Commission Communication on "Competitive European regions through research and innovation"

... policy paper presented last week, the European Commission seeks to offer guidance to national and regional authorities on how to interlink Cohesion Policy programmes with innovation ...

.12 Universities Could Play a Greater Role in Regional Development
Xorte-com

Universities could play a stronger role in the economic, cultural and social development of their regions, according to a new OECD report. Higher Education and Regions: Globally Competitive, Locally Engaged argues that regional ...

.13 International Conference To Explore Community Tourism
PR-GB.com (press release) - Sofia, Bulgaria

... region to understand the common challenges associated with the development of the various types of community tourism programmes. ... European partners in the CANTATA Programme ...

.14 Diversity and civic disengagement
Economic Times – India

A recent survey conducted by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam covering 41 communities, including Boston, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, has underscored this growing body of research that points to diverse populations extending themselves less on behalf of collective needs and goals. He found that more diverse communities tended to “distrust their neighbors, regardless of the color of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television”. ...

.15 Passengers desert London for regional airports
Telegraph-co-uk - United Kingdom

British travellers are deserting Gatwick and Heathrow in favour of regional airports, according to figures released by the Civil Aviation Authority ...

.16 Kingdom's Economic Growth Is Par Excellence
Arab News - Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC), located in Rabigh, near Jeddah, is the largest of the four new cities planned. In all six new cities have been announced. These cities are intended to function as catalysts for regional development. ...

.17 Rise above geographical boundaries for regional development
The Daily Star - Dhaka, Bangladesh
He said local and regional development is not possible with the help of distant international bodies like International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank ...

.18 Grasping the full economic impact of Caribbean tourism
Jamaica Gleaner - Kingston, Jamaica
Past agreements with Europe have treated tourism as if it we are in some way marginal to regional development. "By every measure, we are central to the ...

.19 Africa: Improved Regional Integration Still Key for Success
AllAfrica.com - Washington, USA
And many of those woes could be solved through development of further intraregional trade. "The relatively small weight of intraregional trade in Africa, ...

.20 Skilled workforce shortage: Hard realities
Sify - Taramani, Chennai, India
The Government's role would have to change from being a vocational training provider to a partner and facilitator, the report concludes. ...

.21 Nine cases of Ebola confirmed in DR Congo region
AFP -
Nine cases of Ebola virus have been confirmed in the West Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo that is at the epicentre of an ...

.22 'Future directions for evidence-based decision making in the Pacific'
Saipan Tribune - Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia
"Future directions for evidence-based decision making in the Pacific' is the theme for the regional meeting of the heads of Planning and Heads of Statistics ...

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 One Long Island Project: Dynamic, Collaborative and Sustainable Regionalism ...
By LIIF(LIIF)
First a word about the posts and ideas on the Long Island Idea Factory site. While we are primarily concerned with our home region of Long Island, we believe that many of the ideas we are proposing would work in other regions of New York State and elsewhere as well....

.11 Transportation Regionalism
By cthompson
He said he hopes to make Burke "a national model for mixed use and general aviation." The mayor also laid out a vision for what he called "transportation regionalism, " a vision to bolster the region as a major transportation hub. ...

.12 Cleveland + Minus Akron & Canton
By Ed Esposito(Ed Esposito)
So much for regionalism; what I'm sure was an off-handed remark to a couple hundred Cleveland big shots reflects more of the real thinking along the lakefront when it comes to regionalism and just how far folks will go in turning ...

.13 Humble Dean emphasizes education, regionalism
By Rob Robinson
While observing that it was not a focal point of the campaign, Dean stated that regionalism and a move toward regional thinking for Nashville and its satellite cities would be a major priority during his time in office. ...

.14 Regional economic development: Generation change
By Ed Morrison
Here is one of the most thoughtful analyses I've come across on the generational shift taking place in regional economic development. It's just that in Youngstown, the shift is clearer to see, and we have people like Phil Kidd and John ...

.15 East Portland
By Urban Planning Overlord(Urban Planning Overlord)
And, as overlords in the know can attest, counties do a lousy job of local area planning for a number of political and institutional reasons. When Portland and Gresham annexed these areas in the 1980's and 1990's they were characterized ...

.16 SI WORKS for Southern Illinois
By Amelia
The mission of SI WORKS is to develop plans to establish an innovative regional economy that is competitive with that in other parts of the state. The program will accomplish this by creating a "robust healthcare system that utilizes ...

.17 Diving Deeper into University Changes
By cthompson
As I've noted before, regionalism doesn't make hard decisions go away. But it should mean that people involved in the decision-making process trust each other and the process enough to have confidence that the outcome will be best for ...

.18 Suburban Networking: Silicon Prairie Social
By Eric Waltmire

Connect local people with others in their industry and build community; Raise the profile of the Silicon Prairie through the publicity generated around the events; Foster investment and economic development in the region by showcasing local businesses, entrepreneurs, and startups. ...

.19 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Announced
"The GTA is home to a diverse cluster of technology companies, ranging from telecommunications to software and hardware developers, and with green technologies quickly emerging as a lucrative new sector, the region is well placed to ...

.20 New articles at C@tO
By Andy Miah
This article offers a detailed look at regionalism when devising a cultural programme for an Olympic and Paralympic Games. Regionalism is an area rarely dealt with successfully by Olympic hosts, in part because the Games contracts are ...

.21 The Toaster awards for crimes against amenity
By Phil
Regional winners were Stocklands for a shopping mall in Mudgee and a residential development in Vincentia, with the most environmentally-destructive regional development going to Centennial Coal for the Anvil Hill coal mine in the ...

.22 Top Six Regional Conservation Priorities
By Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Comprised of the Metropolitan Washington District Council of the Urban Land Institute, the Metropolitan Washington Builders' Council, the Coalition for Smarter Growth, the Metropolitan Washington Board of Trade, Enterprise Community ...

.23 Ethiopia gears up to benefit from landmark coffee-name trademark ...
By Africa News Network(Africa News Network)
A precedent-setting deal with coffee giant Starbucks this year allows Ethiopia to promote the names of its coffee-growing regions worldwide. Hopes are high that this strategy will increase the coffee's value and hopefully bring a ...

.24 We're from the guv'mint...an' we're heah to he'p you...or not
"It really appears to me that the state has had an overabundance of caution to prevent fraud and abuse, " said Walter Diggles, executive director of the Deep East Texas Council of Governments. "Every time we talk to them they say, 'Look, ...

.25 Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council Newsletter
By Roger Green(Roger Green)
The Fall 2007 Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Review - Newsletter of the G/FLRPC has come out, featuring: · Tracking Our Changing Region: The Regional Land Use Monitoring Report · Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) Program Update ...

.26 What Baristaville Can Learn From Katrina
"You must work regionally and cooperatively and think about where you make investments, " said powell, of the Kirwan Institute at Ohio State University.

.27 New Vision for a Historic Space
By Peter Hellman
The pair -- a nonpracticing architect and Slow Food advocate, Robert LaValva, and a city planner, Jill Slater -- is determined to see the historic Tin Building reborn as a public market offering regionally produced artisanal foods. ...

13. Announcements and Regional Links

.10 More on megaregions - At Lincoln House, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy – USA

The planning concept of megaregions - areas with common economic and planning goals that spill over the boundaries of major metropolitan areas and of states as well, like the Boston-Washington corridor or the Pacific Northwest - face challenges in the areas of governance, transportation policy, and shifting economic geographies, according to a new report by the Lincoln Institute and the Regional Plan Association.

Megaregions, a termed coined by Armando Carbonell, chair of the Department of Planning and Urban Form at the Lincoln Institute, and Robert Yaro, president of the Regional Plan Association, have become an important construct in the national planning framework, informed by American, European, and Asian precedents. The Lincoln Institute and RPA have convened several conferences to explore the idea of spatial planning in the US. One such gathering in Healdsburg, Calif. in April, produced a compilation of papers in the report, "The Healdsburg Research Seminar on Megaregions". The case studies include a look at infrastructure and environment problems in California, transportation planning and existing regional planning organizations in Texas, urban and rural densities in the Midwest, and the polycentric model in Western Europe.

"Each of these papers deals with a particular piece of the geographic puzzle, and contributes greatly to megaregion theory, planning, and policy development, " says Carbonell.

More information on megaregions is available at the Web site America 2050. Megaregions also factor into new thinking on national transportation planning and funding mechanism, in another joint publication of the Lincoln Institute and the RPA, "The National Roundtable on Surface Transportation."

.11 2007 State of the Future

The 2007 State of the Future report offers well-researched evidence of global trends and challenges that are shaping the agenda of the United Nations. Executive Summary and elements available on-line as downloads.

.12 Developing regional clusters and networks - Berlin - November 15, 2007

Cluster are a popular policy tool: Many cities and regions support networks of companies and science in specific branches and technologies to boost innovation and regional development. But the successful management of such knowledge-intensive networks is challenging: Cluster managers and policy makers need sound information to formulate strategies, monitor success and communicate their networking activities. Appropriate tools for the management of clusters are therefore gaining importance.

Within the RICARDA project researchers and practitioners from Austria, Sweden, Hungary and Germany have explored the potentials of intellectual capital reporting for regional networks during the last two years. This method was originally developed for private companies. Intellectual capital reports support management and policy makers developing cluster initiatives by highlighting the intangible assets of networks: What know-how do members bring to the network? How do they cooperate? Of what quality are the networks linkages with important stakeholders?

Programme and registration:

http://www.ricarda-project.org/news/ricarda.programme.pdf
http://www.difu.de/english/

Contacts: Daniel Zwicker-Schwarm Holger Floeting

14. Subscription

.10 More commuter delays ahead? - Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX, USA

Yesterday was a bad day to go to work – even by Monday morning standards.

Tens of thousands of downtown-bound DART riders quickly learned that weekend construction that should have been finished by 5 a.m. was still very much under way, delaying trains for as long as two or more hours.

Meanwhile, drivers didn't fare much better. A police chase that ended when a suspect shot himself to death kept Central Expressway closed in both directions for much of the early rush hour.

And that's not even the bad news, transportation officials say.

If Monday was bad – future delays are only likely to be that bad or worse, they said.

Travel time is getting slower every year, thanks to the nonstop population growth and a bottleneck of road and rail projects that can't seem to keep up with demand.

"All of our excess capacity has been taken out of the system, " said Michael Morris, transportation director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments. "So if you have a construction project that takes longer than it should, a major freeway incident, or even just a special event [held downtown] during a busy time – any of those events and you may see delays on the road."

...

Problems ahead

Dallas traffic problems are not hard to understand, Mr. Morris and other officials say.

The population here adds a million people every seven years, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Traffic has grown, too, and at a much faster clip than the combined capacity of new and old roads.

Over the last 20 years, for instance, traffic on freeways has about doubled, the total miles of freeway lanes has jumped just about 32 percent, according to a study released this month by the Texas Transportation Institute.

...

15. Google News for “Regional Community”

Other menu sections available from this link include: regions, regional, regional community, region, Regional Council, regional development and other search terms. They can be sorted by date or relevance. These are among the 50 search terms I use to produce this newsletter.

My name is Tom Christoffel. I've worked in the field of intergovernmental cooperation since 1973. As a consequence, "I see regions work." Regional Community Development News is published weekly based on news reports as of Wednesday.

Making visible analysis and actions at multi-jurisdictional regional scales is its purpose. "Think globally, act locally" was innovative in its time. Today the local scale is often too small to address today's needs and opportunities. "Think local planet, act regionally, " is my candidate paradigm. (No one said we're only allowed one paradigm.)

We can see that “regional communities” are organized locally and now act both to avoid tragedy in the commons and gain benefits. An effective multi-jurisdictional regional community has DNA: it is geographically Defined; has a common Name and its Alignment is inclusive of smaller communities and participatory in larger communities. So, by scanning this compilation, reading articles and checking organizations - you too will be able to see the regional communities that already exist.

News references are found using the Google News search service. Media article links are “fair use” to transform globally scattered reports to make regional approaches visible. Links go to the publisher and do not compete with it. Such publishers are likely to have related stories and thus be seen by new customers. “Regional” is an emerging news category. There is no charge for this service and no profit is made from its use, though any user can become more aware of the topic itself.

To read and search previous issues go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

The term “Development” was added to the name in January, 2006.

For a free subscription use this email link – no additional information required:

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For the Google Groups version go to:

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Editions since April 11, 2007 can also be found at: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?

Please e-mail the editor: Tom.Christoffel@comcast.net or Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP Making regions visible for Leaders and Problem-solvers. www.regionalintelligence.com or www.regions.ws

Regional Community Development News – September 12 & 19, 2007 [regions_work]


A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.


1.
Coalition created to address I-81 issues - The Patriot-News - PennLive.com, PA

A six-state coalition aimed at addressing concerns along Interstate 81’s 824-mile route is starting to coalesce, and one of its first focuses will be on dealing with increasing traffic congestion.

Officials from Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee voted to create the coalition Wednesday at the close of a conference on I-81 sponsored by Cumberland County commissioners.

Participants, including government and business leaders, planners and conservationists, agreed to begin by forming a planning committee.

They also picked congestion - a common complaint midstate commuters have regarding I-81 - as their flagship issue.

"We are forming a coalition," said Cumberland County Commissioner Rick Rovegno, of one two Pennsylvania representatives tabbed for the planning board.

For months, Rovegno has pressed for creation of a lobbying group for I-81 patterned on the Interstate 95 Coalition, which was formed in 1992 and now has more than 1,000 members from Maine to Florida.

The I-81 coalition’s planning panel will include officials from the transportation departments of all six states, a representative of the North Eastern Pennsylvania Alliance and experts in planning, economic development and local government.

Freight industry representatives will be non-voting members.

...

2. I-10 one of 6 US routes due for more truck traffic - Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA

As one of six interstate highways identified to become a magnet for heavy truck traffic, Interstate 10 could undergo more widening or other changes in the next few years.

The U.S. Department of Transportation wants to route truck traffic onto specific highways so congestion can be more easily dealt with, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters said. The six selected highways will benefit from increased funding so they can handle the extra load.

Spending options include adding truck-only lanes, building new roads, building bypasses and adding technology to road systems as the program — called Corridors of the Future — works toward its goal of reducing congestion and improving freight efficiency.

Interstate 10 is slated to receive just $8.6 million for the whole stretch, from California to Florida. However, Peters also is encouraging local governments to work with the private sector, which could mean more investments.

The other Corridors of the Future roads are I-95 from Florida to the Canadian border; I-70 in Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio; I-15 in Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California; I-5 in California, Oregon and Washington; I-69 in Michigan and Indiana. Interstate 69 is planned to become a key trade corridor linking Canada and the Mexican border at Texas.

"The trade and tourism corridors are becoming so congested that they are having an effect on our economy," Peters said while in Tucson last week. "We need to do something about congestion."

Though the Arizona Department of Transportation is studying a possible bypass to reroute trucks and cross-country traffic from east of Tucson to west of Phoenix to avoid those metropolitan areas, Peters said such a bypass would be a long-term solution.

"Congestion is one of our most compelling problems," Peters said. "What we want are good near-term solutions."

...

The Pima Association of Governments, which works with all the local governments in the county, lobbied for Interstate 10 to be included in the plan.

...

Also: National Strategy to Reduce Congestion - http://www.fightgridlocknow.gov/

3. Region plan threatened - The Leader, Canada

Maple Ridge Mayor Gordy Robson is vowing to boycott any new Metro Vancouver regional growth strategy unless the accord comes with an ability to change what land is in the protected Green Zone.

And he says other cities may follow, potentially delivering a fatal blow to efforts now under way to redraw the Livable Region Strategic Plan (LRSP).

“I’ve said and Langley and Surrey are also saying, that unless there’s some kind of amending formula put in place, we will have to ask our councils to consider withdrawing from the GVRD planning function,” Robson said Friday.

“We cannot be part of a non-amendable plan,” he said. “Right now it’s zap, you’re frozen and that’s the end of the story.”

Robson maintains much of the Green Zone lands in Maple Ridge were designated in the original LRSP in 1996 on the basis they could be changed later.

But subsequent provincial law made amendments to the region’s growth master plan almost impossible.

And Robson said his council won’t sign a new version of it unless that changes.

“It’s kind of like Quebec – we don’t want to withdraw,” he said. “We believe in regional government. We believe in protecting green space. But we don’t think all that should be put on one municipality.”

Some lands ended up in the Green Zone there due to mapping errors, he said, and much of it isn’t suitable for farmland.

The issue blew up at Friday’s Metro Vancouver land use and transportation committee meeting.

...

4. Growth battle rejoined - Sacramento Bee - CA, USA

State Sen. Darrell Steinberg, who launched and lost a bruising political battle over California land-use law earlier this decade, is once again picking his way through the mine-strewn terrain of growth politics.

But this time, the Sacramento Democrat says, he's stepping more carefully.

Steinberg started out earlier this year hand in hand with the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. The organization -- made up of elected leaders from around the region -- had asked him to introduce a bill that would modify the California Environmental Quality Act, making it easier to approve development projects that would tame traffic and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

When the resulting bill, SB 375, came out, members of SACOG were alarmed over language they saw as going too far -- and eroding local government control over growth. The League of California Cities came out against the bill. On Aug. 16, the SACOG board voted to oppose it unless it was amended.

...

Steinberg said this week he will put off further consideration of the measure until next year in an attempt to work things out.

"I'm very confident that over the next three months we're going to develop a consensus that includes the cities," he said.

Despite the difficulty of changing development laws in California, Steinberg said it's imperative that land-use patterns be addressed if the state is going to meet the goals of AB 32, the new state law that calls for a 25 percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

"It's the big elephant in the room; nobody wants to tackle it," he said.

"But if we don't address land use, we're going to fall short by 40 percent."

...

5. Investing In Region's Children - Hartford Courant - United States

Police Chiefs To Seek More Aid For Early Childhood Intervention Programs

Frustrated with the "cycle of crime and violence" affecting the region, the New England Association of Chiefs of Police leadership will seek more state and federal dollars for early childhood intervention programs.

Police chiefs from six states Tuesday listened intently to officials of Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, a nonprofit that contends the most powerful weapons in America's anti-crime arsenal are programs that guide youngsters to a positive start.

"I think it's critical," said Nathaniel Sawyer, the police chief of New Hampton, a New Hampshire town of 2,100. "It's going to teach kids in their early years how to make life-lasting decisions."

Amy R. Dawson, vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, told the chiefs that inadequate funding leaves millions of kids at risk of becoming violent or delinquent teens and adult criminals.

Dawson urged New England chiefs to lobby federal, state and local officials to implement a four-part plan to reduce crime and violence.

Under the plan, government funding would:

Provide all families access to quality pre-kindergarten and educational child care programs.

...

Fight Crime: Invest in Kids points to Chicago's publicly funded Child-Parent Centers, which since 1967 have served 100,000 3- and 4-year-olds.

Researchers - who for 14 years tracked 989 of those youngsters and 550 children not in the program - discovered that children who did not participate were 70 percent more likely to be arrested for a violent crime by age 18.

Russell Lary, the police chief in Grantham, N.H., a town of 3,000, agreed that establishing positive communication with young children is key.

"Every time you win over a child, you gain the parents," Lary said. "It's just a win-win situation."

6. Washington may join regional commission - TimesCommunity.com - Leesburg,VA,USA

Town of Washington officials are considering seeking membership for Washington with a regional association that assists in grant writing, project management and land, transportation and environmental planning.

Rappahannock County -- along with Madison, Orange, Culpeper and Fauquier counties, and a handful of area towns -- is a member of the association, Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission (RRRC). Washington officials would have access to the commission's resources if the town were to be added as a member.

Washington Town Council member Claudia Mitchell said a presentation at the Sperryville Living Towns workshop in May of this year piqued her interest in the commission. She said she did not know that Washington could join, but then noticed that the Town of Madison was a member and wondered why not Washington.

"There are other towns that are part of it and I wanted us to be part of it," she said.

Mitchell, Washington Mayor Eugene Leggett and Town Clerk Laura Dodd met with Jeffrey Walker, RRRC executive director, for preliminary discussions on Aug. 30.

"This is a really incredible forward step...," Mitchell said.

She said that joining the commission would expand the Town of Washington's limited resources by providing access to RRRC's staff of planning professionals, and would come at minimal cost.

County Administrator John McCarthy serves as a commission member representing Rappahannock County for RRRC.

...

Also, if Washington joined the commission, town officials could participate in planning discussions with other governments in the region. McCarthy found such opportunities to network with peers helpful. He said Rappahannock County's abandoned vehicle program was modeled after a similar program in Culpeper.

...

7. A Traffic Quagmire That Could Happen Again - Hartford Courant - United States

If someone were to create a modern version of the 12 Labors of Hercules, one of them would surely be the task of improving the traffic in the Buckland area of Manchester and South Windsor.

What an unbelievable mess.

...

There's an effort afoot to do something about it. ... The Capitol Region Council of Governments and the federal government contributed to the study as well.

The study began last year and will conclude in 2008. The planners and citizen advisers are kicking around ideas for redesigning or adding ramps, possibly doing something with HOV lanes, possibly employing a park-and-ride strategy with circulator buses. (There's also a railroad track there that still carries freight.)

It's not only good that they're doing this, it's probably a matter of survival. It may soon reach the Yogi Berra threshold: "Nobody goes there, it's too crowded." At some times of the day, access for emergency vehicles must be a problem.

There's a question of how much money will be available to implement whatever recommendations are made, but that's the next challenge.

The scary thing about the Buckland mess is that it could all happen again. Perhaps, somewhere in the state, it is happening again. The conditions that caused the snarl haven't changed.

For openers, the projects were planned locally, not regionally. Going back to the 1980s, I-84 had just been expanded ...

Continuing into the 21st century with the governmental structure of the 17th century is a recipe for doom. We have to start thinking regionally. In a hard-nosed analysis of the sorry state of the country's infrastructure in the Aug. 27 issue of The New Republic, Sarah Williams Goldhagen writes that it is time policy-makers and design professionals realized "we are now a country of metropolitan regions."

8. Lodi aims for seat at commuter rail table - Lodi News-Sentinel - Lodi,CA,USA

As plans for a commuter rail service through the Central Valley take shape, city officials want to make sure the train stops in Lodi. In order to do that, they say Lodi needs a seat at the decision-making table.

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission is exploring a commuter rail line from Merced to Sacramento. The line would take one of two Union Pacific tracks: Through Downtown Lodi, or five miles west of the city.

City officials say that a commuter rail stop in Downtown would revitalize the Sacramento Street rail corridor, while a western depot would encourage unwanted sprawl toward Flag City.

Mayor Bob Johnson has petitioned the San Joaquin Council of Governments, which controls the rail commission, to get a Lodi representative on the commission. The council's Executive Committee meets Friday to consider Lodi's request.

Johnson, a New Yorker who grew up riding public transport, said it is important that Lodi have a voice in the process.

"I think everyone should have an opportunity to participate in this exciting process," he said. "Without sounding too provincial, it's an opportunity for us to put in a new transportation medium that we don't have now."

SJCOG's executive committee, which appoints commissioners to the rail commission, deliberated on giving Lodi a place on the commission in April. Without taking action, the board did not respond in Lodi's favor.

The committee said there were no plans to expand the eight-member rail commission, and they worried that commissioners with specific agendas wouldn't represent the best interests of the region. SJCOG Chairman Victor Mow said it is important for the commissioners to think regionally.

...

Mow said he is looking forward to hearing Lodi's motives for wanting to be on the commission.

...

9. Housing in region less affordable - Cincinnati Post - OH,USA

For the past six years in the tri-state, the value of owner-occupied homes has increased, but household incomes have not kept pace, in many cases even falling.

That combination has made housing in the tri-state less affordable than it used to be, University of Cincinnati demographer Mark Carrozza said Wednesday.

Using new data released from the U.S. Census Bureau, Carrozza researched the topic for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati. He used median housing values and median family incomes to create a "housing affordability ratio." The higher the ratio, the better.

From 2000 to 2006, the ratio for the tri-state fell from 52.8 to 41.5. That's still better than the U.S. ratio of 31.6, but troubling because it's headed in the wrong direction.

While home values have increased, which is a good thing for homeowners, family income has not kept pace. That's the chief reason why the index has fallen, Carrozza said, and it reflects a national trend.

Numbers tell the story.

In Hamilton County, adjusted for inflation, the median house price rose from $130,000 to $148,000, an increase of 14 percent. But median household income fell from $48,000 to $45,000, a decrease of 6 percent.

The situation wasn't any better across the river in Northern Kentucky.

In fast-growing Boone County, for example, the median housing price rose from $154,000 in 2000 to $176,000 in 2006. That's an increase of 15 percent.

But median household income fell from $63,000 to $56,000, a decrease of 11 percent.

...

Housing affordability is important, Carrozza said, because it makes a region economically competitive. It helps attract new residents and retain existing ones.

If less people can afford their own homes, that drives up prices for the rental market, he said.

...

RC: OKI - Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments

10. U.S. regional communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Highlighted words are Google search terms. In this and the following section, links to websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story. In most cases, where a full name is present a Google search will quickly get one to that organization.

.10 New water-agency bill awaits governor
Examiner.com

In the event of an earthquake or a man-made disaster, access to BART and/or Bay Area bridges would likely be unavailable, ... A regional ferry system would help transport emergency supplies, goods and people, ...

.11 Mayoral candidate talk issues in forum
News 14 Carolina - Raleigh,NC,USA
Each says regionalism is the way to a strong future. "I think that our future in some ways rests on regionalism and our cooperation in providing services ...

.12 Breen a leader for regionalism
The Saginaw News - MLive.com - Saginaw,MI,USA
Long before Saginaw Valley business leaders began the march toward regionalism, veteran real estate agent and advertising executive Jerry J. Breen was its ...

.13 Growing traffic, shrinking chances of help from feds
By Editor
... something is done at the federal level to change how transportation funding is provided, the federal government will no longer be a grantor of funds," said Jacob Snow, general manager of the Regional Transportation Commission. ...

.14 Area Employers Celebrated for “Regionalism that Works
The Baltimore Chronicle, MD

Sheila Dixon, Mayor of Baltimore City, and Jim T. Smith, Jr., Baltimore County Executive, honored the inaugural recipients of the Baltimore Regional Employer Awards ...

.15 Regional growth straining roads, transit system, study says
Chicago Tribune - United States

A national study showing traffic congestion worsening in the Chicago region prompted urban planners to warn Tuesday that solutions to gridlock will remain elusive until elected officials and the public rally behind new strategies. ...

.16 OIC looks to rebound from crisis
Rocky Mount Telegram - Rocky Mount,NC,USA
The Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments, which administers OIC's state funding, suspended its funding because the company's audit was not complete. ...

.17 Dean's win prompts hope for region
The Tennessean - Nashville,TN,USA
Perhaps among all the candidates in the mayoral campaign Dean best articulated the need to think in terms of regionalization. What happens in Nashville and ...

.18 Chicago Transit Bailout Offered
Houston Chronicle - United States

RTA chairman Jim Reilly said he appreciates the governor's offer to stave off scheduled fare increases and service cuts at the CTA, Pace and regional paratransit service, but he said the quick fix "may create an even greater problem in the coming months"...

.19 Region wins power plant
MLive.com - MI,USA
Mid-Michigan economic development officials ... project will spark new life into the region's economy by creating thousands of construction jobs, millions in additional tax revenue for local ...

.20 Privatization improves mental health services
Pocono Record - Stroudsburg,PA,USA
Each region -- made up of groups of counties -- was allowed to choose its own private provider. A committee of local clients, providers and agency staff ...

.21 Mall sprawl may lift region
Detroit Free Press - United States
While others fretted over the recent struggles of Detroit's auto companies and suppliers, Taubman Centers was carefully studying the region's population and ...

.22 Legislators looking for help finding solutions
Uniontown Herald Standard - Uniontown,PA,USA
Of regionalized policing, or forming a countywide force, Kozak said he believes it has become a necessity. "It's got to get better, it's got to start," he ...

.23 Alcoholism 'intense' at regional drinking hubs
Newsweek - USA
The U.S. has more than 500 dry communities, and it is not unusual for residents to flock to another town to do their drinking. But some of the worst binge drinking is associated with a few regional hubs ...

.24 WIRED workshop to examine regional entrepreneurship
Lafayette Online News - Lafayette,IN,USA
WIRED stands for Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development. * Create globally competitive industries by combining university research with ...

.25 Talk about savings
The Journal News / Lohud-com - Westchester,NY,USA
Said Spitzer: "In April, I wrote to local government leaders asking for their innovative ideas on regionalized government and shared services. The SMSI program provides funding to help bring such ideas to fruition, to both improve services and lower costs." ...

11. Other in the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 One water catchment: one regional government
On Line opinion - Australia
... into sub-catchments; the rule implies that all regional boundaries should be watersheds, but not that all watersheds should be regional boundaries. ...

.11 Kenya: Why Regionalism is No Panacea for Under-Development
AllAfrica.com
ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT have for a long time ignited passion among many Coast leaders has been their desire for the re-introduction of the majimbo (regionalism) system. Though they have not been alone, their persistent belief since the early Kadu days ...

.12 Balanced development key to national integration
Korea-net - South Korea

The goal of balanced national development (BND) is developing each region's comparative advantage, not encouraging uniformed standardization, ...

.13 Regional deals make global trade more complex
Reuters - USA
Diplomats and trade experts say bilateral and regional accords are creating a confusing web of trade links -- often described as a "spaghetti bowl" -- that may undercut World Trade Organization (WTO) efforts to level the playing field for all. "Regionalism won't go away. It will continue to spread," said Eirik Glenne, Norway's ambassador to the WTO. But such regional free trade agreements (FTAs) are not the best way to organize world trade told a WTO conference. ...

.14 DRT needs to become more efficient
Newsdurhamregion-com - Durham,Canada

It wouldn’t solve all its cash problems, but it sure wouldn’t hurt Durham Regional Transit if the provincial and federal governments would treat it as generously as they do the Toronto Transit Commission or Peel or York Region Transit. ...

.15 Hopes are high that end of PPS 14 is near
News Letter - Belfast,UK
RURAL anti-planning law campaigners were celebrating what they see as the end of the hated PPS 14 planning policy – which clamped down on the building of new homes in the countryside – after a High Court decision yesterday. ... Department of Regional Development was acting beyond its legal ...

.16 Auckland plans country's biggest conference centre
National Business Review - New Zealand
It grew from a visitor strategy included in Auckland Regional Council economic development agency A-plus' Metro Plan.

.17 Monitoring season about to begin
Scoop-co-nz - New Zealand
Environment Bay of Plenty Principal Compliance Officer Steve Pickles says the Regional Council is about to begin its annual dairy shed monitoring programme. ... “It was an expensive lesson for the Opotiki farm owner and farm worker. What was a three hour job involving a digger and a high pressure hose turned into a $12,000 fine. They had been warned previously to make sure all their effluent went to the pond system, but failed to take the advice. ...

.18 Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council campaigning for better waste sorting
Helsingin Sanomat - Helsinki,Uusimaa,Finland
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area Council (YTV) has launched a four-week campaign in an attempt to intensify the waste sorting of households in the area. ...

.19 Arava Institute: Tap regional cooperation on water crisis
Jerusalem Post - Israel
When the map of Israel and the Palestinian territories was displayed at a UN conference this week, it wasn't in order to discuss future borders of the region, but rather to discuss where borders must be overlooked. ... to address joint water management strategies ...

.20 NEW YORK NEW YORK: Blurred visions of region, Africa
The Nation Newspaper - Bridgetown,St. Michael,Barbados
A region with some of the highest rates of human development that speak to escalating improvements in living standards: Jamaica, St Kitts-Nevis, Barbados – ... In Africa, the "mainstream" international media have largely ignored the story of the region's economic successes ...

.21 The ´new regionalism´
UNCTAD - Geneva,Switzerland
This is sometimes called "new regionalism". These agreements often present difficult choices for developing countries and may be more costly than expected. ...

.22 Vojvodina speaker calls for regionalization

B92
"Vojvodina supports the regionalization of Serbia because European experience has shown in several cases the link between developing regionalization and democratic progress," the Vojvodina Assembly speaker said yesterday at a European

.23 Malaysia bids to house regional institute
Malaysia Star - Malaysia
“ERIA will conduct research, analyses and studies on regional-economic integration, and make intellectual input to support the Asean secretariat. ...

.24 SBCA urges regional FMD approach
Scotsman - United Kingdom
"As a matter of urgency we ask that you convene a meeting of farming interests to understand the benefits or otherwise of a regional approach in Scotland. ...

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 Suburban divide
By Peter
As part of a five part series examining issues facing Birmingham, ... I think the people I talked to in the piece about regional cooperation speak for themselves. They don't see a historical pattern to it and therefore aren't very optimistic about it. But there is hope. There are meetings taking place ...

.11 Innovation Nation: The "Øresund"
By Bob Jacobson
In the Øresund region comprising Greater Copenhagen and Skåne ( ... formerly Danish parts of southern Sweden) ... innovation consulting considered an accepted design modality, it's gaining the blessing and support of the Danish and Scanian governments ...

.12 Immobility

The Bellows

By contrast, Atlanta has grown at a 20 percent clip since the last Census, even though its median income is $15,000 below Greater Washington’s. Dallas and Houston both grew about 15 percent since 2000, adding more people each during that time than the Washington area, even though their median incomes are over $20,000 lower than the capital region. Daytona Beach, Florida and Brownsville, Texas both grew faster than the Washington area, even though Daytona Beach’s median income is barely half Washington’s, and Brownsville’s is barely one-third. What sense does this make? ...

.13 Smart People, Smart Regions, Smart Companies
By Angie Lawry
In addition, the Greater Washington Initiative's 2007 Regional Report showed that 44% of Greater Washington's foreign-born population of 25 or older has a Bachelor's degree or higher. Greater Washington has more than 50 colleges and ...

.14 Las Vegas Ground Water Pumping Could Harm Regional Biodiversity
By Michael
To meet these needs, local officials hope to obtain rights to about 200000 acre-feet (246.70 million cubic meters [m3]) per year from a regional groundwater aquifer extending from Salt Lake City, Utah, to Death Valley, California. ...

.15 ASEAN....Big Yawn
By Michael(Michael)

There is something about regionalism that bores me silly. It’s all those ACRONYMs, posing as real organisations. ... As you read a learned piece on ‘regional identity and ASEAN Track Two Initiatives’ your hungover brain feels like ...

.16 Selling You Down the River Note: Related article 14.10 below. Ed.

The proposed reliever route is a regional road, not a city road. The RTC is the regional group that wants to put this regional road through downtown instead of out in the region where it belongs. ...

.17 More nonsense from Van Dyk
Northwest Progressive Institute Official Blog - Redmond,WA,USA

Van Dyk seems to be under the impression that the Roads & Transit package must solve every transportation problem in our region, ... No plan can do everything, but this regional package has been specifically designed to augment existing and future investments at the local, regional, and state level.

.18 The North American Soviet Union

By Charlotte Iserbyt Note: Original source of a Blog entry. Ed.

... an article entitled “Planning is Socialism’s Trademark,” November 8, 1975 : “We ( USA ) have no regional government and no comprehensive regional planning to speak of. Regional government and planning remain concepts our urban scholars and planners have long advocated in vain…

.19 Multilateralising regionalism
By Dingel
Multilateralising Regionalism is a two and a half day conference dedicated to exploring these issues, and in particular, the relationship between regionalism and the multilateral trading system. The first two days of the conference will ...

.20 Environmental cooperation of Northeast Asia: transboundary air pollution1

By Kim, I.
In order to answer this question, the author shed light on some of the conditions in Northeast Asia that would be necessary for regional cooperation to take place, by examining the factors that shape the environmental foreign policy of ...

.21 Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally
By Presidio School of Management(Admin User)
... and advantages of collaboration in the world of sustainable business. Little did I know, Northwest Ohio has a rich history of renewable energy development that started in 1984 with... Read: Thinking Globally, Acting Regionally.

.22 Linking research policy and regional policy in the EU
The EU Member States and Europe's regions must do more to exploit synergies between the EU's regional policies and research and innovation programmes, according to a new Commission communication on using research and innovation to boost ...

.23 Field Regional Program Director, Rule of Law Initiative, Middle East and North Africa

WorkTravelEatSleep – By Amber Note: Blog devoted to health and development jobs. Ed.
Field Regional Program Director Location TBD The ABA Rule of Law Initiative's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Division seeks an experienced rule of law development professional to fill a regional program director position for a ...

.24 Declining US brand?
By Ken Jarboe
A few countries flexed their muscles regionally more confident in their relative power, while radical groups sought to discredit the leaders of those countries who maintained solid relations with the US. Other countries appeared to ...

.25 Bioregional Animism - Blog

http://100milediet.org/ - This is a great introduction to people on the values of thinking globally and acting locally... it also is a wonderful grounding introduction to bio regionalism.

.26 SPAIN'S HUM-ALONG NATIONAL ANTHEM
By Costa Tsiokos
Owing to the country's divisive history and fragmented regionalism, an instrumental-only anthem is used to avoid contentious debate. That means Spaniards can't break into song whenever national pride strikes them -- they have to just hum ...

.27 Spartanburg Area Economic Developments
By Spartan
I like the concept. This is an excellent example of the regional cooperation thing that comes up on here from time to time.

.28 Small Regions Network of Finland - Pienetseudut 2.0
By admin
Kauhajoki, Oulun Eteläinen, Raahe, Savonlinna, Ylä-Savo. These are the regions which are gathered under the new Small Regions Network of Finland! Forssa Kauhajoki Kuusamo Oulun Eteläinen Raahe Savonlinna Ylä-Savo.

.29 Russian region needs more children, declares today a "sex day"
By Bethany Sanders
If you lived in the Russian region of Ulyanovsk, you'd have the day off today in the hopes that you'd accomplish one thing: conception. September 12th has been declared (euphemistically) "Family Contact Day" in an effort to boost the ...

.30 RIP Regionalism
By Matt(Matt)

Where you could once identify the region a particular American home was built in, you now encounter a huge number of “custom” homes with no regional character. More accurately, you find homes employing the watered down usage of just about every regional character – a Chimera of non-specific American regionalism. There is little regard for cultural memory as a depository for solutions to common regional problems.

13. Announcements and Regional Links

.10 Reflections on Regionalism – at Google Books

Brookings – Bruce Katz, Editor

.11 POLYCITY

POLYCITY is a project of the CONCERTO initiative, co-funded by the European Commission. In the course of the POLYCITY Project, three large urban areas in Germany, Spain and Italy will be developed, particularly in the field of energy optimisation and the use of renewable energies. ...
Each project is embedded in a network of regional Partners and further observer communities.

.12 Turning Renewable Energy into an Economic Development Opportunity

As part of a series of environmental stewardship and economic development issue briefs funded by the NADO Research Foundation and EPA, this new six-page report looks at the roles being played by regional development organizations in helping local businesses and government officials pursue opportunities in renewable and alternative energy production and usage.

.13 Evolutionary Leadership for Sustainability - October 11-13 - Sausalito, CA

The workshop offers:

  • A systemic overview of the roots of our current challenges.
  • A grounding in how language and conversations shape and bring forth the world in which we live.
  • Practices for engaging more effectively in conversations that coordinate our actions in the service of creating a sustainable world.
  • Proven methods for understanding and engaging systems thinking and collective intelligence, an embodied experience of being "a system thinking together."
  • Practical applications to keep alive your learnings come Monday morning when you return to "the real world" and are faced with your life and work.
  • Connection to and membership in a growing community of purpose and practice devoted to sustainability.

Check out the trailer for the movie (minutes 2:11) The 11th Hour where the following quote caught our attention: The issues of sustainability... "are not technical issues nearly as much as they are leadership issues."

The Evolutionary Leadership for Sustainability workshop is offered by:

Syntony Quest and The Center for Evolutionary Leadership

.14 The Five Themes of Geography

To specifically serve the teacher population, a publication entitled Guidelines for Geographic Education was published in 1984 and its contents became known popularly as the "Five Themes of Geography.”

.15 Collegiate Consortium: Greater Philadelphia region
The Collegiate Consortium for Workforce and Economic Development provides the highest quality training and education to businesses in the greater Philadelphia region. Courses are customized to fit your needs and delivered at your site or our institutions’ campuses. ...


14. Subscription

.10 Regional council urges defeat of Trinity toll road plans - Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX,USA

The Regional Transportation Council voted unanimously Thursday to urge Dallas voters to defeat a November ballot issue that would block plans to build a high-speed toll road along the Trinity River.

“The toll road is the most important project in Dallas County, along with maybe the LBJ,” RTC director Michael Morris told members of the panel.

But the proposed 10-mile, six-lane toll road could be scrapped if voters support a Nov. 6 ballot initiative. If they do, any road that is part of the Trinity River Project will be capped at four lanes total, with speed limits of 35 miles per hour. A "no" vote would keep the plans for the toll road as currently envisioned.

Mr. Morris said that would be disastrous for the region, which is struggling to ease congestion on increasingly crowded highways and fighting to improve air quality.

Dallas City Councilman Ron Natinsky, an RTC member, reminded members that every Dallas City Council member but one supports the Trinity toll road and is against the ballot measure.

“This is not a city of Dallas initiative,” Mr. Natinksy said of the referendum election. “If the city of Dallas had had its way, believe me, this would not be on the ballot.”

Dallas City Council member Angela Hunt led the petition drive that put the issue on the ballot. She has argued that the high-speed highway would unnecessarily distract from the park-like setting of the larger Trinity River Project.

After Thursday’s vote, Mr. Morris said he and his staff will begin efforts to convince voters to keep the high-speed highway as part of the Trinity River Project.

Most of the 40 members who serve on the RTC are from cities other than Dallas.

...

.11 Sarkozy and Merkel in competition plea - Financial Times - London,England,UK

France and Germany called on Europe on Monday to take a more aggressive stance against foreign governments whose policies undermine the competitive position of European business.

The initiative, which also reiterated Franco-German calls for more transparency on international financial markets, underlines the growing unease in both countries at mounting competition from such highly centralised economies as Russia and China.

Speaking in Berlin, Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said they would urge their European Union partners to develop a joint “foreign economic policy” at the next informal meeting of EU heads of governments in October.

In a declaration published after one of their six-weekly meetings, the two leaders said such a policy would buttress the EU’s Lisbon strategy on improving the bloc’s competitiveness.

While reaffirming their belief in open markets as “the guarantor” of prosperity, they expressed concern that the use of non-tariff barriers and restrictions to investments and the political manipulation of exchange rates had reached a “preoccupying scale”.

The “use of public funds”, whether through direct subsidies or managed exchange rates, to distort competition in favour of a nation’s companies was a particular problem, they said.

Ensuring equal access to the world’s energy resources and preventing the theft of intellectual property were among the goals of a future EU economic foreign policy.

“This is about reciprocity,” Ms Merkel told a press conference. “We are for open markets but they should be open everywhere.”

There is mounting concern in Germany and France that thanks to state intervention European companies are not getting the same access to fast-growing markets as their rivals enjoy in Europe.

...

15. Google News for “Regional Community”

Other menu sections available from this link include: regions, regional, regional community, region, Regional Council, regional development and other search terms. They can be sorted by date or relevance. These are among the 50 search terms I use to produce this newsletter.

My name is Tom Christoffel. I've worked in the field of intergovernmental cooperation since 1973. As a consequence, "I see regions work." Regional Community Development News is published weekly based on news reports as of Wednesday.

Making visible analysis and actions at multi-jurisdictional regional scales is its purpose. "Think globally, act locally" was innovative in its time. Today the local scale is often too small to address today's needs and opportunities. "Think local planet, act regionally, " is my candidate paradigm. (No one said we're only allowed one paradigm.)

We can see that “regional communities” are organized locally and now act both to avoid tragedy in the commons and gain benefits. An effective multi-jurisdictional regional community has DNA: it is geographically Defined; has a common Name and its Alignment is inclusive of smaller communities and participatory in larger communities. So, by scanning this compilation, reading articles and checking organizations - you too will be able to see the regional communities that already exist.

News references are found using the Google News search service. Media article links are “fair use” to transform globally scattered reports to make regional approaches visible. Links go to the publisher and do not compete with it. Such publishers are likely to have related stories and thus be seen by new customers. “Regional” is an emerging news category. There is no charge for this service and no profit is made from its use, though any user can become more aware of the topic itself.

To read and search previous issues go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

The term “Development” was added to the name in January, 2006.

For a free subscription use this email link – no additional information required:

regions_work-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For the Google Groups version go to:

http://groups.google.com/group/regional-community-development-news

Editions since April 11, 2007 can also be found at: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?

Please e-mail the editor: Tom.Christoffel@comcast.net or Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP Making regions visible for Leaders and Problem-solvers. www.regionalintelligence.com or www.regions.ws