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
.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
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