Regional Community Development News – May 23, 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.


1.10 Boulder trip: Regionalism No. 1 priority - By Herald-Leader Pol Watchers

Regionalism is a large part of Boulder and the rest of the Denver metropolitan area.

“In a seven county area, every community, every mayor talks about regionalism, ” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation and Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.

Seven counties pulled together to build Invesco Field at Mile High and Coors Field and to create an arts and cultural district, Clark said.

The area also has a nine county economic district which is first committed to selling the Denver metropolitan area to companies before selling the individual communities, Clark said.

The Metro Mayors Caucus, an alliance of 37 mayors in the Denver metro area, unanimously supported the passage of a November 2004 ballot issue to increase the sales tax for the eight county Denver Regional Transportation District from .6 percent to 1 percent to fund a $4.7 billion initiative to build at least six new rail lines in the Denver area over the next 12 years. The measure passed 58 percent to 42 and the sales was raised on Jan. 1, 2005.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Boulder County Commissioner Will Toor will discuss regional thinking with leadership visit attendees on Thursday morning.

Compared to the Denver metropolitan area, regional cooperation is just beginning in Lexington.

...

.20 Learning from Boulder about being good neighbors - Kentucky.com - Lexington, KY, USA

... the other major idea that Lexington leaders left Boulder with is the importance of working together with regional neighbors.

"I hope we'll commit to embracing the Bluegrass as a neighbor and embracing our neighbors as our friends and not as our foes, " Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry said when he addressed trip attendees last Friday.

Forming good relationships with Lexington's Central Kentucky neighbors will take years, "but it will be worth the effort because the strength of this region is much greater than the strength of any one part of the region, including Lexington, " Newberry said.

In Central Kentucky, there are already signs of improved regionalism, said Lenny Stoltz, executive director of the Bluegrass Area Development District.

Except for Lexington, all of the county judge executives and mayors in a 17-county area have been meeting monthly for the last 35 years, Stoltz said.

Lexington's mayor doesn't usually meet with the group unless the mayor is a lame-duck, Stoltz said. But "we've seen Jim Newberry since day one. I don't think he's missed a meeting yet."

There is a new sense of cooperation and collaboration now that Lexington's leadership appears to be on the same page, Stoltz said.

"Historically, Lexington didn't need anybody else, and nobody else needed Lexington, " Stoltz said. "It was a great marriage, but now things are a little different. Fayette County does need the region, and the region needs to have common solutions with Fayette County ...."

While in Boulder, trip participants heard from Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper and Boulder County Commissioner Will Toor on the subject of regional thinking.

Although regionalism is a high priority in the Denver metropolitan area, it wasn't always that way, said Toor, who also represents Boulder County on the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

...

2. Plan developed to manage Tennessee waste - TriCities.com - Johnson City, TN, USA

Gov. Phil Bredesen and Department of Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke announced today that the state’s nine development districts will receive grants totaling $434, 877 to support solid waste management activities in FY2007-08 in communities across Tennessee.

The Tennessee General Assembly established the state’s nine development districts in 1966 to do general and comprehensive planning and conduct development and administration activities for local governments.

“I appreciate the role our development districts play in supporting local communities and municipalities as they work to manage and reduce solid waste, ” said Bredesen. “I’m pleased these resources are available to help support functions that advance Tennessee’s environmental goals.”

Tennessee’s development districts assist the state’s solid waste planning regions in compiling information about landfills, source reduction, composting and recycling for the state’s Annual Progress Report. The report is a planning and reporting tool required by the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991, which was the first comprehensive solid waste planning legislation in Tennessee history. The data is used to determine each region’s progress towards Tennessee’s goal to achieve 25 percent waste reduction in Class I landfill solid waste.

Local governments also receive technical assistance from development districts in designing, implementing, upgrading and maintaining solid waste programs, systems and facilities including landfills, convenience centers and recycling centers.

“Our development district offices are instrumental in assisting solid waste regions with planning and implementing mandates of the Solid Waste Management Act, “ said Fyke. “That’s why we’re pleased to be able to fund projects for all nine districts in the upcoming fiscal year and to increase grants for those that have agreed to increase their scope of work.”

Grant amounts are determined on an annual basis and awarded depending on available funding and the scope of work proposed by each district. The grants announced today include:

East Tennessee Development District, $50, 000
First Tennessee Development District, $50, 000
Greater Nashville Regional Council, $53, 400
Memphis Area Association of Governments, $16, 277
Northwest Tennessee Development District, $50, 000
Southeast Tennessee, $65, 200
South Central Tennessee, $50, 000
Southwest Tennessee, $50, 000
Upper Cumberland, $50, 000

...

RCs: Tennessee Development Districts

3. Michigan Core Cities Poised For Revitalization - PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) - Wien, Austria

On Monday, May 21, Bruce Katz, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, told an audience of legislators, staffers, and local government officials that Michigan's central core cities possess the assets to fuel their comeback -- and Michigan's -- with a little help from state government.

Katz said the state must set a policy agenda to advance regional collaborations that can revitalize the core cities of Detroit, Flint, and Kalamazoo, and their entire metro regions. The cities and their metro regions are "inextricably linked, " said Katz, and after long years of deindustrialization "their moment" can come again.

Katz said these cities all exhibit employment, income levels and business startups that are either declining or well below the national urban average. They all share the same heritage: dominated by manufacturing jobs that will never return in our changing economy. However, they still possess key assets that can be developed to attract and retain young, educated knowledge workers that are the foundation of new-economy jobs.

"They have waterfronts and green infrastructure that new economy entrepreneurs and young people of talent want, " Katz said, adding that these core cities also have other attractions, like historic properties, museums, two- and four-year colleges, hospitals and medical facilities, and - certainly in the case of Detroit - major sports teams.

Katz and several other researchers have reported that young people of talent and education are drawn to such attributes. And collaborations can accent these assets. "Look at what's happened in Detroit is just the past five years in terms of downtown and waterfront development, " Katz said.

Brad Garmon, land programs director for the Michigan Environmental Council supports Katz's assertions that green is good. "I was excited that he spoke about the environmental imperative that is going to reshape metropolitan areas like ours in Michigan, " said Garmon. "Katz was clear that this imperative is pushing governments to rethink their strategies toward transportation and their strategies toward collaboration across boundaries, resulting in a general breaking down of barriers and thinking regionally."

...

RC: Michigan Association of Regions Directory

4. Guilford needs Guilfordism - News & Record - Greensboro, NC

I grew up in Greensboro, and over the years I've met a lot of people from nearby cities and towns, but I've never once heard anyone say that he or she lives in a place called The Triad.

That's because the Piedmont Triad, to use its full name, is not an actual place, and in some ways it's less actual now than ever before. It may be a reality for broadcasters and airlines, but it's otherwise a largely notional location, a marketing concept, the dream of regional planners who rhapsodize about the economic promise of Triadism. Which is fine, regional cooperation is a good thing -- we just need to recognize the true composition of our region and start promoting the idea of Guilfordism.

A triad is a group of three, and The Triad was named for the three cities of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem. Here's the rub: There are no longer three items in the set. Winston-Salem is still there to our west, the proud center of Forsyth County, but the other two cities are well on their way to becoming parts of something new and different and much more closely interrelated than the components of the old Triad were imagined to be: metropolitan Guilford County.

Metro Guilford extends across county lines from Burlington to Thomasville. It has a population of more than half-a-million people and the Wendover/U.S. 70 corridor as its main street. The cities of Greensboro and High Point already have grown together and engulfed Jamestown; viewed from the air at night, they appear to be one large coterminous entity. The onrushing development of eastern Guilford County will someday connect Greensboro and Burlington and the communities between them in much the same way.

The reality of Metro Guilford seems hard for some folks to grasp. ...

RC: Piedmont Triad Council of Governments Piedmont Triad Partnership

5.10 Regional governance report ready for councilsScoop-co-nz - New Zealand

Councils in the Auckland region are preparing to consider the latest report focused on ways of making local government more effective and efficient.

In December last year the eight councils endorsed a proposal that outlined what regional governance in Auckland could look like into the future, and sent it to central government for consideration.

Since then the government and Auckland councils have agreed that a joint process, involving both central and local government, should be undertaken to provide recommendations on how to best advance the issues associated with strengthening governance in the Auckland region.

John Robertson, Chair of the Political Reference Group, says the new report is a refinement and extension on the original proposal sent to Government in December.

“It was agreed that local and central government officials would work jointly to further develop the proposal, with a view to decisions being made by July 2007 which would enable future directions to be signalled to potential candidates prior to the closing of nominations for the 2007 local government elections, ” he says.

“The report, which is being sent to all councils and the Government today, has been prepared as a basis for councils and Cabinet to provide further feedback.

“It contains no recommendations, but identifies options which have been developed to further flesh out the December proposal and cover the various views expressed on specific aspects of the proposal through the December resolutions of individual councils.”

Report on Progress at “ Stronger Auckland”

.20 Rudman's City: Region's mayors need to talk less and co-operate more - New Zealand Herald - Auckland, New Zealand

The most telling sentence in the latest report from the Auckland regional governance task force is that all will be for nothing without a "willingness from all parties involved to cede a greater degree of autonomy" in the interests of regional advancement.

Just how the gaggle of mayors and city functionaries who signed those words off could do so with a straight face I have no idea.

After all, it's their parochialism that's helping hold Auckland back.

If I was the Local Government Minister, I'd wave this hypocritical waffle in their faces, toss the other 35 pages in my rubbish bin and tell the squabbling civic leaders to start practising what they preach.

Back in March, when minister Mark Burton gave an earlier version of these reform plans a dismissive yawn, I suggested the obvious solution to strengthening regional governance in Auckland was not to set up a whole new structure, but to enhance the powers of the existing regional council.

At the time the Auckland Regional Council had shown great regional leadership by being the only political body in Auckland willing to stand up to the Government's crazy waterfront stadium project. Now, with the Government finally conceding the point about rail electrification - a cause that the ARC has long fought - we have another example of the worth of the existing regional body.
...

6. RI is 2nd state to sign Geotourism CharterProvidence Business News - Providence, RI, USA

Gov. Donald L. Carcieri yesterday signed the National Geographic Society’s Geotourism Charter, making Rhode Island the second state after Arizona to endorse those principles, and the sixth destination worldwide. Honduras, Norway, Romania and Guatemala also have committed to to the pact.

Geotourism, as National Geographic defines it, is “tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place – its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage and the well-being of its residents.”

Much of the tourism industry is headed in a different direction, said Jonathan Tourtellot, of the National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations, speaking at the tourism luncheon at the R.I. Convention Center where the pact was announced.

The industry is drifting toward rest-and-recreation-focused travel that prizes pretty resorts, he said, or even “entertainment”-style travel involving destinations (Las Vegas is the ultimate example) that are disconnected from their surroundings.

The latter can have an “enormous” negative impact on a community, Tourtellot said, destroying its character and making the place undesirable or unaffordable for the original residents. Geotourism, on the other hand, aims to make places more enjoyable for all.

...

Now, the state is going to take that further, DePetrillo said, with a new Geotourism Collaborative that will bring together 40 to 50 statewide and regional environmental, historic preservation, cultural and other groups.

7. Regional alliances help lure business - Jackson Clarion Ledger - Jackson, MS, USA

REGIONAL COOPERATION — multiple counties using collective muscle to land new businesses - is fast becoming the state's most touted development strategy.

It's mostly in the wake of the Toyota plant announced in February in north Mississippi. A three-county alliance worked together quietly for a year to land the $1.3 billion plant near Tupelo. Since then, calls for regional cooperation have echoed through the Capitol's chambers, Rotary Club podiums and county boardrooms.

Now the Greater Jackson Chamber Partnership, which was formerly known as the MetroJackson Chamber of Commerce, is on board and looking to raise $3 million from private companies to market an eight-county region. The chamber's marketing arm, Greater Jackson Alliance has promoted regionalism for a decade but private money is new ground.

Duane O'Neill, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, said the fundraiser will help direct the efforts of regional economic development. The money will be used to grow and land call centers, logistics and warehousing businesses, biotech and automotive companies across Attala, Copiah, Hinds, Leake, Madison, Rankin, Simpson and Warren counties.

"The area has become recognized as one region. When we get inquiries, it is for a 50-mile radius or 100-mile radius from Jackson, " O'Neill said.

A company may submit some basic criteria for a location, and the chamber would showcase sites within the area that fit the company's needs, he said.

Regionalism is efficient for individual county development agencies, said Tim Coursey, executive director of the Madison County Economic Development Agency.

"A real benefit of regionalism is that you cost-share with the other counties. Another is that there's one point of contact for the prospect's site-selection committee. It prevents overlap. The state doesn't need six separate counties calling for the same information, " he said. "It really helps to speed a project along."

....

RC: Central Mississippi Planning and Development District - Copiah, Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Simpson, Warren Counties

North Central Planning and Development District – Attala County

East Central Planning and Development District - Leake County

8. State official urges regional solution - Elmira Star-Gazette - Elmira, NY, USA

Daniel Gundersen says one important lesson he's learned since being named co-chairman of New York's Empire State Development Corp. is that one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to solutions to upstate's woes.

Gundersen, the keynote speaker Wednesday at a luncheon meeting of the I-86 Coalition held at the Holiday Inn-Riverview in Elmira, said a regional approach to economic development would be far more effective in spurring job growth in the state's upstate counties.

"Empire State Development was about big projects in New York City, so it's not surprising its economic development tools are influenced by the big-project mentality, " said Gundersen. "The agency needs different tools for upstate and needs to be more aggressive in its regional outreach. There's only one person dedicated to small businesses out of a 600-person staff."

The Empire State Development agency that Gundersen envisions would rely on "regional blueprints" developed for ESD's eight regional development offices. In some areas, that may mean having agricultural or tourism experts available to provide input. But responding to what the communities say is critically important, he said.

RCs: New York State Association of Regional Councils

9. Biotech eyes linking Cleveland, Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh, PA, USA

From outer space, distance is relative and state boundaries don't exist. That's the point Baiju Shah hopes to illuminate when he shows off a satellite view of the United States -- Pittsburgh and Cleveland are two nearby dots on a map, their suburbs bleeding into each other, a single corridor of light.

And Mr. Shah, president of BioEnterprise in Cleveland, wants to use that two-hour drive to promote medical research and life-science businesses in both cities. Separately, each is a third-tier player in the field. Together, they'd have the clout of a Minneapolis-St. Paul or the Research Triangle in North Carolina, both of which are industry leaders when it comes to medical research and related investment.

Last month, BioEnterprise and its Pittsburgh counterpart, the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse, announced that they would cross-promote each other's biotech sectors, a joint effort to build up the "tech belt" that connects the two cities. June 20 will bring the first real test of that cooperative in the way of the Global Healthcare Investing Conference in Cleveland, where at least 50 venture capital firms will be looking to invest in Cleveland and Pittsburgh startups. Pittsburgh returns the favor in the fall with a conference promoting stem cell medicine.

The Greenhouse is an incubator and startup investor, while BioEnterprise mainly solicits venture capital to help existing companies grow, but their end goal is the same -- to build Pittsburgh and Cleveland into a robust, self-sustaining biotech megaregion. "Money gets attracted to bigger, more successful areas, " said John Manzetti, head of the Greenhouse. "Money [attracts] talent. And it will attract technology, too. This collaboration will help do all three those."

The problem is marketing and image, as it often seems to be when Pittsburgh or Cleveland is involved.

The trick, Mr. Shah said, is getting the venture capitalists from the West Coast and the Boston-to-New York corridor to think beyond state borders and recognize that Cleveland and Pittsburgh could be twin cities almost in the same way that Minneapolis-St. Paul are. …

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 Think globally, act regionally
Roanoke Times - Roanoke, VA, USA
The most important issue here is to make the region competitive and to secure the best site possible. This whole region must be as flexible as it can to ensure its ability to attract new and expanding industry needing this facility. ...

.11 Regional is the right direction
Kennebec Journal - Augusta, ME, USA
"Regional is the way to go, " said Winthrop businessman Jack Kaiser. "We can't do it without the other towns' participation." ...

.12 Regional cooperation is key to recovery, East. St. Tammany Chamber is told

Times Picayune - New Orleans, LA, USA
The regional plan contains three goals: recover sustainably, grow smarter and think regionally.

… As part of the plan, local communities will have to forgo thinking of their cities or parishes as individual entities and instead think regionally. ...

.13 Future of commuting nightmarish
Business Gazette - Gaithersburg, MD, USA
That is the outlook some planners with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments presented at a forum Monday organized by the Frederick Area ...

.14 Experts Plan Study Of Uptown Charlotte Commutes
WSOCtv.com - Charlotte, NC, USA
Experts with the Centralina Council of Governments are looking for people who work uptown to take part in a commuter study. They may ask you to record your commute to work and back home. …

.15 Views on slope rules clash
Asheville Citizen-Times - NC, USA
The Land-of-Sky Regional Council found out as much Thursday as a group of government planners, builders and landowners met for the second of five meetings ...

.16 Projects spark debate on future
Las Cruces Sun-News - Las Cruces, NM, USA
"Traffic, air quality, water quality — all of those things cross jurisdictional boundaries, " he said. "To look at land-use jurisdiction by jurisdiction is ... Though no regional growth plan exists today, the city, county and New Mexico State University have begun the process of developing one. …

.17 It’s Time To Get The Job Done
Jamestown Post Journal - Jamestown, NY, USA
But advantages can outweigh those, he said, and he urged us to continue the journey toward regionalized policing. ‘‘I think the time is now to ask yourself ...

.18 Regional planners rail about property tax reform
Naples Daily News - Naples, FL, USA

Members of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council lobbed verbal hand grenades toward Tallahassee on Thursday, condemning legislators for ignoring local pleas and urging them to reconsider their rush toward property tax reform. ...

.19 Conference to showcase 'living' Sperryville
TimesCommunity.com - Leesburg, VA, USA
The historic village was chosen to host the Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission's sixth annual Living Towns workshop, which is scheduled for May 31 at ...

.20 60 Seconds: Greater Cleveland Partnership President, CEO Joe Roman
MidwestBusiness.com - Chicago, IL, USA

In way or another, the Greater Cleveland Partnership is connected to most of the economic development going on in Cleveland. In turn, our members like the fact they are connected to positive change in the region. ...

.21 Survey: Collaboration between business and nonprofits strongest in Evansville
Indiana University - Bloomington, IN, USA

Approximately 45 percent of Evansville nonprofits report that their most important collaboration or network includes for-profit organizations, in contrast to only one in five nonprofit organizations elsewhere in the state. …

.22 Foundation works with city to plan for future
Sierra Vista Herald - Sierra Vista, AZ, USA
In any case, seeking a regional cohesion throughout Cochise County to emphasize all of Southeastern Arizona as an attractive place for business has become a function of the foundation, ... “We have regionalized, in spirit, because it’s the right thing to do. Not because the county gives us money or (for example) Tombstone gives us money, ” ...

.23 Impact of Bay Bridge shutdown diminished
Examiner-com - USA
Caltrans asked the Bay Area Council, a business-advocacy organization with 275 members, to collect feedback from its constituents about how a four-day closure would affect them. ...

.24 What if thinking regionally can benefit CC and Douglas?
Nevada Appeal - Carson City, NV, USA
That's why it's important to know on a factual basis what, if anything, can be gained financially from thinking and acting regionally. ...

.25 Cities bemoan jail fees hike
AZ Central-com - AZ, USA
Recently, Peoria council members and city staff asked the Maricopa Association of Governments to form a special committee to review county jail fees and ways to keep cities in the loop on future fee hikes. The request emerged from the West Valley Mayors and Managers group, ...

.26 Art minigrant applications being accepted
Escanaba Daily Press - Escanaba, MI, USA
In partnership with the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the CUPPAD Regional Commission is the regional regranting agency for the central Upper Peninsula. ...

.27 Governor Rendell Signs First Two Executive Orders Implementing Rx for PA
Earthtimes-org - USA
Establish regional community learning collaboratives to educate providers, health care teams and consumers on the components for chronic care, ...

.28 Concealed Guns
Sun-Sentinel.com - Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
The Regional Community Collaboration on Violence deserves kudos for trying to close loopholes in the state's concealed weapons laws. ...

.29 Workers Trade Cars for Bicycles on 'Bike to Work Day'
WTOL - Toledo, OH, USA
That's one reason the Toledo Metro Area Council of Governments is asking people to consider an alternate mode of transportation -- the bicycle. ...

.30 FEMA builds up staff for hurricane season
Federal Times - USA
Paulison said all 10 regional directors are full time now. Paulison also said that a revised National Response Plan will be finished sometime in June ...

.31 webMethods User Groups Expand to Thirteen North American Regions
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco, CA, USA
User groups have been established in the following regions: Canada-East (covering Quebec and Ontario); Canada-West (covering British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta); Mid Atlantic (covering Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.); ...

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

.10 To remain competitive, look beyond the Chinese
Taipei Times - Taipei, Taiwan

International competitiveness begins at home. … "Paradoxically, the enduring competitive advantages in a global economy lie increasingly in local things -- knowledge, relationships and motivation that distant rivals cannot match." … Collaboration between industrial and academic circles thus becomes the source of competitiveness. Silicon Valley …

.11 Europe races ahead of US in university-industry collaboration
Nanowerk LLC - Honolulu, HI, USA

... Europe has traditionally had a collaborative approach to research, based on smaller industrial companies. They argue that this tradition has led to strong framework programmes, such as the EU's current Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for research and development. In contrast, the US has bigger companies with a stronger absorption capacity that are less dependent on collaboration. ...

.12 Manufacturers call for revamp of RDAs
bdaily - Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK

"It does not seem sensible to us that these regional bodies are asked to look at improved economic performance and yet have no remit over transport, skills or planning. “The proposal built into this research is that One NorthEast and the other RDAs should be given much greater influence over these crucial areas – issues, of course, which can impact the private sector and overall economic performance in major ways." ...

.13 EU ministers to meet in support of sustainable cities
EurActiv.com - Brussels, Belgium
... integrated strategy for boosting the accessibility of housing" under the exisiting funding mechanism of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF ). ...

.14 Exporting the secret to increasing job opportunities
ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Atlantic Canadian firms have a reputation for top-notch quality and service. These advantages are important strengths when expanding outside of local, regional and national markets. …

.15 Tanzania’s dual membership in regional blocs not a problem for COMESA
Capital FM - Nairobi, Kenya

The implementation of the Common External Tariff rates in the Common Markets for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) region will not be hampered by Tanzania’s membership in two regional blocs. …

.16 Plans to put up a fight
The Australian - Sydney, Australia
In Australia's case this will include Japan and regional allies such as Singapore, with increased sharing of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance ...

.17 Lifting the curse: can region end the boom and bust ?
Times Online – UK

Since 2002, led by the six states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain — the Middle East has enjoyed its fastest prolonged expansion for almost three decades. This sustained boom appears to have transformed the region’s economic prospects and potential, opening the way for it not just to enjoy a protracted period of rising prosperity but also to exert a more potent influence over global conditions, too.

.18 Tourism Sunshine Coast vows to maintain region's diversity
Sunshine Coast Daily - Queensland, Australia
TOURISM Sunshine Coast has vowed to continue to fight to protect the diversity of the region in the face of council mergers. ...

.19 Regional carbon trading unlikely soon
BusinessWeek – USA

Chinese and U.S. opposition to international carbon trading make a regional scheme to place a price on pollution unlikely in the near future, ...

.20 China, Netherlands to expand "concrete cooperation"
People's Daily Online - Beijing, China
China and the Netherlands on Wednesday vowed to boost exchanges between governments, parliaments and parties, expanding cooperation in fields ... the Dutch foreign minister spoke highly of China's increasing involvement in regional and international affairs, ...

.21 Possums seen as culprit in bacteria-laden water
Water Technology Online - Latham, NY, USA
Water treatment and supply contractor Stu Clark of New Zealand Environment Technologies said the regional council is applying for funding from the Ministry ...

.22 THE SCOOP WITH COOP
Pilot - Lewisporte, Newfoundland, Canada
Regionalization seems to be the buzzword these days. It’s great to see communities throughout The Pilot’s coverage area taking on that regional approach. ...

.23 It's time to take action to stop job losses in this region
Waterloo Record - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
... about decisions being made by multinational corporations that they are unable to influence, and about how other levels of governments have jurisdiction. ...

.24 Rural planning law 'devastating'
BBC News – UK

"We are wasting the countryside by pepper-potting it with dwellings that are not sustainable - which require motorcars, which require massive numbers of septic tanks, which actually help destroy communities, " ...

.25 EU now reaches out to civil society on EPAs
East African - Nairobi, Kenya

The European Union and the Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) countries will hold a seminar for civil society in an attempt to solicit the latter’s support in steering new trade relations between the EU and developing countries in the context of the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). ...

.26 Major reforms to make planning system 'fit for 21st century'
24dash-com - Hereford, Herefordshire, UK
... regional planning bodies, which are unelected, unaccountable and unwanted." Mrs Spelman complained that the "centralised planning, micro-managed ...

.27 Convergence of Core Competencies for Regional Prosperity
Press Information Bureau (press release) - New Delhi, India

I am happy that the Conference is bringing together intellectuals, industrialists, political leaders and societal transformers concerned with the development of East and North East India ... This region accounts for over 260 million people. ...

.28 Mumbai: Cosmopolitan city or regional bastion?
Afternoon Dispatch & Courier - Bombay, India
...
some newspapers have reported that the Censor Board has been rebuked and pressurized into clearing the film by the Tribunal Court. ... Mumbai Chief Regional Officer ... Theres nothing personal here. Only time will dictate the films fate. However, one thing remains clear that no amount of political pressure or controversies can make the Censor Board lose equilibrium even in adverse situations. And that it would never compromise the countrys constitutional values for the sake of anyone elses opinion. ...

.29 Staying competitive in the regions
The Lawyer - London, UK
Life and work in the regions have changed significantly in recent years as clients have woken up to the benefits of engaging City-quality lawyers at regional prices. The nature of the work carried out by regional firms has changed dramatically: blue-chip clients are no longer the exclusive preserve of the City firms. ...

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

.10 Realities of regionalism
By SamH
N&R editor Allen Johnson’s ’special package on regionalism’ in yesterday’s paper seems to be a response to the gloomy outlook hanging over the Triad these days. The way Johnson sees it, if only there were more support for Tom Ward’s ...

.11 The Real Grand Rapids
By Andy Guy(Andy Guy)
West Michigan has talked about 'regionalism' for a decade. But even amidst busted budgets, waning competitiveness, outdated taxing policies, the out migration of young people, and other troubling economic trends, there's little will for ...

.12 the politics of the long tail blog
By kid oakland
I am convinced that, just as "local and regional" blogs were the hot development last election season that "long tail blogs" covering all sorts of topics, and including a ton of local and regional blogs, will be the hot development this ...

.13 Sprawl is our 'inconvenient truth'
Higher densities than are now current are more conducive for community energy systems. Running on natural gas or renewable energy, they generate heat and power more efficiently than Ontario's dominant energy-supply systems. ...

.14 The mindset to collaborate
By Ed Morrison(Ed Morrison)
Collaborating in economic development just makes sense. Efficiency is one good reason. But there are others. Wealth is now created through networks, so regional prosperity is increasingly being driven by the density of regional networks ...

.15 Hybrid buses take to the streets soon
It's what isn't there that passengers will notice on the Regional Transportation Commission's new hybrid buses. ... They also are more fuel-efficient and the first ones built by the GILLIG Corp. of Hayward, Calif., that meet the Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 emission compliance standards. ...

.16 Seeking Information about Regional Digitization Centers
By the jester
Cost structures for initial center development and ongoing support. Project plans for building and promoting regional digitization centers. Here’s what I’ve found so far.

.17 Congestion is The Problem!
By Stacie@ECRD
Remember, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) advocates for using HALF of our transportation tax dollars to increase the transit ridership from 3% to 4.5%. Doesn't that expenditure of public funds seem a little disproportionate and ...

.18 Becoming riders continued
By David Harrison
The problem is made all the greater by policy makers (Regional Council, largely) that, while supporting the principles of reducing congestion and pollution via improved public transit, are still beholden to taxpayers that generally ...

.19 Researchers Endorse Global Early Warning System to Prevent Pandemics
By Brian Wang
Most of the temperate diseases, but none of the tropical diseases, are so-called “crowd epidemic diseases, ” occurring locally as a brief epidemic and capable of persisting regionally only in large human populations. ...

.20 Reflections on Regional Integration(I)
By Emmanuel.K.Bensah II(Emmanuel.K.Bensah II)
In his discussion of the regional powerhouses (the "regional" are mine), he mentions SADC; ECOWAS; COMESA. I would have expected a bit more about the Africa Economic Community, which the UN's regional commission of Africa, UNECA, ...

.21 The grass of the autonomous regions is always greener
The autonomous regions are a luxury that Italy cannot allow itself any longer. If they want to, let them declare Independence. No one in this cardboard nation will object. A thousand people from Trento can beat the army. ...

.22 Congratulations to Prizewinning PEER - The First Enterprise Facilitation Project in the UK

Sirolli Institute

People Encouraging Enterprise in Rossendale (PEER) has won the regional heat of Enterprising Britain 2007. This year PEER has been awarded the Northwest honours ...

.23 Constitutional Change and the Future of Britain - Gordon Brown MP
By admin
And it is because the Scottish parliament is the precursor for one in Wales and regional devolution throughout Britain that the West Lothian question - essentially that different MPs will have differing roles at Westminster - is not a ...

.24 Sarkozy’s proposal for Mediterranean bloc makes waves.
By doug
The notion of regional cooperation in the Mediterranean is ambitious but more timely than ever, diplomats and foreign policy observers said. North Africa is an important transit route for illegal immigrants heading for Europe. ...

.25 A Global Church?
By Elizabeth(Elizabeth)

… allow the United States to become a regional conference like the other non-US conferences in the United Methodist Church. (The proposal also would change "central conferences, " the current language, to "regional conferences, " which is both more specific and has less historically negative connotations in the denomination.) …

.26 CfA: Master Programme in European Integration and Regionalism
By Radu Iliescu(Radu Iliescu)
We would like to remind you that the DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION for the academic year 2007-2008 is 1 June 2007. The Master Programme is offered by University of Graz (Austria) and implemented in cooperation with European Academy of ...

.27 Hey NHL? Regionalism sucks

There are several things I find arcane about the NHL and the East/West alignment is one of them. Traditionalists will always claim “that’s the way it’s been” even when the divisions had actual tangible names instead of ambiguous regional monikers — it still doesn’t mean it’s a good way to schedule games. ...

.28 Making Enterprise Architecture real step 8: Refining the Model
By Stcohen
compare that to a more regionalized enterprise;. This second view looks like a good place to start. The enterprise architecture has three major components areas to refine;. Shared services such as Security, logging, and Client update or ...

.29 The Drill
By Grid Guru
As a small town-big city, we live separated by a mere 1 to 3 degrees regionally and it is up to us to make those degrees intelligent. It’s why we talk about dreams so often in these blogs, because if you’re not imagining a future, ...

13. Announcements and Regional Links

.10 Regionalism: Its Promise, its Challenges – Baltimore, MD - June 20, 2007

Regionalism has been touted as a way to achieve progress on the many difficult land use issues facing Maryland. With natural growth and factors such as BRAC, our population will continue to grow significantly in the coming years. Our land use decisions will become ever more critical. In our 2006 Reality Check Plus series, greater regional cooperation was cited as one of the keys to Maryland’s future.

.11 United Nations Environment Programme - Division of Regional Cooperation

At UNEP we are aware that global environmental policy setting and implementation in today's globalizing world can only be effective if full account is taken of regional priorities. Environmental problems are often regional or sub-regional in scale, and thus require regionally based solutions that take into consideration geography, specific environmental conditions, cultural heritage, traditions and practices.

.12 Congress for the New Urbanism – May 17-21 – News Reports

.13 National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations -- About Geotourism

Geotourism is defined as tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

14. Subscription

.10 Regional approach to business has benefits, says Forum speaker - Canton Repository (subscription) - Canton, OH, USA

Northeast Ohio is just one of many regions across the country looking for ways to attract new companies and create jobs.

Success will depend on how well problems are identified and resolved. Fixing those problems depends on the people who step up to lead, suggested David B. Thornburgh, president and chief executive officer of Alliance for Regional Stewardship.

Thornburgh talked about regionalism during Wednesday's Canton Forum presentation. The Alliance for Regional Stewardship, based in Philadelphia, is a national organization that works with private- and public-sector regional leaders around the country.

Organizations through Northeast Ohio have been discussing degrees of regionalism for more than 15 years. Much of the effort has focused on business growth to replace jobs lost as manufacturers leave or reduce their work force by retooling operations.

Thornburgh suggests that areas have to think through the why, what, who and how of thinking and acting regionally.

A region is the area where 90 percent of the people spend 90 percent of their time, Thornburgh said. Regions don't know borders. People are crossing borders between cities, townships, villages and counties every day. "That's how we live our lives, " he said.

Businesses generally operate on a regional basis. Local government, however, doesn't always take a regional approach. "We don't have public decision-making processes to look at the regional problems, " Thornburgh said.

A region must market and sell itself, while working to improve its product, Thornburgh said. Every area must deal with its problems, for example the labor force, environment or transportation. A region can't hide those problems. Instead it needs to show it has answers to solve them.

"The winner will be the area that comes together and addresses the issues, " Thornburgh said.

...

.11 Bioregionalism author to speak in Kings Beach - Sierra Sun (subscription) - Truckee, CA, USA

The father of bioregionalism, a philosophy that emphasizes the relationship of humanity to the environment, will discuss how to live harmoniously with nature in a talk tonight at the North Tahoe Community Conference Center in Kings Beach.

Peter Berg, who developed the concept of a bioregion, has traveled around the world helping communities co-exist with their surrounding environment, promoting renewable energy, “green” urban planning, eating food grown locally, and reducing waste.

He emphasizes the importance of local communities and local culture rather than a globalized community and a worldwide monoculture.

“Fundamentally, it’s a concept that humans are a part of our environment and we need to respect the role that we have, ” said Executive Director Steve Teshara of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association.

Tonight’s event, sponsored by the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce, will offer participants an opportunity to define bioregionalism for the Tahoe Truckee area.

“There’s got to be a culture, based on a sense of place, for sustainability to be a possible fact in the future, ” Berg said Wednesday in a phone interview.

A culture specific to the Tahoe area must revolve around conserving water and forest resources by developing individual consciousness over residential planning, reusing materials, education and ecological restoration, said Berg who founded the Planet Drum Foundation in 1973 to promote community self-determination and regional self-reliance.

“Mountain ecology is some of the most vulnerable in the world, ” he said.

.12 Bid called opening for regional gains - Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX, USA

Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck was positively giddy Tuesday about hosting a Super Bowl in his city.

As work on the Cowboys' new Arlington stadium continues toward its planned 2009 opening, area leaders hope to turn the Super Bowl bid momentum into other benefits for North Texas.

But he also seemed keenly aware that securing the National Football League's biggest game in 2011 also provides an opportunity for long-term change, both to Arlington and the region.

The Super Bowl bid for North Texas shows "what can happen when we all work together, " he said.

Arlington City Hall took on a celebratory air when word of the vote came down Tuesday afternoon. Dr. Cluck offered grinning hugs amid shrieks of joy from city staff and elected officials. He smiled proudly while fielding congratulatory phone calls.

Dr. Cluck said he'd like to funnel the bid process' regional momentum into other issues such as transit, air quality and public health issues.

"We're trying to get the very most we can from the Super Bowl, " he said.

And that's not just from freeway changes and an estimated regional economic impact of $419 million.

...

Arlington won't be the only city to benefit. The Super Bowl bid process took six months and included the regional ideas, infrastructure and facilities of several North Texas cities, including Arlington, Dallas, Fort Worth and Irving.

Harnessing that regional firepower helped make a successful bid, several local leaders said.

"Regionalism brought this effort home. ... It's about time the North Texas region thinks about being regional, " Dallas City Manager Mary Suhm said.

Prime locations in all four cities were part of the Super Bowl bid.

...

RC: North Central Texas Council of Governments

.13 Politics delay housing study, alderman hints - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription) - Milwaukee, WI, USA

The region's first major housing study since the 1970s has gotten bogged down in delays, and a Milwaukee alderman said Friday that he wondered whether it was being swept under a rug for political reasons.

Ald. Michael Murphy questioned whether suburban officials have quashed the study to conceal a lack of progress in developing affordable housing in outlying areas.

"One has to ask if it wasn't purposely delayed because they don't want the facts out, " Murphy said.

A leader of the agency planning the study denied any such motive and said that work has been postponed because of a lack of funding.

"We're not backing off, " said Kenneth Yunker, deputy director of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

The Pewaukee commission last fall announced plans for a comprehensive analysis of housing opportunities throughout southeastern Wisconsin for people of diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. The commission serves Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington, Racine, Kenosha and Walworth counties.

The study is intended to provide a new look at whether communities have broadened their housing stock and reversed a historical pattern of segregating low-income families in Milwaukee.

Saying that no significant study on the issue had been conducted in 30 years, officials initially expected to release findings this year. Now they are hoping just to get started in 2007. Yunker said funding was short within the agency, as officials struggle to meet regional planning needs without boosting taxes.

...

.14 BC pushes regional carbon trading - Edmonton Journal (subscription) - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell will press Alberta to join a regional carbon trading market in an effort to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions in the west.

Campbell is meeting with Premier Ed Stelmach Friday as part of an interprovincial cabinet meeting. His province is already working with a number of western U.S. states, including Arizona, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico and California to develop a market system for trading carbon credits, or offsets.

The key to the success of such a market is size, Campbell said, and that's why Alberta is welcome to join.

"The larger the marketplace you have, the better that trading works, " Campbell said Thursday after arriving in Edmonton. "I think there's real opportunities for British Columbia and Alberta to work together, and I hope that we'll be able to work together to pursue some of those ideas over the next couple of day."

Earlier this month at a meeting of provincial and territorial leaders in Toronto, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty pushed for a Canadian carbon market, similar to the one already in place in Europe. Campbell was in favour of the idea, which put he and Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach on opposite sides of the issue.

Under Alberta's new climate change legislation, which passed through the legislature last month, companies that can't reduce the intensity of their greenhouse gas emissions enough, have a number of options. One is to buy credits from other companies who have done a better job of decreasing the amount of greenhouse gasses they put into the atmosphere.

...

15. Google News for “Regional Community”

Other menu sections available from this link include: Regional Development; Regional Council; Regional Commission; Regional America; Regional Asia; Regional Europe; Regional Competition; Regionalism; Intergovernmental 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

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