Regional Community Development News – November 11, 2009 [regions_work]

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

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

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Contents

Top Regional Community stories … 1. – 9.

U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State – news articles …10.01 - .31

Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet … 11.01 - .25

Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .09

Announcements and Regional Links … 13.01 - .04

Financial Crisis …14.01 - .04

Custom search: region, regions, regional communities … 15.

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Dear RCD News Readers –

This edition marks the 6^th anniversary of Regional Community Development News, a publication dedicated to what I see as “emerging regional communities of communities.” Regional communities cooperate, collaborate, partner, network, coordinate; form coalitions and alliances; practice regionalism, regionalization, and self-governance across boundaries, great and small. This is done through the use of jurisdictional geographies and related identities, old or modern, in response to opportunities and/or necessities. At age 63 I learn every day about the uses of community. The Regional Communities blog was added along the journey with other regional community product and organization links at the blog. Feedback welcome, as always.

Sincerely – Tom Christoffel, AICP, Editor

Top Regional Community stories

1. A once-in-a-generation chance for regionalism - Crosscutt.com - Seattle, WA, USA

Regionalism is a term that gets thrown around a lot during election seasons. Candidates talk about the need to work more closely with other governments, to forge service-delivery partnerships and to build stronger collaborative relationships. Then, after the election, everyone goes back to working in the same governmental silos. … After all, you don’t get elected with votes from those other districts.

This year could be different in King County.

Both county executive candidates Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison have made improving the county’s relationship with other governments a part of their campaigns. …

Just as the financial crisis facing the Metro bus system offers a rare opportunity to redefine public transportation, the fiscal meltdown engulfing county government offers a chance to re-invent how this region works.

First, a little primer. King County is a complex place located in a complex region. As former Seattle Mayor Norm Rice and Eastside business leader John Stanton observed in their study of our regional transportation system, there are more than 100 public agencies with some piece of our regional transportation system. King County has 39 cities, plus multiple special purpose districts. We have state and federal governments with many more loosely coupled agencies.

Each of these institutions has its own set of objectives set by hundreds of elected officials and legions of staffers. This reality is not going to change soon, so the challenge of forging working partnerships must be accomplished in this rich soup of relationships. How can this be done? I’ve worked out a few guidelines, from my years of trying to make music together:

First, realize that we won’t always agree and often our interests will diverge. In such cases good fences make for good neighbors. Care should be put into defining those boundaries.

…

http://crosscut.com/2009/11/02/king-county/19321/

2. Regionalism will help us all, says Orlando mayor - Daily Commercial - Leesburg, FL, USA

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer came to South Lake Thursday afternoon, bringing a message of regionalism with him.

"You cannot think about competing against each other within the region," he said. "It can't be Clermont against St. Cloud or Orlando, because what's good for one is good for the other."

The lunch at First United Methodist Church's Wesley Hall was hosted by the South Lake Chamber of Commerce and was the second in a series of luncheons featuring high-profile speakers from across the region.

Dyer spoke on the importance of regionalism and of cooperation within and across county lines.

"You have to think about how the entire region can compete against other regions or internationally," he said.

Dyer recapped some of his accomplishments since taking on the post of mayor in 2003, including bringing a medical city and a performing arts center to Orlando and lobbying for a commuter/high speed rail system in Florida.

Dyer stressed that each project was only possible because of regional cooperation.

Dyer said some of Orlando's assets are really regional assets, citing the Citrus Bowl Stadium and the Amway Arena.

He also noted that other cities' venues benefit the region, such as the Central Florida Zoo in Sanford.

Dyer also talked about the work that's been done toward implementing commuter rail and how partnerships are going to be an important part of its success.

Dyer said that neighboring cities will benefit from cooperating to incorporate a strong feeder system running into it made up of other transportation means, such as buses, that people would take to get there.

…

"I was really excited about the fact that Mayor Dyer understood the importance of a rapid transit system as a feeder to the high-speed rail system," Groveland Mayor Richard Smith said.

…

http://www.dailycommercial.com/103009dyer

RC: East Central Florida Regional Planning Council - Region VI http://www.ecfrpc.org/

3. Movers & Shakers 2009: Regionalism - Central Penn Business Journal - Harrisburg, PA, USA

Central Pennsylvania isn't the best example of a community that excels at sharing. For years, counties and municipalities in the region have butted heads over efforts to regionalize services.

Three York County municipalities recently rejected a proposal to merge with Newberry Township. …

While some efforts have fizzled, there have been successful initiatives thanks to the hard work of a few dedicated individuals and groups. Springettsbury and Spring Garden townships in York County merged their fire departments in 2008, for example. …

These projects are the just the tip of the iceberg for an area as segmented as Central Pennsylvania. There are more than 200 local governing bodies in Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties. The road to regionalism is rocky and seemingly never-ending, but the endeavors are necessary if our communities want to progress by operating efficiently and effectively while remaining attractive to businesses.

How can we change?

One way the business community can reach out and encourage regionalism in Central Pennsylvania is by providing financial support for organizations that are looking to perform studies related to regionalism or hire experts to analyze a potential opportunity for regionalization.

Business leaders also can make their voices heard by local government and elected officials and express their interest and support of regional efforts. Talking to local organizations about the benefits of consolidation can help as well.

And rather than just talk about the idea of regionalism, business leaders need to dig in and have more meaningful, thoughtful discussions about what kinds of regional approaches make or don't make sense. By getting involved and stepping up to analyze the options, businesses can intelligently and effectively help solve community problems.

Leading by example

…

http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/industry_article.asp?cID=3&aID=73373

4. Backers of Malibu septic ban rode wave of surfers' testimony

Los Angeles Times – California

One after another, surfers young and older trooped to the microphone to recount their encounters with the polluted waves off Malibu's Surfrider Beach.

They told of bouts of diarrhea, conjunctivitis that wouldn't heal and heart-damaging Coxsackie B4 virus. Some talked of inhaling the pervasive Malibu stench and watching raw sewage pour through the city's streets and parking lots.

In the end, the testimony of the surfers helped carry the day Thursday for supporters of a ban on new septic systems in the vibrant commercial heart of one of Southern California's most exclusive enclaves.

Under the prohibition, no new septic systems will be allowed and owners of existing commercial and residential systems will have to halt discharges within the next decade.

Given that Malibu formed its own city government in 1991 to avoid what it viewed as a scheme by Los Angeles County to install sewers and unleash a wave of development, the decision Thursday marked a turning of the tide.

The years-long battle over water quality in Malibu has been a strange collision of slow-growth advocates who viewed septic tanks and leach pits as a check against rapid development and surfers and environmentalists who contended the systems were fouling the city's groundwater and, by extension, Malibu Creek, …

In the opinion of many, Malibu dragged its feet for so long that regional water quality officials had no choice but to impose a moratorium.

…

Malibu is a city that wears its green credentials on its Hawaiian shirt sleeves, but its environmental reputation has taken a beating the last several years. … Researcher after researcher has blamed stressed septic tanks and leaking leach fields as a leading cause of water pollution.

… "Here we are in one of the richest cities in the U.S., and we have sewage running down the street."

…

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-malibu-sewers7-2009nov07,0,4163417.story?track=rss

5. Regional solutions to regional problems - Modesto Bee - Modesto, CA, USA

Without a lot of fanfare, local government leaders are teaming up on some high-priced projects and expensive services. For example:

• Modesto and Ceres are talking about sharing sewer treatment facilities.

…

• Salida, Stanislaus Consolidated and the Modesto fire agencies are discussing joint operations.

The trend isn't so pronounced that average citizens would notice, but local governments are looking at things they can do better — and less expensively — through partnerships rather than on an individual basis.

It's called regionalization — and we think it should be applauded and encouraged.

On large, expensive services, such as operating a jail, local jurisdictions have long recognized the need to work together. But now we are seeing cities cooperating in other areas.

In 2005, Modesto Mayor Jim Ridenour convened the mayors of Stanislaus County for regular talks. Initially the motive was defensive in nature; they wanted to formulate a vision for growth to counter a ballot initiative.

The mayors never achieved a consensus on growth management, but their talks proved fruitful in other ways. Most important, these ongoing sessions have fostered a much-needed trust.

Ridenour is an effective champion of regional thinking for a number of reasons — his business background, his sincere commitment to the idea of efficiency through shared resources, and the fact that he isn't using the mayorship as a springboard to another public office.

…

The Great Valley Center, founded by former Modesto Mayor Carol Whiteside and now associated with the University of California at Merced, has done much to promote regionalization through research, training programs and conferences on public policy issues.

There's long been a sense that the Central Valley — comprising the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys — was a stepchild to the more prosperous Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego regions. … GVC has documented the disparities …

http://www.modbee.com/editorials/story/925160.html

6. Focus on region to achieve success - Tahlequah Daily Press - Tahlequah, OK, USA

… summit, the first in a cooperative effort by NSU, the Cherokee Nation and SACC-EZ (Sequoyah, Adair and Cherokee County Empowerment Zone), focuses on “Giving Voice to Our Region.”

…

“In 2009, effective regionalism is not a competitive advantage; it is a competitive imperative,” he said.

Businesses make decisions not only on a local basis, but on a regional basis, and, increasingly, a global basis.

Years ago, a city seeking to attract a new business to town competed against a few other cities in the region, or perhaps in the nation, Today, it’s competing with cities around the world — and frequently, those cities are doing a better job of courting, Millett said. Other countries have an increasingly more educated workforce and other attractions for a company.

“It’s not just northeastern Oklahoma against the rest of Oklahoma, or the southwest area,” Millett said. “It’s you against the world. How do you compete?”

He said America is being beaten, on a knowledge standpoint, by many other parts of the world. Americans can no longer say, “We’re Americans, we’re here, make way for us and let us through.”

A regional economic approach is vital, Millett said.

“Can you come together as a people? Can you muster the educational resources, can you compile the data?” he said.

Northeastern Oklahoma already has a number of regional entities in place, he noted. The challenge is having those regional organizations work together to ensure growth.

“Look around the room. How many people do you know? How many people do you have to introduce yourself to? The more introductions, the less regionalism,” Millett said.

…

Millett said he considers a good library the equivalent of an MBA in the quality of a community. Preparing leaders begins at birth, he said, and the library is a powerful resource.

…

http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/features/local_story_308102532.html/resources_printstory

RC: Eastern Oklahoma Development District http://www.eoddok.org/

7. Franklin looks at regionalizing services - Milford Daily News - Milford, MA, USA

In response to looming financial problems, Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting is weighing the pros and cons of sharing more services with other area towns.

Nutting has joined the Regionalization Advisory Commission, which is led by Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray and consists of 19 representatives from different sectors of government around the state, ranging from state-level executives to municipal government workers.

Members meet monthly to review all aspects of regionalization, including the possible opportunities, benefits and challenges.

"In difficult times, people are forced to look at ways to resolve problems that are beyond the traditional method," Nutting said.

The committee is divided into subcommittees to explore the potential areas of regionalization in education, public safety, public health, public works, housing, veterans' services, work-force development, municipal finance and structure, elder services and transportation.

"Not everyone wants to share every service, nor can they, but it's something we have to start looking at. We have to change the way we do business," he said.

Nutting said they are reviewing examples of regionalized services from all over the state, and the commission will present its findings in April.

Franklin currently shares an animal control officer with Bellingham and a library director with Medway, and Town Council Vice Chairman Stephen Whalen thinks sharing more services is the town's best bet to save money.

There "would be reduced overhead and greater resource efficiency," he said. "Not every single town needs separate police and fire chiefs, ambulance services, school superintendents, etc."

Despite financial benefits, both Nutting and Whalen agree the only foreseeable drawback is a loss of control over town services.

… "With regionalization, by definition, we as residents of Franklin would have less of a say in what goes on right in our town on these matters because we would be part of a larger group of people who would collectively make these decisions."

…

http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/x1659497119/Franklin-looks-at-regionalizing-services

8. OUR OPINION: Regional schools hit by unfair transportation cuts - The Patriot Ledger - Quincy, MA, USA

In announcing spending cuts to close a $600 million budget gap, Gov. Deval Patrick last week stressed he was leaving the main sources of state education aid intact. What he didn’t say was he was making cuts in another account that will cause unfair hardships for the state’s regional school districts.

Patrick cut $18 million in transportation aid, forcing up to 40 school districts to find that money in already strapped budgets. The cut will hit most of vocational school districts as well as regional K-12 districts.

Some schools may be able to cope without digging into funds slated for educational programs.

…

But other local schools face cuts that aren’t so readily absorbed.

…

The transportation cuts break a long-standing promise. When the state pushed for school consolidation, transportation costs were a source of local resistance, so the legislation creating regional school districts required bus transportation be provided, prohibited districts from charging transportation fees and committed the state to fully fund regional-school transportation.

The state has often fallen short of that commitment. Transportation aid was cut in the original budget for this fiscal year; Patrick’s latest cuts bring the state contribution to just 29 percent of district costs. The law establishing regional districts prevents district boards from responding to these cuts.

Unlike local school districts, they cannot eliminate bus routes, nor charge students for transportation. There’s good reason for these restrictions: Students in regional districts have to travel long distances to their schools.

State law also prohibits regional school districts from going back to their member towns in mid-year to ask for more money.

The result of these restrictions is that regional districts will have to find transportation money elsewhere in their budgets, which means potentially hurting their educational programs.

…

http://www.patriotledger.com/opinions/x1659497686/OUR-OPINION-Headline-goes-here

9. 6 Regions Dubbed Independent Integration Areas - The Dong-A Ilbo - South Korea

Six regions of the country yesterday were designated independent integration areas by the government.

The six include three in Gyeonggi Province: Suwon, Hwaseong and Osan; Seongnam, Hanam and Gwangju; and Anyang, Gunpo and Euiwang. Two others are in South Gyeongsang Province -- Changwon, Masan and Jinhae and Jinju and Sancheong -- and the remaining one is in North Chungcheong Province -- Cheongju and Cheongwon.

Public Administration and Security Minister Lee Dal-gon said in a briefing at the Central Government Complex, “We surveyed the independent integration of 18 regions including 46 provincial governments nationwide. Since we found that more than half of the residents from 16 cities and counties in the six regions approved the idea, we officially implemented the integration process.”

“Massive administrative and financial support for integrated cities will follow.”

Accordingly, the ministry will submit a bill on building regional integrated cities by the end of the year if 16 councils in cities and counties in the six regions approve of the integration.

Once the councils approve, an organization for consultation and support overarching all government agencies will be set up in the Office of the Prime Minister to lay the foundation for long-term development of integrated self-governing bodies and come up with support measures for each agency.

…

When the bill on building integrated cities passes the National Assembly in February next year, an election for the heads of integrated cities will follow June 3. The cities will officially be launched July 1.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=050000&biid=2009111132028

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font words are Google search terms and phrases of interest. In this and section 11, 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 as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct. Contents

.01 Cuyahoga County's new government structure will likely bring gradual change, experts say

Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA

The revolution will arrive in waves. In January 2011, a new Cuyahoga County Council will meet, its 11 members bucking commissioners' habit of staid rubber-stamping to jostle and debate. The first Cuyahoga County executive will take over, and with 1.3 million people to serve, become the second most powerful leader in Ohio. By June, a regional group will present a five-year plan to promote economic development. Other more far-reaching changes are demanded in the governing charter that county voters approved Tuesday. Yet some of those changes could take years -- even decades -- and will require continued vigilance by voters, experts say. Experts also say that charters have worked in other counties, including in neighboring Summit, and five other similar-sized counties nationwide, by giving the government home-rule powers, rather than restricting them to the rights outlined by the state. ...

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/11/reforms_will_roll_in_but_chang.html

.02 Davidson '11: Consolidate more, spend less

The Brown Daily Herald – Providence, RI, USA

The town of Foster, R.I., has just over 4,000 residents. It also has its own police department and department of public works. This will change if some state legislators get their way. State Sen. Frank Ciccone III, D-Dist. 7, has said he is planning to introduce a bill next year that would consolidate Rhode Island’s 39 municipalities into five counties. If the bill becomes law, “all municipal services — including public safety, public works and education — would be regionalized” into countywide departments. Such reorganization is a sensible way to address the state’s fiscal woes, and Rhode Islanders stand to gain from this bill’s passage. If the bill becomes law, “all municipal services - including public safety, public works and education - would be regionalized” into countywide departments. ...

http://www.browndailyherald.com/davidson-11-consolidate-more-spend-less-1.2059303

.03 A regional vision

News & Observer - Raleigh, NC

Our thanks to Todd K. BenDor for raising the important connection between how we develop and the water quality we enjoy in his Nov. 1 Point of View article ("A new form of water-quality protection"). BenDor also made the case for strong regional coordination; at the Triangle J Council of Governments, we couldn't agree more. Triangle J has a history of successes working with local governments, state agencies and other partners to tackle cross-jurisdictional issues. ... At Triangle J, our strength is derived not from having regulatory or taxing authority, but from our member local governments, who recognize through their voluntary membership the critical importance of addressing today's issues and tomorrow's challenges regionally. The council can be counted on to work every day, strengthening the collective regional voice the Triangle needs for long-term success. Thomas G. Crowder, Chairman, Triangle J Council of Governments ...

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/letters/story/183534.html

.04 Mayor Pat McCrory on Megaregions

America 2050

Mayor Pat McCrory of Charlotte, North Carolina provides a compelling description of why megaregions are important. YouTube 1:05 min.

http://www.america2050.org/2009/11/pat-mccrory-on-megaregion-concept-on-carolina-business-review.html

.05 NEOtropolis Debuts Tonight on PBS 45/49

Business Journal Daily - Youngstown, OH, USA

NEOtropolis, a new weekly program looking at regional economic issues, premieres tonight at 9 p.m. on Western Reserve Public Media PBS 45/49. ... “NEOtropolis will offer timely information about the region’s business and economy in a fast-paced yet in-depth format,” says Duilio Mariola, Western Reserve Public Media executive producer. “We want to be a vehicle for dialogue about regionalism for the four major cities in our broadcast area -- Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Youngstown. In the first episode, for example, we will explore the biomedical technology industry and its impact on our entire region.” ...

http://www.business-journal.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=1&twindow=&mad=&sdetail=15016&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=1711&hn=business-journal&he=.com

.06 New Study Tracks Migration of Kansans

KCUR-FM - Kansas City, MO, USA

Kansas has been gradually losing population for over a century. But a new study suggests that regionalization, the movement of people from rural to urban areas within Kansas, is actually more significant and pronounced trend. ... Center of Applied Economics at the University of Kansas ... recently completed a study that uses individual tax return information to track migration. When a social security number shows up in a different zip code from the previous year, it's counted as a move. ... report describes nation-wide migration trends from 1995 to 2006.

Note: This report covers all States and Counties. – “The County-to-County Migration of Taxpayers and their Incomes” – PDF download link

http://www.business.ku.edu//_FileLibrary/PageFile/1195/TR%2009-0306--Taxpayer%20Migration.pdf

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kcur/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1575853/KCUR.News/New.Study.Tracks.Migration.of.Kansans

.07 Sussex Borough and Wantage: A tough sell on NJ town mergers

The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

In a leafy corner of the state, far from the epicenter of a nasty gubernatorial election, voters from the Sussex County towns of Sussex Borough and Wantage quietly mulled a merger of the two municipalities. And on Tuesday, by nearly a 3-to-1 margin, they said, "No thanks." The consolidation seemed to make sense: The towns already share three regional schools, a construction department and a court system and, served by the State Police, wouldn’t have to quibble over police. Plus, the towns had assets (land and utilities) to share. In an unsettling economy, when cutting property taxes is the driving political issue, this one seemed like a rural no-brainer. "If it wasn’t going to happen here, I wonder if it’s going to happen anywhere," said Sal Lagattuta, one of the proponents. ... The average municipal tax bill in Wantage — home to 11,000 — would have shrunk only $57, business administrator James Doherty said. The average savings in Sussex Borough would have been approximately $400. Still not enough, it seems. And maybe that’s the problem with regionalization: To many, it’s not worth the hassle.

…

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2009/11/sussex_borough_and_wantage_a_t.html

.08 Voters reject N. Ind. regional transit district

Chicago Tribune - Chicago, IL, USA

Voters in two northern Indiana counties overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to create a regional transportation district. Tallies from Tuesday’s special election show that nearly 80 percent of Porter County ballots were cast against the district, while 95 percent of St. Joseph County voters opposed it. The state Legislature mandated the referendum on creating the district for Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties with income tax authority for commuter rail and bus service. ... Regional Development Authority director Bill Hanna says the proposal had been subjected to much misinformation. ...

http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/nov/04/local/chi-ap-in-transitdistrictre

.09 City-suburb divide suits Collins fine

Buffalo News - Buffalo, NY, USA

... the real loser Tuesday was not any one candidate or the other, but the notion that this is one region. Collins has made it his business to drive a stake through that idea. The corporate whiz couldn’t figure out how to run a regional parks system cost-effectively, so he dumped the Olmsted parks back onto the city’s books even though the parks draw users from far and wide. His bid to take the county out of services that help poor people—no doubt spurred by the notion that most of the poor live in the city—will get a boost if it turns out he has more soulless mates on the Legislature. And the overarching GOP strategy of not running credible candidates in Buffalo— Chairman James Domagalski couldn’t find a mayoral contender because the Brown administration is doing such a great job?—cements the city-suburban divide. ...

http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/850933.html

.10 Plan turns to students for economic innovation

The State News - Lansing, MI, USA

Students and recent graduates might have more of a reason to stay in the Lansing area if a comprehensive plan introduced Wednesday is successful. In economic times when Michigan cities are forced to find new ways to innovate and create jobs, Greater Lansing is looking toward regionalism and entrepreneurship to attract young talent and emerging businesses, according to the plan, Greater Lansing Next. … To attract more businesses, the region needs to focus on essential services, research facilities and knowledge-based industries, such as information technology, according to the plan. And part of that effort is getting students and recent graduates to invest in the region. Gordon Ferguson, senior business consultant with Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center, said creating an entrepreneurial epicenter in Lansing will take a younger mind-set. …

http://www.statenews.com/index.php/article/2009/11/plan_turns_to_students_for_economic_innovation

.11 Recession fuels more local government consolidations

Eagle Tribune - North Andover, MA, USA

The recession has put new wind in the sails of the push to streamline local government. As cities and towns feel pressure from flagging local revenues and a forecast of reduced state aid next year, efforts to consolidate resources — particularly between municipalities and school departments — are gaining steam across the Merrimack Valley. "I think that's where the savings are," Haverhill Mayor James Fiorentini said. "It's not going to save you millions, but it's going to make government a little bit more efficient." ... Both Haverhill and Methuen combined once-separate school and city information technology departments earlier this year. North Andover did the same last year. ... Department of Revenue Spokesman Bob Bliss said requests to explore consolidation and regionalization opportunities are on the rise. ... "We're going to continue to find some common ground," Manzi said. "In an environment of reduced funding, it is now a matter of necessity."

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_311224248.html

.12 National Report Shows 1 in 5 Traffic Deaths in New York are Pedestrians Yet State Only Spends 1% of Available Federal Transportation Funds on Pedestrian Safety; Advocates Call for a Statewide Complete Streets Policy

Tri-State Transportation Campaign - Press Release - Regional Plan Association - NY, NY

A new national report by Transportation for America and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership ( http://t4america.org/resources/dangerousbydesign/ ) shows that 1 in 5 traffic deaths in New York State are pedestrians. The report finds:

* 22.5% of total traffic deaths in New York State are pedestrians.

* 31% of total traffic deaths in the NYC metropolitan area are pedestrians.

* Only 1% of New York State federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian infrastructure, an average of $0.73 per person.

* New York State ranks 44 th in the nation for federal spending on walking and biking.

* The NYC metropolitan area receives only $0.61 per person in federal funds for pedestrian and bike facilities, well below the meager $1.39 spent per person for metro areas nationwide.

Advocates said these deaths are preventable if the state changes transportation policies and funding practices. “New York State Department of Transportation must do more to provide safer walking routes for New York residents,” said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. … The advocates called on New York State Department of Transportation, Governor Paterson and the State Legislature to: ...

http://www.tstc.org/press/2009/110909_NY_report.html

.13 Mayors, concerned locals gather to raise awareness about carbon output

Carbon Offsets Daily

… mayors of Telluride and Mountain Village came together for a rally in front of the San Miguel County Courthouse to encourage Telluriders to be a little more green, and pledge the support of their towns’ governments to turn this community 100 percent carbon neutral by 2020 in an effort they call Telluride Renewed. “Telluride Renewed is just two mayors of two adjacent towns coming together to ask their community to achieve a big goal,” said Mountain Village Mayor Bob Delves. “If somebody doesn’t start, nobody will do it. We are small community, a well-educated community, and a fairly affluent community. If we can’t do it, who can?” Telluride Mayor Stu Fraser ... our regional community emitted about 275000 metric tons of equivalent carbon dioxide emissions — a measure used to gauge CO2 output.

http://www.carbonoffsetsdaily.com/usa/mayors-concerned-locals-gather-to-raise-awareness-about-carbon-output-27724.htm

.14 Butler's legacy set in stone

Cincinnati.com

When William P. Butler began pitching his grand plans for a towering skyscraper along Covington's riverfront in the mid-1980s, 44 different lenders turned him down. At the time, no new major development had occurred on Northern Kentucky's riverfront for 70 years. Yet Butler was pushing a plan for what he believed would become a "leading edge" contribution to Covington's riverfront. ... "If you grew up in Covington or Northern Kentucky in those days, you felt a strong sense of inferiority in respect to the population to the North," said Butler, 66. "I wanted to make this contribution in response to how the leadership in Northern Kentucky felt about our communities. Northern Kentucky is what makes Cincinnati whole." ... John Hayden, CEO of the Midland Co., first became acquainted with Butler as the two men worked with regional leaders to form the Metropolitan Growth Alliance, an organization created to be a catalyst for regional cooperation. "Bill Butler is a visionary," Hayden said. "He coined the motto 'bridge the bridge' and was an early believer in the value of regionalism rather than pitting Cincinnati against Northern Kentucky." ...

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091110/BIZ01/911080405/1076/BIZ/Butler+s+legacy+set+in+stone

.15 Briggs talks regionalism, revenues

Norristown Times Herald - Norristown, PA, USA

The “partisanship and the regionalism” of the state Legislature are the two things that have surprised state Rep. Tim Briggs, D-149th Dist., the most during his freshman year in Harrisburg. “A lot of things people vote on are party line, and if it’s not party line it’s bipartisan but by regions. Southeastern Pennsylvanians vote one way and Western Pennsylvanians vote another way,” Briggs said during a Friday afternoon session of the “Politically Direct” series. “That was eye-opening for me that so many votes are split down the middle.” ...

http://www.timesherald.com/articles/2009/11/09/news/doc4af7a67bf196d136058740.txt

.16 County to join economic development region

Newton Daily News - Newton, IA, USA

Jasper County is apparently ready to be a player in a regional strategic initiative intended to improve economic development opportunities by targeting industries, supporting passenger rail service and encouraging entrepreneurship. Kim Didier, executive director of Iowa Association of Business and Industry, gave the Jasper County Board of Supervisors information on a seven-county region in central Iowa, known as Innovation Gateway, the first region in the nation to receive a Department of Labor’s Region Innovation Grant of $250,000 for its formation. The plan is now being facilitated with the help of Didier, the Association of Business and Industry and a 17-member executive board composed of business, education and workforce leaders within the region. The Innovation Gateway’s seven-county region of Story, Marshall, Tama, Jasper, Poweshiek, Marion and Mahaska counties hopes to collaborate to become more globally competitive. Its goals are to analyze workforce supply and demand; build partnerships to match workforce supply with demand; provide infrastructure for sustainable communities; and to foster a culture of entrepreneurship. ...

http://www.newtondailynews.com/articles/2009/11/10/r_eomcb5mirlmsafiqovfq2a/index.xml

.17 Tallahassee Regional Airport celebrates 80 years

Tallahassee.com - FL, USA

Aviation officials and local elected leaders celebrated the Tallahassee Regional Airport's 80 years of service to the community Tuesday and predicted the facility will continue to play an important role in the area's economic development. Amid displays of historic photos and the unveiling of a timeline tracing the history of local aviation, speakers during the event recalled the milestones in Tallahassee Regional's development. ... While the new Northwest Florida-Panama City International Airport is due to open in May 2010, Tallahassee's airport has growth potential of its own, especially with aviation-related research at Florida State University, Flightline Inc.'s expansion and the opening of a HondaJet dealership. ...

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20091111/BUSINESS/911110316/1003/business

.18 LTCC Opposes Regional Connector Build Alternatives

Rafu Shimpo - Los Angeles Japanese Daily News

The Little Tokyo Community Council on Tuesday stated its opposition to the two current build alternatives proposed for the Metro Regional Connector and urged consideration of a new alternative. Regional Connector seeks to create an almost two-mile transit link between the Gold and Blue Line light rail systems through downtown Los Angeles. On Tuesday at a meeting of the LTCC Transit Committee, a resolution passed stating opposition to both the underground and aboveground alternatives and urged the transit authority continue to explore different options. ...

http://rafu.com/news/?p=6501

.19 Faith communities gather to meet the needs of city, region

Stamford Times - Stamford, CT, USA

Religious communities from all over Stamford came ... to work together in helping meet the needs of the city and the region at large. ... "There's a commonality that runs through every faith group and it clearly is caring for the community, caring for those who are hurting," he said. ... McArthur has enlisted the help of the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut, the sponsor of Sunday's event in Stamford. "The faith communities are always very busy, but they're not always busy together," said Rev. Kate Heichler, president of the Interfaith Council. "This is a great opportunity to hear from each other, put all that spirit together and see what God does with that." ...

http://thestamfordtimes.com/story/477959

.20 Green Jobs - Southwest and West Central Clean Energy Resource Team (CERT) Regional Coordinator(s) (Minnesota)

SustainLane

Coordinator(s) will be instrumental in working to advance community-scale energy projects within the southwest and west central Minnesota regions by connecting people with the technical resources they need to identify and implement local energy efficiency and clean energy projects. ... Southwest Regional Development Commission, 2401 Broadway Ave , Slayton , MN 56172

http://www.sustainlane.com/jobs/southwest-and-west-central-clean-energy-resource-team-cert-regional-coordinator-s-minnesota/XBYV21QUIRA3HNLTACJCUVBQF23R

.21 Regional filings hit '09 high in October

Arizona Republic - AZ, USA

Valley-area bankruptcy filings in October hit a 2009 high for the fifth consecutive month as pressures from the tough job market overshadowed signs of gradual economic improvement. The 2,496 filings in metro Phoenix were up less than 1 percent from September. But the latest tally represented a surge of nearly 61 percent from October 2008, when filings hit their high mark for that year. ... Comment: It's only going to get worse... In the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics release, Arizona's U-6 unemployment rate was 17.2% or 7th worst true unemployment rate in the nation. ...

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/2009/11/11/20091111biz-Bankruptcy1111.html

.22 Dyson grants help region

Poughkeepsie Journal - Poughkeepsie, NY, USA

The Dyson Foundation is a philanthropic organization based in Dutchess County, but its focus is often businesslike and regional, its president made clear in a speech Thursday. When Rob Dyson addressed the Pattern for Progress annual awards reception, he drew a parallel between the foundation and Pattern on taking regional approaches to solving problems. "From a Pattern perspective, the Walkway was a triumph of regionalism that required cooperation across municipal, party and geographic boundaries," Dyson said, referring to the Walkway Over the Hudson. "We viewed our grant to the Walkway as an investment in the valley's future and its economy." ...

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20091107/BUSINESS/911070317/Dyson-grants-help-region

.23 Catskill ski resorts team up for regional promotion effort

Kingston Daily Freeman

Five Catskill region ski resorts that began a promotional collaboration earlier this year at the invitation of Ulster County Executive Michael Hein are building on that effort for the coming ski season. The Catskill Association for Tourism Services, in collaboration with the five resorts, has launched a new CATS Card offering skiers 20 percent off lift tickets throughout the 2009-10 season. “Save money, Save time,” and “5-stop shop the Catskills” are the themes of the latest region-wide promotion by the five resorts: Holiday Mountain, Hunter Mountain, Plattekill, Windham Mountain and the state-owned Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. …

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2009/11/06/news/doc4af3b51496bd2682555808.txt

.24 Historic Triangle

Daily Press - Newport News, VA, USA

A group of Greater Williamsburg business and community leaders will work together over the next six months to decide if the Historic Triangle needs to diversify its economy. Members of the Historic Triangle Collaborative — an informal group of leaders from James City and York counties and Williamsburg dedicated to regionalization — have formed a task force to develop an economic report that will explore how the region's government bodies and businesses can work together. ...

http://www.dailypress.com/news/williamsburg/dp-local_hteconomicdiversity_11nov08,0,5115789.story

.25 ICVA: Ad campaign helps draw more visitors to region

Indianapolis Business Journal - Indianapolis, IN, USA

A summer advertising campaign launched by the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association helped produce more visitors and dollars for central Indiana, even though the organization spent less this year marketing the region. The ICVA said Thursday morning that the half-million-dollar ad campaign resulted in 745,000 new visitors who spent more than $145 million in central Indiana.... Association helped produce more visitors and dollars for central Indiana, even though the organization spent less this year marketing the region. ... Area attractions that partnered with ICVA in the campaign were the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, Conner Prairie, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indiana State Museum, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Museum of Art and the Indianapolis Zoo.

http://www.ibj.com/icva-ad-campaign-helps-draw-more-visitors-to-region-/PARAMS/article/11130

.26 Regional development impacted by changing coal attitudes

Williamson Daily News – Williamson, WV, USA

A new attitude in our nation’s capitol is having a major effect on the mining industry in Appalachia, and companies facing a difficult situation when they apply for surface mining permits feel there are no concise ground rules, says the industry. The Corridor G Regional Development Authority held a Post Mine Land Use (PMLU) forum in Logan Monday to bring together stakeholders to share information about the state of economic development stemming from the practice. ... The list of reasons the EPA is giving for the delays has grown, Huffman said. “There are several reasons,” he explained, “Water quality, forest fragmentation, cumulative impact, mitigation, monitoring and minimizing the environmental footprint are some of them.” ... the coal industry is going to have to change with the times in order to stay viable. ...

http://www.williamsondailynews.com/pages/about_us

.27 Kansas State University Team Creates Tools to Show how Decisions about Aquifer affect People, Local Economies

GIS and Science

When water use policies and practices change, they produce a ripple effect in communities, impacting everything from what types of crops a farmer will grow to how many people will move in or out of a town. That’s why Kansas State University is pooling experts from multiple disciplines to understand how these changes affect people in communities that depend on the Ogallala Aquifer in western Kansas. ... The water source offsets the region’s dry climate and supports irrigated crops, the meat packing industry and the Kansans for whom such agricultural practices are their livelihood and the backbone of their towns’ economies. There are places where the aquifer will not be able to sustain the industries and people now dependent on the water supply. These areas of decline are where the interdisciplinary team of K-State researchers is focusing its study of the intersection of people and the water supply.

http://gisandscience.com/2009/11/05/kansas-state-university-team-creates-tools-to-show-how-decisions-about-aquifer-affect-people-local-economies/

.28 Transportation @ MIT Rethinks Everything

ArchitectureBoston

“As a starting point, we did a survey of 1,200 MIT faculty members and asked them if the research they were doing could be applied to transportation,” said Cynthia Barnhart, associate dean for academic affairs at the School of Engineering and director of the initiative. “We were amazed when 338 — more than a quarter of them — said yes. So we decided to start a program that would leverage all of this expertise.” … For more than a century, architects and urban planners have recognized the interdependence of transportation and the design of buildings and cities. But it’s historically been a topdown process — planners and designers foisting their grand visions on an often-reluctant public. … Now, technology is allowing researchers to mine a rich store of information from the bottom up — gauging how people actually live and making transportation planning decisions accordingly. …

http://architectureboston.com/2009/11/09/transportation-mit-rethinks-everything/

.29 UCLA experts take lead in regional climate plan

UC Los Angeles - California

In a unique effort to address climate change, experts with UCLA's Institute of the Environment (IOE) have been tapped to administer a new countywide collaborative and help create the group's regional climate plan. The group, called the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action and Sustainability, referred to as the LARC, seeks to include the county's 88 cities as well as transportation agencies, clean air groups and other organizations to unify the region's plan of attack. Some of the agencies involved are already directing grants to UCLA to support the collaborative. Stephanie Pincetl heads UCLA's partnership in the LARC from her position as director of IOE's Urban Center on People and the Environment. The regionalism the LARC seeks to create, she noted, is just beginning to gain acceptance around the country. "What we're doing here is a completely novel collaborative, getting all of these jurisdictions working toward a common goal," Pincetl said. "Cities have never teamed up like this before. They've been brought to regionalism kicking and screaming, wanting to control their own territory. This is an extraordinary opportunity to change how we do things in California. … "The important part, of course, is that UCLA is playing an enormously important role in making all this happen at the regional level," Pincetl added. "We can't continue to have each city pursuing its own plan, sometimes even canceling out each others' efforts."…

http://www.today.ucla.edu/portal/ut/ucla-experts-take-lead-in-regional-112040.aspx

.30 Muppets teach everything from Spanish to cooperation

Lincoln Journal Star - Lincoln, NE, USA

Since its debut 40 years ago, "Sesame Street" has been the subject of more than 1,000 educational studies, all of which have found "Sesame Street" teaches preschoolers and helps them learn later. Children who watched frequently scored better on achievement and school readiness tests, and made more cognitive gains compared to children who watched infrequently, a study by the Educational Testing Service found. Other studies found these children had broader vocabularies, better letter and number recognition and could identify printed words more easily than their counterparts. They also learned to cooperate better. ...

http://journalstar.com/lifestyles/article_a96a3220-ccba-11de-a6b1-001cc4c03286.html

.31 Regional Distribution of the US Population

Citeman Network Business Management Reality

Marketers are increasingly learning that there are important regional differences in the United States and that for many products the shotgun approach of a single national advertising campaign is less effective than more precisely targeted regional strategies. ...

Perhaps the most provocative view of the differences between regions has been offered by Joel Garreau in his Book The Nine Nations of North America. Garreau’s thesis is that we should forget the artificial political boundaries between countries, regions, states and provinces in North America and concern instead with cultural boundaries. ... another study of these nine geographical areas found that the consumer values did not support this theory. In contrast, the values were more closely related to those of the Bureau of Census regions, ...

http://www.citeman.com/7653-regional-distribution-of-the-us-population/

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet Contents

.01 Let's give Liverpool city-region extra muscle, says Peter Kilfoyle MP

Liverpool Daily Post - Liverpool, UK

A MERSEY MP has called for a directly-elected mayor to give real power to the Liverpool "city- region" - branding the current set- up a toothless "cosy cabal". Walton MP Peter Kilfoyle commissioned his own independent research to analyse the failings of an arrangement he claims is letting down Merseyside. The study has been sent to fellow MPs and key city bodies including The Mersey Partnership and Liverpool Vision, urging them to embrace the need for radical change. Among the key conclusions are calls for: A directly-elected mayor – akin to London's Boris Johnson – to "bring vision, innovation and real accountability"; A 12-strong assembly – with six directly-elected members, because its current leadership is a "closed and incestuous shop"; Tax and spend powers – perhaps over waste charges, road-pricing, local income tax, higher business rats, or a tourism tax; A bigger city-region – perhaps including Warrington, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Chester and even Wrexham and Flintshire. ...

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2009/11/06/let-s-give-liverpool-city-region-extra-muscle-says-peter-kilfoyle-mp-92534-25105901/

.02 Vancouver region using Olympics to lure potential business investors

The Canadian Press

Metropolitan Vancouver is hoping the glamour of the Olympics will help lure investment dollars to the region. Nine Vancouver-area municipalities, including the city itself, have banded together to use the 2010 Olympic Games to attract companies with plans to relocate or expand their business. A hundred executives from at least 50 and as many as 70 small-and medium-sized firms will be invited to the city during the 2010 Winter Games for four days of business meetings and access to Olympic events. The hope is that the afterglow of the Games will give Metro Vancouver an edge when corporate decision-makers later select where they want to invest. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson called the Olympics "the most powerful opportunity that this region will have in our lifetime to brand ourselves to the world and to position Metro Vancouver on the international business stage." "We are in an era where we compete with city-regions around the world, many of whom are well organized and well-armed with resources," Robertson said. ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5jVh71XqG8yOtLH2pwrK5eXjJH_0w

.03 Flood initiative shows cross-border risk

FT.com

As financial policymakers from the Group of 20 countries gathered in Scotland, there was a debate about policy reform – and the lessons that financiers should learn from past banking disasters. However, for another – more offbeat – clue about the policy challenges that await the G20, financiers might do well to take a glance at a meteorological initiative that is under way in Reading, England, to measure European flood risk. On the face of it, the task of predicting river and sea levels might seem unconnected to the world of finance. ... Yet, the way that scientists in Reading are trying to measure flood risk has fascinating parallels with a topic now confronting G20 leaders – namely, macroprudential regulation. ... Flood warnings in Europe were once issued by national bodies, and based on a binary system of alerts, meaning that they either predicted a flood – or not. But national bodies now co-operate with each other, to produce pan-European, cross-border forecasts. ...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7aa1a462-cd6b-11de-8162-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1#showclipthis

.04 Auto-guided vehicles, modal 'co-opetition' in transport's future

Today's Trucking News - Toronto, ON, CA

In 20 years transport and logistics-related emissions will be tracked in the supply chain and factored into the price of products. That, and other forecasts -- such as those elated to rising energy prices, reverse-globalization, and futuristic unmanned transport equipment -- were recently explored in a major PricewaterhouseCoopers study released today. The global survey, titled 'Transportation and Logistics 2030,' asks 48 transport and logistics executives and several PwC specialists from around the world how supply chains will evolve in an "energy-constrained, low-carbon world?" Among the questions: Will oil hit $1000 per barrel in 2030? 'No,' answered most respondents, although the scarcity of oil and the resulting price of energy over the next two decades is definitely a concern. "The respondents overwhelmingly agreed that a massive hike in the oil price would have serious ramifications for the industry. Should oil prices soar to a four digit figure, regionalization of supply chains and relocation of production sites would be the consequence," states the executive summary. ...

Report link: http://www.pwc.com/gx/en/transportation-logistics/tl2030/index.jhtml

http://www.todaystrucking.com/news.cfm?intDocID=22754

.05 Autopia Planes, Trains, Automobiles and the Future of Transportation With Road Trains, Highways Become Public Transportation

Wired Magazine - USA

The latest concept, part of the EU’s Safe Road Trains for the Environment initiative, groups cars with similar destinations into road trains over long stretches of highway. The lead vehicle will be driven by an experienced motorist — it may even be a bus that regularly travels the route — while the functions of each following vehicle will be automatically controlled and tethered to the actions of the lead car so that individual drivers can hammer out e-mails or eat breakfast. ... Comments: … This is one of those ideas that sounds good on paper but when practical situations are added a whole lot of problems pop up. …

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/11/with-road-trains-highways-become-public-transportation/

.06 Why presidents go local

Inquirer.net

WHAT IS WRONG WITH PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo’s frequent visits to her native town in Pampanga? Nothing—if they are the simple visits they are made out to be by her spokesmen: sentimental trips we all make to the communities of our childhood. Everything—if their purpose is to single out a hometown or province for special favors because of its personal or political importance to the incumbent head of state. For, the president of a country is the president of all its citizens. Ms Arroyo’s sphere of authority, as president, covers the entire nation, not one town, or province, or region. She is expected to rise above all claims of kinship, ethno-linguistic, and religious affiliation. This is the same principle behind the modern rejection of all forms of particularism (like nepotism and regionalism) in government. Indeed, this is the same standard against which all corrupt practices are measured. ...

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20091107-234746/Why-presidents-go-local

.07 Obama's Asian odyssey

guardian.co.uk

This is the season for Asian gatherings. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Thailand at the end of October brought all the key players of Asia together. Come mid-November, almost all of them will meet again in Singapore at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, which will include other Pacific leaders, plus the US president, Barack Obama. ... he will first visit Japan, and, while at Apec, will also attend the first US-Asean Summit. Afterwards, he will go to China and South Korea. What additional dimension might America's president bring on his first visit to the region? ... Asean has been the hub for Asian regionalism, but some in Australia have proposed focusing only on the larger countries. Southeast Asians have a renewed openness towards American leadership, and meaningful initiatives can be started that would resonate with regional aspirations. ...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/nov/02/president-obama-asia

.08 Singapore Promotes Regional Economic Cooperation

Gov Monitor -

Speech by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Yout and Sports, at opening ceremony of Voices of the Future 2009, 10 November 2009 ... the theme for APEC 2009: “Sustaining Growth, Connecting the Region”. Let me now touch on the theme, and offer some questions for you to ponder on. ... APEC was founded to promote regional economic cooperation. This remains the raison d’etre for APEC’s existence today. For a small and young nation without natural resources or markets like Singapore, it is obvious that our very survival depends very much on us being plugged into the global economy. We do not have a choice, but to build strong ties with other economies near and far. This notion holds true, and is applicable even to the largest economies in order to fully realize their economic potential. ...

http://thegovmonitor.com/world_news/asia/singapore-promotes-regional-economic-cooperation-14641.html

.09 Bilateralism in line with Regionalism

PressTV.ir

Turkey has applied for acceding to European Union (EU) for decades now and is seriously pursuing her appeal. Notwithstanding her attempts to join the EU, Ankara has not spared any efforts to upgrade its relations and cooperation with the countries in the region. In other words, as one scholar put it, Turkey's “look the region” policy has gained momentum. This policy has been pushed and advanced ever since the Justice and Development Party, led by Mr.Erdogan, took office in 2003 in Turkey. The Turkish Government has tried to show that regionalism, or “look the region,” is an important element in the foreign policy of the country and has, therefore, enhanced the cooperation with the countries of the region, principally with Iran, as a powerful country in West Asia and the Persian Gulf. This policy, taken up by Turkey, is commendable. The countries of the region need to greet Turkey's orientation delightfully, since this will be conducive to further promotion of collaborations between the countries of the region. ...

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=110373&sectionid=3510304

.10 Reject tribal leadership

Zambia Daily Mail

PRESIDENT Banda has appealed to Zambians to reject any form of leadership that encourages tribalism, regionalism and racism because these evils have immense potential to ignite conflict in the country. Mr Banda said all Zambians must be proud of themselves and guard against all forces that are bent on preaching division in the country. He was addressing a mass rally in Lundazi yesterday. “Zambians must reject the people who preach hatred against one another. Such people should be rejected in no uncertain terms because they are not good leaders. They are not happy to see the country the way it is but want to see chaos,” Mr Banda said. ...

http://www.daily-mail.co.zm/media/news/viewnews.cgi?category=8&id=1257918564

.11 `It's corporatized state terrorism'

Times of India

Special Economic Zones (SEZ) are exploiting the poor. Governments spread vulgar regionalism in some states. Whether it is Nandigram, Singur, Kakinada or Raigad, it is the poor who fight every where, Narmada Bachao Andolan Medha Patkar said on Monday. She was addressing young activists from across Karnataka at a memorial meeting to remember two of its activists ... She said builders are getting land at 40 paise per acre and that the implementation of SEZs had affected local communities, who are losing access to natural resources in their areas due to severe exploitation by MNCs, builders and a government keen on developing more SEZs. Medha called for comprehensive data collection and networking and value-based building of organization in people's movements. ...

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Its-corporatized-state-terrorism/articleshow/5213488.cms

.12 Russia's regions suffer setback

business new europe

… Russia's economy as a whole is faring pretty well, but its regions have been set back years. And even if the widely cited macroeconomic numbers return to 2008 levels in the next two years - as seems the case - many of Russia's regions will take a lot longer to recover than that. ... Given the growing importance of the regions, surprisingly little research has been done by analysts on Russia's hinterland. … The crisis has hurt the regional development of Russia far more than the country as a whole, and driven a new wedge between the centre-periphery divide. … The complexity of the Kremlin's problem isn't well appreciated. Putin summed it nicely in one of his state of the nation speeches as president: "Our country is rich, but our people are poor." ...

http://businessneweurope.eu/storyf1858/Russias_regions_suffer_setback

.13 In search of a truly regional community

China View - China

Globalization and regional integration are the two irreversible trends of our time. With the efforts of European countries for more than half a century, the European Union (EU) has gone through several stages of development. And it is still expanding with the aim of building a supranational community. The North American Free Trade Zone and East Asia regional cooperation are following the EU example. The EU lesson shows that promoting regional integration and establishing a regional community cannot be achieved overnight. It has to be a long-term process of cooperation and coordination. ...

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/28/content_12345949.htm

.14 ASEAN+3 to expand regional media cooperation

Media Network - Radio Netherlands Worldwide

A regional meeting of information ministers of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its three dialogue partners today assigned their senior officials to draw up a work plan on ASEAN+3 cooperation in information to promote better understanding and strengthen community building in the region. In the first conference hailed as the “formal start of cooperation in the information sector” of the Ministers Responsible for Information in ASEAN (AMRI) and the Plus 3 countries - China, Japan and the Republic of Korea ...

http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/asean3-to-expand-regional-media-cooperation

.15 GLOBAL: Challenges and threats to top institutions

University World News - London, UK

Don Olcott, Head of the Observatory for Borderless Higher Education, has spoken of what he calls the "new global regionalism", warning that new regional powers are emerging to challenge the Anglo-American dominance of the student recruitment market. "Are we really naive enough to think that China, India, Malaysia, South Korea, the Gulf states and others do not want to build long-term, high-quality, sustainable university systems in their countries and regions to serve their students?" Olcott said. ... a lack of money and growing competition are not the only serious challenges to world-class universities. Another key message emerged is the importance of academic freedom. ...

http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20091106115113312

.16 DEVELOPMENT: MAXIMISING IMPACTS OF REGIONAL PROGRAMMES

Island Business - Suva, Fiji

The recent meeting of the Conference of the Pacific Community, the governing body of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), focused on how to maximise the impacts of SPC’s regionally provided services at the level of the organisation’s member countries and territories. ... SPC has expanded rapidly over the last few years in size and scope, and under a reform process for regional institutions this will continue, with the organisation growing from having 390 staff in 2009 to 540 in January next year when most of the Suva-based Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) and all of the South Pacific Board of Educational Assessment (SPBEA) merge with SPC. ...

http://www.islandsbusiness.com/islands_business/index_dynamic/containerNameToReplace=MiddleMiddle/focusModuleID=18931/overideSkinName=issueArticle-full.tpl

.17 Regions money lies unspent after 'concerns'

WA today - Western Australia

A report by WA's financial watchdog has identified teething problems with the royalties for region program. Auditor-General Colin Murphy found that while $308 million had so far been allocated to 16 projects, concerns about reporting and auditing requirements meant agreements had not been finalised for half the projects. The program was put in place as part of the deal which resulted in the Nationals supporting the Liberal party to form government at the last State election. ...

http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/regions-money-lies-unspent-after-concerns-20091111-i9ik.html

.18 Trail battery-recycling fire leaves questions - String of 6 fires raises residents' concerns about environmental dangers

CBC.ca

The company that operates a lithium battery recycling facility near Trail, B.C., that was engulfed in a spectacular blaze over the weekend says it's still trying to figure out what toxic chemicals were released in the fire. ... Toxco Inc. spokesman Todd Coy said the Anaheim, Calif.-based company is still waiting for an audit of just what kind of batteries were in the bunker when it erupted in flames on Saturday. "We will be working with the [Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary] to determine just what may have been released into the atmosphere, and I'm sure that that information will be made public," said Coy. Nearby residents are angry about the number of fires at the facility, ... Firefighters could only contain the fire for the first several hours, as opposed to hosing it down, because lithium reacts with water. The fire eventually burned for 22 hours, before it was finally safe for firefighters to move in again and put it out. ...

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/10/bc-toxco-trial-battery-recycling-fire.html

.19 Traditional rulers, community leaders asked to help make census a success

ModernGhana.com

GNA-Mr Francis Bright Mensah, the Central Regional Statistician, has called on traditional rulers, community leaders and religious heads to help in diverse ways towards the success of the National Census exercise. ... The exercise would be piloted in six districts in the country on November 8 2009 before the rest of the country is counted. The districts are Awutu-Senya in the Central Region, Bia in the Western Region, Sene in the Brong Ahafo, Saboba and Chereponi in the Northern and Osu Klotey in the Greater Accra Regions. ...

http://www.modernghana.com/news/246676/1/traditional-rulers-community-leaders-asked-to-help.html

.20 Assessments of Global Talent Management Best Practices Reveals Concerns over Leadership, Performance Management, and Staff Retention

Reuters.com

... assessment results also highlighted that a regionalized approach to talent management was critical to achieving the strongest business impact, as it allows the HR professional to take into account the cultural and economic factors facing the region. While career planning was identified as a consistent challenge across all countries, different regions have faced challenges of their own:

* Respondents from France and Germany identified that the misplaced ownership of the talent management responsibility has contributed to struggles in aligning internal recruitment with the business strategy

* Respondents from China and Hong Kong have been facing difficulties in developing a performance-driven culture within their organizations, while those in Singapore are struggling to meet the development needs of younger workers

* U.S. respondents acknowledged that workforce planning had become a greater challenge - traditionally having a hierarchical approach to career and succession planning; the recent economic downturn has forced companies in this region to refocus their talent management efforts ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS164606+05-Nov-2009+BW20091105

.21 We must make sure that prison isn't terrorism school

Globe and Mail - Canada

... prison officials need to be trained to recognize and impede radicalization. We should imitate the French and publish a prison guide that traces the indicators of radicalization. Intelligence on radicals should be collected and properly shared between prisons. Ensuring the Correctional Service of Canada has the means to co-ordinate with other agencies might also require establishing new partnerships. For instance, California's Joint Regional Intelligence Center puts local prison officials in constant contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, Los Angeles Police Department and Department of Homeland Security. ...

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/we-must-make-sure-that-prison-isnt-terrorism-school/article1329820/

.22 Hazel: Consultants to say what you need

Trinidad & Tobago Express - Port of Spain, Trinidad

GOVERNMENT is moving away from providing infrastructure in regional corporations in an ad hoc manner to an organised way that will involve the views of residents, Local Government Minister Hazel Manning said on Tuesday. She was speaking at a media brief on the Regional Planning Programme of the Ministry of Local Government at Kent House, Maraval. Her Ministry, as part of the Cabinet-mandated reform of Local Government, has engaged 20 consulting teams to assist Municipal Corporations in developing Regional/Spatial development plans for the cities, boroughs and regions. ...

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161556257

.24 Council of Cooperation not a witch hunt: Wood

ABC Online - Australia

Indigenous housing, outstation policies and local government reform are among the key issues set to be discussed at the inaugural meeting of the Council of Territory Cooperation. ... The independent Member for Nelson, Gerry Wood, who was instrumental in creating the six-member bipartisan council, is chairing it. "We will be talking about the SIHIP program - the Strategic Indigenous Housing and Infrastructure Program, local government reform and Working Futures, including the homelands policy, to get an overview of all these particular policies the Government's got in place," he said. ...

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/09/2736992.htm

.25 Strange sounds at minority languages song contest

CNN World

Since being established in Friesland in 2002, Liet International has become a hub of the minority language music scene. If that sounds niche, it's worth noting that there are estimated to be almost 50 million minority or regional language speakers in Europe. Liet International casts its net for contestants across the entire continent. In purely musical terms, the event also offers a kaleidoscopic antidote to the Eurovision Song Contest, ...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/11/03/netherlands.liet.minority.languages/index.html

12. Blogging about Regional Communities Contents

.01 Message to American Chamber of Commerce Executives: Transportation is a gateway to economic development

Welcome to the Fast Lane The official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Last week, I had the opportunity to talk with the American Chamber of Commerce Executives Board of Directors. The ACCE is an organization of the people who manage state and local Chambers of Commerce. ... But more important than that may be the philosophy that is guiding our approach to transportation planning: We see transportation not just as a way of moving people and goods around, but as a gateway to economic development and a better quality of life for all of us in the United States. To put that into action, DOT will listen more carefully to state, regional, and community priorities, the kinds of priorities that small businesses help shape. ...

http://fastlane.dot.gov/2009/11/message-to-chamber-executive-board-transportation-is-a-gateway-to-economic-development.html

.02 The Origins of REALNEO

Realneo.us

October 7, 2009, we began our sixth year of ongoing, expansive, free, open source content management and global knowledge sharing, community building, social networking and collaboration on REALNEO. ... Congratulations to all REALNEO members, from day one to today! We've come a long way, since 2004, and our outcomes run far deeper than is seen on the surface of REALNEO. Six years is an eternity, in the world of social computing - we're about 8 months younger than Facebook, and a paradigm beyond - we are Real Co-op! Realneo - Regional Economics Action Links for North East Ohio - is owned and operated by a Real Co-op of real citizens - the originators of all content on REALNEO - and we transform our physical community, through our virtual community. REALNEO is an action-oriented network of action-oriented people, who are the members of Real Co-op. ...

http://realneo.us/content/we-enter-6th-year-realneo-and-3rd-year-star-neighborhood-development-and-2nd-year-real-coop-

.03 Among Walkable Regions, San Francisco One of Most Dangerous

Streetsblog San Francisco

Just how dangerous is San Francisco for pedestrians? A new report on pedestrian safety in the 52 largest U.S. metro areas ranked San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont 13th safest for walkers, based on an index that takes into account annual pedestrian deaths and the percentage of workers who commute by foot. San Francisco looks pretty good at first glance, but Walk SF president Manish Champsee said a closer look at the city's record reveals a less favorable state of affairs: 47.7 percent of all traffic fatalities in San Francisco are pedestrians, more than four times the national average of 11.8 percent. The rate of pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents is 2.60 in San Francisco, 70 percent higher than the national average of 1.53. That's partly because far more people walk in San Francisco than in the country as a whole. The rate of pedestrian fatalities per walking trip is still much lower in the city proper than in most metro regions. But a fairer comparison, said Champsee, is between San Francisco and other very walkable cities. "We do rank favorably when you control for the number of people who walk to work. Having said that, I think a truer measure of that would be to compare San Francisco to its peers cities, places like New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and Washington DC." ...

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2009/11/10/among-walkable-regions-san-francisco-one-of-most-dangerous/

.04 FEMA Regional Summit Offers Ideas For Developing “Culture Of Preparedness” …

In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

... the Summit brought together 75 government and non-government experts from a number of fields “to generate ideas toward creating a culture of preparedness.” ... the idea for the Summit largely came out of officials’ “frustration” with lack of progress on citizen preparedness. The conference examined barriers, objectives and possible solutions for public and community readiness. Everything was on the table: in fact, ironically, one of the major themes of the “Preparedness Summit” discussions was the idea of replacing (or recharacterizing) the term “preparedness” itself. According to the first of the report’s “Guiding Principles”: “Preparedness is really about personal safety: People cannot relate to the term “preparedness” but can relate to the concept of personal safety. We may need to connect the message of preparedness to other safety/preparedness messages and change the way we deliver it as a result.” ...

http://incaseofemergencyblog.com/2009/11/06/fema-regional-summit-offers-ideas-for-developing-culture-of-preparedness-incl-changing-term-preparedness-establishing-disaster-survivors-advisory-group-recruiting-oprah-to-the-issue/

.05 Crossing 8 Mile: What does flu mean for Detroit?

the white coat underground

... the 8 Mile divide has become even firmer. As people with jobs---at first mostly white, and now black as well--have fled Detroit, poverty has concentrated below 8 Mile, and fear and suspicion cross the border more often than people. This makes what I've learned on facebook so surprising. Distribution of swine flu shots has been a disaster in the U.S. ... But apparently, there's some vaccine south of 8 Mile. On facebook I learned that some public health clinics in Detroit have 20-30 minute waits and are open daily, instead of the 4 hour waits in the suburbs at venues announced sometimes a day or two ahead of time. Normally fearful suburbanites are crossing 8 Mile and waiting in line with local residents for their shots, and are coming back north happy and immunized. ... I don't know the answer, but to anyone familiar with Detroit, this is a pretty remarkable phenomenon. For decades, mostly white suburbanites have fought to avoid regionalization of services such as transit and schools. But what about public health? Is this an foot in the door to start to bring Detroiters and suburbanites back together? Or is it just another example of the relatively privileged robbing the poor of scarce resources?

http://scienceblogs.com/whitecoatunderground/2009/11/according_to_a_pew_survey.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink

.06 Regional corruption: Baltimore

Rebuilding Place in the Urban Space

I am a fervent proponent of the Growth Machine thesis, first laid out by sociologist Harvey Molotch, in the seminal article, City as a Growth Machine: Toward a Political Economy of Place. ... Political scientist Clarence Stone, a professor at University of Maryland has a competing thesis, that of the "urban regime." I don't think these theories are competing so much as different sides of the same coin. "Growth Machine" theory explains the motivation of "the land-based elite," and "urban regime" theory explains in detail how the land-based elite operates and functions. ... In short, it's the "system" of governance, and how it operates, rather than looking at recurring events separately, as if they are not connected.

http://urbanplacesandspaces.blogspot.com/2009/10/regional-corruption-baltimore.html

.07 History and Background of Regional development Authorities

Shelburne Development - Nova Scotia

During the 1980s and early 1990s the Province of Nova Scotia and its rural and urban communities experimented with a variety of development models at the local level. By the mid 1990s, it was clear that it was time to consolidate and apply the lessons learned. Towards that end, the government of the day held a series of public consultations aimed at gathering public input in defining the model to be put in place. These public meetings identified a need for input from local communities in the articulation of local socio-economic strategies and the management of local development efforts. They also identified as a priority, the need to train and support local populations to enable them to become masters in the determination of their own socio-economic destiny. Towards that end the provincial government prepared and enacted legislation in 1996 to give voice to the lessons learned and the approach adopted to promote socio-economic development at the local level.

A. Legislative Review

1. Purpose

These priorities are reflected in the content of the Regional Communities Development Act 1996, ...

http://shelburnedevelopment.blogspot.com/2009/11/history-and-background-of-regional.html

.08 Free Community Development workshops – Yorkshire

Yorkshire and Humber ICT Champion

Yorkshire and Humber Community Development Network and the Regional Forum have joined forces to offer 4 half day events around the region to get community development practitioners up to speed with changes in the region and what it means for your practice.

Within the region there are 4 key sub regions developing, called city or functional regions – Hull and the Humber Ports, Sheffield, Leeds and York and North Yorkshire, based on travel to work areas. There are also changes at the regional level, with the demise of the Regional Assembly and the development of a Joint Leaders Board and the creation of an Integrated Regional Strategy for Yorkshire and the Humber. ...

http://yhictchampion.wordpress.com/2009/11/05/free-community-development-workshops-yorkshire/

.09 Environmental Defender's Office holding workshops on reconnecting the community ...

NORTH COAST VOICES

From mid to late November the Environmental Defender's Office (EDO) and Total Environment Centre (TEC) will be holding FREE workshops in Sydney and regional centres to collate community views regarding the NSW Planning System and how it can be improved. These will be particularly relevant to anybody who has ever submitted to a major project, the Regional Strategies, Housing Codes, engaged with the 2008 Planning Reforms or been involved in a community consultation process with a developer. Each workshop will include a brief overview of the Planning System and case studies specific to each region. …

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2009/11/environmental-defenders-office-holding.html

13. Announcements and Regional Links. Contents

.01 Global Midwest: Navigating the Global Landscape – Site Launched

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has just launched www.globalmidwest.org and “The Midwesterner: Blogging to the Global Midwest [ http://globalmidwest.typepad.com/ ], to connect individuals in the U.S. Midwest who are developing regional responses to today’s global challenges. The site includes an events calendar, links reports covering global issues affecting the Midwest, and a database of experts and organizations undertaking work on Midwest issues such as agriculture, economic development, energy, and transportation.

The Global Midwest Initiative emerged from ideas in Richard C. Longworth’s 2008 book Caught in the Middle: America’s Heartland in the Age of Globalism. Longworth, a Chicago Council senior fellow and former Chicago Tribune correspondent, is The Midwesterner’s lead blogger and serves as its editor. Rachel Bronson, Chicago Council vice president of programs and studies, demonstrated the site at “A Green Midwest, A Blue Midwest,” the Council’s second annual conference to discuss key challenges facing the region and recommendations for how to best position the Midwest for success in a global era.

.02 Call for Papers - REGov: Regionalization of Environmental GOVernance, Geneva, 16-18th June 2010

The REGov workshop is designed as an encounter between scholars and practitioners. In addition to six thematic roundtable discussions with invited participants, there will be four open panels with 4-5 presentations. We welcome proposals for the open panels that fit under one or more of the six workshop themes:

* What is a region?

* Environmental regions in multi-level governance

* Regional economic dynamics and the environment

* Regional security and the environment

* New environmental regionalism

* Environmental regionalization, democracy, and civil society

Website: www.reg-observatory.org Abstracts of 400-500 words ... January 15, 2010. …

http://rga.revues.org/index956.html

.03 Global Fact-finding Mission – Towards Unity

The objective of the Global Fact-finding Mission is to collect primary data on the progress and objectives of emerging continental-unions by exploring their respective capitals. The information gathered will be used to complete a set of videos, and a book. Witness all the action unfold by checking out the Mission Log.

One man's humble quest to travel the world, in search for hope in emerging regional organizations.

http://towardsunity.org/

.04 Regional Studies Association Resources

Future events: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/future.asp#policy

Online samples available for many publications.

* Regional Studies

* SEA – Spatial Economic Analysis

* Regions Magazine

* Related Member Journals

* Search All Member Journals

* Regions & Cities

* RSA Publications

Link to publications: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/publications/publications.asp

14. Financial Crisis. Contents

.01 Anatomy of casino capitalism - The Real News Network

Interview with Jane D'Arista who writes and lectures on economics and finance and is a Research Associate at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNbgvyb0o-I&feature=sub Pt. 1 Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5aU8LbcPGI Pt. 2 Video

Also - Interview: Jane D’Arista - Terrence McNally podcast – 3/31/09

http://temcnally.podomatic.com/entry/2009-04-02T10_00_40-07_00

Fixing the Fed - The Nation - http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090330/greider

refers to “Setting an Agenda for Monetary Reform” by Jane D’Arista http://www.peri.umass.edu/236/hash/68196c9af1/publication/332/

.02 This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of Financial Crises - Carmen M. Reinhart, University of Maryland and NBER - Kenneth S. Rogoff, Harvard University and NBER – PDF Download

Abstract - This paper offers a “panoramic” analysis of the history of financial crises dating from England’s fourteenth-century default to the current United States sub-prime financial crisis. Our study is based on a new dataset that spans all regions. It incorporates a number of important credit episodes seldom covered in the literature, including for example, defaults and restructurings in India and China. As the first paper employing this data, our aim is to illustrate some of the broad insights that can be gleaned from such a sweeping historical database. We find that serial default is a nearly universal phenomenon as countries struggle to transform themselves from emerging markets to advanced economies. Major default episodes are typically spaced some years (or decades) apart, creating an illusion that “this time is different” among policymakers and investors. A recent example of the “this time is different” syndrome is the false belief that domestic debt is a novel feature of the modern financial landscape. We also confirm that crises frequently emanate from the financial centers with transmission through interest rate shocks and commodity price collapses. Thus, the recent US sub-prime financial crisis is hardly unique. Our data also documents other crises that often accompany default: including inflation, exchange rate crashes, banking crises, and currency debasements.

http://www.economics.harvard.edu/files/faculty/51_This_Time_Is_Different.pdf

Charlie Rose Show interview of Kenneth S. Rogoff - 11/10/09

http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/6769

.03 The economist's new clothes

BBC Blog Stephanomics

Economists, at least the macro variety, didn't have a good financial crisis. And they're not having much of a recovery either. Much like the UK. You may remember that I wrote about the dismal state of the dismal science back in the summer. There's been a lot of talk about economists' role in causing the financial crisis, and it's an interesting debate. But not nearly as interesting, to me, as the question of where economics goes from here. Somehow, somewhere, large parts of the profession seem to have lost their way - or at least lost their connection to the world as it is. ...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2009/11/the_future_of_economics.html

.04 The Commercial Loan Nightmare Facing U.S. Banks

The Cynical Economist

Banks are in for another ugly year in 2010. But this time the problem will be the big batch of deteriorating commercial real estate loans on their books. ... the stress tests conducted by the Feds never looked far enough into the future, the ability to “fully grapple with the prospect of massive future commercial real estate (CRE) loan defaults is uncertain,” ... “In addition to losses caused by declining property cash flows and deteriorating conditions for construction loans, losses will also be boosted by the depreciating collateral value underlying those maturing loans. The losses will place continued pressure on banks’ earnings, especially those of smaller regional and community banks that have high concentrations of CRE loans,” ...

In the meantime, many banks have been forestalling the day of reckoning. The latest strategy, called “extend and pretend,” appears to be in full swing—a head-in-the-sand approach that provides temporary extensions to troubled borrowers on maturing commercial loans to give them, and the bank, some breathing room.

But surging delinquencies and defaults will eventually catch up with them. So who is most at risk? The biggest exposures are in the regional banks which have much closer ties with their local communities and developers. Some banks, have concentrations of CRE loans equal to several multiples of their capital; many of those loans are in speculative new properties, the Feds say.

http://thecynicaleconomist.com/?p=9527

15. Custom search: region, regions, regional communities Contents

To search on topics like those in Regional Community Development News use this custom search engine which utilizes over 2000 regional related sites.

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=000551187207053117963:m1gvkhigkeo&hl=en

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

Making visible such cross-boundary planning, collaboration and cooperative action at multi-jurisdictional networked regional scales, public, private and NGO is my 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 of 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 excerpts and 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 search previous issues since 2003 go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

To join Regional Community Networkers and get 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

For the Blog and RSS feed go to: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

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

Please email the editor: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP - http://www.regional-communities.com/