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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 - .18
Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet … 11.01 - .15
Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .11
Announcements and Regional Links … 13.01 - .03
Financial Crisis …14.01 - .02
Custom search: region, regions, regional communities … 15.
Bold Italic highlights search terms and/or phrases of interest.
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Top Regional Community stories
1. Uniting against casinos - Towns join forces to address impact - Boston Globe -
Known for their rigid independence and fierce sovereignty,
“If I were even to support some expanded gambling bill, I believe it’s critical there be some regional acceptance. It has to go beyond just the host community,’’ said state Senator Karen Spilka, a Democrat from Ashland, who, as Senate chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, held Beacon Hill hearings this fall on multiple bills that would expand gambling. “It will have regional impacts. There has to be regional acceptance and regional mitigation as well.’’
Residents and officials from several towns, including Natick, Wellesley, Ashland, Hopkinton, Holliston, Milford, and Framingham, gathered at the Ashland Public Library on Wednesday for “Regional Casino Contingency Planning: Collaborative Preparation for a Potential Gaming Destination in 495/MetroWest,’’ the meeting organized by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council [http://www.mapc.org/], the 495/MetroWest Partnership, and other groups.
Participants talked about strategy with two Monson residents who have been successful in harnessing their region’s powerbrokers to air concerns about a possible casino in their area, and also got an update from Spilka on the state’s view of expanded gaming.
“The House is working on a bill now,’’ she said. “That will maybe come out in February or March. There will be a hearing on the bill, I assume. The House will take it up and then it will come to the Senate. . . . I honestly don’t know at this point what will be in it.’’
The Legislature could legalize resort casinos, with a limit on the numbers for either the entire state or for particular regions, said Spilka. There are also bills for “racinos,’’ she said, which would allow slot machines at racetracks.
2. Regionalism series misses the mark - Central Penn Business Journal -
Once again, the Business Journal has missed a great opportunity in addressing the regionalism issue. Your coverage ("One for all," Jan. 1, 2010) continues to promote the myth that those who support "consolidationism" are "regional," and those who do not believe in "consolidationism" are "anti-regional."
Constantly pointing to
Let
In addition, your profiling of regional successes ignored the organizations that have done it well in this metro area: most importantly, the Capital Region Council of Governments,
[ http://www.capitalregioncog.org/ ] an inter-municipal alliance with members in four counties.
That decades-old organization has compiled a long and substantive, if incomplete, record of success. In part, it is successful because it eschews consolidation simple-mindedness, instead stressing shared services and purchasing, information sharing and policy partnerships, where they make the most sense.
Moreover, regionalism needs to embrace the entire south central
Just in recent days, our board of commissioners became the first of the region
The caucus is largely modeled on the same style of participative partnership as the COG. As a result, the RAP represents our best opportunity to date to pursue common goals for south central
…
http://www.centralpennbusiness.com/industry_article.asp?cID=1&aID=74173
3.
Seventeen community leaders rode a bus six hours to and from
The secret may have been revealed, not in the much-touted north
“The best thing that came out of the trip was, honestly, the six hours on the bus,” said Heather Malone, director of Concordia Economic and Industrial Development. “Everybody got a chance to get to know one another better.”
Natchez Mayor Jake Middleton echoed Malone’s sentiments.
“More than anything, we’ve opened up a line of communication between ourselves and Concordia Parish,” he said.
The
The committee of local elected and business leaders was formed last year with the goal of bringing together the communities of Natchez, Vidalia and Ferriday for economic and community development.
“We’ve taken a lot of baby steps, which are giant leaps for our community,” Malone said. “(We’ve been) getting everyone around the table month after month.”
The group has been meeting for approximately seven months, mostly building dialogue between community leaders.
“Each time we meet, like Heather said, at our first meetings, everyone was kind of a little bit to ourselves, now we’re all sort of laying it out on the table,” Middleton said.
Debbie Hudson, president and CEO of the Natchez-Adams Chamber of Commerce, said the trip energized the group
“We allowed each other to give our thoughts, good and bad, and ignited great ideas,” she said. “They were talking and keying off each other’s ideas. I think that excited them and we just need to keep that going.
…
http://www.natchezdemocrat.com/news/2010/jan/16/tupelo-visit-energizes-miss-lou-regionalism-group/
4. Coastal Vision 3000 to shut down; some wonder what it did for the region - The Northwest Florida Daily News -
Coastal Vision 3000’s decision to close up shop this coming Friday has some local leaders questioning the group’s earlier promises of regional unity.
The tourism engine, which emerged in 2008 with plans to brand
But last week Coastal Vision 3000 declared “Mission Accomplished,” … [ “Coastal Vision 3000 hits target” http://www.waltonsun.com/news/vision-4100-southwest-foundation.html ]
…
Some
Okaloosa County Administrator Jim Curry remembers that representation of regionalism. But he says Coastal Vision 3000 did not follow through on its pledge.
“We’re disappointed that it wasn’t more of a regional approach,” he said. “I’m not real sure what
...
Coastal Vision, which charged dues of varying amounts to its members, built an extensive Web site, www.thebeachfla.com, that highlighted coastal communities and attractions from
… groups such as Coastal Vision 3000 “come and go” and that no single organization is going to accomplish regionalism.
...
Inactive but intact
Coastal Vision 3000’s founders say the recession is the driving force behind shutting down, adding that the group has “a zero balance.”
The money collected from members’ dues was used to pay for staff and for at least $750,000 in regional and national advertising, said Dawn Moliterno, president of the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce.
…
Bagby said more work is needed to cement a regional brand.
“I don’t know if it’s feasible, but I will tell you, ‘THE Beach’ never caught hold,” he said.
Local developer Peter Bos agreed, saying “people did not buy into it.”
But the regional approach still is critical to
…
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/vision-24819-coastal-wonder.html
RC:
West Florida Regional Planning Council - Counties Bay, Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and
Apalachee Regional Planning Council -
5. VA Planning District Commissions to Celebrate 40 Years of Regional Planning
Rockbridge Weekly -
The Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions (VAPDC), a statewide association bringing the Planning District Commissions (PDC) of
Throughout this year, VAPDC is promoting efforts to address regional issues through regional cooperation among local governments. The majority of the state’s 21 PDCs were established in 1969 and 1970 following the General Assembly’s passage of the Regional Cooperation Act in 1968. The Act established the framework for PDCs “to encourage and facilitate local government cooperation and state local cooperation in addressing on a regional basis problems of greater than local significance.”
The VAPDC is honoring the 40th anniversary of the PDC’s creation throughout Fiscal Year 2009-2010.
Programming during the upcoming 2010 VAPDC Winter Conference will follow the theme of Celebrating Forty Years of Regional Innovation. ... The PDCs of Virginia have joined together to create the Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions to share best practices, and further regionalism across the Commonwealth.
For more information about VAPDC visit the website at www.vapdc.org
http://www.rockbridgeweekly.com/rw_article.php?ndx=16468
6. A regional approach to poverty -
The good news is that
That trend presents some benefits. If the poor are not as concentrated in one place and are integrated more fully into mixed-income communities, their opportunities for education and employment are likely to be better. But it also presents challenges. Suburban governments that are not as accustomed to providing services for large numbers of poor residents are swamped, and the spread of the poor makes it more difficult to make resources easily accessible for them. …
The situation calls for a more regional approach to attacking poverty. We already have regional groups to coordinate transportation and development. Why not one to address the needs of the poor?
Comments
...
Regionalism is a great idea, but hard to swallow for suburbanites who have always thought of themselves as insulated from the problems of Big Bad Baltimore. The best solution (though unlikely) would be for the city and
... I am chair of Maryland Alliance for the Poor (MAP). I am so glad to hear the topic of poverty is being discussed, and yes it needs to be addressed. I would like hear more of your ideas on the topic of how to approach the issue regionally.
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/2010/01/poverty_in_the_suburbs.html
RC:
7. New RDA director embarks on PR tour - Gary Post Tribune -
The Regional Development Authority [ http://www.in.gov/rda/] has learned a valuable lesson: It needs to share the word of the good it does -- particularly in
That
Leaders of the RDA understand they need to be more proactive in their approach, about what they do and what it means regionally and at a more local level.
The whole point of the legislation was to build regional infrastructure without having to deal with political fiefdoms and myopic, temporary politicians.
…
The RDA also has been successful in improving the infrastructure of the South Shore Line and Gary/Chicago International Airport and has helped build a beautiful new lakefront park in
Most leaders of communities in
Even if the unincorporated parts of
It
http://www.post-trib.com/news/opinion/1997314,edit-rda.article
8. Ag Legislators Look into the Future - Daily Yonder Blog - Keep it Rural –
If you put the chairs of agriculture committees from 47 state legislatures in a room, what would they talk about?
Once a year, it happens. Legislative leaders gather at the Legislative Agricultural Chairs Summit and they discuss issues important to agriculture business and to rural communities. You can think of the weekend as a preview of what is likely to be the dominant issues in state legislatures over the coming year.
The latest meeting was in
...
Rural/Urban Division There was some discussion of the widening gap between rural and urban communities. As politics grows more testy, and as rural areas grow more Republican, Maryland Sen. Mac Middleton warned that “if the partisan spirit continues, rural areas could be left out.”
Regionalism Dallas Tonsager, under secretary of rural development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said he expected the federal agency to announce a new program promoting regionalism. This has become a popular development concept. The theory is that counties working together will be more successful in their development efforts than if they plunge ahead without cooperating.
“We’ll becoming out soon with a proposal on regionalism,” Tonsager told the legislators. “I would urge you to look at what
In
...
http://www.dailyyonder.com/ag-legislators-look-future/2010/01/20/2548
The State Ag and Rural Leaders group was formed in 2006 at the 4th Annual Legislative Ag Chairs Summit in
9. Van den Brande asks Commissioner-designate Hahn to believe more in the real importance of multi-level governance and to consider regions and cities as real partners – EUROPA – Press Release
Speaking at yesterday
Instead of speaking about the regions and cities, Van den Brande, representing Europe
Voicing grassroots concerns about important budgetary decisions to be taken this year, President Van den Brande outlined the "credo" of
Addressing the Commission
Commissioner-designate Johannes Hahn strongly argued against the renationalisation of regional policy and stressed his willingness to work together with regions and local authorities: "We need the expertise of the regions to sustain a successful regional policy and to modernise it. At the same time, European regional policy has to follow an integrated approach and must be linked to all other EU policies. The success, reform and implementation of regional policy can only be achieved through coordination at the European level, and in cooperation with the regions."
…
10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.
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
.01 Rep. Tallarita To Co-Chair Panel On State Grants To Municipalities And Mandate Relief
Government Announcements
State Representative Kathy Tallarita (D-Enfield) will co-chair a legislative panel dealing with state grants to municipalities and mandate relief to cities and towns. The panel is part of a new commission implemented by House Democratic Leaders that will seek to identify opportunities for regional collaborations and create efficiencies to save money for municipalities. The Blue Ribbon Commission on Municipal Opportunities and Regional Efficiencies (MORE) has already begun its work and plans to make recommendations during the 2010 legislation session that convenes in February. ...
House Democrats of
Doing M-O-R-E - Municipal Opportunities and Regional
Newsroom - http://www.housedems.ct.gov/MORE/MORE_PR.asp
.02 Regionalism: How Much Are We Willing To Sacrifice To Reduce Government?
Democrats in the legislature have taken up the regionalism cause again, appointing a blue ribbon panel to search for ways to encourage towns to work together as the state faces a deficit in the billions of dollars. This is admirable, but I wonder if we are ready for less government when this means eliminating services we take for granted. What if municipalities tried to trim the costliest portion of government — the public schools that make up most of town budgets? ... Region 14 must go back to having separate elementary schools in each town. That's a long way from less government. ... The Region 14 school board says you can't run a school district if you have to go back to the voters every time you make a change. ...
http://www.courant.com/news/breaking/hc-rick-green-column0122.artjan22,0,2445768.column
.03
The state’s poor fiscal health hasn’t stopped the wheels from chugging along on the proposed SouthCoast commuter rail. A new report released by state planners claims the train line and the growth it brings improves the environment, as well as the regional economy. The green benefits, outlined last week during a meeting of the regional Commuter Rail Task Force at Raynham Town Hall, principally stems from the adoption of the “smart growth” concept of concentrating business and residential centers around train stations. ...
http://www.wickedlocal.com/taunton/news/x1920337637/-Smart-Growth-drives-rail-plan
.04 State Job Creation Strategies Part II: Supporting Innovation, Industrial Clusters and Green Job Creation
ProgressiveStates.org
... these steps emphasizes building partnerships between government, business, community and labor institutions to make continual learning and innovation an integral part of regional economies.
Job Creation Opportunities During a Recession
While policymakers might despair of encouraging new job creation during a recession, the seeds of future innovation and growth are often sown during recessions, as entrepreneurs analyze the failures of the previous boom and launch new ventures. In fact, well-over half of the Fortune 500 list of top companies and just under half of Inc. magazine
http://www.progressivestates.org/node/24459#2
.05 Some logical steps for emerging from the Great Recession
... while nationwide and in parts of
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/2010/01/02/20100102muro03.html
.06 Subsidence forces shift to surface water
Community Impact Newspaper -
http://impactnews.com/northwest-houston/328-news/6742-subsidence-forces-shift-to-surface-water
.07 With trash contracts set to expire,
East Bridgewater Star -
When it comes to trash disposal, state and county officials are urging towns to regionalize their contracts to save thousands of dollars, and officials from nine
.08 Residents of smaller communities pay more for top lawmen, getting less
The combined salaries of seven regional police chiefs is more than six times that of Scranton
.09 Talking change
The Galena Rotary Roundtable, presented in cooperation with The Galena Gazette, ... Participants discussed economic development, education, health care and other changes that will shape the future. ... There are three major things the county needs to consider when it comes to economic development, explained economic development specialist Pat Leitzen Fye. ... the third thing to remember: "We are a small county. We cannot do a lot of this on our own. We need to think in terms of regionalism." Fye suggested the county think about this whole
http://www.galenagazette.com/main.asp?SectionID=142&SubSectionID=344&ArticleID=14675
.10 More than just light entertainment
Daily Press -
... It was Cary McMurran's forward vision and his sense of regionalism that allowed the Virginia Symphony to grow into the orchestra it is today. He was most gracious during the merger and a true gentleman. He would not allow himself to stand in the way of his dream. As the 90th Season is celebrated it would be sad not to recognize his contributions to the growth of the symphony in Hampton Roads." ... 1970-1980 — Norfolk Symphony, Peninsula Symphony and Virginia Beach Pops orchestras merge to create regional professional orchestra. Chrysler Hall opens and becomes performance venue for symphony. ...
http://www.dailypress.com/features/family/dp-gl_vasym_0124jan24,0,4041561.story
.11 Don Walker Leads Chamber
Greater
Don Walker, president and CEO of Arvest Bank, assumed the 2010 Chairmanship of the Board of Directors of the Tulsa Metro Chamber ... inauguration address, which unveiled the Chamber’s primary initiatives for 2010.
http://www.gtrnews.com/greater-tulsa-reporter/4821/don-walker-leads-chamber
Pioneer Press -
Some have been suggesting, behind the scenes, that the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce should be subsumed into a larger collective, for purposes of regionalism and economic development. We brought the issue the fore last week in a guest column published on these pages. The writer argued for a merger of the
http://www.twincities.com/opinion/ci_14249780
.13 Mass Transportation Authority will study potential for high speed bus route from
The Flint Journal - MLive.com - Flint, MI, USA
The Mass Transportation Authority wants know whether commuters from as far north as
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2010/01/mass_transportation_authority_3.html
.14 Regional Community Forum talks about direction of CNY
WKTV -
Community leaders came together with elected officials Thursday to talk about issues currently facing the
http://www.wktv.com/news/local/82269572.html
.15 HOW I SEE IT: A challenge to live healthy in 2010
Culpeper Star Exponent -
The dangers of obesity as well as the seriousness of the growing epidemic within our country and especially here in our community are increasingly evident. To help counteract this escalating issue, Culpeper Regional Health System, with our
.16 Venture capital flow to 21-county
Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA
One of the region
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/venture_capital_flow_to_21-cou.html
.17 UUA board considers far-reaching governance reform
uuworld.org
The UUA Board of Trustees is contemplating a radical change to the governance of the Unitarian Universalist Association that would involve reducing the size of the board, creating a system of regions to supplement the current 19 districts, and reconfiguring General Assembly to a biennial meeting with subsidized delegates. ... The proposed changes to General Assembly are based on a report by the Fifth Principle Task Force ... The report advocates subsidizing delegates, which it says would help young and low-income delegates attend; educating delegates about issues in advance and making them accountable to both the General Assembly and their congregations; and encouraging regional cooperation among congregations. ...
http://www.uuworld.org/news/articles/157757.shtml
.18
Air Force Times -
The Air Force’s top uniformed leader thinks the military is too dependent on global positioning and must develop an alternative to the navigation system to reduce its vulnerability to enemies. ... “We must … proceed to build more resilient systems, including next-generation protected space communications and air-breathing or terrestrial alternatives and complements for a variety of space-based capabilities,” he said. ...
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2010/01/airforce_schwartz_012310/
11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet Contents
.01
The Bolton News –
THERE was more evidence last week that the “city region” concept is here to stay. As previously reported here, 10 councils, including Bolton, Bury and
.02 John Carter: Boards to breathe new life into local government
... On the matter of local boards, let
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10622230
.03 Council fundraiser
Regen.net -
...
http://www.regen.net/inDepth/ByDiscipline/Economic-Development/979023/Council-fundraiser/
.04 Amalgamation not a new idea
Telegraph-Journal -
In 1993, the mayors and councils of seven municipalities banded together to write a report entitled Strengthening Municipal Government in New Brunswick
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/city/article/927813
.05
The Hindu -
A strong pitch for multilateralism was made by speakers from
http://beta.thehindu.com/business/Economy/article93811.ece
.06 The French Identity Debate Turns into a Farce
TheFasterTimes.com
... on the government website setup for the debate, offers this rather windy justification: …the excesses of nationalism, the development of new forms of ethnic identity and regionalism, the gradual creation of the European identity, and the accelerated globalization of trade appear to some to call into question the very idea of the nation. The often-asked question, what is a nation, that it makes individuals identify themselves body and soul with people they don’t even know, seems more relevant than ever. ... One could argue that simply holding a debate on national identity presupposes that there is a problem. It is far from clear that national identity should be an easy thing to define—that would assume a narrow and backward-looking notion of identity. Happily, our 21st century self-conception is harder to pigeonhole, because it is more elusive and diffuse. Every one of us, individually, is a harmony of cultural, social, regional, ethnic, religious, gender, political and personal traits. And a noisy, trumped-up debate about national identity can’t drown our collective symphony.
.07 Paul Anderson: Electoral reform has a sorry history of missed opportunities
Tribune -
... What ought to have happened is easy enough to spell out. Labour should have agreed in 1994 or 1995 to propose a new constitutional settlement for the
.08 West Midlands takes major role in
24dash.com
Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands led work to co-ordinate a successful bid to the new European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which will see a unique consortium of six regions, including the West Midlands, five of Europe’s top universities including Imperial College and ETH Zurich and ten major companies including CISCO, Shell, Thales and Bayer deliver the Knowledge and Innovation Community on climate change, known as ‘Climate KIC’. The initiative is one of three KICs to be established and part-funded by the EIT. ... At the core of Climate-KIC will be four major new research and innovation programmes on the themes of climate science, low carbon cities, zero-carbon production systems and integrated water management. ...
.09
Times of
Pune guardian minister Ajit Pawar, on Saturday, said that the state government would soon announce the formation of the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA).
Speaking at the District Planning and Development Committee (DPDC) meeting Pawar said, "A request will be made to chief minister Ashok Chavan that the authority be along the lines of the Mumbai Metropolitan Development Authority (MMRDA). In this way, we will ensure comprehensive public representation in the PMRDA." He added that henceforth the DPDC, which plans development for the district, will have to take a comprehensive view of the entire region. Pawar said that now, with Pune becoming a metropolitan area, various local governing bodies like municipal corporation and councils will have to work in tandem. ...
.10 Mottaki:
Fars News Agency -
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki described
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8810281052
.11 Tocoist church against regionalist attitudes
The bishop of the Tocoist church, Afonso Nunes, said over the weekend in
http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/portal/angop/index.html
.12 Six Bruneians Off To
Bru Direct -
Six participants left for
.13 The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave
San Francisco Chronicle - CA,
In 1507, Martin Waldseemüller and a few of his humanist friends from the Gymnasium Vosagense in Strassburg (now
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/12/27/RVKS1AE25G.DTL
CSPAN Video BookTV: http://www.c-spanarchives.org/program/290495-1
.14 Strategic Plans Lose Favor
The Wall Street Journal -
During the recession, as business forecasts based on seemingly plausible swings in sales smacked up against reality, executives discovered that strategic planning doesn
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703822404575019283591121478-lMyQjAxMTAwMDIwNTEyNDUyWj.html - 7 day link
.15 Big Think Interview with Richard Florida
BigThink.com
A conversation with the bestselling author and leading expert on business and business sociology. (video)
http://bigthink.com/richardflorida
12. Blogging about Regional Communities Contents
.01 The Core Vitality Imperative
The Urbanophile
“You can’t be a suburb of nowhere.” – Bill Hudnut - What does a healthy urban core mean to a region? Maybe the difference between success and failure. Here’s a look at urban core and regional job growth for selected cities*, ranked by percentage job growth in the core county from 2001 to 2009. (table) Notice a pattern? Clearly, for these cities at least, core county performance is an excellent proxy for overall regional performance. I’m not making a statistical claim here, but the data for these cities is suggestive. I think it also foots with our common sense view. How many thriving metro areas have a core city/county that is going down the tubes? I can’t name one. ...
http://www.urbanophile.com/2010/01/24/the-core-vitality-imperative/
.02 MVRN Seeking Community Assistance
As many of you may or may not know, the case managers throughout the region have been very busy re-housing chronic homeless men and women. The Merrimack Valley Regional Network to End Homelessness has recently housed 37 chronic homeless individuals in the City of
http://mvhomeless.wordpress.com/2010/01/14/mvrn-seeking-community-assistance/
.03
Arbor Update (blog)
As reported by AnnArbor.com, Yesterday the
.04 What’s new at Clever Commute? Plenty!
The Clever Commute Blog
Clever Commute provides a way for commuters to use their smartphones to help each other by sharing real-time alerts & updates with fellow travelers. It started with a handful of commuters here in NJ…and has now become a part of the fabric of the daily commute in the top commuting markets. ... Now serving
http://clevercommute.com/blog/?p=730
Select your region: NY Metro, Boston, Portland, OR; Beta: Chicago, LA, London, Washington, D.C., San Francisco Bay Area http://www.clevercommute.com/RoutesAndSignUp.php
.05 4. How We Get There
UrbanNeighborhood.com
The implementation of the Avenue du Parc Light Rail Transit Line will build on the local neighbourhood character of the neighbourhoods it passes through and increase the corridors overall connectivity at both the local and regional scale. The line’s implementation will allow for more vibrant neighbourhoods, more pedestrian friendly urban spaces and can be a catalyst to a better sense of community among the local and regional residents.
http://urbanneighbourhood.com/?p=4430
.06 Participation and Collaboration – Let’s Make It Work
Candi On Content
Open government. Public participation and collaboration. Awesome! So let’s make it work.
Let’s learn from the mistakes a bunch of us made back in the 90’s when we put up online “discussion” rooms and held online “town halls.” If you want the pay-off - if you want good ideas and positive outcomes - you have to invest the resources and plan strategically. Think of it as running a meeting. Invite participants ... Share background information ... Publish an agenda ... Designate someone to preside ... Conclude the meeting ... Follow up ... One more tip. Advocates and lobbyists will be all over opportunities for public participation and collaboration. But will average citizens come to the table…citizens across the political spectrum, across generations, across the country? You need to prime the pump. Create some quick success. ...
http://candioncontent.blogspot.com/2010/01/participation-and-collaboration-lets.html
.07 Civic Engagement in Public Governance26
xiong_social work
Policy tasks are likely to have local/sub-national as well as national dimensions. Traditionally, much policy is formulated at the central government level. However, in a decentralized system of government, the information generated through local/regional government-civil society dialogue may influence the policy agenda at the national level. Conversely, an issue may be identified at a national level, but may require substantial public input from the local, regional and community level (for example, the PRSP process for determining the national poverty reduction strategy). ...
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5f3b25650100h9ao.html
Main page for "Evaluating Citizen Engagement in Policy Making" A paper presented at the Canadian Evaluation Society Conference - June 2, 2009,
http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_5f3b25650100h9x8.html
.08 How PDF and RSS Can Solve Information Retention Challenges
Civic Blogger
What I am about to suggest as a solution to some of the records retention challenges municipalities are facing with web 2.0 tools may, or may not, be mine. ... Municipalities are having to find ways of keeping track of the information being published online when they use social media. Unfortunately, since the information is not hosted by the municipality, they have less control than they typically need, or would like. ... the solution I am proposing? Using the existing tools of email, PDF document storage, and RSS feeds to create a semi-automated records retention system for your organization. This requires three things: ...
http://civicblogger.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-pdf-and-rss-can-solve-information.html
.09 Regional Repositories
Archives Outside
State Records has a network of six regional repositories across NSW; based in Armidale, Broken Hill,
http://archivesoutside.records.nsw.gov.au/regional-repositories/
.10 Urban Exploration Tips, Tricks and Guides
WebUrbanist.com
Urban exploration (also known as ‘building infiltration‘) is a risky sport at best and an illegal one at worst. In short, it is the art of breaking into abandoned buildings and places. While WebUrbanist can’t endorse breaking the law there is fortunately no law against reporting on it and some forms of urban exploration are fortunately legal. Here are some introductory guides and additional resources for those interested in exploring this illicit urban sport. ... Unknown to many web surfers there are a vast number of regional urban exploration websites as well as specialty forums and other online urbex communities. ...
http://weburbanist.com/urban-exploration-tips-tricks-and-guides/
http://undergroundeureka.com/urban-exploration-links.php
.11 Climate Change and Biodiversity Protection in
McGinnis bioregional blog
The south-central coastal bioregion includes the northern Channel Islands, Santa Barbara Channel, the coastal watersheds from
http://climatesantabarbara.blogspot.com/2010/01/blog-post.html
13. Announcements and Regional Links. Contents
.01 Research Networks - Introduction and Guidelines - Regional Studies Association
Regional Studies Association Research Networks are formed by the Association
2010 deadlines for applications: 23rd April, 24th August, 25th October
http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/research-networks/introduction.asp
.02 Call for Papers -Local Food Systems in Old Industrial Regions: Challenges and Opportunities - IGU Commission on the Dynamics of Economic Spaces -
In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in the topic of local food systems. This heightened interest can be found among policy makers, planners, public health professionals, environmentalists, community developers, academics, farmers and ordinary citizens. While there are common characteristics that most local food systems share the purpose of this conference is to explore the unique challenges and opportunities associated with local food systems located within old industrial regions.
The conference aims to bring together both academics and practitioners to share their knowledge, experience, and expertise with regard to developing and maintaining local food systems in old industrial regions. While this conference is sponsored by the International Geographical Union we are particularly interested in participation from individuals in a variety of academic disciplines (including, but not limited to, geography, planning, public policy, public health, environmental science, horticulture, women and gender studies, sociology, anthropology, and economics.)
Chair: Professor Michael Taylor, Department of Geography,
Vice Chair: Dr. Neil Reid, Department of Geography and Planning,
http://uac.utoledo.edu/igu_commission/ToledoMC2010-Home.htm
.03 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is a not-for-profit academic research consortium that has as its goal making high quality international research data on entrepreneurial activity readily available to as wide an audience as possible. GEM is the largest single study of entrepreneurial activity in the world. Initiated in 1999 with 10 countries, GEM 2009 conducted research in 54 countries. The GEM 2009 Global Report was launched in
… This 11th report in the GEM series focuses on the impact of the recession on entrepreneurship and the extent to which entrepreneurship can help reverse a downward economic trend. Also included are: 1) a special report on global perspectives of social entrepreneurship; 2) an analysis of the impact of the recession on funding to support new businesses; and 3) updates on entrepreneurial attitudes and perceptions, entrepreneurial activity, and entrepreneurial aspirations. … The year 2009 will be remembered for an economic recession that shattered the economic landscape in most countries across the world. As national and regional governments search for ways of rebuilding their economies, our understanding of the relationship between entrepreneurship and development remains incomplete. …
14. Financial Crisis. Contents
.01 The Quants Book Review: How A Group Of Mathematicians And Computer Scientists Nearly Destroyed Wall Street
HuffingtonPost.com
On Thursday, President Barack Obama proposed new rules to curb a number of Wall Street
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/23/the-quants-book-review-ho_n_434309.html
.02 Nomi Prins: Behind The Bailouts
KUOW.org
More than $13 trillion into
http://kuow.org/program.php?id=19235
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
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
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 Google Search services. 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. Regional Community Development News is published bi-monthly based on news reports as of the publication date.
For the Blog and RSS feed go to: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/
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Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?
Please email the Editor: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com
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Tom (Thomas J.) Christoffel, AICP - http://www.regional-communities.com/
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