Regional/Greater Community Development News – April 23, 2012


     Multi-jurisdictional intentional regional communities are, in all cases, “Greater Communities” where “community motive” is at work at a more than a local scale. This newsletter provides a scan of regional community, cooperation and collaboration activity as reported in news media and blogs. More articles are at delicious.com.
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Top 10 Stories
… members of the Metropolitan Council met with Scott County Association For Leadership And Efficiency (SCALE) members… to start a conversation on how the two can better work together.
… Council Chair “… heard the concerns that many of you (SCALE members) have been expressing,” particularly as they relate to the (Highway) 169 corridor, the proposed (Highway) 101 river crossing, transit, and general agency-to-agency relationship issues. “Honestly, it is difficult to work together as a region,” she noted. “There are a lot of natural tensions that arise when we’re dealing with limited resources. We need to put our focus on prioritization and partnerships.”
Haigh gave some history of the council and its mission (“To foster a prosperous, livable metropolitan region”).
… At the end of the session, Lemke asked, “How do we move forward from here? How can we work with each other and not just simply deal with each other?
Among the 2012-13 state budget line items vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott… $2.5 million for the state's 11 regional planning councils -- for the second year in a row.
… Last year, Scott vetoed the money because "there was a lack of performance measures and metrics documenting the effectiveness and need for (regional planning councils) to justify state funding at the time,"…
This year, the Florida Regional Councils Association submitted a five-page "return on investment" document (http://bit.ly/I0W0Ze) explaining the roles that the councils play in economic development and providing local government assistance. …
Scott Koons, chair of association's executive directors advisory committee, said …
"We are faced with state mandated responsibilities without state resources to carry out those activities,"…federal or local funding typically are grants for specific services such as economic development, disaster preparedness or local development planning. …
Greater Washington is destined to become a polycentric metropolis in which downtown Washington will be one of many “downtowns” within the region. But will polycentric greater Washington be great? Without more regional thinking, coupled with coordinated public actions and infrastructure investment, probably not.
Explore greater Washington-Prince George’s, Montgomery, Arlington and Fairfax counties & Alexandria. You will see numerous formerly suburban areas that are becoming denser and more urban, and ultimately more urbane. However, making this future polycentric metropolitan region really great will depend above all on developing an effective, region-wide system of transportation tying these areas together.
…affordable housing… employment…education…preserving…environmental assets.
Achieving all this is challenging in a region so jurisdictionally fragmented and governed…Yet the region’s evolution as a polycentric metropolis is partly attributable to this fragmented political structure. …
When Northern Virginia leaders attempted a regional tax increase referendum to fund transportation improvements in 2002, it hit several types of resistance.
Dave Robertson, of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, said…that there were some who did not trust how the money would be spent, others who did not like the transit/roads mix in the infrastructure package and “there was the no-tax-for-anybody crew in there.”
The crowd of about 100 political, business and community leaders visiting from the Atlanta region laughed knowingly. The July 31 transportation referendum vote was a big topic for the Atlanta Regional Commission’s annual LINK trip, as ARC board members who attended are heavily promoting the 10-year, 1 percent sales tax, and the trip participants were a decidedly pro-referendum crowd. The trip is a chance for metro Atlanta leaders to learn from what other regions have done and to network with one another.
They got a cautionary tale from Washington region officials, …
Mobilizing civic leaders behind new ways to pay for an accessible, affordable, connected regional transportation system
The Greater Toronto CivicAction Alliance…launched a new leadership initiative to champion a regional transportation system and the need for new sustainable ways to pay for it.
"Making it easier to move people, goods and services across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area is critical to our region's economic, social and environmental prosperity," … Chair, CivicAction. "Metrolinx has an approved plan to build the system we need, but we have nowhere near the funds to pay for it. We have to be open to new ways to raise money that are dedicated to getting this done."
…meeting…with a diverse group of civic leaders who rely heavily on the region's roads and transit to move people, goods and services, and who are motivated to make that system better.… started forging a strategy to put this issue on the front burner of civic leaders and their constituencies across the region.
All for one and one for all is the working theory behind the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission.
The organization was formed in 1973 to maximize resources in individual communities as well as meeting the common needs of the region as a whole, according to Executive Director Mike Norris,…
He explained that the need for regionalism arose because rural areas/municipalities regularly were outgunned by larger cities when it came to accessing grants, funds, services and other necessities in managing infrastructure and community betterment programs. …
Norris described SEIRPC as “longstanding and productive” in its aid to economic development in the region through securing state and federal funds for projects …
“It’s easy for us working in the region to say regionalism works…There are success stories all over the area. But it’s important to recognize how interrelated the nature of the region is. People aren’t stationary. People have to travel to and from work ... on a daily basis.” …
He cautioned RAP participants that despite the benefits of planning, “ a plan will help a community only as much as it can help itself.”
Southern California is no longer the Great Satan of suburban sprawl. Last month, the Census Bureau released a list of America's densest urban areas, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ranked first. New York-Newark was fifth.
Nothing symbolizes the emerging shift, however, like the unanimous vote this month by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, or SCAG, to adopt the landmark 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy. With a price tag of $524 billion, it aims to guide growth around public transit and walkable communities. Suddenly, our region is being hailed throughout California as the new model for a sustainable future. The SCAG blueprint exceeds even tough new state standards for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The plan includes expansion of housing near public transit by 60%, a 350% increase in funding for biking and pedestrian improvements and projections of more than 4 million new jobs — with public transit within half a mile of most …
It’s not surprising that Englewood chose to name its high school for Dwight Morrow, a city resident who was a U.S. senator, an ambassador to Mexico and a powerful Wall Street banker. However, Morrow’s most enduring influence might have come through a position that doesn’t even rate a mention in his Wikipedia entry.
Morrow served on the influential 10-member committee that fashioned the 1929 “Regional Plan of New York and Its Environs,” the first master plan for any city or region in the country. That multivolume agenda became a seminal blueprint for the growth of New York City and the entire metropolitan area, and, in the eyes of many, codified the strategy that perpetuated the city’s role of dominance on the world scene.
As it turned out, by virtually laying out the structure of roads that serves as the region’s circulatory system and projected path of development, it also helped to create something unanticipated. Call it the City of North Jersey, the place we live and work in now.
Since the housing and financial collapse of 2008, Clackamas County homeowners have struggled with some of the highest foreclosure rates in Oregon, regularly outranking neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties.
"I think we made a bit of a policy mistake in not trying to allocate more of our growth to the west side," said Gerard Mildner, director at the Center for Real Estate at Portland State University. "We've fixed some of our thinking about that, but in some ways, we're living through some of the difficulties where we've tried to encourage homes to be built in the places in the region where growth would not normally happen."
In trying to preserve prime farmland in Washington County, Mildner and others say Metro, the Portland area's regional government, encouraged more growth in Clackamas County than jobs or transportation could support.
"In the past, it's…been…land good for farming? …for houses?… Jobs probably wasn't as important. I think it will be more important in the future.
After the 2008 State election in Western Australia, WA National Party…sparked a national trend that could be reversing the fortunes of rural Australians…used…party’s balance of power negotiations to secure the State’s Royalties for Regions program.
The policy transformed…into a legislated investment program…delivering for WA regions in spades.
That power sharing deal with the WA Liberals now sees about $1 billion a year - raised through 25 per cent of the State’s mining and petroleum royalties - re-directed towards important projects that improve the social and economic prosperity of regional communities.
The WA Country Local Government Fund (CLGF) is one of three funds operating under the State government’s Royalties for Regions program, designed to provide and renew infrastructure and support capacity-building across regional WA. …$306 million had been allocated to the fund since it started in 2008, seeing about 1200 projects funded across the State’s 109 country local governments.
NADO Research Foundation…special report, Regional Resilience. The issue brief summarizes recent research and practice on economic and community resiliency, including a potential framework for regional development organizations to use in preparing and responding to economic shocks.
Disasters, whether natural or man-made disasters, often know no boundaries and a community’s ability to recover is mostly determined by its capacity to respond to the magnitude and severity of the event. A resilient region anticipates threats, develops resources to reduce their impact, responds appropriately, and recovers. A resilient approach extends beyond emergency responsiveness by utilizing advanced planning and leadership to address vulnerabilities and support vibrant, healthy communities.
In partnership with Rupri and … Economic Development Administration (EDA), NADO is working to assist regions in taking a more pro-active approach to pre-disaster preparedness and post-disaster economic recovery. …

Top stories tweeted daily:   http://twitter.com/#!/tomchristoffel
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0900 - Arctic Ocean
1000 - Europe
2000 - Africa
3000 - Atlantic Ocean
4000 - Antarctica
5000 - Americas
6000 - Pacific Ocean
7000 - Oceana
8000 - Asia
9000 - Indian Ocean

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Regional/Greater Community Development News – April 16, 2012


     Multi-jurisdictional intentional regional communities are, in all cases, “Greater Communities” where “community motive” is at work at a more than a local scale. This newsletter provides a scan of regional community, cooperation and collaboration activity as reported in news media and blogs. More articles are at delicious.com.
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Top 10 Stories
… Arlington Mayor… Cluck, Dallas Mayor… Rawlings, Fort Worth Mayor…Price and Irving Mayor…Van…publicly and ceremoniously put their support behind the maximum twice-per-week watering guidelines as a regional standard.
The four gathered for a joint water conservation news conference… discussing the specifics of their cities but asserting in unison that if the fourth largest region in the country is going to continue to grow conserving water for later must be a priority now.
Even though area reservoirs are near or above normal due to recent rains, the Mayors of North Texas’ most populous cities all agreed that shifting from drought contingency planning to long-term water conservative planning will help provide clean and affordable water in the future.
“I’ve received calls from citizens saying if we’re not in a drought and that we have all we need at the moment, why the restrictions?…“Because we want to continue having all the water we need, in good times and in bad times. “
There's been a drumbeat of concern from the regional fathers over the need to think more regionally. Regional transportation,  regional housing, regional jobs. Forget you belong to a state or city, even. Just think of yourselves as citizens of the Greater Washington megalopolis.
That makes sense, to a large extent. Urban areas are starting to agglomerate into mega-regions, linked to each other by premium transit and web-enabled business opportunities. It's silly to box ourselves into provincial jurisdictions. Crafting a regional economic plan, however, is no easy feat. Greater Washington is a rigidly tripartite beast, and its component governments have a vested interest in attracting businesses and residents…
… Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments panel on economic stuff… asked of economic development directors of some of the area's counties and cities: Given the inherent competition among the various localities, do we need a regional economic plan? …
…Toronto's experience with "amalgamation"… gives…cause to rethink my support for regional governance.
In 1998, despite overwhelming local opposition, the Ontario government forced Toronto to combine with several of its municipal neighbors. The idea was to achieve cost savings through efficiency and to form a more potent economic entity. Overnight, Toronto became the fifth largest city in North America.
…cost savings are debatable, and the impact on central Toronto has been mostly bad.… thanks to voters from suburban parts of Toronto, the city's current Mayor… Ford is pursuing decidedly anti-city policies.…
What happened was predicted by Toronto resident Jane Jacobs, who… said that amalgamation would lead to a suburban-focused government at the expense of central Toronto.
…should we really want suburban…residents having a say over…our growth and development as a city? Probably not.
I'm still for regionalism, but not…without significant curbs to protect the interests of the central city.
…Corporate Partnership for Economic Growth…collaboration… leading institutions…establish a unified regional presence
…outgrowth of conversations among CEOs…five years…"
They recognized that to compete in a global economy, you had to have a regional presence and strong collaboration among existing…organizations
… they realized that in order to move the process forward they had to have a dedicated entity and staff to help solve our long-term obstacles to growth and market our assets externally.
… hope to accelerate that process …are not supplanting or taking over responsibilities of local or county development organizations…working with them to augment their efforts.
… regional approach, focused on units smaller than the state but larger than counties, is the usual level for both businesses and governments…world competes in regional economies…If we're going to compete…need to…focus externally to bring more human and financial capital here. Govt entities also deal in regional footprints. …
The Brooke-Hancock Regional Planning and Development Council mulled the merits Wednesday of using social media to engage a younger demographic into the community planning process.
During their quarterly meeting, held in the conference room inside WesBanco's Penco Road offices, Director John Brown pointed out the dearth of young people getting involved in the planning process and questioned whether the planning council should look to social media to get their attention.
"We need to engage them to the point where they want to participate," he said, noting the importance of getting input from all age demographics.
Brown questioned whether the planning council should be using Facebook and Twitter to update residents about developments in their community.
Pat Ford, director of the Business Development Corp. of the Northern Panhandle, said consultants helping rebrand his organization pointed out the 20s and 30s age demographic they're looking for is "heavily into social media." ...
Funding for a second round of Regional Economic Development Council awards is included in the 2012-2013 budget, which will be awarded competitively to projects determined to have the greatest potential for creating jobs.
This year's budget includes $220 million; $150 million in new capital funding and $70 million in tax credits from the Excelsior Jobs Program, to implement regional strategic plans. …
More than $500 million in additional resources will be available to businesses and sponsors for economic development purposes consistent with regional council plans. Businesses and project sponsors can apply and compete for these funds through the Consolidated Funding Application.
In 2011, as a component of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's "Open for Business" campaign, 10 regional councils were created to develop long-term strategic plans for economic growth in the different regions and compete for $785 million for job creation and community development.
Vacant, blighted airport-area real estate is slowing efforts to make "Memphis: America's Aerotropolis" more than a marketing slogan, a national expert on aviation-based development said ….
But John D. "Jack" Kasarda, who has championed the aerotropolis concept, urged participants in the first Mid-South Aerotropolis Conference to look beyond current conditions and embrace the potential of a concerted, long-term strategy.
The University of North Carolina professor described Memphis as uniquely positioned, because of FedEx's world hub and a Delta Air Lines passenger hub, to prosper from growth in global trade and tourism.
Richard Smith, FedEx Express' managing director of life sciences and specialty services, said Alexander was absolutely right.
"I think the economic upside potentially is huge," said Smith, … chairman of an aerotropolis marketing and branding workgroup. … Kasarda's simplified definition of an aerotropolis is "a city built around an airport."
 
ASEAN plans to establish an Asean community by 2015. This community will have three mutually re-enforcing pillars: a political security community, an economic and a socio-cultural one. The security community pillar is the Holy Grail of regional security cooperation.
The foundation for Asean political security was laid in Bangkok in August 1967. The Bangkok Declaration is unambiguous in its purpose: to promote regional peace and stability.
In Bangkok, five states agreed “to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity”, with non-interference in the internal affairs of member states as the basic premise of regional order.
They also agreed that they would conduct relations among themselves by adhering to the principles of the United Nations Charter. … Academics have called this enterprise by different names: security community, security regime …
The Organization of American States prides itself on being the world’s oldest regional organization.
… challenge today comes in the form of alternative regional groupings, such as the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), created by Brazil in 2008, or the smaller and more radical Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA), which began as an agreement between Cuba and Venezuela in 2004. In addition, just this past December, in Caracas, Venezuela, regional leaders established the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) as their newest multilateral mechanism. Taking care to exclude the United States and Canada from its membership,…
 … states in the region have adopted a more pragmatic, less political view of the newer regional forums.
… more-centrist countries such as Colombia simply see these new entities as additional forums to address the region’s problems, particularly those in which the United States does not necessarily need to play a role.
What's your vision for the future of your community? Join the Smart Growth Network (SGN) in the first national conversation about how neighborhoods could be planned, designed, and developed to meet the needs of current and future generations.
 This national conversation will occur over the next 12 to 18 months in a range of media, including a compendium of emerging issues, webinars, blogs, videos, and more. One goal of this conversation is to build the depth of the dialogue to attract more people, ideas, and perspectives. SGN believes that the larger the circle, the richer the discussion, generating better ideas for communities. …
The first step in starting the conversation is to build a compendium of new and innovative ideas. SGN is seeking short papers that discuss a particular issue that communities will be facing in the next 15 years.
 - How will neighborhoods and regions be planned, designed, and developed to meet the needs of current and future generations?
 - How can practitioners…

Top stories tweeted daily:   http://twitter.com/#!/tomchristoffel
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Basic Geocodes - 
0000 - Earth
0900 - Arctic Ocean
1000 - Europe
2000 - Africa
3000 - Atlantic Ocean
4000 - Antarctica
5000 - Americas
6000 - Pacific Ocean
7000 - Oceana
8000 - Asia
9000 - Indian Ocean

"Global Region-builder Geo-Code Prototype" © 

For delicious reader feed: