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.
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Top 10 Stories
Cuyahoga County's latest efforts to promote regional
cooperation are modeled after the Los Angeles area, where county government
assists dozens of cities with everything from fire fighting to lifeguards.
Ohio's most populous county recently agreed to provide
sewer maintenance for Shaker Heights and is talking about supplying a human
resources worker for Brooklyn. And county Executive Ed FitzGerald envisions the
county one day providing as many services as L.A.
"It is the only practical pathway to a significant
degree of regionalism here," FitzGerald said in an interview… "And
it's all by choice."
The goal, as outlined in FitzGerald's
state-of-the-county address in February, is to eliminate the duplication of
costly services in a county divided into 57 municipalities.
The county's menu of offerings now includes employee
health insurance, phone support, sewer maintenance and employee training. At
least 10 cities have ordered one or more services. But there's no limit,
FitzGerald said.
…
…Sustainable Communities Initiative was tailor made for
communities like greater Cleveland. Northeast Ohio has been sprawling for
decades without adding any population, emptying out the notoriously troubled
central city while the regional economy consistently under-performs.
…
Of course, winning a grant and mustering the political
will to do some actual transformative planning are two different things.
…internal struggle going on within Northeast Ohio’s Sustainable Communities
Consortium (NEOSCC)…outcome could determine whether the region puts the $5
million grant to good use or wastes a rare opportunity.
…
Jason Segedy, NEOSCC’s chair, says he is “fighting for
the soul” of the organization. The 39-year-old recently addressed the board of
NEOSCC in a strongly worded email, saying that the organization was neglecting
a major cause of the region’s troubles: failure to integrate land use and
transportation planning decisions.
“As we enter the second decade of the 21st century, it
is becoming apparent that it is time to reassess the way we have designed our
urban areas for the past 60 years,” he said. “Many people today are finding
themselves in a situation where they have to drive long distances whether they
want to or not.”
“Our transportation system already does not work well if
you don’t have a car; and if gas prices rise it will work less and less well
for more and more people, including those WITH cars,” he wrote. “Virtually
every person in charge of planning our transportation system and developing our
land owns a car. They don’t live the reality of long tortuous three-hour bus
commutes, walking through broken glass on crumbling highway shoulders (there
are no sidewalks) or getting bottles thrown out of car windows at them by angry
motorists [while riding a bike].”
…
It’s not yet clear that NEOSCC has even agreed that the
revitalization of the central city and its surrounding communities is an
important regional goal — although a profusion of evidence says it should be. …
The Sustainable Communities Initiative proposed by the
Regional Planning Commissions in NH allows local towns to come together and
develop a long term planning vision for their communities, the region and the state.
Described by some as a ‘Master Plan on steroids’ it is a collaborative
grassroots effort to integrate local interests, priorities and perspectives
into regional plans and ultimately into a state-wide strategy.
The nine regional planning commissions in the state will
work with their individual towns to gather information on their planning
efforts with respect to land use, transportation, housing, economic
development, environmental planning, and public health among other issues to
develop a comprehensive plan for the region. It is does not diminish the
individual town’s Master plan, zoning or their vision for the future. On the
contrary, it would enable towns to review each other’s best practices, goals
and plans and arrive at a consensus-based document. …
The Sustainable Communities Initiative is yet another
advisory project which will greatly enhance and protect our rural oasis by
integrating sustainable development goals and principles in our priorities for
future development.
The former executive director of Volusia County's
Transportation Planning Organization hasn't changed his mind on the issue he
believes cost him his job: the County Council's hope for an analysis on linking
SunRail to Daytona Beach International Airport.
…
"I see part of my job as speaking truth to power,
and, sometimes, power doesn't like the truth," Welzenbach said recently
after the vote. "So, I stand by my statements -- I still feel that this is
not a valid pursuit. I still doubt seriously that after the analysis is done
that rail will be the locally preferred option. That's my professional opinion;
I didn't make it up, and I stand by it."
…Welzenbach argued, a study would recommend enhanced bus
service from the airport to the West Volusia station. Votran General Manager
Ken Fischer agreed with him. …
"I have attempted, in the past 12 1/2 years, not to
be condescending, but to explain the convoluted, complicated and frustrating
role of the MPO," Welzenbach said ...
The Green, the most iconic parcel of land in Morristown,
not only is a place for people to hang out, meet up, explore and admire, it's
also a traffic circle. With numerous businesses surrounding it, the Green also
is an economic hub. It's not just one of these things, it's all of them.
So, why should planning for Morristown's land use future
be any more separated?
That has been the thinking of town planners, who are
seeking a consultant through the North Jersey Transportation Authority in order
to begin "a pilot Local Planning Assistance Program to assist the Town of
Morristown in development of a Unified Land Use and Mobility Plan."
…
This pilot initiative between a regional planning entity
like the NJTPA and a local government does not exist in this part of the state.
But, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission has found success working
with municipalties in south Jersey, Abrahmson said, helping towns with such
projects as buildout studies and smartgrowth initiatives. "
If you want to make a transportation network better, you
need to work with land use," he said. "They needed to go work with
municipalities."
…
…
There are good reasons to consolidate.…
Follow these tips:
• Focus on value for the dollar rather than just on
cost. This will help mitigate the need to continually re-consolidate.
• Understand the perspective of the
"customers" of the functions being consolidated and take those into
consideration in developing the consolidation approach.
• Consolidation usually involves merging two
organizations into one. Consider integrating functions into a new structure
rather than merging existing structures into one another. The former involves
making things work more seamlessly for the customers, while the latter relies
on putting two or more organizations under a single chain of command.
• Usually consolidation involves adding a level of
management. Consider a process of "flattening" concurrent with the
consolidation process.
But to save money and produce better results, consider
these alternatives:
• Create incentives for organizations to voluntarily
consolidate…
• Get organizations to follow…
…people shared ideas…on ways to promote economic
development in the seven counties that are participating in the Joplin Regional
Prosperity Initiative.
Objectives of the initiative are to create more
higher-paying jobs in the region, find better ways to market the assets of the
region to promote job growth and promote local workforce development.
Steve Gilkey, a Lamar City Alderman, offered this
observation about the flight of local people who become educated here, but seek
jobs elsewhere.
“Our colleges should help us keep our talent here,’’ he
said. …
Other ideas included ways to promote image and branding
with regard to the seven-county region. One participant said, “We should market
our location ourselves.’’
The process to develop a regional economic development
strategy is comprised of four phases over eight months that will lead to “an
actionable five-year blueprint’’ for strengthening the region’s existing assets
to improve the overall quality of life in the Joplin region.
…
There were jokes, barbs and jabs, but mostly substantive
conversation…about growing regional cooperation in metro Detroit and around the
state of Michigan.
The overarching theme: Mending Detroit's bruised image
and returning the area to a powerhouse of investment, educational opportunity,
functioning infrastructure and a place where people want to live and play.
Called the fab five -- Detroit
Mayor…Wayne…Oakland…Macomb Co. Execs & Washtenaw Co. BOS Chair…metro
Detroit's political leaders gathered …
"Detroit is our global brand and we need to make
sure that brand is super strong," said Smith, who isn't always invited to
the table when metro Detroit is discussed.
But today, Bing offered Smith, and by extension
Washtenaw County, an open invitation to conversations about regional
cooperation. Patterson, on the other hand, criticized the county saying
Washtenaw did not participate in most regionally taxed assets…
"…Until you pay your way in, you don't get to say
how things are done."
…
…
“If Mayors Ruled the World” is premised on the notion
that of the three elemental political units — empires, nations, and cities — it
is cities which have existed the longest and cities which today represent the
level at which “things get done.” In an age where the tenets of the
nation-state system — sovereignty, independence, and nationhood — are out of
synch with the nature of global problems, cities represent the more appropriate
scale for finding solutions, sharing best practices, and shaping emergent
norms. As Barber puts it, “Radical interdependence requires that we respond to
problems through the actors that are not jurisdictionally limited by sovereignty.”
Barber believes that cities tend to act more non-ideologically and
pragmatically than nation-states. Cities invite the other into themselves and
form a collective with them, while nations are defined by exclusion of the
other.
A number of current diplomatic processes illustrate
Barber’s main argument. Whereas the intergovernmental climate negotiations have
yielded little result, mayors have taken aggressive steps to counter greenhouse
gas emissions and their joint proposals shaped the final Copenhagen climate
summit text. The same is true for the Durban sustainability summit. …
Greater Manchester is set to take control of the
region’s railways – in an historic move that promises better trains, more
carriages and improved services for passengers.
Transport chiefs in the region are the forefront of
plans that would see power over rail services in the north of England devolved
from Whitehall.
The Department for Transport would hand over
responsibility for rail franchising to a new body made up of transport chiefs
from each region in the north.
And supporters say that would bring major benefits to
passengers in the region.
The proposals are being put together by Transport for
Greater Manchester and its counterparts in south and west Yorkshire. The group
will now open serious conversations with transport officials in the north east,
Merseyside and Lancashire.
The change would give them the power to demand local
priorities from whichever rail operator is awarded the contract to run
services, including extra carriages, new trains and station revamps.
...
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