Regional/Greater Community Development News – April 2, 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

1. Region's failure to cooperate | HamptonRoads.com
… mayors of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk and Virginia Beach acknowledged the need to work together to build a plan that would best serve the entire region. They spoke of efforts to lobby the General Assembly for dedicated revenue for transportation funding, to persuade mayors of cities from Hampton Roads through Northern Virginia to band together as a bloc…comments…made clear… help their individual cities.
It's a woefully familiar, shortsighted attitude in Hampton Roads…elected officials' inability to see beyond their municipal borders.
It's also the attitude that time and again prevents us from making the most of this region's inherent advantages.
…
That lack of unity means …we miss opportunities …
How do cities as disparate as those in Hampton Roads set aside their parochial needs, look past their borders, find ways to make decisions to improve the entire region, and set a plan into action?
…Other places have figured it out, not least in Northern Virginia. …
5140-13-23-Hampton.Roads-Norfolk, re:plan, re:action, re:opportunities, re:borders, re:failure, re:cooperation.not, re:mayors
On the surface, the greater Rochester area outperforms the state in education, the economy, housing and issues affecting children and youth.
But on many points in a Community Report Card released Tuesday, there is a deep divide between Rochester and Monroe County compared with the rest of the seven-county region and the state.
Among the most alarming disparities are in areas of health and financial self-sufficiency. And all too often that divide reflects hardships that disproportionately affect minorities.
Conversely, some of the area’s strongest showings — and strongest for Monroe County — are in technology (specifically high-tech jobs) and housing affordability.
The first-ever report card is the product of a partnership between the Rochester Area Community Foundation and the United Way of Greater Rochester called ACT Rochester. It uses 12 “community indicators” to measure strengths and weaknesses both within the region and against the state.
“The needs of the community are many
5140-07-0x-Rochester, re:disparity, re:partnership, re:community.foundation, re:indicators
Montgomery County officials pitched their case Monday evening to create a regional government.
Commissioner Dan Foley was at the NAACP meeting to get feedback about the idea of a more unified government between Dayton and it's suburbs.
He says it's a concept that could transform the entire Miami Valley.
"The structure of local government to me in my opinion can be, needs to be more innovative, needs to be much more of a unified system, so that we can attract companies and keep companies here and we can have a more vibrant community in the long run," said Commissioner Dan Foley.
Opponents to regional governments argue consolidation eliminates jobs and school districts.
5140-28-0X-Miami.Valley-Dayton, re:local.government, re:consolidation, re:opposition, re:suburbs, re:government, re:unified.system, re:regionalism.benefit
To its supporters, the Metropolitan Council is a triumph of regional planning and a model for other urban areas.
To its critics, the agency is a bureaucracy insulated from elected officials and insensitive to suburban concerns.
…
Scott County Commissioner Jon Ulrich recalled recently how local officials responsible for advising the agency were shut out of work on a major transportation plan.
"We were told if you want to see the full plan ... it will be online later in the week," Ulrich said.
The critics want to turn the Met Council responsibilities for planning transit over to a board made up mostly of elected local officials, with many of them appointed by counties.
Current council members are appointed by the governor and don't hold elective office elsewhere. They sometimes profess ignorance of actions taken by the agency's staff. Recently, the council was forced to backpedal after suburbanites complained about designs for new buses. …
5140-32-11-Metropolitan.Council-Minneapolis-St.Paul, re:trans.planning, re:trans.transit, re:officials.elected.appointed, re:metro

Gahanna development director Anthony Jones asked council to authorize the mayor to enter into a regional economic-development agreement (REDA) that encourages the use of financial incentives to attract new jobs and investment and prohibits the use of financial incentives to lure jobs from another central Ohio community.
Since January 2011, Jones said, 10 central Ohio local governments have been working to establish a partnership with two overarching goals: to increase efficiencies and save money through shared services and to cease “job poaching” efforts. The communities have been meeting regularly to formalize the partnership.
Participating municipalities have included Bexley, Columbus, Gahanna, Grandview Heights, Grove City, Groveport, Hilliard, New Albany, Obetz, Reynoldsburg, Upper Arlington and Worthington, according to Dan Williamson, spokesman for Coleman's office, and not all of them are officially on board yet. Canal Winchester and Whitehall were invited, as well.
...
5140-28-0X-Mid-Ohio-Columbus, re:agreement, re:development.agency, re:development
The Atlanta Regional Commission on Wednesday took a formal step toward determining if it can create a transit governance system to serve the region until the Legislature creates one of its liking.
The ARC board voted unanimously Wednesday to seek proposals from law firms to determine the boundaries of the ARC’s authority to oversee regional transit. Legislation on the issue that was proposed by Gov. Nathan Deal’s Transit Governance Task Force failed in the 2012 session.
The ARC’s vote affirms a request for action from its Regional Transit Committee, which the ARC describes as a policy committee focused on transit planning, funding and governance.
Specifically, the RTC sought a “request for proposal regarding legal review of regional transit collaboration options.”
RTC members have been working since 2010 to craft a workable structure that would knit together the region’s transit systems. They have issued a raft of recommendations, but only some of them were included in legislation
5140-17-05-Atlanta.Regional, re:state, re:governance, re:trans.transit
Some heart of Illinois residents received some startling news on the cohesiveness of the area economy Thursday.
The Tri-county Regional Planning Commission teamed up with "VITAL Economy Alliance" to help determine how to establish a stronger regional collaboration. The goal of the project is to have all of the communities in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties working together toward a stronger overall economy.
The preliminary report found the Tri-county area is currently below average in nearly every category, but there is potential for improvement.
"The three weeks have taught us that there is a huge common interest, and a common recognition of what the problems are, and what the opportunity is," ...VITAL Economy Alliance .... "That is something you don't often see, across the public and private sector."
A final report is due April 13. After that, "VITAL" will give formal suggestions to the Tri-county Regional Planning Commission on how to achieve better regional collaboration
5140-30-0x-Central-Peoria, re:economy, re:alliance, re:cohesiveness, re:collaboration, re:commission, re:planning
Whenever things get a bit dull, the urban planning types decide it is time to reexamine “regionalism” — …
Every time… it is treated as a new idea, to avoid the discouragement of realizing that the subject has been front and center in academic and policy circles for more than 40 years — with little result to show for it.
Of course, the most painless, brainless, accommodating way to bring modest regional cooperation to the unwashed masses is county government — a middleman between the state government colossus and the local selectmen and councilmen and mayors and town managers.
Connecticut purged itself of county bureaucracy, with various complaints … Connecticut is proud of its local fiefdoms and their “home rule” …
What complicates the Connecticut situation is its lack of “unincorporated” areas … Every square inch of Connecticut is somewhere, with the power and authority to go about their inefficient business.
…
Amid the bleak landscape is the pending launch of a regional dog pound
5140-06-04-Capital-Hartford, re:planning, re:urban, re:editorial.opinion, re:municipalities, re:county.not, re:policy, re:regionalism
Saturday marked the formal closure of England's Regional Development Agencies following George Osborne's decision to abolish them back in June 2010. The jury remains out on their replacements, the Local Enterprising Partnerships, many of which have board members and strong private sector involvement bringing forward good, positive ideas for growth but are finding these frustrated due a lack of resources and micromanagement from Whitehall. It is clear that a number of big questions for growth across the English regions remain unanswered as we move into a post-RDA world.
Firstly, how do we link skills and growth policy and make them responsive to local needs and requirements? In doing this, how can we involve all the key local and sub regional players – LEPs, Local Authorities, transport bodies, Higher Education and Further Education and big employers and their supply chains in this? In particular, now the RDAs have gone, how do we push forward the large transport and road projects ...
1116-00-United.Kingdom, re:policy, re:RDA, re:development.agency
The Greater Dublin Area accounted for over 40pc of the total population growth in Ireland since 2006, last year's census shows.
According to Dublin Chamber of Commerce, this increase reinforces the importance of an improved and integrated infrastructure for the region in order to contain demand.
Today's publication "This is Ireland - Highlights from Census 2011 Part 1" showed that the overall population of the country increased by 348,404 (8.2pc) since 2006, with the Greater Dublin Area counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Kildare and Meath accounting for 141,620 (40pc) of the overall increase.
Dublin Chamber's Director of Policy, Aebhric Mc Gibney said, "These findings reiterate the importance of what has always been Dublin Chamber Policy - better infrastructure. The population of the region is continuing to grow. This means there is extra demand on infrastructure and particularly on water which is in short supply. Therefore, this must be addressed."
...
1108-0x-Greater.Dublin, re:census, re:growth, re:population, re:infrastructure
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Regional/Greater Community Development News – March 26, 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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Top 10 Stories
Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter stressed regional growth and cooperation … meeting with…Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce.
“We are the economic engine of the commonwealth … We should never be reluctant; we should never be shy; we should never be embarrassed to make sure our voices are heard.”
The five-county region of Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia counties is responsible for about 40 percent of the state’s economy,…101 colleges and universities in the broader region, which also includes northern Delaware and South Jersey. And the region has been recognized as one of the leading spots for sustainable energy and clean technology jobs.
“Our region is truly at a crossroads...We must continue to work together to grow our economies and attract 21st century jobs.”
But the region won’t succeed unless officials work together, the mayor said.
“My second job (after advocating for Philadelphia) is to make sure, if a business can’t be in Philly, they’re in the region"
5140-09-07-Delaware.Valley-Philadelphia-PA-NJ, re:energy.clean, re:economy, re:state, re:chamber.of.commerce, re:cooperation, re:region, re:mayor
… chair of the Tulsa Metro Chamber Board, is enthusiastic and optimistic about Tulsa and the surrounding region’s growth and development opportunities in the years ahead. In order to determine the best steps to achieve the region’s tremendous potential, Frank, along with Tulsa County and regional mayors, are calling on business leaders and the public to participate in the enVision Summit …
… Owasso Chamber of Commerce, says, “The enVision Summit is an extremely important step in developing a cohesive vision of where we want to see the region going in the future. The spirit of regionalism is key to our success, both collectively as a region, and individually as cities and towns.”
Akin says the city of Tulsa is key to regional growth because regional communities need a core city. At the same time he says, “Core cities need regions in order to develop and be successful. It is a real collaborative relationship.”
Speaking to the strength of the Tulsa region’s collaborative spirit …
5140-25-06-INCOG-Tulsa, re:spirit, re:collaborative, re:city-region, re:city, re:chamber.of.commerce, re:development, re:vision, re:summit
The merger of Illawarra councils appeared inevitable and the region's community leaders should start laying the groundwork, Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said …
… Bradbery's view puts him at odds with his Shellharbour and Kiama counterparts, who yesterday rejected the idea of an Illawarra merger.
… Bradbery said in his "grand scheme of government" the role of the states was redundant.
"I would see Australia having federal government and then regional governments which would be ultimately the aggregation of councils," he said.
While acknowledging such a change might not occur in his lifetime, he said it was something the region's councils could work towards through collaboration.
"The economies of scale enter into this. Delivering services across the three local government areas for instance could be done more effectively and efficiently."
"What I'm suggesting is that collaboration and shared resourcing seems to me the way to go and preparing the ground for future amalgamations."
7430-0X-New.South.Wales-Illawarra, re:officials.elected.appointed, re:mayors, re:government, re:scale.economies.of, re:collaboration, re:amalgamation
A three-county program to spur economic development through energy efficiency and clean energy in small businesses has proven successful, program backers say, saving businesses in Garfield, Eagle, and Pitkin Counties $240,000 in energy costs annually and leveraging investments of $1.1 million in energy-saving projects.
In 2011, the Governor's Energy Office launched the “Main Street Efficiency Initiative” — a regional program implemented by Clean Energy Economy for the Region, the Community Office for Resource Efficiency, and the Eagle Valley Alliance for Sustainability. During the past year, the local organizations worked with 96 businesses to save energy through upgrades and retrofits in their buildings. Sixty-four of those buildings have completed the energy-saving upgrades, and many additional projects are in the works. … Main Street Grant, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — the 2009 federal “stimulus” bill — put $250,000 to work …
5140-44-12-Northwest-Vail, re:state, re:green.jobs.economy, re:energy.clean, re:conservation, re:energy
A bitter battle is brewing between park agencies in the Twin Cities and in outstate Minnesota over how much each should get from the nearly $40 million state Parks and Trails Legacy Fund.
More than 60 percent of the sales tax money comes from the seven-county metro area, but only about 40 percent is being used for parks and trails there. The rest goes to the state Department of Natural Resources and to regionally important parks and trails outstate.
…
Carver County and nine other county and local governments with metro regional parks want a bigger piece of the pie. … The resolution said that the metro system needs "a more equitable distribution" of the money because the metro area contributes 64 percent of the sales tax and its regional parks have four times more visitors than parks in greater Minnesota.
…
However, the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Coalition said the metro area has it backward.
...
5140-32-00-Minnesota, 5140-32-11-Metropolitan.Council-Minneapolis-St.Paul, re:trails, re:funding
A series of community forums are being held to help the region develop a cultural blueprint.
Belleville, Quinte West, and Hastings County have recently partnered in an effort to revitalize their combined cultural picture.
Their cultural plan — A Cultural Plan for Hastings County and Quinte Region — is about halfway toward completion.
To further the project, a series of three community forums have been announced. The forums will provide residents and organizations with an opportunity to give input on the project’s directions and priorities.
Organizers say resident input and ideas are valuable insight into the region’s cultural needs, and critical to the project’s success.
…development of a regional cultural plan will provide many benefits to promote and develop cultural assets while building local economies and improving the quality of life for residents and visitors.
…
The project itself is being funded by the Creative Communities Prosperity Fund of the Government of Ontario.
5130-06-00-Ontario, re:blueprint, re:plan, re:cultural
After a meeting with county official Ed Jerse and Cuyahoga County Council member Sunny Simon, Lyndhurst City Council members felt better about the anti-poaching deal that had first been put before council late last year.
…
Council members met … county’s Director of Regional Collaboration, and Simon …
Speaking about joining the other 22 county communities that had signed on to the protocol, Ward 4 Councilman Patrick Ward said, “It sends a strong message that Cuyahoga County is open for business.”
…
Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald has instituted a $100-million economic development fund as part of the protocol. In addition to communities promising not to “poach” businesses from other communities within the county, the protocol would make available money from the fund to businesses who need financial help in moving into the county.
Cities that do not join the protocol, the county let it be known, would be less likely to receive help from the fund when trying to attract a business
5140-28-0X-Northeast-Cleveland-NEO, re:collaboration, re:protocol, re:funding, re:economic.development
8. Sacramento Region SCS Builds on Tradition of Blueprint Planning | California Planning and Development Report
For many jurisdictions that are part of California’s “Big Four” metropolitan planning organizations, Senate Bill 375 has ushered in new, unprecedented degrees of collaboration. But whereas SB 375 makes a regional planning revolution for many, for the jurisdictions of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments, the SCS is business as usual.
Having pursued so-called “Blueprint” planning since 2004, and having built its 2008 Metro Transportation Plan (MTP) around it, the Sacramento region’s efforts inspired some of the tenets of SB 375 in the first place. The SACOG SCS, released in November and scheduled to be voted on next month, is no novel concept but rather more of a revision of existing plans. It has been met with broad support in part because the heavy lifting was done years ago.
“It's been a nudge. It’s not like it was a revolution,” said McKeever. “The revolution happened when the Blueprint was adopted.”
Thus far, developers, environmental groups, and member cities alike ...
5140-50-03-Sacramento-SACOG, re:politics.Tea.Party, re:politics.Tea.Party, re:sustainability, re:blueprint, re:SB.375, re:sustainability, re:blueprint, re:SB.375
People and patents and progress — that’s the short version of what the Midwest Intellectual Property Management Institute is all about. The unique economic development initiative is more, though, as it spreads its regional concept to companies and retirees across a 50-county area of western Illinois and eastern Iowa. Knox and Warren counties are in the southern portion of the region. Exec.Dir.William Ratzburg said IPI started as “a blank sheet of paper. This has been an idea for five years. It has been a reality for about two and a half years.”
IPI has corporate partners, which are John Deere, KONE Corp., and … Rockwell Collins was recently added. The institute has access to patents of its corporate partners, patents that are being used in products or are “market proven.” IPI looks for companies that can benefit from the patents in fields not in competition with the owners of the patents. The patents also can be made available to entrepreneurs preparing to start businesses. ...
5140-35-10-East.Central-Cedar.Rapids, 5140-30-00-Illinois, re:entrepreneur, re:development.economic, re:patents, re:property, re:intellectual
In January, … South Africa introduced a resolution to tighten the relationship between the UNSC and regional organizations—
… growing role of regional organizations poses a conundrum for the United States. Many of these implications … in a terrific new book, Rewiring Regional Security in a Fragmented World,. … at least four other insights of the book warrant mentioning.
Regional organizations are a diverse lot. The aspirations, mandates and activities of regional organizations vary enormously. …
Regional approaches are no panacea. At first glance, regional organizations provide an attractive alternative, or complement, to an overstretched and sometimes dysfunctional United Nations. …
Capacity building must be a priority. In addition, the aspirations of regional organizations often outstrip their ability to deliver. …
The United States must adapt its diplomacy to rising regionalism. The State Department tends to approach conflict management through the lens of bilateral relationships
0000.UN-United.Nations, 5140-00-00-USA.United.States.of.America, re:security, re:diplomacy, re:peace

More from the week: http://delicious.com/i.see.regions.work  
Top stories tweeted daily:  http://twitter.com/#!/tomchristoffel
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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

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