Regional Community Development News - March 29, 2006 - 13 VA [regions_work]
tom.chr...@gmail.com
Regional Community Development News – March 29, 2006 [regions_work]
A weekly compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development. Published on line since November 11, 2003.
1. Triad, state, federal officials launch Wired program - Triad Business Journal - Greensboro, NC,USA
About a dozen federal officials, along with state leaders, helped the Piedmont Triad launch its $15 million regional economic development program Monday evening at the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro.
Emily DeRocco, the assistant secretary for employment and training administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, called North Carolina "the face of the new economy and the courage it takes to embrace it," while admitting there was much work to be done in the Triad to recover from the manufacturing-led economic slowdown of the past five years.
The Department of Labor is sponsoring the Workforce Innovations for Regional Economic Development (Wired) program, awarding $15 million to each of 13 regions across the country, including the Triad.
Monday and Tuesday, the Piedmont Triad Partnership, the organization that put together the grant proposal to win the funding, is gathering leaders from around the region to fine-tune the six strategies outlined as part of the program and to introduce DeRocco and other federal leaders to the Triad.
...
RC: Piedmont Triad Council of Governments
2. Ontario budget highlights political landscape - CTV.ca – Canada
TORONTO — It's the city Canada loves to mock as the overly-self-important centre of the universe, but the new Ontario budget makes it clear: the country's largest city and its ever-growing suburbs are the province's economic engine.
Finance Minister Dwight Duncan acknowledged as much Thursday in a budget that offered $1.2 billion to improve public transit and fix roads and bridges, mostly in Toronto and surrounding communities like Mississauga and Brampton.
"Public transit's important for Toronto, it's important for the (Greater Toronto Area) and it's important for other communities," Duncan said.
"Toronto and the GTA are very much about Ontario. We're proud that this budget is good for Toronto, but we believe it's good for the entire province."
Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion said Friday that people have to realize just how important Toronto and its suburban neighbours are to the entire country.
"Regional boundaries don't mean anything any more," McCallion said.
"We're the economic unit in Canada, and if we're not operating on all cylinders, than Canada's not going to benefit. Certainly the province isn't."
...
3. United we prosper? - Albany Times Union - Albany, NY,USA
From his second-floor office in Troy City Hall, Mayor Harry Tutunjian can see his city getting stronger every day.
He can see contractors restoring long-vacant buildings for people eager to get a taste of city living. He can see new businesses throwing shingles above storefronts, selling coffee and clothes and furniture to those new residents. He can see the city's waterfront, forgotten for so long and now awaiting redevelopment.
Seeing past the city's borders, though, is a lot harder.
"There's a lot of talk about regionalization and shared services, but I'm not sure where it's going," Tutunjian said.
Yet, if the mounting resurgence of the Capital Region's three biggest cities is going to get anywhere, it needs to get that religion, say some experts -- and quick.
"I think the Albany metropolitan (area) needs to think of itself as a unified whole," said Bruce Katz, an expert in cities with The Brookings Institution, a Washington, D.C., think tank. "No part of it is big enough to drive the entire economy of the place."
...
RC: Capital District Regional Planning Commission
4. a) Super City @10 - ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
It’s been 10 years since we stuck together Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford and Halifax County. Has it worked? This week, find out whether folks who live in the supercity are richer, safer, happier and smarter since the big merge. Today we begin an eight-day series by looking at why amalgamation was pitched as a cure for municipal ills in Halifax, Sydney and the South Shore.
ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO, the reform-minded Liberal government of the late John Savage gave a sales pitch to Nova Scotians on the proposed amalgamation of the province’s two metropolitan areas.
Metro Halifax and the Sydney area, the Grits told taxpayers, each needed to be merged to streamline municipal services and administrations — and to save the province millions of dollars.
Instead of separate police departments, there would be one regional force, people heard back then. The same would apply to the fire service, trash collection, bylaw enforcement, municipal water supply, public transportation and senior municipal administration.
Amalgamation, people in metro and Cape Breton heard, would also end the longstanding competition for business among municipalities. Rather than a handful of industrial commissions vying for commerce and jobs, there would be one regional agency attracting business.
...
b) There’s no going back - ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Whether you love it or hate it, amalgamation is here to stay, say former mayors. ... Herald: Did you celebrate or mourn the arrival of amalgamation? ...
c) Queens saw big savings in first year - ChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
... The mayor of the Region of Queens, which came into being April 1, 1996, says amalgamation has been an all-round success for both the former town and the former ...
5. Asia moves beyond broadband - VNUNet.com - Haarlem, Netherlands
Asia will move rapidly beyond first-generation broadband networks by rolling out home fibre internet services with speeds of up to 100Mbps, according to analyst forecasts.
More than 40 million users in Asia will have home fibre internet connections by 2010, predicts The Diffusion Group, a Dallas-based research consultancy, in a report published yesterday.
About five million people in Asia had Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections at the end of last year, the vast majority of them in Japan, with a smaller number in South Korea.
Analyst firm In-Stat predicted in January that revenue generated from fibre internet services in Asia would increase from $4.4bn in 2005 to $10.3bn by the end of 2009.
The rest of the world will continue to lag behind Asia in ultra-high speed fibre internet services, according to The Diffusion Group.
"Asians are the most bandwidth-hungry consumers in the world. Young urban professionals, in particular, have come to view residential fibre connectivity as a status symbol," said the research firm.
...
6. Mass-transit investments vital to region's growth - Seattle Times - United States
If anything keeps the Seattle metropolitan region from being truly great, it is the lack of sufficient mass transit. I'm speaking not only of a great city in the present, but more importantly, a great city in the future.
The scenic beauty, robust economy and urban amenities of Washington state have resulted in strong growth for the past half a century. Our quality of life is a comparative advantage that attracts new industry and a skilled work force. Our most effective form of economic development is to preserve and improve the livability of the region, and as any commuter knows, broadening our transportation choices is one of our best investments in that regard.
As the Seattle area matures, the growing pains of traffic congestion, long commutes, rising housing costs and vanishing open space must be addressed. Our smart growth policies and long-range planning efforts seek to maintain our quality of life for generations to come.
Although finding real, long-term solutions may be expensive, inaction will cost more....
RC: Puget Sound Regional Council
7. a) Bay Area brain drain - San Jose Mercury News - CA, USA
Despite the Bay Area's status as a nationwide hub for innovation, the region's talent pool is diminishing, according to an economic report to be released today by a coalition of business and government officials.
Baby boomers are retiring, workers are getting squeezed out by the high cost of living and foreign professionals are moving back home, the Bay Area Economic Forum report found.
``These issues, coupled with K-12 education system challenges, put the creative workforce that is the foundation of the Bay Area's prosperity at serious risk,'' said Henry Gardner, executive director of the Association of Bay Area Governments, which is part of the Bay Area Economic Forum. The Forum releases a regional economic report every two years. This year's was created by McKinsey and Co., a management consulting firm, which analyzed data from several sources.
In recent years, the region's economy has rebounded to pre-Internet boom levels, but if leaders don't act soon to improve schools and build affordable homes, it will be impossible to maintain that level of robustness, the report found.
...
b) Boston workers ‘most productive - Boston Herald - United States
A new study commissioned by a San Francisco economic development group warns that the Bay Area - which includes Silicon Valley - is losing its competitive advantage to Boston.
According to its economic analysis, the Bay Area Council said Boston has stolen the crown from San Francisco as the nation’s “most productive region.”
The average worker in the Boston area produces $54,000 worth of goods and services each year, compared to a Bay Area worker’s $51,000, the analysis found.
Boston captured the top spot in 2001, when the local economy was still strong, and has retained it through 2004, even when Massachusetts was reeling from 200,000 layoffs during the recession, the report said.. ...
RC: Metropolitan Area Planning Council
8. City seeks suburbs' help on sewer line repairs - Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Pittsburgh, PA,USA
If the sewer lines that run through the city of Pittsburgh suddenly shut down, every toilet from South Fayette to Ross to Monroeville would be useless.
That's why suburban municipalities should contribute to the cost of maintaining the pipes that run from the city's borders to the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority's treatment plant in Woods Run, according to an audit released by the city controller's office yesterday.
The audit calls on the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, which maintains the lines, to negotiate new agreements with 25 bordering municipalities whose sewer lines connect to the city's. The authority has old agreements with 10 municipalities and has collected $2.24 million from them since 1991.
The audit "definitely suggests that they should be paying some of the repair costs" for the city's aged lines, said Deputy Controller Tony Pokora.
Suburban reaction was lukewarm. ...
RC: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission
9. CADC becomes CRDC in unveiling ceremony - Clinton Herald – Clinton, IA,USA
Things are moving and shaking in the Clinton area right now.
Community leaders shared in the excitement of the Clinton Area Development Corporation’s new name, logo and positioning statement at the Lyons Business & Technology Park on Thursday.
The organization’s name has changed to Clinton Regional Development Corp. with a new logo. In addition, a new positioning statement has been developed. The retooled marketing elements reflect President/CEO Steven Ames’ leadership role over the last six months in developing a more inclusive, positive image of the region. The CRDC’s Web site also is being revised, with the launch planned for a future date.
“Our new look and name reflect the focus and commitment of the Clinton Regional Development Corporation to effectively implement the Quality Jobs 4A Strong Future initiative and to market the advantages of the communities in the bi-state region on national and global levels. Our recent successes, including the Iowa Great Places designation, have laid the foundation to take us to the next level,” Ames said in a press release.
10. U.S. regional communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Highlighted words are Google search terms.
a) Counties ponder
collaboration amid budget woes
Traverse
City
Record Eagle - Traverse City,
MI,USA
Administrators from four northern Michigan
counties said collaboration is key
for local governments to meet increasing service demands. ... "State of Our Counties" forum sponsored by the
League of Women Voters of the Grand Traverse Area....
b) The New
Federalism
SitNews - Ketchikan, AK,USA
... The initiative will pass increasingly to the states on issues like consumer protection, global climate change, energy alternatives and conservation, fuel-efficiency standards, and environmental regulation. The large states led by activist governors will act where Washington won't tread.
c) Utah County senior services to stay with MAG
Daily Herald - Provo, UT,USA
Utah County's
nearly year-long quest to take over senior services from the Mountainland Association of Governments
is at an end for now. County leaders sought to make the county government the
designated "agency on aging" for Utah
County ...MAG will continue to
administer services for Utah, Wasatch and Summit ...
d) Organization
envisions walkways as a part of regional planning
Noblesville Daily Times - Noblesville, IN,USA
Future development in Hamilton County
and throughout central Indiana
must include a comprehensive network of pedestrian pathways ... That is the
vision regional transportation planners are hoping local leaders will consider
as they plan for growth over the next 20 years or more. ... Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization ...
e) TTA awaits rail data response
Durham Herald Sun - Durham, NC,USA
... a commuter rail line for the Triangle... 2007 budget
doesn't include $485 million in
federal funds requested for the project, which currently has a low rating
because Federal Transit Administration officials decided it failed to meet
cost-effectiveness standards. ...
f) Knowing our boundaries
The Grand
Rapids Press - Grand
Rapids, MI,USA
Michigan doesn't
have to fear a shooting war with Ohio or dig
trenches along the Indiana
border. But the state should be ready to defend itself in court, where
modern-day border skirmishes have been fought....
g) Edwards challenges Curtiss for county
commissioner seat
The Missoulian - Missoula, MT,USA
... Curtiss, who serves on the Bitter Root Economic Development District
board, said economic development is important and needs to be looked at on a
regional basis ...
h) Regional approach
to economic development sounded
Daily News Transcript - Needham, MA,USA
... "We lack a unified voice
to coordinate economic developments," said Steve Winter, senior project
director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. ...
i) Transportation
costs add to funding woes
Salem News - MA, USA
... He and others support regionalization. "Each district is on
its own to plan," he said of current practices. "There's a lot of duplication that results."....
j) City to host four
public forums Saturday
TheStorygroup.com - GA,USA
Atlanta
residents will have the opportunity to give their input on the infill housing
ordinance, regional growth and transportation and the Beltline...
k) An Eminently Useful Domain
Civilrights.org - Washington, DC,USA
... Cobb County Commission Chairman Sam Olens, who is also chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission ... need not raise the bar for invoking eminent domain as high ... Redeveloping the aging neighborhoods and once-thriving commercial districts... should be a high priority for state and local officials alike.
l) Committee to
present Dixie fixes
Cincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati, OH,USA
... The Dixie Fix is being
coordinated by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana
Regional Council of Governments and the Northern Kentucky Area Planning
Commission.
m) Officials agree:
Region can work together
Oakland Press - Pontiac, MI,USA
... "It's
nice to be a regional player, but I have a sworn obligation to defend my county
before I defend the region," Patterson said. "We'll be a player up to the point where it damages Oakland County's
future....
RC: Southeast
Michigan Council of Governments
n) Area hospitals
establish regional network
Ridgway Record – Ridgway, PA,USA
... a reception for Sen. Rick Santorum while discussing the benefits of a
Regional Health Information Organization, or RHIO. Five area hospitals ... have
created a new collaborative called the West Central PA Health Care Network. ...
o) Agreement for Pennsylvania Wilds region to bring tourism benefits - Travel Daily News International
... 12 counties have adopted an ordinance to sign an Intergovernmental Cooperative Agreement, making the Pennsylvania Wilds the largest geographic area in Pennsylvania to be covered by such an agreement.
p) Business leaders
identify need for regional master plan during community assessment
Rhinelander Daily News -
Rhinelander, WI,USA
... industry, educational, social
service and governmental representatives out of their respective
“silos” then Thursday's Community Assessment Summit was a ...
RC: North Central Regional Planning Commission
q) Donation to spur economy
Biloxi Sun Herald - MS, USA
A representative of the US Department of Commerce presented a $500,000 check to
the South
Mississippi Development District in Gulfport on Friday to help
plan for the economic recovery of the Coast....
r) Statewide Test
Results
Eyewitness News - East Providence, RI,USA
... in collaboration with New Hampshire and Vermont
through the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP), the first multistate testing collaboration in the ...
s) Local News and Notes
Daily Herald - Provo, UT,USA
...investments include: $51,000 to the Five County Association of Governments of St. George, $51,000 to the Six County Economic Development District of Richfield and $51,000 to the Southeastern Utah Economic Development District of Price. ...
t) A burning topic:
Prairie conference a big success
Bluff Country Reader - MN,USA
... pm, at St.
Olaf College
in Northfield.
Yes, that’s our tri-state region, the “Driftless Area.”.
The symposium invites people ..
u) Real Salt Lake is committed to the community
Salt Lake
Tribune - United States
... Real Salt Lake,
Major League Soccer and Sports Capital Partners ... are committed to bringing
world-class entertainment to our region. ... creating the flagship sports
organization in the United States,
an internationally recognized brand equal to that of Manchester United, Real
Madrid and the New York
Yankees....
RC: Wasatch Front Regional Council
v) Experts say Jones needs to attract more industry
Macon Telegraph - Macon, GA,USA
GRAY - Jones County is at a crossroads, and not just because five state and
federal highways intersect in Gray, three regional
development experts told a group ... "Without a doubt, this community
is going to continue growing whether you want it to or not," said Ralph
Nix, assistant director of the Middle Georgia Regional Development Commission.
"You have to determine how you want it to grow and plan for it to make it
go where you want."
11. Other in the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.
a) Pakistan agrees
to Japan’s water proposal
Daily Times - Lahore, Pakistan
Pakistan has agreed to Japan’s proposal of setting up the Asia-Pacific Water Forum for regional cooperation and networking to protect regional interests in global water policies. ...
b) WHO ARE THE
PEOPLE OF SOUTHWEST REGIONS?
MarkaCadey.net - Vancouver, WA,USA
A fairly large number of individuals all members of the people of southwest regions occupaying the vast area within the territory which lies between the two rivers (Jubba and Shabelli) proclaimed, under the impact of the federalism, a Political Manifesto advocating the creating of a state for their regions similar to those already existing in the middle region and in the northeast region as well.
c) The GVRD supports Vancouver's World
Peace Forum.
CKNW - Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
The Greater
Vancouver Regional District
has thrown its support behind the upcoming World Peace Forum taking place in Vancouver. ...
d) Today's wars are less about ideas than extreme tribalism
Christian Science Monitor - Boston, MA,USA
... The tribe was the first major
form of social organization. ... for their own ends, demonize others,
revel in codes of revenge, crave territorial
and spiritual ...
e) Beijing's 11th Five-Year Plan: Part 2,
Section 1
Beijing Lives - Beijing, China
... in pushing forward the
economic cooperation in the metropolitan region covering Beijing,
Tianjin and Hebei Province
for coordinated regional development. ...
f) Regions will have
to fund their own flood clean-up
Gisborne Herald - Gisborne, New
Zealand
... The Government was sending a
very clear message that apart from a catastrophe, regions were going to have to fund their own clean-ups and
that message needed ...
g) Merged police
forces agree new name
Whitehaven News - Whitehaven,
Lake District, UK
... Constabulary. The new
strategic police force will come into effect on 1 April 2007 after the decision
to volunteer for an amalgamation. ...
h) Budget North East
n-e-life.com - Gateshead, UK
... 1. In response to advice from
the Regional Development Agencys (RDA), an announcement
that the Government will work with RDAs and other local and national ...
i) City-region is just 1986 revisited, say
critics
ic Birmingham.co.uk, UK
Plans for a West Midlands city-region based around Birmingham have been criticised as a return
to the past, in evidence to a House of Commons inquiry.
j) Easy to be green, hard to be environmental
Christian Science Monitor - Boston, MA,USA
... from "eco" plus
another combining form, "nomy," rooted in a Greek word for law and
referring to arranging or ordering things - as in taxonomy, for instance. ...
k) Qatar creates Energy City and region's
first energy trading ...
AME Info - United Arab
Emirates
... 'Although
the Middle East accounts for over 60% of the world's
proven oil reserves and over 40% of the world's
natural gas reserves, the region
does not yet have a single energy trading platform....
l) Revisiting the
'Eastern Question'
Al-Ahram Weekly - Cairo, Egypt
... Clearly, the US believes that Iran
has become the greatest regional power in the Middle
East and, perhaps, the entire Islamic world. ...
m) Map Middle East 2006 conference opens
AME Info - United Arab
Emirates
... "As geospatial
technologies are today being used for various infrastructure developmental activities
like road, telecom and port to e-governance
and enterprise ...
n) Rural India outsmarts metros in IT use
Economic Times - India
A recent survey of 37 e-governance
projects, spread across 11 states accorded an overall rating of 8.67 to rural
e-governance projects against 8.03
to urban ...
o) Regional
squabbling as noise pollution dispute re-ignites
Expatica - Netherlands
... has sparked a new round of regional squabbling. Brussels Premier
Charles Picqué is refusing to abide by the ruling, prompting an angry response from the ...
p) ELECTIONS:
TREMONTI, GREAT PACT WITH REGIONS AND COMMUNES
Agenzia Giornalistica Italia
- Italy
(AGI) - Rome,
23 March - The centre-right is aiming for a "great pact between State, regions, provinces and communes on
property, fiscal powers and respective duties.” ...
q) Atlantic hurricane frequency and intensity will remain
elevated ...
Continuity Central (press
release) - Huddersfield, UK
... annualized insurance losses by
40 percent on average across the Gulf Coast, Florida, and the Southeast, and by
25-30 percent in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast ...
r) Murdoch goes all out for cyberspace
domination
The Observer – UK
... second coming of the internet boom now firmly established, its most fervent apostle is the man who seemed to virtually ignore the web when it first flourished ... This time around, MySpace and others seem to show, the user is firmly in charge and successful new technologies are geared to reinforcing the power of the individual. ...
s) Sony’s PS3
to be region free
Gadget Spy - UK
... what was heavily demanded for
import gamers all over the world and yet previously thought unthinkable for a major
corporation: the PS3 will be region-free
for ...
12. Sub-State Regions - Virginia - U.S. Census - South Region; South Atlantic Division, FIPS Code 51
Following is a selection of links relating to regional arrangements in Virginia. This year each issue features a State with links to maps of regions and regional related resources. The Census Regions and Divisions of the United States map (PDF) is being used going, region by region from the Northeast to the West. Individuals may add links to the Yahoo Tag that has been created.
a) Virginia Planning Districts Map - Virginia Association of Planning District Commissions
b) VA Dept. Health - Local Health Districts (regional)
Note: Districts match or compile to Planning District regions.
c) Area Agencies on Aging - Find Agency
Note: Initial interface - Health System Agency Boundaries - next level County or City - to Area Agency - which match Planning District regions.
d) Virginia Is For Lovers - Tourism Regions
e) VA Community College System - Service Regions
f) VA Dept. of Transportation - District - Programs
g) Natural Communities of Virginia - Dept. Conservation & Recreation
h) Department of Corrections - Listing by region
i) VA Dept. of Health - Pediatric Morbidity & Mortality Data
j) Virginia Geographic Information Network
k) Regions of Virginia - 5th grader water color landscapes
l) Human Services Regions - Fairfax County, Virginia
m) SportsCombine - Virginia High School League
n) Different Ways to Classify Virginia's Current Regions
o) All and more at Yahoo Tag region-5140-13-virginia
13. Density
a) Study: Rental units shrink - Barre Montpelier Times Argus - Barre, VT,USA
More rental housing is being demolished than is being
built each year, putting the squeeze on millions of American families for whom
renting is the only option. That's
one conclusion of a study released earlier this month by the Joint Center
for Housing Studies at Harvard
University.
The study, titled "America's Rental Housing: Homes for a Diverse Nation,"
says that though the low-income tax-credit program and other initiatives build
100,000 units of affordable housing annually, 200,000 rental apartments are
demolished each year.
"We are taking one step forward and two steps back as gentrification in
some neighborhoods and continued deterioration in others leads to the removal
of vitally needed, lower-cost rental housing," said center director
Nicolas P. Retsinas.
...
Retsinas said that restrictive zoning and land-use
policies have exacerbated the problem. Though homeowners have increased their
median distance from central business districts in the last 30 years, renters
have not made as large a leap. This means that rental housing tends to be more
concentrated geographically.
"Density restrictions and the resulting pressure on land prices will limit
production of multifamily apartments affordable to the vast majority of
renters," Retsinas said.
...
b) HEIGHT AND DENSITY CHANGES
Miami Herald - FL,USA
• Building height and density changes were
approved for some areas of North Miami
Beach marked for redevelopment, though opponents are
still negotiating for changes. Where indicated, the maximum height and density
is a ''bonus''
available only with concessions such as public amenities.
Affected areas include:
• East side of Biscayne Boulevard between 171st and 175th streets: 24 stories maximum; density 32 to 75 units per acre.
...
c) Tackling density
South Delta Leader - Tsawwassen, British
Columbia, Canada
... to even the suggestion of
learning what can be done to make their community better when it will be
pressured by outside forces to increase density
is folly. ...
d) Planning board
rejects downtown density bonuses
Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL,USA
... Yet it said the density bonus program was in an
inappropriate location and would produce scant results despite all the
regulations and effort that would have ...
e) SB County Must Accept 1,200
High-Density Homes
CBS 2 - Los Angeles, CA,USA
Santa Barbara County has no choice but to accept more
than 1,200 high-density homes,
according to county supervisors, who say state mandates for new housing ...
14. Subscription link stories.
a) An anti-regional maneuver - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription) - Milwaukee, WI,USA
If a college political science class is looking for a classic case of how not to accomplish something worthwhile, the proposal to create a regional airport authority fits the bill to a T.
People who should have known better, namely private business interests and state lawmakers, missed the runway by a mile. In drafting the proposal to create the authority, they needlessly burned political bridges and, in effect, thumbed their noses at local democratic representation.
When state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), Sen. Jeff Plale (D-South Milwaukee) and Rep. Mark Honadel (R-South Milwaukee) proposed the authority in December, they argued that Mitchell International Airport, run by Milwaukee County, is an economic regional asset and therefore should ideally be governed on a regional basis.
This idea has merit. But some Milwaukee County supervisors asked why, if the county had done a good job running the airport, they should turn over the job to a regional authority. They also felt the lawmakers and the Metropolitan Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce were trying to push the county out of the picture.
The county has indeed done a good job of managing Mitchell, but we suggested earlier that the supervisors should think regionally.
A recent article by Journal Sentinel reporter Larry Sandler on how the legislation to create the authority took form casts a whole new light on the matter, however. The results are disquieting.
Based on Sandler's interviews and e-mails and documents obtained by Supervisor Richard Nyklewicz Jr. under an open records request, Sandler found that more than three years before the public knew about it, business lobbyists were drafting a bill to create the authority that would wrest control of Mitchell from the county.
...
b) Exurbs populate
growth rankings
Dallas Morning News
(subscription) - TX,USA
If it's big growth you're looking for, it must be Fate. But population is also destined to Prosper.
The exurbs – small towns like Fate and Prosper that lie just beyond the area's suburbs – continue to boom, according to estimates released Thursday by the North Texas Council of Governments.
In Rockwall County, Fate led the way with a 61 percent increase to 3,300 people from 2005 to 2006.
Prosper, Royse City, Melissa, Fairview and Anna showed gains of more than 20 percent.
...
15. Google News for “Regional Community”
Other menu sections available from this link include: Regional Development; Regional Council; Regional Commission; Regional America; Regional Asia; Regional Europe; Regional Competition; Regionalism; Intergovernmental and other search terms. They can be sorted by date or relevance. These are among the 50 search terms I use to produce this newsletter.
Regional Community Development News is published weekly on Wednesday. Making visible analysis and actions at multi-jurisdictional regional scales is its purpose.
"Think globally, act locally" was innovative in its time. Today the local scale is often too small to address today's needs and opportunities. "Think local planet, act regionally," is my candidate paradigm. We can see that “regional 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.
To read and search previous issues go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/messages The term “Development” was added to the name in January, 2006.
For a free subscription use this email link – no additional information required: regions_wor...@yahoogroups.com
Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?
Please e-mail the editor: Tom.Chr...@gmail.com or regi...@shentel.net
© 2003-6 Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP Making regions visible for Leaders and Problem-solvers. www.regionalintelligence.com or www.regions.ws