1. Take a regional approach  - Kentucky Post - Covington, KY, USA

Time and again Northern Kentuckians have tried to sort out questions like these:

•  If rain washes silt from a construction site in one city down a hill into a retention pond on private property in another city, flooding a county road with muddy water, who needs to take action?

•  If a catch basin in one city is fouled with garbage washed down a state road from four other cities up hill, whose responsibility is it?

•  And if an aging sanitary sewer line spills sewage into a creek, is it a sanitary sewer failure or a storm drainage problem?

These real-life examples illustrate both a law of physics (water flows downhill) and the law of Northern Kentucky politics (in our stubbornness and misguided loyalty we have insisted on holding on to historic boundaries that propagate jurisdictional nightmares).

We're reminded of this we ponder the tangled legal issues surrounding the right of Sanitation District No. 1 of Northern Kentucky to operate and fund the region's storm-water system. Lawyers and judges will decide the technical aspects of the recent lawsuit against SD1. As for us, we fall back on core values.

•  We believe in clean water, and a more aggressive effort toward achieving that goal.

•  We believe in regionalism, and a regional approach to solving problems.

Because cities have failed miserably to take care of the region's water, we conclude that our region is better off with SD1 taking over.

SD1 has been in the storm-water business since 2003 after signing agreements with over 30 communities to develop and administer a program to comply with new rules issued by the federal Environmental Protection Agency. ...

 

RC: Northern Kentucky     Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies

 

 2. Burbs turning urban - Rocky Mountain News - Denver, CO, USA

 

Coloradans who have long bemoaned the sprawling development in Denver's suburbs may have to take a new look. Market pressures and lifestyle changes are giving suburban Denver a far more urban character than it's ever had before.

 

In a historic change, metro suburbs have broken with the development pattern of the past 50 years and embraced density. The rising cost of land, congested freeways, a burgeoning light-rail network and a growing consumer preference for more compact housing in walkable neighborhoods are all changing the look and feel of suburbia.

 

Denver's suburbs are now developing in a denser fashion than in such places as Boston, Atlanta and Houston.

 

"Despite its reputation as a sprawling, gas-guzzling city, Denver is actually growing in a fairly compact manner compared to other cities," said Bill Johnston of the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

...

 3.  a. Plan to charge car owners more fees is adding up - Seattle Post Intelligencer – USA

...

The state Transportation Commission has floated the idea of raising the state gas tax 10 cents a gallon, and lawmakers may consider forming more regional transportation authorities to finance road and other transportation work outside the Puget Sound region.

 

"I think it's part of a larger puzzle," said Rep. Dave Upthegrove, D-Des Moines, one of the legislators who introduced House Bill 1989.

 

"We're starting with (local issues), and I think you can expect to see regional proposals and statewide proposals. The costs of doing nothing are much more than the costs of investing in the system."

 

Two years ago, lawmakers raised the statewide gas tax 5 cents a gallon and "people are seeing results," Upthegrove said. "No legislator who voted for it lost their seat. There's a growing recognition of the importance (of transportation) and that we can address these issues."
...

 

      b. Transportation: a reformist agenda - Seattle Times – USA

 

TWO things strike the average person about transportation — roads, rail, buses, sidewalks, bikeways — in the Puget Sound region.

 

First, it's not clear who's in charge. The list of transportation agencies is a veritable alphabet soup, and many agencies seem to be governed by boards of officials who were originally elected to do other things.

 

Second, there's an enormous amount of money involved and it is not always clear where it comes from or exactly how it gets spent. Thus, the average person is a little wary of new funding proposals and exactly how they would deliver the goods.

 

Existing agencies and what we affectionately call the "transportation junkies" have been working for years on how to expand funding and improve popular support for funding transportation. We're convinced that a connection needs to be made between reform of transportation governance structures and successful funding of transportation.

...

Last month, a consortium of organizations hosted a civic meeting on transportation governance at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington, moderated by Dick Ford, a member of the Washington State Transportation Commission, and Cindy Zehnder, president of TVW. At that meeting, there appeared to be a consensus that governance reform is a subject that has "found its time," in the words of Bob Drewel, Puget Sound Regional Council executive director.

...

 4. Area Leaders Continue to Tout Regionalism - The Southern - Carbondale, IL, USA

Area leaders continued to bang the drum touting regionalism as the area's greatest asset for economic development during a meeting attended by about 100 government, economic and business leaders Tuesday at John A. Logan College.

"Together, we can accomplish great things," said Larry Woolard, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Southern Illinois economic czar.

 

Sponsored by the state's Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development and area Regional Planning Commissions, the summit was aimed at promoting regionalism as the area's best tool to attract business and industry. ...

 

RCs:   Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission   Southern Five Regional Planning District and Development Commission  South Central Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission  

 

E-mail: Southwestern Illinois Planning Commission Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission  Greater Egypt Regional Planning and Development Commission

 

Southern_Regional_Plan.pdf – 2003   Illinois Association of Regional Councils

 

 5.      a)  Backgrounder - The Greenbelt Area - Canada News Wire (press release) – Canada

 

    The greenbelt is 1.8 million acres of land stretching from the Niagara Peninsula in the southwest to Rice Lake in the east. It includes some of the most threatened environmentally sensitive and agricultural lands – protecting them from major urban development, while meeting the needs of growing communities in the Golden Horseshoe. The greenbelt includes the 800,000 acres of land protected by the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan. It also includes 1 million newly protected acres known as

the protected countryside.

...

    The Greenbelt's Systems

 

    Generally, the Greenbelt's systems follow existing rural, agricultural and open space designations found in local, regional and county official plans. They build on the systems defined in the Niagara Escarpment Plan and the Oak Ridges Moraine Conservation Plan.

...

Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing - Ontario, Canada

 

      b) Province finalizes greenbelt boundaries - CBC Toronto - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

 

The Ontario government unveiled the boundaries Monday of a "greenbelt" around the Greater Toronto Area.

The 7,200-square-kilometre area, stretching from Niagara Falls to Peterborough, became officially off limits to land developers when legislation protecting it was passed in the Ontario legislature last week.

 

Farmers and Opposition critics say the development embargo forces down the value of farmland without providing compensation to its owners.

 

 6. Confab free to debate all issues --Makarfi - Vanguard - Lagos, Nigeria

 

... shed light on why the 19 northern governors were opposed to regionalism, saying introducing regionalism was like re-inventing the problems which led to the collapse of the First Republic and the subsequent civil war.

...

Commenting on regionalism, Alhaji Makarfi said instead of reverting to regions, delegates should recommend the creation of few more states to take care of special needs of the people. His words: "If you follow, majority of Nigerians have been calling for federalism that will function effectively to now come with the idea that you want to revert to regionalism. It is just like trying to re-invest the wind. "Because of difference that has been created, for instance, like in the North Central Zone of Nigeria, some people are saying ‘we are Middle Belt,’ some people say ‘no we are not associating with Middle Belt.’ Now, how do you come and force all of them and say you are a region?"

 7. Survey results on peace-related issues – Solomon Star Newspaper, Honiara, Solomon Islands

 

THE rural networking project People First Network (PFnet) has been helping a UNDP regional conflict-prevention and peace-building programme to consult rural communities about their views on the peace process.

The UNDP Peace building and Security Programme for the Pacific (Peace Pac) aims to strengthen security and preventative practices, including mechanisms and institutions for sustainable development. The three main objectives of the Programme include: (1) To address the regional dimensions of conflict and instability in the Pacific; (2) To prevent and resolve conflicts through development means, and assist in post-conflict recovery, in affected Pacific countries; and (3) To strengthen development polices and programming to address conflict and security issues.

...

To view all results of the Peace Pac Project survey, you can visit People First Network, PFnet website news page: http://www.peoplefirst.net.sb/NEWS/News_summary.asp and download the "Peacepac" link.  

 

  8. [Scorecard on Roh's Agenda] Balancing Regional Development - Korea Times - South Korea

 

Forty-seven percent of the nation’s total population lives in the capital region, which accounts for about 11 percent of total land area. Over 50 percent of all economic activities are also concentrated in the capital region. This has led not only to the deterioration of the quality of life in the capital region and the depopulation of other regions, but has also brought about discord among regions and weakened Korea's national competitiveness.

...

 

 9. Creative Class War: The Debate over Richard Florida's Ideas - Maisonnueve - Montreal, Quebec, Canada

 

“You’re doing really well,” Richard Florida gushed to an audience of business types and government officials at a downtown Montreal hotel two weeks ago. “You’ve inherited one of the best ecosystems for this kind of creative economy in the world.”

 

Florida, an urban consultant and professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon, was there to tell the audience what they had paid to hear: that Montreal was one of the most promising cities in North America and that, if its creative potential was properly harnessed, it would reap untold benefits. It’s easy to be cynical when faced with a speech that so closely resembles a pep talk, but Florida’s conclusions aren’t pulled out of thin air. He and his colleagues have just completed a nine-month study of Montreal’s economic health, and they’re impressed with what they found. After decades of near stagnation, Montreal is among the top five North American cities for job growth over the past five years, and ranks second on the continent in terms of “super creative” employment—meaning people who work in education and training, arts and culture, and technology.\

...

 

10. Glasgow ‘squandered benefits of being City Of Culture' - Sunday Herald – UK

 

THERE is a widespread belief within Scotland’s artistic community that the legacy of Glasgow’s year as European City Of Culture has been squandered by politicians, according to a new study.

 

The Glasgow University report reveals that, though tourism rose, many in the arts feel the daring spirit of 1990 has been lost in a political climate of parochialism and ticking boxes about social inclusion.

 

Some experts blamed Scotland’s policymakers for an exodus of talent and stifling the avant-garde vibrancy that bloomed during the City Of Culture initiative.

...

11. Tired of congestion? Do a meeting - Cincinnati Enquirer - Cincinnati, OH, USA

 

If you're a Northern Kentuckian, you probably have at least one highway you'd like to avoid because of the traffic congestion.

 

For anyone wanting a better transportation system, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments is hosting three events in the next three weeks, in Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. The events are called "Where do we grow from here?"

...

12. 2004 RVCOG Regional Recognition Awards Event - JacksonvilleOregonNews.com - Jacksonville, OR, USA

Medford, Oregon - A tribute to the region's foremost expert in state land-use law, John Eads, led the Rogue Valley Council of Governments first annual RVCOG Regional Recognition Awards Dinner, ...

 

The regional Citizen of the Year honor went to Shayne Maxwell, the Rogue River woman who led a campaign to end the long-distance telephone charges between communities in Josephine and Jackson counties. ...

 

- Outstanding Regionalist Among Non-elected Officials recognized Rogue Community College's Rick Levine and Southern Oregon University's Elizabeth Zinser for forging a partnership between the two schools for better opportunities in higher education in the region.

...

 

13. An Urban Age in a Suburban Nation? -The Brookings Institution - Urban Age Conference, New York
...

Is an Urban Age possible in our suburban nation?

• Competitive cites that create and nurture strong, resilient, adaptive economies.
• Sustainable cities that promote accessible transport, residential and employment density and energy efficiency.
• Inclusive cities that grow, attract, and retain the middle class and integrate individuals across racial, ethnic and class lines.
• Physical cities where the built environment—neighborhood design, the architecture of private and public space—is a critical foundation of competitiveness, sustainability and inclusivity.

A decade or two ago, many Americans would have scoffed at this notion. An urban age in the land of strip malls, exit ramps and big boxes?

...

14.  Solutions Explored for Rock Creek Park's Deer Problem - Washington Post – USA

 

The National Park Service is launching a study of whether and how to curb Rock Creek Park's rising number of deer, which are being blamed for traffic accidents, tick-borne diseases, chewed-up gardens and shrinking bird habitat.

...

A regional committee convened by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments is writing a manual for highway officials summarizing research on what works and what doesn't in preventing collisions between deer and vehicles. So far, solutions such as roadside reflectors or whistles on vehicles have not been shown to be effective.

 

Some people hoped the region's increasing numbers of coyotes could help, but Hodnett said coyotes are territorial and therefore too spread out to inflict much damage.

...

 

Related link:  Deer-Vehicle Crash Information and Reseach (DVCIR) Center - University of Wisconsin - Madison.

15. Straight from Google.

 

      a) The Olympic dream - Guardian, UK

... Capital Spaces: Transforming London is just one of these heroic Olympic publications, produced by a shotgun marriage of the Royal Institute of British ...

 

      b) Harsh lesson in the clout of car culture - Scotsman – UK

... Well, in the list of "Ten Reasons to Vote Liberal Democrat" on the Scottish Lib/Dem website, number ten states: "Take the environment seriously: cut pollution ...

 

      c) Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China - China Daily – China

 

The Information Office of China's State Council on Monday, February 28, 2005 issued a white paper titled Regional Autonomy for Ethnic Minorities in China. ...

 

      d) More use regional airports - DetNews.com - Detroit, MI, USA

 

Flint Bishop International and Capital City Regional Airport in Lansing were among the 10 fastest growing airports in the United States last year, a new report shows.

 

Officials attribute the passenger growth to a combination of additional flights and low-fare carriers making it more affordable to fly out of the regional airports.

...

 

      e) Regional airports enjoying boom - BBC News - E,UK

...

Regional economic development had been aided by air travel growth, the report said.

 

CAA economic regulation group director Harry Bush said: "UK regional airports, and the airlines that serve them, have expanded their networks and now provide a much richer set of travel choices for their customers.

 

"The challenge for policymakers is to build on the success so far by continuing to allow the interplay of commercially-minded airports and airlines to improve services and increase choice."

...

 

16. Other in the news:

 

      a) Residents try to create stronger communities - Bradenton Herald - Bradenton, FL, USA

...

Keynote speaker John McKnight, a Northwestern University professor and director of the Asset-Based Community Development Institute, educated and entertained with poignant stories that he has stumbled across in his research.

 

Taking the opposite approach of most researchers, McKnight goes into a community searching for the positive aspects rather than the needs. He urges people to ignore deficits and focus on assets, because often the answers to some of the deficits can be found within the community.

 

"Our institutions are usually out of it when it comes to what is happening in our communities," McKnight said, referring to universities and government offices.

 

While that means responsibility for creating or rediscovering community lies on the shoulders of its residents, it doesn't have to be a burden.

...

 

      b) Help for Japan pays off - Australian – Australia

 

...Australia's deployment is designed in large measure to ensure that the Japanese stay in Iraq. Apart from supporting the general coalition operation, this brings two very distinctive Australian interests into play.

 

One is intensifying Australian military and diplomatic co-operation with Japan. This is pure regionalism of the highest order and demonstrates the way in which regional and global activism can reinforce each other.

 

Japan is the US's most important ally in Northeast Asia. Japan and the US are immensely important to each other. By deploying soldiers to protect Japanese Self Defence Forces in Iraq, Australia has simultaneously done a service to the US, Britain, which has responsibility for the overall area of Iraq, and Japan.

...

 

      c) Karzai's India Visit Could Increase Regional Trade Links - Radio Free Europe - Prague, Czech Republic

... Meanwhile, Islamabad is considering a separate plan to build a natural gas pipeline directly from Iran to a regional distribution center in southern Pakistan. ...

 

17. Subscription link stories 

 

      a) I-30 express will test peak-use tolls - Fort Worth Star Telegram (subscription) - Fort Worth, TX, USA

Michael Morris, North Central Texas Council of Governments transportation director -- a Ph.D. type -- uses a considerable amount of theory based on his discipline but concedes that it's been difficult to try interesting experimental concepts.

 

"For example, consider the notion of demand pricing for access to major roadways, sort of like you'd pay for a cellphone," Morris said.

 

Translation: It would cost more to use a road during peak hours than at other times, though that's a simplification.

 

... the managed-lane study will provide data for engineering changes that would make implementation of managed lanes easier in the future.

 

Give Morris -- and the Council of Governments credit for recognizing how most Americans, including those in Arlington, really get around rather than insisting that the area adopt retro-style systems that would crowd everybody into bus stops and rail terminals. Refinements in how high-capacity highways are utilized are overdue. It looks like residents of Arlington -- and Grand Prairie -- are going to be crucial players in determining how future highways will be planned and managed.

 

      b) In crisis, mobiles can give 'a false sense of security' - Dallas Morning News (subscription) - TX,USA

 

Carrying a cellphone can be helpful in case of an emergency. But if that emergency requires 911, it might be of little help.

 

"It's kind of like a false sense of security," Dallas fire Capt. Jesse Garcia said.

 

When Pietro Eustachio and Arturo Meza were killed Thursday afternoon at a home in Far East Dallas, two hours passed between when authorities received a 911 call and when police arrived. The caller used a cellphone but was unable to speak to identify his location. ...

 

The delay might have been reduced if an enhanced 911 system were fully implemented. In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission directed wireless carriers to start providing 911 dispatchers with callers' locations. But initial deadlines were abandoned after authorities said the required technology was not ready.

...

Christy Williams, the 911 program director for the North Central Texas Council of Governments, said transferring calls between cities sometimes strips location coordinates from the calls, which means dispatchers won't be able to map them.

...

Even cities with the most sophisticated 911 technology have problems responding to unfinished cellphone calls.

 

"When you call from a wireless phone, it's going to take a while to find you," Capt. Garcia said. "We still have to search 500 square feet. If you don't have a landline, you better be ready to tell us a phone number, location and landmark."