Regional Community Development News – October
24 & 31, 2007 [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. Denver mayor promotes regionalism – Kentucky-com - Lexington, KY, USA
When cities cooperate with their regional neighbors,
everyone benefits, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper told Commerce Lexington
members at a breakfast meeting yesterday.
Cooperation with surrounding communities has been a
hallmark of Hickenlooper's administration since he was elected four years ago.
Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry said he hopes Hickenlooper's style rubs off on
Central Kentucky leaders.
Hickenlooper, a geologist turned entrepreneur, had
never held public office when he was elected mayor of Denver in 2003.
Soon after taking office, he invited mayors and
elected officials from surrounding cities for a get-acquainted session, ushering
in an era of bipartisan regional cooperation.
Issues they have tackled regionally include
economic development, transportation, arts promotion and merger of fire
departments. One of Hickenlooper's first steps was to assure the mayor of
Aurora, Colo., that Denver would not try to steal companies from his city.
Any business that wanted to move from Aurora to
Denver could move. "For any new jobs they create, we will give them the
same incentives we would give to anyone else, " Hickenlooper said.
"But the existing job base they have, we will give no incentive for that.
We will never try to poach your businesses."
…
It matters more that a company moves to the Denver
area than specifically where it is located, he said. Denver now has similar
agreements with four other large neighbors.
Newberry said regional issues were important in the
Bluegrass and he had hoped to move quickly on them when elected 11 months ago.
But "a lot of basic, operational issues in urban county government have
taken an inordinate amount of time to clean up, " he said.
Lexington's track record as a neighbor "has
not been that good. We need to mend wounds we inflicted in the past, " he
added.
…
RC: Bluegrass Area Development District
2. Feds must help us
to weather drought - Atlanta
Journal Constitution - GA, USA
Cobb County Commission chairman
Sam Olens is chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission )
Someone has pulled the stopper
from the bathtub and all the water is draining out!
Metro Atlanta and North Georgia, as
well as most of the Southeast, is in the grip of what may prove to be the worst
drought on record. At the same time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is
releasing extreme amounts of water from Lake Lanier — our region's key
water supply source — to enhance the habitat of two species of mussels
and to keep a small coal-fired power plant in operation.
When Hurricane Katrina hit New
Orleans, it was considered a natural disaster. Our impending disaster, on the
other hand, is man-made, but can be averted by reasoned leadership on the part
of President Bush and two federal agencies — the Corps of Engineers and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Gov. Sonny Perdue filed suit late
last week on behalf of the state of Georgia to prevent the Corps of Engineers
from completely draining Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River. On Saturday, the
governor declared 85 counties disaster areas due to the drought and called upon
President Bush to issue a federal disaster declaration and to order less water
to be released from the federally controlled Buford Dam/Lake Lanier system.
In addition, Georgia's
congressional delegation banded together in a bold and unprecedented move last
week to sponsor legislation to suspend the Endangered Species Act under certain
conditions of extreme drought, where health and human welfare is at risk.
The elected officials of metro
Atlanta's counties and cities thank these officials for their bold efforts. We
join them on behalf of the more than 4 million citizens who depend on Lake
Lanier and the Chattahoochee River for our lifeblood — in sending an
urgent plea to the Corps of Engineers to act with haste …
3. Counties should
curb water-wasting septic tanks - Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
One good outcome of our record
drought is that we as a region and
a state can finally enact sound water policies.
As a region, we need to direct all
new developments to areas served by sewer systems, and we need to start
installing water and sewer systems in areas dependent on septic tanks.
Here's why. Households with septic
tanks are much poorer stewards of water than households on sewer systems.
"We should be encouraging any
new development to occur on sewer systems because homes with septic tanks use
seven times as much water as homes on sewer, " says Sam Williams, president
of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. "That's because septic tanks
don't return water back into the rivers and streams."
Some may debate whether septic
tanks have seven times more net consumption of water than sewer. But there's no
question that sewer systems flow to sewage treatment plants, which return the
treated water to our fragile water supply within days.
By comparison, the water used by
septic tanks seeps into the ground, likely taking years before it finds its way
to our rivers and streams.
It's a particularly acute problem
for metro Atlanta, where about one-fourth of all households in the 16-county
area are served by septic tanks.
"That's more septic tanks
than any other big metro area in the country, " Williams says.
Worse, of all urban areas, metro
Atlanta has more reason to be conservative with water use.
"We are the largest metro
area relying on the smallest primary water supply of any other metropolitan
area in the United States, " says Jim Durrett, executive director of the
Livable Communities Coalition.
So we are a region with the most
septic tanks and the most limited supply of water. That's a real problem for
metro Atlanta and all the communities downstream.
…
4. Transit planning
off the rails - Annapolis
Capital - Annapolis, MD, USA
…
A 30-year outlook compiled by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council,
which includes Baltimore, its six surrounding counties and Annapolis, was
universally panned this summer for its lack of transit planning.
Area officials received the revised plan earlier
this month after sending it back to the drawing board. The second go-around
shuffles more of the region's anticipated $8 billion federal allotment to
transit, but still remains heavy on the road projects, to the dismay of some
participating jurisdictions.
The council cut six projects from the plan - none
in Anne Arundel - and reallocated the $240 million savings to support expanding
the Red Line in Baltimore. Additional transit modes could be included in the
next plan, expected in four years, officials said.
"It's going to take some time, " said
Harvey Bloom, the council's transportation director. "We're going to be
doing a lot of fact gathering and research."
The regional priorities mirror the state's
construction slate, which was presented to the County Council last week during
an annual visit from Maryland Department of Transportation officials, who
pleaded its case for a gas-tax increase. Faced with a $40 billion backlog of
projects in Maryland, state officials said they lacked the funds to invest in
new - and expensive - transit modes versus cheaper road projects.
Mass-transit advocates said key players have never
articulated a single, unified vision for the region's transportation needs.
…
"There's no lack of opportunities for
discussion, " he said. "The key is the money."
Mr. Leopold said the county needs to mount a
"full-court press" to secure the funds necessary to build more
transit options.
…
5. Expert says Cape
needs regionalized public sector - Cape Cod Times - Hyannis, MA, USA
There are 17 school districts on
Cape Cod.
Nearly 30 libraries serve the
region's 15 towns.
In total, more than 12, 000
workers keep the Cape's government services running, according to data from the
state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
If nothing is done to change
numbers like these, said demographics expert Peter Francese, the Cape could
face an uncertain economic future.
"I would do whatever it took
to reduce the overhead associated with the vast number of political entities, "
Francese told a group of more than 300 business leaders and policymakers gathered
Friday at an economic summit in Hyannis organized by the Cape Cod Chamber of
Commerce. "It will be hard, but the fact of the matter is it is essential
for your survival."
To achieve this goal, Francese
suggested regionalization: collaboration by multiple communities to provide
certain services.
When he introduced the idea, he
acknowledged that the approach may not be popular given New England's strong
tradition of local government.
...
Many summit attendees were
cautiously enthusiastic.
"If we did more regional
planning, we could still deliver a certain level of service but at lesser cost,
" Steve Abbott, president and CEO of Cape Cod Healthcare, said yesterday.
...
Paul Niedzwiecki, the new
executive director of the Cape Cod Commission and
former assistant town manager of Barnstable, said that it may be difficult to
consolidate existing services such as schools and emergency services.
New initiatives, such as
alternative energy projects, may be easier to regionalize, he said.
Other participants in the economic
summit pointed out some of the barriers to regionalization.
Chamber chairman Richard Neitz on
Friday said that the idea should be looked at, but also expressed concern about
municipal workers who could lose their jobs if certain functions are
consolidated.
...
6. Editorial: Still
a priority - Allied
News - Grove City, PA, USA
Basic access
still needs to be at the top of the list
The annual conference of the
Appalachian Regional Commission was held last week in Charleston, and while
this federal agency was quick to trumpet the positive trickle-down on money it
has spent in its never-ending battle on rural poverty, the stark reality of the
situation is that the region may likely never catch up with the rest of the
country.
ARC has long been looked upon as
being the catalyst for piecing together financing on basic infrastructure
projects, namely water, sewer and highways. It has more recently gotten into
providing fiscal support for Internet access and other telecommunications
needs.
All quality of life services that
are needed — again, the basics.
But as was the case when the ARC
was formed in the 1960s, the challenges to provide the basics remain
monumental.
A trio of areas present the most
pressing needs — one, funding; two, new construction; and three, maintenance
and repair of existing infrastructure.
According to a two-year study
conducted by Jeff Hughes, director of the Environmental Finance Center at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, $40 billion alone is needed to
simply provide water and sewer to those in Appalachia who still go without.
No matter how you figure it, that’s
staggering.
Hughes labeled it a “big, scary
number, ” but encouraged those making the decisions not to let it stop
them from moving forward. He suggested pooling resources as one possible way to
deal with some of the needed new projects.
That’s the way most
infrastructure projects in Appalachia happen already and we believe it is an
approach that should be followed.
But Hughes also warned of some
other unsettling issues as it pertains to water and sewer.
...
7. Commission urges
regionalizing water - News
14 Carolina - Raleigh, NC, USA
With water sources across the
state running dry, the State Water Infrastructure Commission is considering
ways regionalization could help.
"We have the ability, now I
believe, to step up and to influence some of the thinking around what happens
going forward with regard to water management [and] water infrastructure, "
said Jean Crews-Klein, who is with the State Water Infrastructure Commission.
For more than one year, the group
has looked at the pros and cons of regionalizing community water systems.
Altogether, North Carolina has more than 500 publicly-run water systems, meaning
they are run by cities, towns or counties.
The commission's primary
conclusion is that the state should remove barriers to regional cooperation but
only in places where it makes sense. The group says regional agreements will
not necessarily work for communities separated by far distances.
"We really need to be looking
at all possible things that we can do to encourage [regionalization] in the
face of what we're facing now, ” Crews-Klein explained.
Almost the entire state is facing
a drought that keeps getting worse. Forecasting trends show it will not get
better anytime soon.
"We've never seen the likes
of it. A drought is always supposed to be a slow-moving creature, but not in
this case, " said Woody Yonts, who is with the North Carolina Division of
Water Resources.
The State Water Infrastructure
Commission says a sharing agreement would benefit communities during such a
drought. One way is by allowing them to pull water from more than one source.
...
8. City approves
agreement for joint police taskforce
C&G Newspapers - Detroit,
MI, USA
A special police unit with members from Madison
Heights, Hazel Park, Royal Oak and Ferndale will continue to be funded, officials
announced last week.
On Oct. 8, City Council approved an agreement
between the member cities that will continue to fund the Southeast Oakland
County Crime Suppression Task Force. The plan formalizes the taskforce for the
first time in its 10-year history.
“CSTF has been very successful in meeting its
goals, ” Madison Heights Police Chief Kevin Sagan wrote to City Council, “and
assisting agencies’ detectives in addressing criminal activity through
surveillance, detection and criminal apprehension.”
The group also includes officers from the Oakland
County Sheriff’s Office and Michigan State Police, which are in charge of
the taskforce’s operations.
“The Police Department has been working with
that unit ever since it was set up with a grant, ” said City Manager Jon
Austin. “We’re all funding it now. They never formalized themselves
as a group, but they continued to function.”
Austin said a number of concerns arose in recent
years about the structure of the special taskforce. An advisory panel approved
a plan in recent weeks to create a so-called “interlocal agreement, ”
which outlines the group’s structure and the responsibilities of the
member cities.
“The question has come up about
everybody’s responsibilities for insurance and things like that, ”
said Austin. “The best way to formalize the group would be to establish
an ‘interlocal agreement.’ Nothing changes other than we’ve
created an agreement.”
Under the plan, each member-city must provide the
taskforce with one officer, a police vehicle and all the accoutrements that the
officer might need to perform his duties.
Austin dismissed the idea that the agreement is
another attempt at joining services between cities in southeastern Oakland
County. The group has been operating since 1997, Austin said, and the agreement
is not connected to plans to join the fire departments of these same
member-cities.
…
9. Small Schools'
Big Tech Dreams – Business Week – USA
…
The Tech
Transfer Payoff
The study, prepared by Innovation
Associates, a consulting firm in Reston, Va., highlighted a number of smaller
programs that are developing new technologies through academic research, licensing
the inventions, and helping launch businesses that use them. With fewer
resources than the big players, however, these schools have to think creatively
to contribute to the greater economic development of their state or region.
Technology transfer, the process
of turning scholarly work into a marketable and practical product or service, spans
a broad range of possibilities. In other words, it's not necessarily about
coming up with the next iPod. "Innovation is not always high-tech, "
says Diane Palmintera, president of Innovation Associates and lead author of
the study. "Innovation and new technology businesses can be based on
advancement in different fields."
Leveraging the strengths of a
university, Palmintera adds, can help it compete. For example, she says the
University of Pittsburgh is finding success by getting funding from the
National Institutes of Health and spinning off biotechnology businesses and
Iowa State University carved out a niche in agriculture.
Engines of Local
Development
One of the concepts that infuses
the entrepreneurial culture of such programs in rural areas is "think
globally, act locally." Because the school provides licenses or seed
funding and office space, the companies often feel indebted to it and to the
state or region. As a result, all parties involved share the goal of
contributing to the economic development of the university's home state, region,
or even country, depending on the potential magnitude of the business at hand.
…
Use It or Lose
It
Universities have always played a role in economic development.
After all, it's their responsibility to educate the workforce and keep U.S.
employees ahead of the pack, …
10. U.S. regional communities -
sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles. Highlighted
words are Google search terms. In this and the following section, links to
websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first
time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every
regional council in the
.10 No plans for
Tennessee River to quench Ga.
Knoxville News Sentinel -
Knoxville, TN, USA
Georgia, Alabama and Florida, along with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have
been locked in a long-running dispute over a river basin shared by the three
states. Ultimately, Reece said, there may need to be a federal water plan that
looks at water supply issues on a countrywide basis to avoid those kinds of
regional battles. ...
.11 Development a regional effort, local experts say
Chillicothe Gazette – OH, USA
"While economic development
is local, it's a regional game, " Barbash said. "The urban areas are
as dependent on the rural areas as the rural areas are dependent on the success
of urban communities."
.12 Federal
government awards second grant to IU and Purdue for regional competitiveness
Indiana University - Bloomington, IN, USA
The US Economic Development
Administration awarded the $349865 grant to Purdue's Center for Regional Development and the Indiana Business
Research Center at ...
.13 Leaders: Cooperation a must to solve
water problems
Tucson Citizen - Tucson, AZ, USA
Though Tucson Water serves about 80 percent of the region, there are dozens of governments and water providers that will have to be involved in
planning, ...
.14 Safe water a
tough issue
Muskogee Daily Phoenix -
Muskogee, OK, USA
Joe Harrington, deputy executive director of Eastern Oklahoma Development
District, said regionalization
of drinking water supplies will be one of the most ...
.15 Dow supports Bay
Y in regional effort
Midland Daily News - Midland,
MI, USA
"Regionalization
is our chance, and perhaps our only chance, to transform mid-Michigan into an
exciting hub of economic opportunity — one that attracts the ...
.16 BILLS EYE TORONTO
TILT
National Post - Canada
"This extension of the regionalization
effort is designed to enhance the viability and competitiveness of the
franchise in Western New York. ...
.17 Chamber summit
looks at consolidating services
Youngstown
Vindicator - Youngstown, OH, USA
The chamber presented experts during a Regionalization Summit at the
Holiday Inn MetroPlex on the concept. They urged local officials to get behind
its ...
.18 Mid-Atlantic
designated national electric power corridor
TimesCommunity.com - Leesburg,
VA, USA
To almost nobody's surprise, the federal government last week designated a big
portion of the mid-Atlantic region a
National Interest Electric Transmission Corridor. …
.19 Cincinnati was
wise to invest in clean water
Cincinnati Post - OH, USA
Cincinnati City Manager Milton Dahoney is now studying whether to transform
GCWW from a city department into a regionally focused water district. ...
.20 Landrieu
announces tourism push for north Louisiana
Shreveport Times - Shreveport,
LA, USA
"Partnerships are critically important, especially when it involves regional cooperation, and especially when
it means leveraging all of your assets. ...
.21 TCOG celebrates
federal grants to local cities
Sherman Denison Herald
Democrat - Sherman, TX, USA
Texoma Council of Governments last week celebrated 2006-2007 federal grants to
local communities and approved further spending on communications equipment to
improve emergency response. …
.22 Our opinion:
Recent weeks bring more sour notes on regionalism
Lansing State Journal -
Lansing, MI, USA
And leadership on regionalism
means cooperation. Yet, this month, the city of Lansing thought it necessary to
send a letter to Lansing Township over sewer ...
.23 National Association of Regional
Councils
Kansas City Star - MO, USA
Mission: To advocate for regional cooperation
as the most effective way to address a variety of community planning and
development opportunities and issues. ...
.24 Economist: Going
green pays dividends
By WMNF
But while regional cooperation
seems to have worked in Portland, Dingfelder was concerned about whether all of
the city and county governments of the Tampa Bay region could put aside their
differences and work together for regional ...
.25 Advantage looks
back at the year
Charleston Gazette -
Charleston, WV, USA
"Let's promote regionalism
and a regional identity, " she said. "It's a concerted effort."
This year has been a year of transition, with Herron joining as ...
.26 County executive
candidates discuss water, cooperation
Utica Observer Dispatch -
Utica, NY, USA
Today, they answer questions about the recent water shortage and fostering regional cooperation. Look for their
answers to previous questions on the Oneida ...
.27 Rural Economic Development Study to be Expanded
Inside INdiana Business
(press release) - Indianapolis, IN, USA
The study is being conducted by Purdue University's Center for Regional Development and the Indiana Business
Research Center at Indiana University's Kelley ...
.28 Lobbying isn't
the problem, corruption is
Los Angeles Times - CA, USA
You need someone to state your case to the guy behind the counter, the Area Planning Commission, the full Planning
Commission, the City Council and the ...
.29 NM magazine wins
two regional awards
Bizjournals-com - Charlotte, NC,
USA
The International Regional
Magazine Association gave the New Mexico
publication a silver award for most improved magazine for 2007, placing it
second behind ...
.30 FSC Certification
Endorsed by Cascadia Region Green Building Council
Seattle Post Intelligencer -
USA
The service includes news on the regional FSC industry, random profiles of FSC certified
companies in the Northwest, and analysis articles on wood ...
.31 Rural vets are a
dying breed
Houston Chronicle - United
States
"We got to focus on more regionalized
(animal) hospitals instead of single-man practices." When Golla left
school he started a mixed-animal practice in ...
11. Other in
the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.
.10 New unit to help
make dist plans
Newindpress - Chennai, Tamil
Nadu, India
The State Government has decided to create District
Planning and Monitoring Unit (DPMU) in each district to extend support to the
district to extend support to the district planning committee in the formulation
of district plan....
.11 BC rejects idea
of metro police
Globe and Mail - Canada
BC has set up several cross-jurisdictional
policing teams that draw members from municipal forces and the RCMP to deal
with specific areas of crime. ...
.12 Arab world faces
serious intellectual challenge
Khaleej Times - Dubai, United
Arab Emirates
... prominent
Arab thinkers, researchers and academics to formulate strategies to raise the
standard of knowledge, research and university education in the region....
.13 Come home, Queenslanders
NEWS-com-au - Australia
In a bid to help alleviate the state's skills crisis, the Department of Regional Development has
developed the slogan: "Come home, Queenslanders – it's a ...
.14 Halton Region's
2007-2010 Strategic Plan now available
By Office of the Chairman
The published 2007-2010 Halton Region Strategic Plan is now available and
online at www.halton.ca/strategicplan.
Halton Regional Council approved the Strategic Plan
earlier this year after a process involving Council
workshops and ...
.15 Sweden’s Regional Programmes
European Business Guide -
Brussels, Belgium
… for the first time, the EU cohesion policy programs cover the whole
territory of Sweden i.e. the regions of Västsverige, Skåne-Blekinge, Östra
Mellansverige, Stockholm, Övre Norrland, Norra Mellansverige, Småland och Öarna
and Mellersta Norrland.
.16 25 - Super Regions infra projects finished
by 2010
Balita-org - Minsterley, England,
UK
Through the Super Regions concept, Ebdane said, development is being brought
back to the people at a faster rate in terms of physical infrastructure, development
of human capital and peaceful communities. ...
.17 Africa: Region Can Learn From 15th
Century Portugal and Spain
AllAfrica.com - Washington, USA
The kings of Portugal supported Royal cartographers (map makers) who, with great hunger, grabbed all information
brought in by traders to make maps.
...
.18 'Still surviving'
St. John's Telegram - St.
John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
In the case of harbour authorities, regionalization might be one of the few escape hatches
for some. “I think regionalization
may be the way to go in the ...
.19 Arena, water will
stay on track
Brooks Bulletin - Alberta, Canada
The arena and water regionalization
plans will follow the path laid out by the previous council, said Shields. He
also indicated that he will be resigning ...
.20 Challenges ahead
in institutional reform
China Daily - China
The core of central-regional
government relations is the distribution of power while the changing of
government functions is the premise and basis to ...
.21 China in new
phase of world integration
China Daily - China
... participating in and promoting
international and regional cooperation, getting proactive about
peace-keeping and peace-building missions and extending ...
.22 China: New
Leaders, Old Problems
Business Week - USA
A more balanced development focus also points to
Beijing's intention to promote regional
growth across China so that the inner provinces don't continue to ...
12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google
search terms.
.10 Rust Belt Diaspora
By Jim Russell(Jim Russell)
The hypothesis is that a city's connectivity with its urban peers is displacing
the importance of the economic interdependence within a region. In this regard,
regionalization
fails to improve a city's place in the global economy. ...
.11 Chicago, Indiana
Regionalism
means to consider Chicago as a metropolitan area beyond its city limits and to
include its surrounding counties when it comes to planning and development. But
what makes up this larger area? ...
.12 Regionalism: Can't we all just get along?
(Wednesday, October 24)
Now, if our elected officials can't make these kinds of decisions together, what
about the big decisions that real regionalism will demand? On the other hand, maybe this
is a sign of progress. After all, nobody said it would be easy. ...
.13 BFD Learning
Moment: Denver puts regional collaboration into practice
By Ed Morrison
They learned how Denver is putting regionalism into practice. For example, Denver financed
their convention center with a eight county tax. They changed the name from the
Denver Convention Center to the Colorado Convention Center. ...
.14 edmonton election
2007: the undiscovered country.
By daveberta(daveberta)
Unless the provincial government takes a strong role in creating a regional cooperation and cost-sharing
framework, it will be unlikely that the dozens of cities, towns, villages, and
counties in the region will come to a decision ...
.15 Important
Legislative Updates
By David Billings(David
Billings)
Recommendation of changes to remove barriers to regional cooperation. 3. Recommendation of measures to ensure
municipal fiscal stability. 4. Recommendation of changes to improve incentives
to regional cooperation ...
.16 Rise of the the
Mega-Regions
By Creative Class Group
... in the first quarter of the
year, New York City's economy grew by 4 per cent. Our own research confirms
this. So, hot off the press here's a link to our new research identifying the
40 mega-regions that truly drive
the world economy. …
.17 Texas Triangle a
Top 10 Global Mega-Region
By Tory Gattis(Tory Gattis)
Unfortunately, something in their methodology led them to split Texas into two
mega-regions, the Dallas-San
Antonio corridor, and the Houston-New Orleans corridor, extending all the way
the Florida panhandle (see map on
p.27). ...
.18 Citizens response improves Baltimore regional transportation planning
By Richard Layman(Richard
Layman)
For more general details about the process of the 2035 regional plan, click here. Here is what the
Baltimore Metropolitan Council says about the changes brought about by public response:. Based on significant public
input on the need ...
.19 Taxing Our Way
Out of Congestion
By James Edward Maule(James
Edward Maule)
The story explains that the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission released a study in which in
concluded that a viable way to ease congestion would be to impose local taxes
or fees. The Commission looked at
23 different taxes and ...
.20 "Louisiana
Speaks" Joins the Blogosphere
By Lamar White, Jr
Regional
evacuation and economic development
projects such as I-49 from Lafayette to metro New Orleans, La. 20/24 from Houma
to I-10, and US 165 north of Lake Charles · Key local connections with regional
evacuation and economic ...
.21 Are Competitive
MLSs Possible or Desireable?
By Michael Wurzer
The demand for regionalization
is based on real pain (inefficiency) being experienced by large, regional
brokers dealing with multiple MLSs having disparate rules and data sets across
many boundaries. Forming regional MLSs, however, ...
.22 The Organization
of American States: On its deathbed?
By admin
Regionalism
has shown that it is an important intermediate step on the path toward
internationalism; how can a disruptive and fragmented region possibly assert
itself on the world stage? Therefore, while Chávez and other populist ...
.23 Regionalism for Development
By Supachai Panitchpakdi
In particular, our research found that developing countries should strengthen regional cooperation with other developing
countries, and proceed carefully with regard to North-South bilateral
agreements. ...
.24 Excessive
Nationalism and Blurring of Local Identities
By Sujai
Excessive nationalism when not really in use sometimes vents itself as other
isms- such as regionalism
or communalism. As a corollary, certain groups starting out with parochial and
radical regionalisms and communalisms get legitimacies ...
.25 On a safe place
By G Hansson(G Hansson)
In Skåne the experience of regional government is considerable and the opinion
firm in favour of regionalism.
In Gävle the debate hasn't started yet. The new central leadership talks about
the "New Moderaterna". ...
.26 Political
Stability and Infrastructure.
By marta13
The EU has been very successful in accomplishing its goals by the help of
present informal capitalism and regionalization. The regionalization does not mean one
country, instead it is known as one economy. The richer members facilitate ...
.27 The Platform of
the Democratic Party of Virginia
By The Richmond Democrat(The
Cheshire Cat)
We also support regional cooperation to foster growth across
political boundaries in urban and rural areas. We support Enterprise zones in
central cities. We favor continuing efforts to preserve family farms through
funding of the ...
.28 Announcement: Regional Studies conferences
By Ryan Lanham
Registration is now open for the following Regional Studies Association
Conferences: Regional
Studies Association Winter Conference "Transport, Mobility and Regional Development"
Friday 23rd November 2007, London, UK Further Details: ...
.29 "Des Moines.
Do More." Campaign featured in the New York Times
The Partnership's "Des Moines. Do More." marketing program was the
subject of a piece in an e-email publication of the New York Times. Times
reporter Stuart Elliott compiled the piece about the Partnership's use of
digital media in its ...
.30 About ASEAN
By denith(Laibeus Lord)
... the Gulf Cooperation Council,
the Rio Group, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the South Pacific Forum, and through the
recently established Asian-African Sub-Regional
Organisation Conference. ...
13. Announcements
and Regional Links
.10 Blueprint for American Prosperity:
Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation - November 6, 2007 – The
Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
On November 6—one year out
from the ‘08 elections—the Metropolitan Policy Program will launch
a new national competitiveness initiative, Blueprint for American Prosperity:
Unleashing the Potential of a Metropolitan Nation. The Blueprint offers a
powerful and compelling argument: The ability of the United States to compete
globally and to meet the great economic, environmental and social challenges of
the 21st century rest largely on the health, vitality and prosperity of the
nation’s major cities and metropolitan areas.
.11 Regional Equity '08:
The Third National Summit on Equitable Development, Social Justice, and Smart Growth - March 5-7, 2008 - New Orleans
Regional growth and development patterns have profound
implications for how we live. They determine whether we live near quality jobs
that allow us to support our families; whether we live in healthy communities
with access to public transit and quality-of-life amenities; and whether our
communities are plagued with poor air and water quality, deteriorating schools,
and inadequately maintained roads and bridges.
Regional Equity ’08 will offer participants a venue
for in-depth exploration of the groundbreaking achievements, innovative
strategies, and lasting policies that connect low-income/low-wealth communities
to resources and opportunity. In New Orleans, where the world bore painful
witness to the lingering inequities this society still faces, we will build on
the issues that were framed at the Philadelphia Summit in May 2005. ...
.12 Florida Regional
Community Policing Institute
The Florida Regional Community
Policing Institute (RCPI) at St. Petersburg College provides progressive public
safety training in Florida, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico. Cutting edge topics include: planning and responding to WMD
incidents, human trafficking, ethics and integrity, sexual predator/offender
awareness, dealing with the mentally ill, and problem solving strategies in
community policing. Many of these courses are available online. Award-winning
interactive school safety CD-ROMs and videos, written for today's young people,
are available nationwide to schools, law enforcement and youth organizations.
.13 UN ECA Regional Cooperation and Integration
Division
The sub-programme on regional
cooperation and integration aims at promoting policies, methods and strategies
for increasing regional and subregional cooperation through implementation of
sectoral integration, in particular the development of trade and movement of
information and persons and for utilization of minerals and other natural
resources in Africa as a basis for African integration and the establishment of
the African Economic Community. ...
14. Google News for
“Regional Community”
Other menu sections available from this link include: regions, regional,
regional community, region, Regional Council, regional development 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.
My name is Tom Christoffel. I've worked in the field of intergovernmental
cooperation since 1973. As a consequence, "I see regions work."
Regional Community Development News
is published weekly based on news reports as of 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. (No one said we're only allowed one
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. So, by scanning
this compilation, reading articles and checking organizations - you too
will be able to see the regional communities that already exist.
News references are found using the Google News search service. Media article links
are “fair use” to transform globally scattered reports to make
regional approaches visible. Links go to the publisher and do not compete with
it. Such publishers are likely to have related stories and thus be seen by new
customers. “Regional” is an emerging news category. There is no
charge for this service and no profit is made from its use, though any user
can become more aware of the topic itself.
To read and search previous issues go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/
The
term “Development” was added to the name in January, 2006.
For
a free subscription use this email link – no additional information
required:
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For
the Google Groups version go to:
http://groups.google.com/group/regional-community-development-news
Editions since
April 11, 2007 can also be found at: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/
Questions, comments
or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?
Please e-mail the
editor: Tom.Christoffel@...
or Tom.Christoffel@...
Thomas J. (Tom)
Christoffel, AICP Making regions visible for Leaders and Problem-solvers. www.regionalintelligence.com
or www.regions.ws