1.  Mayors’ Report: Foreclosure Crisis Hits Metro Areas’ Economies, Slows GDP, Job Growth & Tax Revenues – (News Release) U.S. Conference of Mayors

The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) released an economic impact report entitled The Mortgage Crisis: Economic and Fiscal Implications for Metro Areas. It forecasts sharp losses in the growth of gross domestic product and projects economic output losses for 361 metro areas -- referred to as gross metropolitan product (GMP).

Prepared by the economic and financial analysis firm Global Insight, the report projects that the foreclosure crisis will result in 524, 000 fewer jobs being created next year and a potential loss of $6.6 billion in tax revenues in ten states. While the report stops short of forecasting a recession, 128 metro areas will be pushed into a “sluggish” GMP growth of less than 2 percent in 2008. Growth will be cut by more than a third in 65 metro areas and by more than a quarter in 143 metro areas.

The largest metro, New York, loses over $10 billion in 2008 economic output as a result of the mortgage crisis, followed by Los Angeles ($8.3 billion), Dallas ($4.0 billion), Washington ($4.0 billion), and Chicago ($3.9 billion).

The report found that weak residential investment, lower spending and income in the construction industries and curtailed consumer spending resulting from decreased home equity will have “multiplier effects” on the nation’s economy. Other report findings include:

- The foreclosure crisis alone will reduce home values by an additional $519 billion in 2008, bringing the total forecast of lost equity for the nation’s homeowners to $1.2 trillion.

- In 2008, the economy will grow at a rate of 1.9%, a full percentage point lower than would have been the case without the mortgage crisis.

- Foreclosures will increase by at least 1.4 million in 2008; these homes represent a market value of $316 billion.

- In ten states, representing a cross section of the U.S., the aggregate loss in tax revenue will equal $6.6 billion.

- Home price declines across the U.S. will average 7% in 2008, ranging as high as 16% in California.

- Consumer spending will slip to 2% growth, well below a 3.1% gain in incomes.

- Housing starts will continue to decline until the second quarter of 2008, when the annual rate housing starts will be just 800, 000, a drop of almost 20% from current levels.

- Sales of existing homes also will continue to fall by another 10% in 2008.

A list of GMP losses in all 361 metro areas is included in the report at : U.S. Conference of Mayors

 

  2. Can Charlotte keep growing? - Charlotte Observer, Charlotte, NC

Newspaper columnist Neal Peirce couldn't find a good restaurant in uptown 12 years ago when interviewing local leaders about the region and its future.

...

The columnist, along with partner Curtis Johnson, were invited in 1995 by the Observer and several nonprofits to look under the Charlotte region's hood. They were considered experts on regional growth and urban revitalization and run The Citistates Group, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. The Observer published the findings in four Sunday installments in the fall of 1995.

The two returned Tuesday to give a talk at a forum at UNC Charlotte about regional cooperation and again to discuss what's going right and what's going wrong. The talk coincided with the release of a new set of regional indicators developed by the university's Urban Institute and meant to gauge quality of life and economic development when compared to other regions.

On this visit, Peirce and Johnson marveled at the now-bustling uptown business district, the scads of restaurants, and the region's vast and organized transit system. They said the Charlotte region was ahead of most in embracing downtown and mixed-use development -- building communities closer to where people work and shop and closer to present and planned mass transit. The idea is for people to drive less to cut down on pollution and traffic.

"That was pretty strange talk 10 years ago, " Peirce said. "There's a real change in attitude."

They and other speakers at the five-hour forum stressed the need for more regional cooperation and for leaders to be "audacious" in solving problems, such as stepping up construction of the region's light-rail system to cut down on pollution and to guard against a global oil crisis, Johnson said.

Charlotte should emulate the Denver, Colo., region, Johnson said, which has suffered for years from gridlock and smog.  ...

RC: Centralina Council of Governments

 

  3.  Port, Amesbury among most 'tech friendly' in state - The Daily News of Newburyport - Newburyport, MA, USA

Newburyport and Amesbury are both in the top 10 percent of the Bay State's 351 cities and towns in a ranking of how attractive communities are to high-tech companies, according to a report released this week by the Massachusetts High Technology Council.

Amesbury's ranking of 31st in the state - two positions above Newburyport - is a huge increase over its 90th-place ranking last year.

Newburyport's ranking remained the same, 33rd out of the 351 communities in the state.

The rankings weigh several factors that affect business, such as tax rates, the number of highly trained workers in the area, the strength of the local public school system and business growth. The council advocates for creating more high-tech jobs in the state.

Officials from Newburyport and Amesbury say they don't look at each other as competition in attracting business but instead said it is important for the region as a whole to grow high-tech businesses.

Newburyport Mayor John Moak said the rankings for communities such as Amesbury, Haverhill (29th) and Salisbury (42nd) help to create a regional attractiveness that will help to benefit all of the communities in the area.

...

Sherrill, like the Newburyport mayor, said working with Newburyport is much more advantageous for Amesbury than working against the city.

"I don't look at Newburyport as competition, " he said. "Certainly we would like to attract business like Newburyport attracts business, but everything nowadays is turning into regionalization. It is all about regionalization. If you can make your region more attractive, not necessarily the town itself, then more businesses will be more likely to move to the region."

...

RC: Merrimack Valley Planning Commission

 

  4.  Gaughan challenges officials to downsize - Buffalo News - NY, United States

Backed by his study of bloated government, Buffalo lawyer and civic activist Kevin Gaughan is launching a drive today to reduce the number of elected officials in Erie County.

...

 “We need to create an economy that will sustain us and help keep young people here, but we’re utterly failing at this task. I’m trying to make a small step toward that goal, ” he said.

Gaughan released a study last year on the size of local government in Erie County, consisting of 439 elected leaders and their immediate staffs in 44 villages, towns and cities. Support for that much government costs more than $32.14 million in salaries and benefits each year.

The study also concluded that the county exceeds other areas in the number of elected officials — twice as many as Indianapolis, five times more than in Charlotte, N.C., and eight times more than in the Baltimore, Md., area, he said.

Gaughan and other advocates of reform maintain that the size of government contrasts starkly with the area’s economic and demographic trends.

Erie County lost nearly a third of its young people during the past decade, posting the highest rate of decline for 25- to 34-year-olds in the nation. The economy remains weak, taxes remain high, and both the county and Buffalo, its largest city, remain under the oversight of state-mandated financial control boards.

“We’ve had to close churches, libraries and hospitals because we couldn’t afford them, yet the political community not only stays the same but continues to grow, ” he said. “No one can defend the path this community is on.”

Gaughan’s newest civic endeavor, is not likely to include much talk of “regionalism, ” an idea he has championed for more than a decade.

...

 

  5. Becoming an Innovation City – Always On: The Insider’s Network

How can you make your city or region a major innovation center, and in particular, a major center for technology-based innovation?  This is a question that cities and regions around the world have been asking themselves for the past few decades, ever since Silicon Valley emerged as the premier center for technology-based innovation sometime in the 1970s, a position it has continued to hold ever since.

A number of places have embraced Silicon in their name - Silicon Alley and Silicon Glen for example.  Others have used the words as their nickname in their respective countries, e.g., Campinas as the Brazilian Silicon Valley and Bangalore as the Silicon Valley of India.  What they all hope, with very mixed results, is that somehow the innovation pixie dust will follow their use of the term. 

One of the things that impressed me about the Design-London initiative when I first learned about it last summer, is that it even though its goals are very much to make London a global center for creativity and technology-based innovation, it did not feel the need to copy the Silicon Valley model and name. 

…

Ever since, I have been pondering how different innovation models might apply in different geographical and cultural areas.  What is the essence of the incredibly successful Silicon Valley model, and can Design-London pursue a different model and be equally successful in its own way?

As I was researching this question, I came across a very interesting article, “How to be Silicon Valley” by Paul Graham who calls himself an essayist, programmer and programming language designer.  Paul's thesis is that it takes the right people – nothing more.  …  In a footnote he adds that perhaps the number of people you need could be as low as 500 or so. 

…

  6. Is Nashville the next Atlanta?  -  Tennessean - Nashville, TN, USA

Local officials and planning experts believe they can help Middle Tennessee communities save themselves from the mistakes that have hurt sprawling Sun Belt cities from Atlanta to Los Angeles.

Cumberland Region Tomorrow, a nonprofit group that tries to encourage planned growth, has launched a barnstorming tour of Nashville-area cities and counties to urge leaders to put aside decades of competition for tax revenues, jobs and subdivisions and instead work together to make the most of population growth.

Middle Tennessee communities have reached the limits of what they can do alone, these advocates say. Water is running low in some local communities, while the level of traffic is rising. Cumberland Region Tomorrow and its backers believe they can fight these ills and others by appealing to communities' self interests.

The effort to promote more regional planning carries risks. An effort that is too weak could create intractable problems that will take decades to correct.

"Atlanta is sort of the prototype for the kind of growth that many people are beginning to wonder whether or not is good for Middle Tennessee, " said Dodd Galbreath, executive director of the Institute for Sustainable Practice at Lipscomb University. "Do we want that kind of sprawl?"

But a regional planning effort that is too aggressive might drive off the development entirely.

"Markets reward communities that do it better than others, " said Jeff Humphreys, director of the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia. "The fact that there are congested roads are kind of a sign of success."

Group: Cities need vision

Cumberland Region Tomorrow has no money to give to projects and no power to hold over communities that don't go along.

All it has is persuasion — an argument that Middle Tennessee's cities and counties can help themselves and their neighbors, ...

 

RC: Greater Nashville Regional Council

 

  7.  City moves from darkness to Southern star - The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com - New Orleans, LA, USA

After facing potential economic devastation following the one-two punch of Hurricane Hugo and a Navy base closure, Charleston, S.C., has transformed itself from a coastal town dependent on tourism and the military into a region burgeoning with diverse business activity and desired by companies worldwide.

In just the past two years, nearly 30 companies have announced plans to move operations to the region or expand already existing offices there. That totals nearly $1.1 billion in capital investment and more than 1, 700 new jobs. Among those moving in is Internet giant Google Inc. which, citing Charleston's "sense of community, solid work force and responsiveness, " is planning a $600 million data center that will employ 200.

More than 10 years after looming economic crisis forced a major reorganization of its economic development efforts, Charleston is turning itself around. ...

Interest in locating in the region has become so great that the Charleston Regional Development Alliance only actively recruits about 40 percent of the businesses it lands. The others, it says, approach the city.

"As you build talent around certain areas, your market becomes the go-to place for that sort of thing and you become a magnet for that sort of industry, " said Karen Kuchenbecker, director of marketing for the Alliance.

The infusion of new investment and new business has rippled through the economy. "Our economy is in a different place than it was. It used to be that our economic development strategy was purely recruitment. Now it's recruitment, entrepreneurship and expansion, " Kuchenbecker said.

New Orleans and Charleston have many similarities. Both are port cities, and both have parlayed their historic charm and culture into a tourism industry.

...

RCs: Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester COG    New Orleans  RPC

 

  8.10  Local cops = strong presence - The Province - Vancouver, BC, Canada

A regional police force is not the solution to the plague of guns, gangs and drugs hitting the Lower Mainland, says Darryl Plecas, director of the Centre for Criminal Justice Research at the University College of the Fraser Valley.

He argues that the creation of a regional force in Los Angeles did not make its gang problem go away. "They have regionalization in spades and has it made the difference? I'd say the answer is a big, fat no."

Plecas says the problem of gangs must involve community services, different levels of government and fixing the "fragmented" criminal justice system.

Contrary to public perception, he says, B.C. policing is the "envy of the world" and regionalization won't achieve anything not being done right now.

Most police departments already share information on PRIME, an integrated communication system, with the rest coming on board by next year.

He describes task forces such as the Integrated Municipal Provincial Auto Crime Unit (IMPACT) and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) as "incredibly effective, " and says they bridge the gap between fragmentation and regionalization, offering resource sharing and expertise pooling without giving up the grassroots aspect of policing.

Critics believe regionalizing police forces will result in a loss of local identity and local control over policing services.

As well, smaller communities tend to suffer in regionalization, as limited resources get sucked up by the urban core.

That's something New Westminster Mayor Wayne Wright doesn't want happening to his city, which has the oldest police force west of the Great Lakes.

"[The police] know the people, they're in here, a lot of the force lives here, " he says. "They don't get transferred out. When they come here, they're here for 25 or 30 years. It gives you a very strong presence."

...

    .20 Improved efficiency and value - The Province - Vancouver, BC, Canada

If policing was a private enterprise, it would be bankrupt by now, says Don MacKenzie, president of the B.C. Federation of Police Officers.

The current structure -- fragmented RCMP detachments and a handful of independent municipal services -- is rife with inefficiency, says MacKenzie.

Regional proponents tout improved communication and co-ordination, increased efficiency and elimination of duplication of services as benefits.

They say an amalgamated police service would benefit multi-jurisdictional investigations, such as the case of the Downtown Eastside missing women, and be better equipped to fight crime that crosses municipal boundaries, such as the illicit drug trade and recent gang-related shootings plaguing Lower Mainland communities.

They argue that policing costs would be reduced, thanks to economies of scale. Administratively, it would mean uniform training for police officers, wage equity and equal application of justice.

Regionalization could also better distribute manpower and financial cost across Metro Vancouver, where core cities supply a disproportionate amount of police services.

Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan contends that his city shoulders the cost of policing suburban crowds that come into town for events like the Celebration of Light fireworks, Stanley Cup playoffs or to the Granville Street strip on weekends.

As for the highly touted integration units, they are only "baby steps in the right direction, " says MacKenzie.

Task forces make for "good compromises, " agrees SFU criminologist David MacAlister, who says they're a poor substitute for police officers working together as part of a coherent team and not with different lines of accountability and varied application of justice.

...

"I think privately most chiefs recognize that [regionalization] is inevitable, that it'll happen one day -- but they just don't speak out."

  9. Federal regulators re-examine winemaking region labels - San Mateo County Times - San Mateo, CA, USA

Winemaking regions are hot, but they could start cooling down under rules proposed Tuesday.

Federal regulators want to tighten the standards for designating the winemaking regions that have proliferated in recent years. The proposed changes could shake up the system used to recognize regions as warmly regarded as California's Russian River Valley, as sprawling as the Sierra Foothills and as modest as the Tracy Hills.

"A comprehensive review ... is warranted in order to maintain the integrity of the program, " the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau noted Tuesday.

Consumers and winemakers alike eventually could see some differences.

Starting in 1979, the Treasury Department's alcohol branch has overseen the viticultural area program. Viticultural areas are supposed to be distinct geographic regions, with the soil, climate and more all imparting unique character to the local wine.

Marketers love the concept as a distinguishing mark on wine labels, and more than 185 viticultural regions have been designated.

Some are huge, like the 2.6 million-acre Sierra Foothills region.

Others are small, like the 39, 200-acre Tracy Hills region in California's Northern San Joaquin Valley. So far, Tracy Hills lacks even a tasting room.

Sometimes, the viticultural area proposals incite public controversy, as in an unsuccessful effort to declare a 14 million-acre California Coast region. More often, the applications win quiet acceptance. The proposals published Tuesday in the Federal Register, though, show that regulators think the whole program needs updating.

"It's always a good idea for rule-making agencies to look back, and see how they're working, " Wine Institute legal counsel Wendell Lee said in an interview.

Three potential reforms, in particular, are being served up for public tasting.

One could curtail the trend of smaller viticultural areas being designated within a larger area. For instance, ...

 

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 U.S. in a news story.  In most cases, where a full name is present a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. 

    .10  No Borders Camp: For a World Without Borders
ZNet - Woods Hole, MA, USA
From November 5-11, roughly 500 people from throughout the United States and Mexico gathered at the Mexicali-Calexico border in the Sonoran Desert bioregion for a No Borders Camp, a temporary autonomous zone and direct action meant to challenge neo-liberal capitalism, border militarization, and migration controls. It was the first North American manifestation of a series of similar camps that have taken place in Europe, Oceania, and elsewhere since the late-1990s....

 

    .11  Study To Look At Possible Inland Port In Western NC
Scott Hercik of the Appalachian Regional Commission says in 1970, about a million containers a year moved to and from US seaports. By 2000, that number had grown to about 20 million. By 2020, he says it should be 50 million. ...

 

    .12  Housing dip slows sprawl around metro Atlanta
Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA
Developers are no longer gobbling up metro Atlanta land — they're nibbling, according to a new report from the Atlanta Regional Commission. ...

 

    .13  Plenty of ideas emerge in regional forum
Lebanon Western Star - Lebanon, OH, USA
... the Manchester Inn in a citizen engagement forum aimed at helping to develop a shared regional vision and action plan for the Greater Cincinnati area. ...

 

    .14  REL Southwest at Edvance Research Lab Director to Provide Keynote ...
Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco, CA, USA
Dr. Nafziger stated, "The goal of the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Program is to provide evidence-based research that can assist legislators, ...

 

    .15  Ride Share program gets more users as gas prices rise
Youngstown Vindicator - Youngstown, OH, USA
"That kind of coincides with the increase in gas prices, " said Kathy Zook, Ohio Ride Share coordinator with Eastgate Regional Council of Governments. ...

 

    .16  New water council setting priorities
Benton County Daily Record, AR - Nov 25, 2007
The Multi-basin Regional Water Council, a newly formed organization of water-related organizations...  region, which includes contiguous areas of Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma, encompassing at least a half-dozen watersheds. ...

 

    .17  Alan Hartman column: Region's resources offer many reasons to be thankful
Appleton Post Crescent - WI, USA
... an organization created to help brand the region in order to attract and develop businesses, is gaining momentum from the community and the nation. ...

 

    .18  NBAA Business Aviation Regional Forums
Forums bring business aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, customers and other industry personnel together for a one-day event at some of the best airports and FBOs in the nation and abroad. These day-long learning and networking experiences are designed to meet the needs of the regional business aviation community ...

 

    .19  Community unity moves Beaver Creek forward
Verde Independent - Sedona, AZ, USA
But for all the divergent community groups, it took residents less than a year to agree to belong to each other with the Beaver Creek Regional Council. ...

 

    .20  City moves toward joining regional dispatch
Bizjournals-com - Charlotte, NC, USA
The regional dispatch center, controlled by the county sheriff, is expected to be operational by late 2008 … center will consolidate 17 local Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) …

 

    .21  Suburban developers thinking bigger
Boston Globe - United States
... and commercial development, in particular, generates strong revenues, " said Marc Draisen, executive director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. ...

 

    .22  $5 million US grant to boost S. AZ. regional economic collaboration
Tucson Citizen - Tucson, AZ, USA
"The money is a reward for good regional cooperation, " she said. The US Department of Commerce awarded southern Arizona and 12 other regions in the country ...

 

    .23  Philadelphia : The Next Great City
The 2008 Philadelphia Sustainability Awards celebrate our region's progress ... Businesses, community organizations, individuals, schools and government ...

 

11. Other in the news: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

    .10  Government plans 'anti-democratic'
this is Hampshire-net - Winchester, England, UK
GOVERNMENT proposals to transfer strategic planning powers from assemblies to regional development agencies are anti-democratic and will delay delivery of the South East Plan - a 20-year planning framework, says the South East England Regional Assembly. ...

 

    .11  MAKING THE WHOLE OF BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET AREA AN EVEN BETTER PLACE TO LIVE, WORK AND VISIT
Bath Chronicle - Bath, England, UK

"We cannot, as a council or a community, ignore the many issues which necessitate change including a narrow economic base, a generally low wage economy, lack of modern workspace, a shortage of affordable housing, pressure on visitor numbers, regional challenges to Bath's special retail offering, transport and congestion issues, a need to tackle the causes and effects of climate change, and a need to invest in the public realm. ...

 

    .12  International experts study North prospects
nebusiness-co-uk - UK
The Northern Way, a collaboration led by the three northern regional development agencies, hosted the visit, which examined work by the science cities in York, Manchester and Newcastle....

 

    .13  uk's worst polluting regions revealed
Telegraph-co-uk - United Kingdom
By Paul Eccleston The survey worked out which local authority areas used the most CO2 according to household and domestic car emissions. ...

 

    .14  Territorial cohesion goes to the heart of the EU's political agenda

EurofundingMag
On 23 and 24 November, at the invitation of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union, Commissioner Danuta Hübner joins EU Ministers responsible for regional and spatial development in Ponta Delgada, Azores for an informal meeting ...

 

    .15  Aerotropolis 2.0: You're With Us Or You're Against Us
Raise the Hammer - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
In his latest blog column, Di Ianni returns to another of his signature projects, the proposed aerotropolis development - now officially called the "Airport ...

 

    .16  Budget carriers help fuel regional airport growth
Holiday Lettings - Oxford, England, UK
The growth of low-cost carriers has aided the expansion and development of regional airports, a spokesman for the industry's regulator has said. ...

 

    .17  EU approves regional aid for Italy up to 2013
Euro2day - Greece
Italy will now be able to implement its regional development strategies for 2007-2013, " competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement. ...

 

    .18  Economic and development review highlights Region's strengths
King Township Sentinel - Beeton, ON, Canada
York Region recently released its Economic and Development Review - Mid-Year 2007, and it provided information on regional development activity, ...

 

    .19 Intermodal terminal hailed as regional turning point
Prince George Citizen - Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
"This grand opening is really putting Prince George on the map. We are already hearing comments back from Asia that they're talking about Prince Rupert and ...

 

    .20  New Young Professionals Network

Nova Scotia News
In an attempt to engage and connect the up and coming workforce, the Lunenburg Queens Regional Development Agency is planning to coordinate a Young Professionals Network for the region. Those in their twenties and thirties employed in ...

 

    .21  Full text of EU document: "State building for peace in the Middle East: an EU Action Strategy."
European Jewish Press - Brussels, Belgium
The EU will also make full use of existing instruments and frameworks to leverage the benefits of regional cooperation for post-conflict rehabilitation, ...

 

    .22  Holistic, adaptive management of the terrestrial carbon cycle at at local and regional scales
ScienceDirect.com

This paper explores how regional carbon budget information can contribute to the broader goal of holistic, adaptive regional development. We sketch the characteristics of a novel integrative framework for adaptive carbon management in ...

 

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

    .10  New Approaches to Economic Development Strategy

Ed Morrison's blog

With the growth of global integration, Porter argues correctly, I think, that we need to focus our strategic thinking on regions. To meet the challenges set by the world, we need the resources of a region to compete. ...  NOTE: On testing this link, the site had a problem. If not available when you try it, it is well worth reading when it returns to the web. For this reason I’ve left it in. Ed.

 

    .11  Comment on Why lead poisoning is an economic development issue... by ...
While all this is taking place, the region's foundations have come together to coordinate their investments and economic development. After nearly 4 years of effort, however, we still do not have a clear set of regional goals. ...

 

    .12  About clusters
20minutes-fr - Paris, France
Many nations and regions are struggling to maintain their competitive edge in the context of globalisation. The regional specialisations built up over decades are transforming rapidly. ...

    .13  It's Not Really Clear What A House Is Worth In California
By Ben Jones
"'Most of the loss is not to the homeowner, but to the owner of the mortgage, and they're not regionally concentrated in the Bay Area, ' Rosen said. 'We've exported maybe a quarter of this loss to the rest of the world.'" ...

 

    .14  10 Important Lessons: Katrina, Two Years Later
Bill Quigley

One. Build and rebuild community. When disaster hits and life is wrecked, you immediately seem to be on your own. ... Family, community, church, work associations are all important – get them up and working as fast as possible. ...

 

    .15  Northeast Ohio awarded $11 million to extend broadband to rural health care providers

By kcoolbaugh
... Organization (NEO RHIO) and OneCommunity are the recipients of an $11.2 million capital grant that will fund 70 percent of the total $16.1 million development of a regional broadband health care network over a three year period. ...

 

    .16  Another Call For Regionalism
By Peter Panepento
Take a look at this statement: "There is more that ails us than 45 separate governments inside one county. Our problems go beyond an overlapping collection of politicians, police departments, school districts and highway crews. ...

 

    .17  Regional governance? Bah!
By David Seago
Proponents of regionalization want to scare people into believing that is evidence of out of control bureaucracy of course so they never point out that the vast majority of those agencies are cities planning their residential and ...

 

    .18  Ask The Mayor . . .
By SINC - Reply to: mybirdie@...(SINC - Reply to:
Mayor, what is your position on "regional cooperation"? Do you favor mandatory participation by all capital region municipalities in a regional planning body which would be similar to the old Edmonton Metropolitan Regional Planning ...

 

    .19  Cynthia Barnett: A 'Mirage' in New Mexico
By Michael
The structure of water agencies makes them slow to change conventional wisdom; Lawsuits and politics rarely net more water; Regional cooperation and "serious" conservation are important; Mega-infrastructure projects seem to have ...

 

    .20  Coming Soon: Regional Reviews
By Joseph B.(Joseph B.)
If we don't understand and experience the miles closest to home, how can we ever really call ourselves cultured in the base attributes of our native lands? So, be watching for 'regional reviews' (regional being the term applied to ...

 

    .21  Technology and Development - Response Strategy for Economic Growth
By Rajeev Singh(Rajeev Singh)
In the developed world technology now has no country and regional boundaries. In a similar fashion, for countries to develop in science and technology and social structures and affairs, importation of technology as well as sharing and ...

 

    .22  Indications of public health in the English regions : ethnicity and health
This document reviews public health indicators across the English regions concerning ethnicity and health in order to produce an analysis of the extent of inequalities in health and health care experienced by certain ethnic minority ...

 

    .23  Atlas of Australian English Regionalism
By Catholicgauze(Catholicgauze)
The Australian Broadcast company has created an atlas of these regionalism. The Australian Word Map allows viewers to learn these regionalisms, comment, and even offer new ones. So now you will know that when a person from Perth calls ...

 

    .24   Customers Voice Concerns Over Rule-Based Systems in APAC
By Tim Bass
I also heard from experts that you can find just about every cyberfraud imaginable in the Asia Pacific region, where criminals are aggressively seeking to exploit and profit from any vulnerability they can find. ...

 

    .25  UN Promotes Regional Cooperation to Revitalize the Silk Road
By MichaelVail
“Regional cooperation is a key to help meet the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and promoting growth and equality, ” said Malik while introducing the results and achievements of the inception meeting of the Silk Road ...

 

    .26  People don't matter; official
By dogstarscribe

Who are all the bodies listed below? They’re key stakeholders in local government. They’re the people who mattered in the government’s consultation on local government reorganization.  Curiously, public support was not an enormously significant criteria in local government reorganization. ...

 

    .27  Exporting the EU dream
By Daniel Hannan

The European Union is flattered by imitation. Around the world, you will find regional associations with pretensions to political union – ASEAN, the Central American Union, Mercosur and so on. What you may not realise is that these associations are generally sponsored, politically and economically, by Brussels. Indeed, without EU support, some of them would not exist at all. ...

 

    .28  In quest of peace and prosperity through regional cooperation
By khatiar2012
In the middle of the scheme for Regional Corporation in the field of communication, education, sports, culture, tourism and business through which peace, progress and prosperity among South Asian countries under the banner of SAARC is ...

 

    .29  Analysis of "How Regionalization can be a Pillar of a More Effective World Trade Organization” by Zarhnt

By Kim G
Abstract: Zahrnt considers regionalization and the effect that it has, particularly on the effectiveness of the World Trade Organization (WTO). First, he considers regionalization itself and how it effects the economics of the region ...

 

    .30  Call for papers: Intelligent Clusters, Communities and Cities : Enhancing Innovation with Embedded Systems and Virtual Environments

By Ian(Ian)
A special issue of International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development Intelligent clusters, communities and cities belong to a new orientation of urban and regional planning targeting on the creation of environments that ...

 

    .31  UNESCO International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks
By John Daly(John Daly)
It creates opportunities for establishing regional cooperation towards building knowledge parks in developing countries, with a special focus on Africa, Arab States and Asia. Read more about the Conference.

 

13. Announcements and Regional Links

    .10  Regional Economic Accounts - Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by State and Metropolitan Area – Bureau of Economic Analysis

U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released experimental measures of economic output produced in the Nation's metropolitan areas. GDP by metropolitan area is the measure of the market value of final goods and services produced within a metropolitan area in a particular period of time. GDP is BEA's preferred and most comprehensive measure of economic activity. Metropolitan (statistical) areas, defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, are standardized county-based areas having at least one urbanized area of 50, 000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core, as measured by commuting ties.

 

    .11  The Impact of the Built Environment on Community Health: The State of Current Practice and Next Steps for a Growing Movement – The California Endowment - New Publications from PolicyLink

Increased attention and activity have been generated about the importance of community design and development as influential factors in public health. Public health organizations have focused their energies on local land use planning. In parallel, urban planners and elected officials who shape the footprint of their cities and counties, as well as builders--both nonprofit community developers and private market-rate developers--are considering health issues as they create neighborhoods and revitalize others.

The paper summarizes and advances an ongoing dialogue among some of the most prominent persons involved in land use and health. It is a result of 25 interviews, and an exhaustive review of documents and websites of a large number of organizations. Additionally, a convening--jointly organized by PolicyLink and The California Endowment (TCE)--of 50 of California's leading researchers, advocates, trainers, and government officials in public health, city planning, and related fields provided insights into their experiences, priorities, and aspirations. Report PDF: The Impact of the Build Environment on Community Health

 

    .12  CommonCensus Map Project

The CommonCensus Map Project is redrawing the map of the United States based on your input, to reveal the boundaries people themselves feel, as opposed to the state and county boundaries drawn by politicians. View the maps to see how the country is divided into 'spheres of influence' between different cities at the national, regional, and local levels: ...

 

    .13 Call for Papers: Shenandoah Valley Regional Studies Seminar

The Seminar seeks papers on topics of regional and historical interest.  Papers are encouraged on a wide variety of subjects relative to the Shenandoah Valley and related regions.  The seminar is multidisciplinary and intended for historians, anthropologists, geographers, and other social scientists as well as botanists, writers, students of literature, and independent scholars.  The seminar meets at 3:35 PM the third Friday of every month during the academic year at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.  Deadline for submissions for 2008-2009 academic year is 1 April 2008.   For more information contact: J. Chris Arndt, Professor of History James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807 - (540) 568-3993

 

14. Subscription

    .10   The Rise of Family-Friendly Cities – Wall Street Journal - USA

For much of the past decade, business recruiters, cities and urban developers have focused on the "young and restless, " the "creative class, " and the so-called "yuspie" -- the young urban single professional. Cities, they've said, should capture this so-called "dream demographic" if they wish to inhabit the top tiers of the economic food chain and enjoy the fastest and most sustained growth.

...

Urban centers that have been traditional favorites for young singles, such as Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, have experienced below-average job and population growth since 2000. San Francisco and Chicago lost population during that period; even immigrant-rich New York City and Los Angeles County have shown barely negligible population growth in the last two years, largely due to a major out-migration of middle class families.

Married people with children tend to be both successful and motivated, precisely the people who make economies go. They are twice as likely to be in the top 20% of income earners, according to the Census, and their incomes have been rising considerably faster than the national average.

Indeed, if you talk with recruiters and developers in the nation's fastest growing regions, you find that the critical ability to lure skilled workers, long term, lies not with bright lights and nightclubs, but with ample economic opportunities, affordable housing and family friendly communities not too distant from work. "People who come here tend to be people who have long commutes elsewhere, and who have young children, " notes Pat Riley, president of Alan Tate company, a large residential brokerage in Charlotte, N.C. "They want to be somewhere where they don't miss their kids growing up because there's no time."

...

    .11  MINNESOTA: Regional cities vie for capital for a day – Grand Forks Herald, MN

They're stuffing the ballot box in Thief River Falls for a chance to become one of five honorary Minnesota "capitals for a day" next year to celebrate the state's 150th birthday.

East Grand Forks and Crookston also are locked in heated battles in a different region.

As of the last update, Thief River Falls was leading handily in its region with more than 2, 590 votes. In fact, the town's total vote count so far, is nearly 840 votes more than its closest competitor, according to the Minnesota Sesquicentennial Commission Web site.

The commission has placed 70 cities that are vying for the honor of replacing St. Paul as capital for a day into five regions, or "