1. Guest column Working to build a better region - ThisWeekNews, OH

Chester Jourdan

The beginning of a new year is a rejuvenating experience for a community. It encourages us to reflect upon the lessons learned from the past and enables us to define the challenges of the future. Those challenges present great opportunities.

As the executive director of the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), I encounter the challenges of the region daily. As you know, each community has its own unique characteristics, boundaries and points of view.

However, MORPC is where urban, suburban and rural communities come together to collectively work toward a 12-county region. For example, MORPC is committed to building a better region through planning, programming and public policy in areas such as housing, transportation, water, land use, environmental and technology issues.

The world is changing and so is central Ohio. MORPC estimates that central Ohio will grow to 2.5-million people by the year 2030. That is why we're preparing for current and future challenges today.

In 2007, MORPC released the report, "Regional Connections: A Collaborative Vision for Central Ohio's Future." We want to help the region prepare for the projected 500, 000 residents who will call central Ohio home in the next 20-plus years.

In the coming year, we'll introduce our new Center for Regional Development, which will provide communities with tools and a framework for growth that will aid in the implementation of an aesthetically pleasing, environmentally conscious, enriched economic region.

Central Ohio's future is multifaceted, as are the services that MORPC provides. We help to address critical issues in our communities, and are striving to find long-term, viable solutions.

We hope that young professionals will be among those taking root in the region -- many of whom are interested in living and working in environmentally friendly and sustainable communities. MORPC's Center for Energy and Environment was created to help provide communities with resources necessary to implement green initiatives that will attract the area's best and brightest to a more sustainable region.

MORPC is dedicated to working with others to provide everyone with opportunities to live, work and play in central Ohio. We recognize that foreclosures and gas prices are on the rise throughout the country, and that these issues are having an impact on the economy and welfare of central Ohioans.

We offer a variety of services to help our residents protect their finances. MORPC's Housing and Community Services recently added mortgage assistance to the loss mitigation, default and foreclosure counseling services for first-time home buyers in an effort to further prevent foreclosures in the region.

...

 

  2. GUEST VIEW: Urban investment elevates region - SouthCoastToday.com - New Bedford, MA, USA

"What is the city but its people?"

This Shakespearean quote holds great truth as it relates to the cities of New Bedford and Fall River, communities that are defined by people who are hard-working, diverse, and authentic. But on a larger scale, we must also ask, "What is the region but its cities?"

A case can, and should, be made that "as go the cities, so goes the region, " that the fortunes of SouthCoast are dependent on Fall River and New Bedford being healthy, vibrant, and strong.

This part of Massachusetts we refer to as SouthCoast is made up of 14 communities along the Route 195 corridor, from Swansea to Wareham.

SouthCoast's two cities are home to 53.8 percent of the region's population, a slightly higher percentage than the statewide rate of 47 percent of residents living in cities as opposed to towns. In fact, if you accounted for all of those in our region who have lived in one of our cities at one time or another or claim one as their birthplace, then the number of residents with a direct connection to one of our cities is even larger.

Statewide, 50 years of exurbanization has led to a shift in legislative representation toward suburban and rural interests, which, in combination with the indifference of various gubernatorial administrations, has led to a lack of investment and interest in our older, industrial cities.

A report released earlier this year by MassInc. entitled, "Reconnecting Massachusetts Gateway Cities: Lessons Learned and an Agenda for Renewal, " identifies Fall River and New Bedford, along with nine other cities in the commonwealth, all outside of metropolitan Boston, as poised to be catalysts for change and renewal of their respective regions. While each has their challenges ...

 

  3. OUR VIEW: One region, one future - SouthCoastToday.com - New Bedford, MA, USA

We understand how some people feel about New Bedford and Fall River.

In smaller SouthCoast towns, if residents don't have a personal connection to the cities, they may feel New Bedford and Fall River are irrelevant — or worse, a blight. They may feel separated by geographic distance, by their rural way of life or by their family background.

And we understand how some city dwellers feel about the towns: They're full of people who've "made it" and lost interest in the cities, or fear the gritty images they see on television.

But as former Fall River Mayor Ed Lambert argues today in the closing of our series on land use, planning a brighter future for our region would be far easier if the cities and towns would work together.

Granted, it's a tall order; even getting two similar towns to work together can be challenging, since they compete on everything from MCAS scores to attracting desirable business.

But the region has much to gain through cooperation.

The cities crave development — redevelopment, primarily — to breathe life into their commercial and industrial areas and renew run-down housing. For every small town that begs a development to stay away, there is a neighborhood in New Bedford or Fall River that would welcome it.

By making our cities more appealing, we boost the value of the entire region and encourage more people to choose the convenience and amenities of urban living. If that happens, what do we have? We have smart growth on a regional scale. We have vibrant mini-hubs where residents from throughout the region feel comfortable shopping, working and socializing.

And that benefits cities and towns alike.

Of course, the process will not be easy.

...

RC: Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District

 

  4. A regional success story - Charlotte Observer - Charlotte, NC, USA

From Ronnie L. Bryant, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Partnership, a nonprofit, public/private economic development organization for the 16-county Charlotte region:

Several of our region's governmental bodies, including the City of Charlotte, are wrestling with the incentive policies that are part of their business recruitment activities.

Recognizing that any decision made by any group within the 16-county Charlotte Regional Partnership area has the potential to impacts others within the region, the city committee reached out to the partnership for perspective. For a response we turned to the people who work with these issues daily, our county Economic Development Advisory Committee members. Their reply: We already have had for two years a professional code of conduct agreement, and there is no need to replace it.

Our EDAC members have agreed not to recruit companies in each others' counties. This agreement represents a code of conduct which is above-board and transparent.

It's important to remember that an incentive is just one issue a company uses in making a location decision. A relocation decision could involve space, water or transportation availability, to name a few issues. Our business development team and our county partners work with businesses on a daily basis to help meet their needs.

However, if all avenues to remain in the county have been exhausted and existing industries approach another county, each economic developer is free -- and has an obligation to the people they serve -- to do a cost-benefit analysis and offer those companies the best package they can. But -- and this is an important caveat -- they work with these companies to keep them in the region only after those businesses have attempted to meet their needs within their existing locations and have not been able to do so.

As a professional courtesy, ...

RCs: NC - Centralina Council of Governments  

         SC -  Catawba Regional Council of Governmentsx

 

  5. County leaders want to improve regional cooperation - Bizjournals-com - Charlotte, NC, USA

Elected officials and chamber leaders from across seven counties vowed Friday to improve regional communication and cooperation in 2008, which would put an end to a long-held hot-button issue between counties in the Birmingham area.

During two meetings at the Harbert Center Friday, officials from Jefferson, Shelby and five other area counties said they supported efforts to meet more often to discuss regional issues, such as sharing water, improving mass transportation and attracting more industries that would benefit the entire area.

Ted vonCannon, president of the Metropolitan Development Board, told a crowd of 80 elected officials and other leaders - gathered together by state Sen. Jabo Waggoner - that his organization has been working with the state to put together incentive packages that would attract more white-collar industries.

Several representatives, including Birmingham City Councilwoman Valerie Abbott and state Rep. Patricia Todd, said they worried about the area having enough "brain power" of educated workers to staff new industries. Todd suggested more scholarships for those in the poorest areas to help them afford to get the education needed for the proposed white-collar jobs.

After Waggoner's meeting, the group joined 400 others for the annual "State of the Region" held by the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce. There, representatives from the seven-county coverage area announced local projects and promised to work together to get more accomplished.

"We need to make a decision, a conscious decision, to put aside egos and build bridges, " said Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Carns.

Progress was made during the recent economic development trip to Denver, which was put together by the chamber, he said. And the group is planning another trip to Austin, Texas, although Chamber President Russell Cunningham said he was not ready to divulge details.

...

RC: Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham

 

  6. Economic forum focuses on regional growth - Columbia Basin Herald - Moses Lake, WA, USA

There were more economic development professionals in attendance at an economic development forum Tuesday morning than some professionals had ever seen at one time.

Roughly 40 people were in attendance for the Columbia Basin Economic Development Forum, put on by the Big Bend Economic Development Council, the Grant County Economic Development Council, the Adams County Development Council, Big Bend Community College, the college's Center For Business and Industry Services and the Lincoln County Economic Development Council.

In the first half of the forum, audience members heard from Tri County Economic Development District Loan Officer Robert Willford, Grant County Public Utilities District Commissioner Terry Brewer and North Columbia Community Action Council Executive Director Ken Sterner about loan programs and other programs available to aspiring businesses, like the action council's prosperity center, which Sterner said is still in the beginning process and designed to help get people ready to own a business.

Brewer said he was pleased to see people in the audience from all over the area.

"I think every one of you is probably just as committed as I am to partnering, " he said. "We can't, any of us, do this stuff alone. We don't have the resources, the capacities, but by working together, whether it's across community borders within our own county or across the county lines with our neighbors, we need to do that whenever we can. Economic development is a regional need for us, we cannot look at ourselves as an island and be successful."

"In this room today there is so much expertise in economic development; frankly this is more than I've ever seen in our three counties in one room, and I think that's terrific, " Sterner said. "If we can call upon each individual and their organizations ... I don't see how we cannot be successful."

...

 

  7. Forums to address regional vision - Community Press - Florence, KY, USA

The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and Citizens for Civic Renewal are co-hosting a citizen engagement forum around Agenda 360, a project to develop a shared regional vision and action plan for the four counties of Southwest Ohio. At the forum, citizens will share their ideas for creating a better region for their children and grandchildren.

...

Since the beginning of the year, a broad coalition of multi-generational community leaders have been at work building the early foundation for a shared civic agenda, an effort that has been co-chaired by Cincinnati USA Chamber President Ellen van der Horst; Myrtis Powell, retired from Miami University; and Kevin Ghassomian, an attorney with Greenbaum, Doll & McDonald.

Devised in similar fashion to Northern Kentucky's Vision 2015 - so the efforts will align and complement each other - Agenda 360 is being crafted to address five categories of work: competitive economy, educational excellence, livable communities, urban renaissance and effective governance. Five action teams have been formed to focus on the buckets, supported by support teams focused on inclusion, advocacy and communications.

...

 

RC: OKI - Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments

 

  8. Nancoo: Regional Carnival can combat social ills - Trinidad & Tobago Express - Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago

Regional Carnival can be used as a medium to combat the social ills in society.

This is the belief of National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Keston Nancoo who was speaking at the Adult Education Centre of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, in St Ann's on Tuesday, where subventions to regional carnival committees were distributed. Fifty three committees throughout Trinidad and Tobago will receive subventions totaling $5, 537, 650.

"This is an area of our culture as a people that we need to pay more attention to, " Nancoo said as he spoke about community involvement in Regional Carnival.

"At the end of the day if that sense of community if used, nurtured and developed properly it will assist a lot of the social problems we are experiencing today."

He appealed to the Regional Carnival Committee representatives to keep in mind the significance of the event as he stated "how powerful it can be and the role it has to play in making a difference in the people of Trinidad and Tobago".

Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs Marlene McDonald said Regional Carnival brings out the original substance of Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival, which she added "is almost lost in the glitter and revelry of contemporary Carnivals".

"This aspect of our Carnival is difficult to replicate and it therefore preserves the uniqueness of our festival, " she added.

"Our Carnival is also unique because it evolves out of a social history which embodied the spirit of community participation. This spirit of community is central to our pathway to the future."

...

 

  9. Region Not Prepared to Handle Casino Gambling’s Social Impact, Pitt Study Finds

Pitt Chronicle

A report released today by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work (SSW) says Allegheny County human service agencies do not have the resources necessary to handle what could be a spike in social problems among people in this region as a result of the new Majestic Star Casino, slated to open in May 2009.

The report, Raising the Stakes: Assessing Allegheny County’s Human Service Response Capacity to the Social Impact of Gambling, surveyed 137 agencies that dealt with addiction-related issues, including mental health, drug and alcohol, and faith-based organizations. The goal was to see if they offered or were preparing to offer gambling prevention, intervention, and treatment services.

Previous studies have linked gambling to mental health disorders, drug or alcohol abuse, harmful family arguments, poor health, job loss, bankruptcy, arrests, and other issues. The report provides a reliable “snapshot” about the preparedness of local agencies.

“We got into this study because most of the public and media discussion were focused on the economic benefits of the new casino and issues such as traffic and parking garages, ” ...

The report’s findings suggest:

• More than 75 percent of the agencies do not screen for or treat problem gambling, nor have they provided such training for staff;
• Most agencies feel problem gambling is not an issue for their organization; and
• Fewer than one-third of the agencies are familiar with any state or other public awareness campaign to promote issues relates to problem gambling, and fewer than 10 percent educate clients on problem gambling.

The report made the following recommendations.

• A comprehensive educational program for service providers be developed that encompasses the nature of gambling disorders, the high co-occurrence with other disorders, and the toll gambling can take on an individual or family.

...

RC: Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission

 

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  Beige Book sees slow growth in most regions
MarketWatch – USA

The U.S. economy grew at a modest pace in most regions of the nation in late November and December, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. In its Beige Book report on the economy, the Fed noted that labor markets remain tight in most areas despite the sharp rise in the unemployment rate to 5% reported by the Labor Department in December. ...

 

    .11  NO recession avoided by perfect economic storm
New Orleans CityBusiness - New Orleans, LA, USA
Now, the reality is the US economy doesn’t depend on regionalism within our borders; it depends on economic cycles and factors beyond our control and ...

 

    .12  Lyon could become greener
Reno Gazette Journal - Reno, NV, USA
Ron Weisinger, executive director for Northern Nevada Development District, presented the project noting the plan is to start with six megawatts and move on ...

 

    .13  What we need is task force to fight crime
Buffalo News - NY, United States
Regionalism is an all-for-one concept that includes breaking down our multitude of village, town and city boundaries. The reasons for less-is-better range ...

 

    .14  New regional development program launched
Maryville Daily Times - Maryville, TN, USA
The Blount County Chamber of Commerce and five other regional economic development agencies have formed Innovation Valley Inc. to encourage successful regional development and bring more businesses to East Tennessee. ....

 

    .15  Disaster response needs overhaul, NO emergency director says
The Times-Picayune - NOLA.com - New Orleans, LA, USA
Also missing is a regionalized plan for evacuation shelters that can be used for both natural disasters and terrorism events. At the local level, ...

 

    .16  Expand smoking limits
Dallas Morning News - Dallas, TX, USA
This newspaper generally favors regionalism, and common sets of rules might make them easier to enforce. But consider this when the pro-smoking group says that bans are bad for business. Dallas knows better....

 

    .17  Transforming Communities Through Locally-Grown Food
Atlantic Free Press  
According to Greg, it all started in the office of the Rutland Regional Planning Commission with India Burnett Farmer and Tara Kelly. India was an intern with the Regional Planning Commission  ... 2) Any region in America can affect the transformation that the forward-thinking folks in Rutland are making happen with their passion, commitment, and incredibly hard work as they engineer local economic solutions and give new meaning to the word "community."

 

    .18  UW-EXTENSION HELPS GUIDE NEW REGIONAL PLAN
News@UW-Extension – Madison, WI, USA

Prosperity and a high quality of life in a globally competitive environment are the goals of a group planning for the future of Wisconsin’s eight-county Capital Region. Thrive, formerly known as the Regional Economic Development Entity, will be the vehicle for communities to collaborate on retaining, expanding ...

 

    .19  Development Group picks a winner
Quad City Times - Davenport, IA, USA
What learning curve? The Quad-City Development Group landed a CEO who is ready on Day 1 — earlier in fact. Nancy Mulcahey has first-hand experience with every level of economic development in the Quad-Cities. Years ago, as a Bi-State Regional Commission planner, ...

 

    .20  Parker deal shows region is competitive, official says
MLive.com - MI, USA

"I think it continues to reinforce what the community and Southwest Michigan have been saying -- we have companies here that can be globally competitive, " said Ronald Kitchens, chief executive officer of regional economic development organization Southwest Michigan First. ...

 

    .21  PROGRESS: For NW Minnesota job market
Grand Forks Herald  - Grand Forks, ND, USA

"There is still an ongoing need, " said Leon Heath, executive director of the Northwest Regional Development Commission. "There are still some issues with some of the better technical ...

 

    .22  Road regionalism should be a two-way street
The News-Press - Fort Myers, FL, USA
But while we are big fans of regionalism when it comes to planning, water supply, joint aid in emergencies, tourism, economic development and a host of ...

 

    .23  Forums to address regional vision
Community Press - Florence, KY, USA
The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and Citizens for Civic Renewal are co-hosting a citizen engagement forum around Agenda 360, a project to develop a ...

 

    .24  New York Capital Region Cities Funded to Restore Riverfronts
Environment News Service - USA
The state of New York's Restore NY grant program has awarded millions to Capital Region cities to support the redevelopment of waterfront areas and decaying urban blocks. ...

 

    .25  Promoting region requires passport International investment
The Free Lance-Star - Fredericksburg, VA, USA
Bailey said it's important for the Fredericksburg area to attract foreign investment. "As the region goes forward, we need to have more of an international presence in a global economy, " ...

 

    .26  St. Augustine hopes to prevent water wars over St. Johns River
The DeLand-Deltona Beacon - DeLand, FL, USA

Northeast Florida Regional Council, led by council President and Clay County Commissioner Harold Rutledge, hosts the "Northeast Florida Regional Water Supply Summit: The Future of the St. Johns River." Orange County's intentions to tap into the St. Johns have just begun to come to light. ...

 

    .27  County GOP sets agenda
Evening Observer - Dunkirk, NY, USA
Regionalism and shared services are also a top priority of the Republican party. Croscut said talks of countywide assessing and possible police mergers must ...

 

    .28  Regionalization an ongoing topic
Wicked Local Truro - Orleans, MA, USA
Some towns continue to talk about regionalization of some services as a way to ease the tax burden of residents and to responsibly plan for the future. ...

 

    .29  Sanders convenes regional water summit
San Diego Union Tribune - United States
SAN DIEGO – Mayor Jerry Sanders convened a regional summit on water issues in San Diego Wednesday, a week after discussing it in his high-profile State of ...

 

    .30  Energy helping revive a region
Houston Chronicle - United States

... what the general public is seeing is boom, boom, boom all over the entire region, " said Barbara Knight, chairwoman of the Partnership of Southeast Texas, an economic development group. ...

 

    .31  Valuing a region’s heritage
Centre Daily Times - Centre, PA, USA
The heritage of a region — particularly one in which a transient student community represents a substantial portion of the population— is a fragile, easily lost or forgotten treasure. ...

 

    .32  State health plan saves towns money
Boston Globe - United States
Joel Barrera, senior project director for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, said the fact that only a handful have enrolled in the system to date is ...

 

    .33  Look Who's Talking
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH 

... one of the region's top officials charged with landing deals to help fuel the local economic engine. ... strategies to help create at least 1, 430 new jobs in Northern Kentucky by the end of 2008. ...

 

    .34  Rail corridor on the right track
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA
We will be working with regional partners such as Sound Transit and the Puget Sound Regional Council to explore the feasibility of providing mass transit ...

 

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

    .10  NZ houses world's least affordable
New Zealand Herald - New Zealand

Demographia, an international survey business run by Hugh Pavletich of Christchurch and Wendell Cox of the United States, today issued its fourth annual report, showing New Zealand has slipped drastically on an international scale. ...

 

    .11  FedNor critic visits region Pushing for bolstered economic development
Fort Frances Times - ON, Canada
“And it doesn’t have the same status and flexibility that a full-fledged regional development agency has, when you look at the others. ...

 

    .12   From seaweed munchies to asthma-testing device, Ottawa touts East Coast inventions

The Canadian Press -
Peter MacKay, minister responsible for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, said Monday that the latest recipients of the Atlantic Innovation Fund program show advances are being made at promoting East Coast inventiveness. “In my view this is the best regional development agency in the country, " ...

 

    .13  Sprucing up cities The regeneration game  - Why cities' plans for renewal often sound strangely familiar

Economist – UK

... the RDAs are getting less herd-like, Mr Finch reckons, and local authorities are being given a bit more freedom. So far, cities have tended to follow the lead of regional agencies, partly because they hold important purse strings, but also because cities are inexpert at making their own assessment of the best way to grow. ...

 

    .14  New body to offer realistic assessment of risk
Politics-co-uk - London, UK
The Risk and Regulation Advisory Council (RRAC) will work with ministers and civil servants to develop a better understanding of public risk and with third sector and voluntary organisations to foster a more considered approach to public risk. ... It will also consider the government's response to obesity, animal diseases and regional regeneration failures. ...

 

    .15  States, Their Borders and Our General Security

The Brussels Journal - EU
This means that regionalism (autonomy, self-government) paired with some form of federalism if demanded, must be institutionalized. If honestly applied, federal structures facilitate collective self-determination. ...

 

    .16  London wins top international award for congestion charge
By The Newsroom
The US-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy has chosen London as the recipient of the 2008 Sustainable Transport Award saying that under the Mayor’s leadership the capital’s congestion charge has become ‘model for ...

 

    .17  Ministers Endorse Planning for a Better Future, North and South
InterTradeIreland - Dublin, Ireland
Sustainable communities transcend the border and we must develop and implement initiatives to harness this potential, said Mr O’Keeffe. The collaborative spatial framework between the Regional Development Strategy and the National Spatial Strategy provides the over-arching mechanism to deliver, and can set the context for thinking and working together. ...

 

    .18  Welsh regions on brink of breakthrough moment
Guardian Unlimited – UK

"When we had the club system in Wales, which in my view was semi-professional, we lacked it but going regional has given us the mentality to deal with what you face out there. We know we can get the result we need and there is a real excitement in the squad as well as expectation." ...

 

    .19  DepEd welcomes Indonesian education chief
Philippine Information Agency - Philippines
“Regional cooperation is the trend in the international community. SEAMEO is a venue in exchanging best practices in the delivery of education that allows us to share and learn innovative approaches in teaching and learning, ” Lapus said ...

    .20  State to get its first aerotropolis
Kolkata Newsline - New Delhi, India
West Bengal is all set to get its first aerotropolis— an urban infrastructure with an industrial hub built around an airport — that will ...

    .21  Eritrea: Southern Red Sea Regional Assembly Holds 7th Regular Meeting
AllAfrica.com - Washington, USA
The Southern Red Sea Regional Assembly held its 7th regular meeting from January 17 to 18 in the city of Assab. Following a close assessment of work ...

 

    .22  Cort points to challenges in dealing with rising cost of living
AntiguaSun - St' John's, Antigua and Barbuda
... option of turning to regional foodstuff could be useful based on what the food product is and the extent to which there is local or regional control over the cost of inputs into that product ...

 

    .23  'Strong growth is coming to an end' for this region
Canada-com - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

"There are things we need to do differently, " said Tecumseh planner Brian Hillman, a member of the Intermunicipal Planning Consultation Committee (IMPCC) that wrote the report called "Smart Choices for the Essex-Windsor Region."

 

     .24  Indigenous populations call for share of Arctic resource profits
AFP -
Indigenous Arctic populations worry about the environmental cost of developing the region's rich energy resources but pragmatically say they deserve a cut of the profits. ...

 

    .25  Literary Theorist Charts the Rise and Influence of Geopolitics in 20th Century Fiction

Fordham University - NY, USA
What followed that collapse, he says, is the rise of geopolitics. According to GoGwilt, Victorian novels such as Collins’ The Moonstone (1868), ...

 

    .26  Keeping Food Safe
Analytical Laboratory Equipment - Rockaway, NJ, USA
... the rapid growth in international commerce and trade has been a dramatic increase in the variety of foods crossing national and regional boundaries. ...

 

12. Blogs: Highlighted words are Google search terms.

    .10  Inter-Regional Transfers of Wealth - A Hampton Roads Perspective
By Jim Bacon
... too funds to do build all the roads that people want. My advice to my friends in Northern Virginia: Be careful what you wish for. Open up the Pandora’s box of inter-regional transfers of wealth, and you may be surprised what pops out!

 

    .11  The DVRPC
By AlexC
Serving the Greater Philadelphia region for more than 40 years, DVRPC works to foster regional cooperation in a nine-county, two state area. City, county and state representatives work together to address [...]

 

    .12  Comment on BFD Learning Moment: Twin Cities Compass by Ed Morrison
Last week in Washington, I sat down with the staff at the Council on Competitiveness to talk about evolving models of regional leadership. The Council is working on an important contract to distill the changes taking place in the roles ...

 

    .13  Brute-Force to Brain-Force transformation leads business, industry and government to University research collaboration

By James(James)
"We cannot delude ourselves into imagining that we will remain competitive in such a depressed regional economy, " he said. "The University of Michigan, which is one of the most effective knowledge- and skill-generating machines in the ...

 

    .14  “Planning Local Economic Development: Theory and Practice”: A Must-Read for Those Serious About Economic Development

By Fred Steinmann
“American communities could once rely exclusively on their regional and national market positions to determine local economic stability, but this is no longer the case.” Stated simply, WE LIVE IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY! ...

 

    .15  Organization helps sustain private-public collaborations
Ventura County Star - Camarillo, CA, USA
Advancing the county's regional partnerships focused on important industry sectors that represent our best potential for creating wealth and employee opportunity in today's ever-changing economy. ...

 

    .16  Massive New Site Launch for Charleston Regional Development Alliance
By blueion
We just put the finishing touches on a massive relaunch for the Charleston Regional Development Alliance (CRDA). A public/private organization responsible for marketing the region as a place to do business, ... The site relaunch incorporated several key initiatives: Brand the region under the Charleston Inspired theme ...

 

    .17  Richmond Sports
By lch4
I think that's the big handicap when it comes to regionalism...the counties don't want to be taking orders from the city. I don't blame them for that. There's this mindset that regionalism means that City Council calls the shots and ...

 

 

    .18  A Conversation With The Times-Dispatch

RedOrbit

Times-Dispatch: You've been in four other capital regions. Is Central Virginia behind the other capital regions you mentioned? Trani: Yes. 

Times-Dispatch: How so?  Trani: They work together as capital areas. . . . Clearly regionalism is an important issue.

 

    .19  Solving sprawl with basketball
By Kaid Benfield
The Penn Quarter is attracting life inward to the central city, a potent counterforce to the sprawl that has dominated regional development patterns for so long. A lot of this never would have happened, or wouldn’t have happened nearly ...

 

    .20  Using Twitter in news and community reporting: the St. Louis example
By Bruno Giussani

We were adding Twitter to several other tools we already were using to cover the Hwy40 story: blogs, forums, videos, interactive graphics, slide shows and real-time region-wide traffic updates and mapping tools. ...

 

    .21  New Brookings Institute working paper : Geopolitics of Energy
By mickiegirlca
Since the industrial revolution the geopolitics of energy – who supplies it, and securing reliable access to those supplies – have been a driving factor in global prosperity and security. Over the coming decades, energy politics will ...

 

    .22  Howard Rheingold on cooperation, technology, and social dynamics
By cortex
Technology of Cooperation (.gif map), from Howard Rheingold's Cooperation Commons project. Rheingold on Amish technology practices. More of Rheingold's writing on ...

 

    .23  Lords reform could provide way forward for the regions
By ourkingdom
They would have a dual mandate acting as both members of the Westminster parliament and constituting a board or council for their region. The appropriate powers for the new regional boards could be as set out in the English Regional ...

 

    .24  Regionalism - Would Scotland and Wales Accept It?
By secretperson
It has come to me, as I join the many interesting debates on Our Kingdom, that something has been neglected in the regionalism debates. (There are many!). Often we supporters of an English parliament complain when Scottish politicians ...

 

    .25  Network (not the movie)
By Jim

... area congregations and faith-based organizations to explore how they might collaborate to address the needs of this region, including the search for funding. It’s networking. ...

 

    .26  Moving toward collaborative governance
By info
With much effort remaining within each jurisdiction, why then, is there a need to address cross-jurisdictional issues - most commonly for a country as a whole? The answer lies in the aforementioned evolution from a pre-Internet world of ...

 

    .27  The four tenets of SOA
By Nico Celen(Nico Celen)
Services interact by sending messages across boundaries. These boundaries are formal and explicit. No assumptions are made about what is behind boundaries, and this preserves flexibility in how services are implemented and deployed. ...

 

    .28  Yale Authors Raise Concerns Regarding Regionalized Heart Attack Care

Yale Medical Group

Calls for the regionalization of acute coronary syndromes (heart attacks as they are more commonly called) are based on recently published studies conducted predominantly in Europe that suggest that transferring patients from smaller hospitals to larger hospitals so they might receive interventional therapies could reduce mortality, Krumholz writes.  "The health care system in the United States is clearly not the same as Europe, " Krumholz notes. "Patients are farther from hospitals and our EMS doesn't have experience recognizing the specific group of patients who will benefit from these treatments. It only seems reasonable that we should test for ourselves in the United States whether such a system works before we adopt it." ...

 

    .29  Organizing matters: the lesson from Hillary's NV win
By Zack Exley
And intelligence about the Obama campaign pointed to massive turnout on their part. Things are getting tougher. Marshall explained to his bleary-eyed regional directors that the vote goals for all precincts therefore had to be revised. ...

 

    .30  Links for Regional Cluster Presentation
By Chad Boeninger
... of talking with some regional cluster students this evening. Here are a few links that I will be discussing. The Innovation Center. What terms are used? See the about us section. Ohio University Small Business Development Center ...

 

    .31  SARDC.net
By heidi
Institutional capacity: SARDC has 15 years of institutional experience in documenting, analysing and communicating trends in regional development, in publishing and distributing the results, and monitoring impact, as well as recognized

 

    .32  Gaps in SEWRPC Mindset, Performance, Require An Overhaul
By James Rowen(James Rowen)
If local, state and regional agencies would put the same time and energy into comprehensive planning that is reflected in the Sierra Club's analyses of important issues, we'd have something reflecting comprehensive planning coming out ...

 

    .33  Why Startups Condense in America?
By identityandconsulting
A lot of governments experimented with the disastrous in the twentieth century; now the trend seems to be toward the merely unpalatable. Oddly enough, the leaders now are European countries like Belgium, which has a capital gains tax ...

 

    .34  Brummer: Ties That Bind: Regionalism, Commercial Treaties, and the Future of Global Economic Integration
By Jacob Katz Cogan(Jacob Katz Cogan)
Law) has published The Ties That Bind: Regionalism