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Regional Community Development News 每 October 28, 2009 [regions_work]

 

A compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

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Contents

Top Regional Community stories ＃ 1. 每 9.

U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State 每 news articles ＃10.01 - .28

Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet ＃ 11.01 - .28

Blogging about Regional Communities ＃ 12.01 - .06

Announcements and Regional Links ＃ 13.01 - .07

Financial Crisis ＃14.01 - .02

Custom search: region, regions, regional communities ＃ 15.

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Top Regional Community stories

  1.  Growing Pains: Portland Metro Area's Regional Coordination Process - Northwest Hub (blog) - Ashley DeForest

Clean air and water do not stop at jurisdictional boundaries. Neither does the need for jobs, affordable housing and multi-modal transportation choices. Regional planning and coordination is often applauded as the solution to addressing region-wide problems, but even with the best of intentions, efforts at regionalism are wrought with challenges.

Civic leaders across the Portland metro area are now engaged in a collaborative planning process to consider the region＊s growth patterns for the next 40-50 years.  As part of this work, Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties and Metro (the regional planning body) are leading a regional effort to identify lands that will be reserved for or protected from urbanization. As with many regional efforts, the debates are heating up as the maps are being drawn.

A New Way to Plan for Growth

Portland metro area growth is now considered incrementally〞every five years Metro calculates how much acreage is needed for a 20-year supply of buildable land to accommodate projected population and employment growth, and then adjusts the urban growth boundary (UGB) accordingly. To streamline this grueling, incremental process the Oregon State Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1011 (SB 1011) in 2007, enabling Metro and Metro-area counties to designate "Urban and Rural Reserves."

The urban reserves, once designated, identify where UGBs in the Portland metro region will expand to accommodate population and employment growth in the next 40 to 50 years.  ＃

It is apparent that the regional coordination process established with SB 1011 is being tested this year. The reserves process under way is a unique collaborative approach to land use planning. It is complex and challenging. To be effective, it requires people across the region to consider the interests of the larger community over the long term and make decisions accordingly. ＃

http://www.northwesthub.org/portland-urban-rural-reserves-metro-165

 

  2. Census survey: It's a long, lonely commute 每 The Washington Post - Washington, DC, USA

The Census Bureau's 2006-2008 American Community Survey shows that despite more than a decade of efforts to get commuters in the Washington region to carpool, take transit or live close enough to walk to work, most people continue to drive, drive alone and drive a long way to work.

The study of that three-year span says our region had 2,221,629 workers over 16. Of them, 1,415,834 drove alone to work, while 363,334 took public transportation. The number said to be carpooling was put at 237,724. (This is a survey, not an actual count. That's just once a decade. You can see the full details for our region here. http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_S0802&-ds_name=ACS_2008_3YR_G00_&-CONTEXT=st&-tree_id=3308&-redoLog=true&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=40000US92242&-format=&-_lang=en  - Note: Use the ※Change geography§ link to get comparable Urban Area data or that of another geographic unit.)

Nationwide, the percentage of workers who drove alone to work ranged from 50.4 percent in the New York metropolis to 87.3 percent in the Jackson, Tenn., and Monroe, Mich., areas. We come in at 63.7 percent. Public transportation is the choice of 16.4 percent. (Not bad, nationwide. The figures don't appear here, but in most surveys, the percentage of public transit users rises toward the more crowded center of urban regions.)

The study says New York had the longest mean travel time to work, at 34.5 minutes, followed by us, at 33.2 minutes. Only one metropolitan area, Grand Forks, N.D., had a mean travel time to work of less than 15 minutes, the study said.

What are the implications? First, we're not doing ourselves any favors as a group, though individuals are choosing the course they think is best for them. Collectively, we're using too much gas, getting the roads too crowded and creating a demand for more roads -- expensive to build and maintain and wasteful of land.

...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/getthere/2009/10/census_its_a_long_lonely_commu.html?wprss=getthere

 

  3. Green Constitutional Engineering in Korea - Korea Times - Seoul, South Korea

Three major political concerns of Korea 求 equitable economics, constitutional change and the environment 求 are seldom discussed together despite being interlinked.

I suggest a method to interlink them with green constitutional engineering, widening the ``Green New Deal" toward one of political stability, demotion of corruption and more representative equitable development. Three ideas are offered for constitutional revision debates in Korea in how green constitutional engineering can solve them.

The first debate is over districting; yet, no one has offered how to avoid districting that is partisan gerrymandering. Many accuse parties involved with ``district reform'' as merely scheming to elect more partisan incumbents by ``pre-rigging'' elections with creative line drawing.

This fails to create a competitive election and merely divides opposition artificially into separate districts or stuffs ballots (residences) of one party's supporters in one district. A real electoral reform of districts would draw them in a nonpartisan manner.

The public can be assured of this by making stable watersheds as the mandated form of electoral districting. Watersheds are biophysically real lines separating different drainage basins (water catchments). Drainage basins concentrate more than water.

Since much pollution risk is waterborne, watersheds represent areas where common environmental risk experiences exist. Therefore, watershed election districts should be the durable form of environmental risk feedback into state politics.

As a publicly desired neutral, nonpartisan way of drawing election boundaries, it has positive effects on party competition by removing gerrymandering to create truly representative parties. Parties should compete to represent the people's interests, not simply win by default because of gerrymandering.

＃

Suggestions I have are nonpartisan, multiparty enhancements with green multiplier effects. When you integrate the full electorate in this fashion, in stable watersheds of environmental risk feedback, you are on the road toward a bioregional state with a representative development policy and a stable multiparty system of legitimate government.

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/10/137_54108.html

 

  4. Metropolitans in the Middle - Brookings Institution - Washington, D.C., USA

Some great back and forth about U.S. federalism has been banging around the web lately, with Matt Yglesias and Ezra Klein wondering whether America actually needs states and Josh Patashnik over at The Plank defending them.

Yglesias is particularly good here when he notices that the effectiveness of American federalism suffers because while states remain predominant ※we don＊t really live our lives `at the state level,＊§ and yet ※we don＊t have any level of governance that addresses metro area issues.§ That＊s exactly right, to which I would only add that the centrality of metros to economic life makes this disconnect even more dire. So one can share Matt＊s frustration when he says that ※there＊s not a ton that can be done about this.§

And yet, there is actually quite a bit that a smart, refocused nation can and must do to remedy the absence of middle-tier (metro or regional) government from our federalism.

To begin with, Washington (and states, for that matter) needs to recognize, deal with, and bolster the array of metropolitan actors that already exists. Yglesias is right that the Constitution doesn＊t account for metros, so that there is--constitutionally--no ※there there§ between the localism of individual municipalities and the larger states. Yet that doesn＊t mean that nothing＊s happening at that level.

For example, the nation possesses 380 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) ＃  hundreds of other increasingly robust ※metro§ regional councils and other entities are also active, ranging from scores of  councils of government (COGs) and myriad economic development districts (EDDs) ＃

＃ Relationships between the federal government, states, and localities need to be re-imagined to more fully realize the potential of metropolitan America. Metropolitan actors need more discretion and standing. Federal and state policies and programs need to be put at the service of metropolitan needs and priorities. Obvious intrusions into regional sovereignty need to be minimized. ＃

http://www.brookings.edu/opinions/2009/1022_metropolitan_america_muro.aspx

 

  5. The northwest celebrates 50 years of regionalism - BusinessNorth.com - Duluth, MN, USA

For many, regionalism is a new concept, said Myron Schuster, executive director of Northwest Regional Planning Commission [http://www.nwrpc.com/]. ※Here, they＊ve been doing it for 50 years,§ he said.

Local units of government launched the Spooner-based economic development agency in 1959. It was the first such regional planning commission in Wisconsin. Today its members and funders include Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor and Washburn counties as well as the tribal nations of Bad River, Red Cliff, Lac du Flambeau, Lac Courte Oreilles and St. Croix.

※Counties needed services and it was too expensive to provide those services individually,§ Schuster said.

The regional planning commission celebrated its 50th anniversary this summer. Its original mission 每 ※to examine problems, prepare plans and recommend solutions to community groups and governing bodies to carry (them) out§ 〞 has expanded since 1959. The agency assists members with comprehensive planning, natural resources, transportation and mapping/GIS and environmental services. More recently it has embraced economic development.

Economic development came more sharply into focus in 1984, when regional planners helped launch a Business Development Revolving Loan Fund. Initial funds came from a combination of federal and state grants, as well as private donations. The $1 million loan fund was a ※pump primer,§ making funds more available to small business than otherwise would have been possible through traditional lending. The focus for the fund was businesses that tapped into the region＊s greatest economic opportunities 〞 timber and wood products, tourism, diversified manufacturing and service industries.

The planning agency presently manages $11.5 million in revolving loan funds, ＃

＃ Northwest Wisconsin Regional Economic Development Fund. ＃ The commission created the fund in 2005 after the Wisconsin Department of Commerce selected the agency as pilot project to pool resources and better use 23 small revolving loan funds in those seven participating counties.

＃

http://www.businessnorth.com/aroundtheregion.asp?RID=3220

 

  6. Cities in planning spotlight - The Australian

AROUND the world, nations are grappling with the challenge of planning for the cities of the future. The forces of the global economy are driving rapid urban growth and requiring governments to rethink their approach to the planning and development of cities.

Last year, with very little comment, the world passed a remarkably significant milestone. For the first time in history, (most) humans live in cities and towns, rather than rural areas. In other words, we have tipped the scales and become an urban planet. Or, as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says, we have entered the urban century.

＃

As the (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's) 2006 report on Competitive Cities in the Global Economy argues, national economic strategy can no longer ignore the characteristics of cities that shape economic performance, social cohesion and environmental conditions.

"National urban policies in the past have been reactive and remedial, not proactive and dynamic. Urban issues (must) be given greater visibility and higher priority in national policy."

Australia, famously, is one of the most urbanised nations on earth. ＃

Cities connect our farms, mines and rural areas to world markets. They often hold the corporate headquarters of regionally based companies.

One of the mistakes in debates about infrastructure and planning is thinking that cities and regional areas are in competition and governments must favour cities or the regions. Having spent most of my early years growing up in country Australia, and most of the past three decades in different cities, I'm convinced this is a myth.

The prosperity of urban, suburban and regional Australia are strongly interlinked. Our cities and regions depend on each other, so that planning for the separate needs of regional Australia and metropolitan Australia is in the interests of the whole nation.

＃

 

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26268755-7583,00.html

 

  7. Metro Atlanta's regional identity beginning to take form - Atlanta Journal Constitution - Atlanta, GA, USA

Maybe it＊s global warming, I don＊t know. But you can almost hear the ice beginning to crack and melt around us. It may be the sound of things finally breaking free, the sound of movement.

The first sign of thaw came last spring with the decision by the 10-county Atlanta Regional Commission [http://www.atlantaregional.com/] to redirect $25 million in federal money to MARTA. That not only represented a tangible, financial commitment to transit, it marked an equally important commitment to the concept of metro Atlanta as an entity that has shared needs, obligations and resources.

The elected officials on ARC, many of them far removed geographically from MARTA＊s service area, acknowledged by their vote that the ability to think regionally and act regionally has become critical to competing in a global economy.

It was, you might say, metro Atlanta＊s Declaration of Interdependence.

As MARTA officials made clear, though, that $25 million was only a temporary fix. The agency＊s looming budget crisis began long before the economy cratered, and its causes have little to do with mismanagement, corruption or other issues. The truth is that broad-based transit on the scale required by a major metro region simply cannot be sustained through local sales tax revenue and federal dollars, as Georgia tries to do. No other state in the country takes that approach.

If transit is to play its necessary role in metro Atlanta＊s future, either direct state financial aid or a regionwide funding mechanism will be essential. And with the state budget already under enormous strain, the regional approach to financing transit seems inevitable.

＃

 ※It＊s not like the water issue,§ Millar said. ※We don＊t have three years to do something. We have to do something now.§

http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/10/27/metro-atlantas-regional-identity-beginning-to-take-form/?cxntfid=blogs_jay_bookman_blog

 

  8. Working Across Boundaries is guide for planning large regions - Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (Press release)每 Cambridge, MA, USA

      Today＊s environmental challenges require planning initiatives that transcend municipal, county, state, and even international boundaries, according to a new publication of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.

       Working Across Boundaries: People, Nature, and Regions, by Matthew J. McKinney and Shawn Johnson, is a guide for citizens, practitioners, and policy makers seeking to implement regional solutions, underscores the importance of the support of a broad range of stakeholders and the ability to measure results.

       ※Our challenges today don＊t fit neatly inside city limits or state lines,§ said Armando Carbonell, senior fellow and chair of the Department of Planning and Urban Form. ※The appropriate framework is more likely to be a watershed, or an ecosystem, or a megaregion that can benefit from a larger land conservation or infrastructure plan. Working Across Boundaries is a kind of ＆missing manual＊ for working effectively at this scale.§

       The examples of successful regional collaboration in the book have been studied and field-tested over nearly a decade as part of an ongoing joint venture between the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the University of Montana Center for Natural Resources and Environmental Policy (formerly the Public Policy Research Institute).

       Regional collaboration can appear complex and difficult, given diverse stakeholders and conflicting interests that play out across complicated geographies. An example that runs the gamut of regional land use, natural resource, and environmental issues is Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Calgary is at the core of a metropolitan region of 19 municipalities struggling with serious urban-suburban conflicts over rapid growth, including water supply and wastewater issues, played out in a landscape of massive resource extraction, such as oil sands, and important habitat for moose, bear, and beaver. Other case studies and examples from across North America help to illustrate the principles, processes, and outcomes of diverse efforts by local officials and a host of networks, partnerships, and regional institutions to close the regional governance gap by working across boundaries.

       Regional collaboration draws heavily on its sister field, consensus building, which is based on the theory of mutual gains negotiation. One shared insight is that these processes, to be sustained, need to fulfill an expectation that the benefits to participating stakeholders will exceed the costs. In the long run, regional efforts need to be measured by regional results. 

＃

http://atlincolnhouse.typepad.com/pressroom/2009/09/working-across-boundaries-is-guide-for-planning-large-regions.html

 

The companion Web site for the book, Regional Collaboration can be found at:  http://www.lincolninst.edu/subcenters/regional-collaboration/.

 

  9. Valley faces unique set of challenges - Merced Sun-Star - Merced, CA, USA

In many ways the Central Valley's 19 counties are a land apart.

What applies to the rest of the state often does not apply to this 25,000-square mile-region. Culturally, geographically and economically, this region runs by its own rules.

Indeed, if it were a state it would rank near the bottom nationally for per capita income yet the top for agricultural production.

So says a newly released report on the Valley's economy, which illustrates in stark numbers the Central Valley's distinct insularity. The report not only reinforces how much the Valley lags behind the state and nation in terms of income, but also illustrates the unique challenges the region faces in coming years.

The report, "Assessing The Region Via Indicators," looked at a series of economic indicators, from unemployment and transportation to agricultural productivity and housing, to see where the Valley stacks up compared to the state and nation. The Great Valley Center [http://www.greatvalley.org/ ], the nonprofit that conducts the annual study, broke the Central Valley down into four regions and outlined the major economic forces currently at work in each.

While the region, already below many state averages, was hit hard by the recession, much of the report's findings point to the area's preexisting internal contradictions. It has some of the highest population growth, yet the widest income disparity. It has some of the state's highest unemployment rates, lowest wages and highest growth.

...

The report was not all negative, in fact it recommends a series of actions. The Valley must improve the quality of its work force with job training and economic development. It also recommends the continued backing of the agricultural economic base. ＃ region should diversify its economy ＃ it recommends that rural communities not be ignored. Their specific needs and attributes should be nurtured instead.

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/1134050.html

 

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font words are Google search terms. Bold italic words considered worth noting.  In this and section 11, 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 as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct.   Contents

    .01  Calm before the storm

San Diego CityBEAT - San Diego, CA, USA

Senate Bill 375, a piece of sweeping anti-greenhouse-gas-emissions legislation signed in September 2008 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, may mean a future of fewer automobiles on California＊s roadways and future development projects that create tighter-spaced, denser communities tied to public transit. It could also mean more court battles over future land use. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is scheduled to finalize its greenhouse-gas reduction targets by Sept. 30, 2010. San Diego was chosen as the first region in the state to begin work on achieving the goals of the bill. SB 375 specifically names the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) as the lead regional agency to develop a plan for implementing the guidelines. ... The politically problematic issue of increasing density in neighborhoods is where SB 375 could muddy questions over who controls growth. ※We have 18 sprawl-based communities in this county connected by a series of freeways that only increase traffic,§ said Duncan McFetridge, president of the environmental group Save Our Forests and Ranchlands (SOFAR), who spearheaded lawsuits against the county in the mid 1990s. ※None of the politicians in those communities want to consider the effects sprawl and pollution from car traffic have on the region as a whole. SB 375 was a start in the right direction.... It has flaws, and it＊s not the whole picture, but it begins the process of San Diego thinking regionally.§ ...

 

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/calm_before_the_storm/8629/

 

    .02  Klohs: 'We are all joined at the hip'

MLive.com - Michigan

Birgit Klohs sees a partnership with her counterpart in Newaygo County as an example that she hopes can lead to greater cooperation between economic development organizations in West Michigan. ...  Klohs believes there is much more West Michigan＊s economic development groups could do together via some form of marketing collaborative across a wide region or another initiative that leverages and furthers collaboration. After all, she said, companies from outside the area and the state that are looking at a possible business investment in West Michigan aren＊t too concerned with geographic and political boundaries. ※Borders are artificial barriers. They don＊t mean anything,§ Klohs said. ※We are all joined at the hip. And if we do not act as if we are all joined at the hip, our competitors will have our lunch. It＊s that simple.§ Klohs cites, for example, the Indy Partnership in Indianapolis that consists of a number of economic development organizations in central Indiana. The Indy Partnership serves as a single source of data and markets a 10-county region. ※We should, in this region, work toward that kind of a partnership. There＊s no doubt about it,§ she said. ...

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2009/10/klohs_we_are_all_joined_at_the.html

 

    .03  Study Urges Regional Focus on Rural Schools

Education Week News (subscription) - USA

State and federal programs aimed at helping underprivileged students often miss their mark in high-poverty, rural schools, in part due to inaccurate stereotypes, according to a report on rural schools released today by a national research and advocacy group. The report, by the Rural School and Community Trust [http://www.ruraledu.org/], an Arlington, Va.-based nonprofit organization, also finds that a regional approach〞instead of a statewide approach〞might be the best way to make improvements in high-poverty, rural school districts. Nearly 10 million students in the United States attend school in a rural district, or about 19 percent of the nation＊s total public school enrollment, according to the report. ... The report features a map highlighting 900 of the highest-poverty, rural school districts in the country and grouping them regionally, instead of by state. The districts were grouped into seven regions, identified by shared economic and natural histories or by racial and ethnic populations. The federal government, in particular, should consider strategies that focus on geocultural regions rather than state lines, ...

 

http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/10/28/10rural.h29.html?tkn=RMYFaNm9VHWLujH7PRyl%2F4K2r3SxL5nKSJ3S

 

    .04  About Time: Simsbury's Upstart Politicos Talk Regionalism

Hartford Courant - Hartford, CT, USA

When a Republican and a Democrat can get together and agree to do some things differently, that's progress. When they are willing to talk about regionalism and breaking down the ridiculous centuries-old walls that divide all the small towns making up Connecticut, even better. Which is why I'm intrigued with what the 2-year-old Simsbury Citizens First party is up to this election. I met up with the group's bipartisan leaders 〞 Republican Susan Bednarcyk and Democrat Kirsten Griebel 〞 because I wanted to see if they were about more than the usual suburban whining about property taxes and school spending. The party's slate of candidates is all about cutting spending, tax relief, "zero-based budgeting" and so forth. But it's what Bednarcyk and Griebel have to say about looking beyond town borders to plan for the future that matters. It's the first sign of the small town walls cracking. Bednarcyk and Griebel say they want to talk about "working collectively" (!) with neighboring towns. They want to see cooperation on economic development instead of every little town in the Farmington Valley going its own way. ...

 

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/courant-columnists/hc-rickblog-1022.artoct22,0,5283315.column

 

    .05  Vote 'yes' on Issue 6: Cuyahoga County needs a government that works for the people, not just the insiders -- editorial

Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA

Change is never easy. But with Election Day approaching, Cuyahoga County needs to pull the plug on a county government that's cumbersome and corrupt and choose something new. ... Issue 5 is no answer. Designed to sow confusion, it dangles the prospect of some change, someday -- but promises nothing. ... Issue 6 offers real change: Accountability. Checks and balances. Diverse representation. Budgeting to meet community priorities, not to sustain insiders' power. Hiring based on merit, not connections. The county would be led by an elected executive and council -- much like governments at every level in this country. ... Comment: ... My fear is that the passage of Issue 6 will mean the strip mining of the few assets (Water Dept, Hopkins Airport) the City of Cleveland still controls, leaving an even weaker city under an even more iron-fisted county - all under a guise of regionalism. ...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/10/vote_yes_on_issue_6_cuyahoga_c.html

 

    .06  Newspapers endorse because they have a stake in their communities

Plain Dealer - Cleveland, OH, USA

Earlier this month, the Atlanta Journal- Constitution, a newspaper that's been publishing in some form since 1868, announced it would no longer endorse in political races. ... This enthusiasm to bury newspapers' political voice dovetails with a dispiriting tendency to devalue all of the benefits that daily newspapers bring their hometowns and regions. The Atlanta paper's rationale for abandoning a traditional editorial voice for political accountability and change was wanting. Newspaper endorsements are not intended to "tell" readers how to vote. Rather, they're a visible sign of a newspaper's commitment to and stake in its community. ... this newspaper tried hard this year to endorse in all contested judicial races and mayoral contests in our home-delivery area. Often that meant doing original research in political races that hadn't garnered much attention in our newsroom. And because of that effort, the editorial board of The Plain Dealer gained new insights into the political and economic dysfunction in some area communities, the anti-regionalism tunnel vision that exists in others and the deep political cynicism inhabiting parts of the city of Cleveland. ...

 

http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/10/newspapers_endorse_because_the.html

 

    .07  Give Us Your County and No One Gets Hurt

Cleveland Scene Weekly - Cleveland, OH, USA

The political orgy known as Cuyahoga County reform 〞 Issues 5 and 6 〞 finally climaxes November 3. It's a fight for control and power. Labor-backed Democrats want to keep the tight grip they've historically held on elected county posts. They face challenges from rogue Democrats, millionaire Republicans, do-good reformers and businesses interests, who all say the system needs to be changed. The drama stems from a decidedly dry proposal. Issue 6 transforms county government by introducing a new county charter. ... Proponents of competing Issue 5 are calling for less radical change. ... Proponents of Issue 6 have criticized the commissioners' countermeasure as a stall tactic to keep labor Democrats in power. They say the new charter creates a clear leader, more accountability and an improved focus on putting people to work. Zanotti says he is interested in fostering regionalism and that change has been a long time coming. "I really believe our region is dying and the one engine we have to turn that around is the county. I felt this was our time to reform government."

...

 

http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/give-us-your-county-and-no-one-gets-hurt/Content?oid=1702408

 

   .08  LA homeless population drops despite recession, county study finds

Los Angeles Times - Los Angeles, CA, USA

Los Angeles County's homeless population has dropped 38% since 2007, according to a survey conducted this year by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The count, which was conducted over three days in January, pegs the region's homeless population at 42,694, down from 68,808 in 2007. ※We know that things are changing,§ said Michael Arnold, executive director of the authority. ＃ The numbers are striking because they come during a major economic downturn. The recession fueled concerns that more people who lost their jobs would become homeless. And although there has been an increase in people seeking aid from charity groups, the report says the recession has not translated into more people living on the streets. Arnold said one explanation for the drop in numbers may be that people have moved out of the region to more affordable areas. Los Angeles, he said, ※is a hard place to be homeless.  ...  The report said the most important change is "a paradigm shift. ... Programs are centered on housing placement of homeless families and individuals and providing the tools and skills they need to stay  housed." ...

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/10/la-homeless-population-drops-despite-recession-new-county-study-finds.html

 

 

    .09  Government Reform Coalition Submits Measures to Call California Constitutional Convention

Repair California - Press Release - California

Today, Repair California, a group of everyday Californians, reformers and advocacy groups turned in ballot language to call the first Constitutional Convention in California in more than 130 years. Citing a broken system of governance, the measures would call a limited Constitutional Convention to reform four areas of the constitution: the budget process; the election and initiative process; restoring the balance of power between the state and local governments; and, creating new systems to improve government effectiveness. The Convention is specifically prohibited from proposing tax increases or from considering changes to social issues such as marriage, abortion, gambling, affirmative action, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, immigration, or the death penalty. Voters will decide on calling the Convention on the November 2010 ballot, the Convention would be held in 2011 and its proposed reforms would require voter approval in one of the three scheduled statewide elections in 2012.

...

 

http://www.repaircalifornia.org/Docs/oct_28_repair_california_press_release.pdf

 

    .10  Local energy alliance makes its debut

Cincinnati.com - Cincinnati, OH, USA

An 18-month-old Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky alliance to spur home energy efficiency improvements could be the model for a new national "Recovery through Retrofit" program launched by the federal government. The Greater Cincinnati Energy Alliance [ http://www.greatercea.org/ ] funded with more than $1.6 million in private and federal energy efficiency and recovery act block grants, is applying for a portion of a $390 million Department of Energy competitive grant to improve energy efficiency of individual homes and create so-called "green jobs" in the process. The local alliance, led by executive director Andy Holzhauser, formally introduced itself Tuesday to the community during a briefing for state and local officials from both sides of the Ohio River at the Theodore Berry Friendship Park Pavilion in the East End. Holzhauser said federal officials have told the alliance - funded by seven local governments on both sides of the river, Duke Energy and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation - that their multi-community effort is unique in the nation. ...

 

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20091028/BIZ01/910280354/Local+energy+alliance+makes+its+debut

 

    .11  Was the G-20 good for Pittsburgh?

Pop City - Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Global Pittsburgh has since received twice as many inquiries from international countries who are interested in bringing delegations here, said Tom Buell, panel moderator. World Environment Day is a win for the region, giving Pittsburgh a chance to stage the festivals and celebrations that it should have had during the G-20. Pittsburgh is poised to build on the momentum as it turns its focus toward making the region an energy hub, said Certo. "We're in a better position to move forward now on all these fronts 每 talent attraction, energy hub efforts and regionalization."

 

http://www.popcitymedia.com/innovationnews/g20good1028.aspx

 

    .12  Aldermen suggest regional focus

Danville Commercial News - Danville, IL, USA

Ward 5 Alderman Jerry Askren and others listed instead: health care cost increases by having employees/unions step up to the table to pay more; the city, township and county working together regionally and possibly combining duties such as police and having a fire district; and other cuts before aldermen consider any sales tax increase or a utility tax on electricity, natural gas and water.  ※We just can＊t put more fees and taxes on the people. They just can＊t come up with any more (money),§ Ward 6 Alderman Steve Nichols said of residents. ※A small percent of the taxpayers pay a large percent of the (property) tax.§

 

http://www.commercial-news.com/local/local_story_300232109.html

 

    .13  Blueprint offers action plan for achieving goals

The Desert Sun - Palm Springs, CA, USA

The Coachella Valley Economic Blueprint [http://cvepblueprint.com/ ] is a 106-page strategy viewed by proponents as a living, breathing document for change. Critics say it's too layered, and may be unwieldy. But those who have created the plan say it was designed with layers and moving parts, so elements can be plugged in as needed. It's set up to achieve four main goals for the valley: Regionalism, economic diversification, workforce excellence and quality of place. To help achieve these goals, there are four key target segments, with action plans and strategies for each. Here are some of the strategies. ...

 

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20091024/BUSINESS/910240318/1003/business

 

    .14  Plan to create valley jobs gets $2.5M commitment

The Desert Sun - Palm Springs, CA, USA

Coachella Valley leaders have talked about the need to diversify the desert's economy for years, but on Friday they laid out specific goals to create thousands of local jobs over the next five years. Leaders who helped create the Coachella Valley Economic Blueprint also announced to a crowd of nearly 650 people gathered at the Renaissance Esmeralda in Indian Wells that the plan has received funding commitments of more than $2.5 million. That's about 20 percent of the $12 million that will be needed to carry out the regional strategy over five years, they said at Friday's 2009 Coachella Valley Economic Summit. The investors include the valley's three hospitals, leading energy providers, the hospitality and tourism industry, building council, local media and government organizations. ...

 

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20091024/NEWS05/910240316/1003

 

    .15  County council urges voters to oppose RTA

Chesterton Tribune - Chesterton, IN, USA

The Porter County Council on Tuesday took a stand in opposition to the proposed Northwest Indiana Regional Transportation District. In the final portion of Tuesday night＊s county council meeting, Council Member Rita Stevenson, D-2nd, read a resolution urging voters to vote ※no§ to the establishment of the new transportation district in the Nov. 3 referendum. The statement called the referendum ※nonsensical§ and ※unnecessary.§ ※We cannot afford another tax,§ said Stevenson. ...

 

http://www.chestertontribune.com/Politics%20and%20Elections/102894%20county_council_urges_voters_to_o.htm

 

    .16  Freetown parents warm to full regionalization

South Coast Today - Massachusetts, USA

Full regionalization might not be such as bad idea after all, said the majority of parents attending a Freetown Elementary PTO meeting, where superintendent John E. McCarthy gave a presentation on the likely educational and financial benefits of such a change. "Last year at this time, I was against full regionalization. I love Freetown Elementary, and I thought everything would be fine," said parent Lauren O'Connell. "This year, my son has 33 kids in his classroom. The teacher is wonderful, but the fact is, there are 33 students in the room, so because of that I have done an about-face." ... According to the study, the optimal class size for kindergarten through third grade is 13 to 17 pupils. Older grades are more able to handle class sizes in the 20s. If class sizes in those earliest grades are not made more manageable, McCarthy said, the district is likely to see a decrease in MCAS scores and an increase in students needing special education services. ...

 

http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091016/NEWS/910160316

 

    .17  Barrett: Cooperation needed to fuel growth

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - Milwaukee, WI, USA

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said Tuesday that regional cooperation between the city of Milwaukee and its suburbs is critical to drawing more jobs to southeastern Wisconsin. Speaking at a meeting of the Granville-Brown Deer Chamber of Commerce in Brown Deer, Barrett said he had worked to improve regional cooperation since becoming mayor in 2004. "I didn't have a natural hatred of the suburbs because I represented several of them while I was in Congress and I couldn't develop it overnight," he told about 100 business executives. "People don't care what side of 68th Street you are on. What they want is economic development that will bring more jobs to the area. Creating jobs is what it is all about." In fact, a recent poll by The Business Journal found for the first time in 13 years, the lack of jobs ranked as the most important issue facing the Milwaukee area. ...

 

http://milwaukee.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2009/10/26/daily40.html

 

    .18  Harrisburg region among 40 strongest economies, study says

PennLive.com - Pennsylvania, USA

The greater Harrisburg area was ranked 16th among the 40 strongest U.S. metro economies, according to a recent study at the Brookings Institution. The institution analyzed 100 largest metropolitan areas during the second quarter in 2009 based on four key indicators: employment change, unemployment change, gross metropolitan product and home price change. The top rated cities scored the highest when those factors were averaged together. Pittsburgh was the only other Pennsylvania city to be ranked among the top 40, but the commonwealth bucked the trend 〞 most of the strongest metros were in the Midwest. Metros that specialize in health care, higher education and banking fared best. ...

 

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/10/harrisburg_region_among_40_str.html

 

    .19  NOAA and Four States Form South Atlantic Ocean Alliance

Environment News Service - USA

State government representatives from the Southeast coastal region have formed a partnership with the federal agency responsible for oceans to better manage and protect ocean and coastal resources, ensure regional economic sustainability, and respond to disasters such as hurricanes. Representatives from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, and the states of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida announced their new partnership during the annual meeting of the Coastal States Organization [http://www.coastalstates.org/About-CSO/Background/10.aspx ] last week in Charleston. ...

 

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2009/2009-10-27-092.asp

 

    .20  Jindal, Gulf Coast governors team up in bid for aerospace project

Louisiana Politics & Government - LA, USA

Gov. Bobby Jindal has teamed up with his counterparts in Mississippi and Alabama to establish an organization called the Aerospace Alliance to advocate a bid for an aerial tanker plant in Mobile, Ala., and to promote aviation and space industry development in the Gulf Coast region. The new lobbying group is backing a bid for the Air Force mid-air refueling KC-X tanker project submitted jointly by Northrop Grumman and the European defense firm EADS, which would build the aircraft factory in Mobile, Ala., and create an estimated 48,000 direct and spin-off jobs.

 

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2009/10/jindal_gulf_coast_governors_te.html

 

    .21  Cooperation would work

Barre Montpelier Times Argus - Montpelier, VT, USA

At the Vermont Farmers' Forum for Dairy Farm Survival (Oct. 16), expert panelists explained that dairying would be profitable now if all dairy farmers cut their milk production by as little as three percent, whether by feeding their cows a bit less or culling a few, either of which would reduce their costs, adding to their profits as the price of raw milk rose. ... Winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Economics Elinor Ostrom's work has demonstrated that cooperation prevents the "tragedy of the commons," where none benefits because all competed to maximize theirs. ...

 

http://www.timesargus.com/article/20091026/OPINION02/910260307

 

    .22  Regional Center Partnership of Somerset County Web site offers regular updates

Scarlet Scuttlebutt - New Jersey, USA

The Regional Center Partnership of Somerset County Web site at www.regionalcenterpartnership.org

now makes available detailed reports on major initiatives of the Regional Center Partnership and affiliated organizations. Reports recently posted to the Web site include Bicycle/ Pedestrian/Greenways Systems Connection Plan, Route 202 Corridor Assessment & Multi-Mobility Plan and Fostering Growth in Emerging Industries. The Regional Center Web site provide user-friendly access to the mission, accomplishments and agenda of the Regional Center Partnership, the organization that serves as the local planning forum for the communities of Bridgewater, Raritan and Somerville. ...

 

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20091028/BUSINESS/910280304/-1/newsfront/Regional-Center-Partnership-of-Somerset-County-Web-site-offers-regular-updates

 

    .23  Incumbent Says His Work With the City Is Not Done Yet

The Ledger - Lakeland, FL, USA

Howard Wiggs wants just one more term on the Lakeland City Commission. ... Wiggs, 62, said he wants to implement and expand a plan that he says will keep a high level of city services during harsh budget times. "I want to increase volunteer programs because of the revenue shortfalls so that we still have lots of people helping the city and keeping services at an acceptable level," he said. ... He at times has been on the losing side of a 6-to-1 or 5-to-2 vote on an issue, including last spring when he opposed the decision of a majority of commissioners to withdraw support for state Sen. Paula Dockery's fight against CSX. ... "We had folks (commissioners) who in the name of unity and regionalism say, 'Let's don't make anybody mad, let's don't rock the boat,' and were willing to capitulate Lakeland's position," he said. ...

 

http://www.theledger.com/article/20091027/NEWS/910275030/-1/WIRE12?Title=Incumbent-Says-His-Work-With-the-City-Is-Not-Done-Yet

 

    .24  Williams receives Lakes Region Community Leadership Award

Laconia Citizen 每 Laconia, NH, USA

＃ second year that the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Lakes Region has teamed up with Leadership Lakes Region [ http://www.leadershiplakesregion.org/ ]  to offer an award to an individual who has made a significant impact in his/her community and who has contributed significantly to its quality of life in the Lakes Region. The Charitable Foundation and Leadership Lakes Region decided to offer this award in order to recognize the efforts of our community leaders who have gone above and beyond in creating a better community, and by doing so, hopefully encourage others to become involved. ＃

 

http://www.citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091027/GJBUSINESS02/710279992/-1/CITNEWS

 

    .25  BG Area Chamber of Commerce wins economic development award

Bowling Green Daily News - Bowling Green, KY, USA

The chamber won first place for its menu of services program, which helps ensure that every county in the region is served by either its own economic development professional or by the Bowling Green Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber unveiled the program in July 2008 after it recognized that counties that did not have economic development professionals were behind in terms of readiness for industry projects and economic growth. ※Our chamber staff works diligently with our regional partners to provide a top quality menu of services program because the chamber understands the value of the regional approach to economic development,§ ...

 

http://bgdailynews.com/articles/2009/10/27/features/features3.txt

 

    .26  A for buildings, F for urban community

Dallas Morning News - Dallas, TX, USA

The Financial Times' architecture reviewer weighs in on the new Arts District. He likes the buildings, but says they do nothing to create the urban community Dallas claims to want. Excerpt: Both the new Dallas buildings function well; they do what was asked of them and provide genuinely world-class facilities by star architects. The problem lies more with the conception of the Arts District. ... The Dallas Arts District will never be a part of a conventional city in the European sense: it is closer to the existential isolation of the convention centre or the starchitect-designed airport. It is both unique and unsettling, a glimpse of a future in which architecture and culture are imported to save a city from itself.

 

http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/10/a-for-buildings.html

 

    .27  America's Safest Cities

Forbes - USA

These metros have the lowest rates of violent crime, workplace deaths, fatal crashes and natural disasters. ...  Minneapolis tops our list of America's safest cities, and not just for its crime rate. In ranking the cities on our list, we looked at workplace fatalities, traffic-related deaths and natural disaster risk; the City of Lakes ranked in the top 10 of all four categories. It's also one of America's best places to live cheaply and offers easy access to some of the most scenic drives in the country. Full List: America's Safest Cities http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/26/safest-cities-ten-lifestyle-real-estate-metros-msa_chart.html

 

http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/26/safest-cities-ten-lifestyle-real-estate-metros-msa.html

 

    .28  Manufacturing expands in Central Atlantic region

Industrial Distribution - Waltham, MA, USA

Manufacturing activity in the central Atlantic region expanded for the sixth straight month but at a more moderate pace in October, according to the Richmond Fed's latest survey. All broad indicators-shipments, new orders and employment-continued to grow but at a rate below September's pace. ... All firms surveyed are located in the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and most of West Virginia.

 

http://www.inddist.com/article/366546-Manufacturing_expands_in_Central_Atlantic_region.php

 

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet   Contents

    .01  Australia, Japan pitch rival plans for new regional community

Radio Australia

As the ASEAN summit wrapped up on Sunday, Asian leaders heard competing plans from Australia and Japan for an EU-style economic and political bloc. Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has his grand vision for an Asia Pacific Community by 2020, but now there's a rival plan offered by Japan's new prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, for a so-called East Asian Community.

Presenter Sen Lam

Speaker: Malcolm Cook, Director of East Asia program at the Lowy Institute

COOK: Yes, there is one very large difference. The Australian proposal, the Asia-Pacific community focuses a lot of its attention on getting the US-China relationship right and embedding it within a larger regional setting. That was a key focus of Kevin Rudd's foreign affairs article, that was not actually published. If you read the Japanese prime minister's writings on his idea for East Asia Community, it is focusing on helping to get the Japan-China relationship right within a more narrow East Asian focus and it is still very unclear whether the United States has any formal role in Hatoyama's idea for East Asia Community and of course the United States is the largest power in the world, with about a quarter of the global economy.

LAM: So is there a dire need to alter existing arrangements, just to continue this dialogue with the United States?

...

 

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia/stories/200910/s2724160.htm

 

    .02  Lack of zoning, improper land use blamed for Cordillera tragedy

Manila Bulletin - Manila, Philippines

The Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) here blamed the lack of zoning and appropriate land use as the major causes of landslides in the different parts of the region which caused the loss of numerous lives and damage to billions of properties over the onslaught of several typhoons that visited the Cordillera. Because of such pressing concern, the RDC-CAR ordered an investigation on the issues on zoning in the formulation of the appropriate development plans for the Cordillera in the future. ...

 

http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/226542/lack-zoning-improper-land-use-blamed-cordillera-tragedy

 

    .03  Coalition crisis continues to reverberate

Winnipeg Free Press - Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA

... Canadians and their politicians cling to a "first-past-the-post" electoral system that rewards regionalism and sectionalism in an already dangerously regionalized nation. The system routinely elects "false" majority governments that command support from only a minority of Canadians. Russell's statistics tell the tale. Canada has had 14 "majority" governments out of 27 elected since 1921. Only three were genuine, that is, chosen by over 50 per cent of Canadians. Even given first past the post's tendency to reward regional concentrations of political support, fully 13 of Canada's 27 federal governments since 1921 have had to depend on one or more opposition parties -- usually briefly -- to stay in office. ...

 

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/coalition-crisis-continues-to-reverberate-66818472.html

 

    .04  Muhith urges swift activation of SAARC food bank

Bangladesh News 24 hours - Bangladesh

Finance minister A M A Muhith on Monday called for immediate activation of the SAARC food bank to guarantee food security in the region in view of the global food crisis. Muhith gave the call from a two-day symposium titled 'Food security: the role of the SAARC central banks' he inaugurated, organised by Bangladesh Bank. "Almost all global nations today face food insecurity in the face of climate change all over. "Poverty reduction programmes also suffer grievously due to the same menace and this reality presents the SAARC Food Bank as a necessity which, if rendered effective, may prove a great boon," said the minister. The food bank will act as a regional food security reserve for the SAARC member countries during normal time food shortages and emergencies. It will provide regional support to national food security efforts, foster inter-country partnerships and regional integration, and solve regional food shortages through collective action. The agreement to establish the food bank was adopted by the SAARC during its 14th summit in New Delhi in April 2007. A decision was taken in the 2005 SAARC summit held in Dhaka to implement the food bank, but to no avail. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh have endorsed the agreement.  ...

 

http://bdnews24.com/details.php?id=145625&cid=2

 

    .05  Japan, New Zealand Business Leaders To Further Economic Partnership

Voxy.co.nz

Leaders from prominent Japanese and New Zealand companies will meet alongside senior government officials and leading academics in Tokyo at the second Japan New Zealand Partnership Forum ... Mr Jacobi said the Forum would also consider how Japan and New Zealand can enhance their economic partnership to build a more prosperous region through expanded trade and investment. "With the new Japanese Government openly promoting the concept of an East Asian Community including New Zealand and an official process examining the basis of closer economic relations already underway, now is a good time to be in Tokyo" said Mr Jacobi."

 

http://www.voxy.co.nz/business/japan-new-zealand-business-leaders-further-economic-partnership/5/28681

 

    .06  Bye, Caricom & WI cricket

Trinidad & Tobago Express - Port of Spain, Trinidad

LET me declare my interest: I've long supported Caricom and West Indies cricket. But anyone can see the writing on the wall unless they're wilfully blind. First, Caricom. Caricom has exhausted itself. Caribbean regionalism is not so much in retreat as it is irrelevant. Caricom leaders have absolutely no interest in regional integration other than what petty benefits each can gouge out of it. Most of them, except for the cheapskates and freeloaders, are slowly realising that they get out less than they put in. Caricom is no longer a win-win situation, but a zero-sum game. ... The Caribbean people are far ahead of their political leadership. They have become globalised while the politicians can't even get regionalised. Investors and skilled workers no longer need the CSME. It's totally irrelevant. World events have simply overtaken Caricom. It's dead. The question is whether anyone will have the decency to bury the corpse. Regional institutions like the University of the West Indies will soon be able to decide their fate purely on educational and financial grounds without being encumbered by irrelevant objectives. ...

 

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_opinion?id=161549074

 

    .07  Laurier-based council funds research on governance over the Caribbean Sea

Exchange Morning Post - Canada

The Laurier-based Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) is funding a research project on sustainable governance over the Caribbean Sea with a $100,000 donation from the Arsenault Family Foundation. The Caribbean Sea is a distinct ecological feature of economic, social and environmental importance to the more than 20 countries of the Caribbean. ※This project is extremely important, not only for the people of the Caribbean, but for people grappling with the challenge of regional governance all over the world,§ said Dr. Patricia Goff, executive director of ACUNS and a Laurier political science professor. ※This is especially true where the environment is concerned because environmental challenges cannot be confined within national borders.§ ...

http://www.exchangemagazine.com/morningpost/2009/week43/Friday/102318.htm

 

    .08  Tribalism and regionalism

postzambia.com - Zambia

It is worrying to hear our leaders peddle politics of regionalism and hope to unite a nation. Time is now for us to say enough is enough to this type of archaic and dangerous politics of division because it will never build our nation. None of us chose to belong to the tribes that we belong to. How can anyone in their right senses use tribe as a tool to bring division by preaching tribalism and regionalism? There is only one Zambia and there is only one nation. Those that preach tribalism have no place in this society. We need politics that is issue-based and meritorious. ... 

 

http://www.postzambia.com/post-read_article.php?articleId=713

 

    .09  Rights body launched

Straits Times - Singapore

ASEAN launched a regional human rights commission on Friday, signalling a strong intent towards promoting and protecting human rights in the region, as its leaders gathered in Cha-am for the grouping's 15th summit. ＃ Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, the current Asean chair, described the commission as ※another important milestone in Asean's dynamic regionalism§ and said it has placed human rights at the centre of Asean's agenda. But critics have derided the AICHR over its lack of sanction powers against rights abusers and its adherence to Asean's traditional principle of non-interference, ...

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/SE%2BAsia/Story/STIStory_446082.html

 

    .10  Exploitation of unstable regions fuelling Europe's drug problem

Deutsche Welle - Germany

New figures on the state of the drugs problem in Europe will be released by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) in the first week of November. The figures, which in recent years have seen stabilization in addiction figures and even reversal of some drug trends, are likely to be impacted by increasingly fluid security situations around the world. ... The flow of cocaine - the favorite narcotic among Europe's 15-34 year olds - is also being aided by instability in transit regions which smoothes its progress to European users. UN figures show that in the last two years, around 40 tons of cocaine has been entering Europe annually through Western Africa. ... "South American cartels are very flexible and have taken advantage of African hubs to target Europe as an alternative market to the US. The bulk now goes to Spain and Italy, Europe's main entry points for cocaine, and huge increases of cocaine uses have been recorded in both countries over the past 10 years." ...

 

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4825991,00.html?maca=en-en_nr-1893-xml-atom

 

    .11  [Silver Prize] Innovative Thinker in Modern History

Korea Times 每 Seoul, South Korea

... Ahn defied the existing extremist views and adopted a more moderate and innovative perspective of combining nationalism with regionalism to fight off Western imperialism. This is in agreement with a recent thought in international relations that a geographical region takes precedence over a single nation-state but is subordinate to the world as a whole. Therefore, collective action across East Asia can balance powers vis-a-vis the West. The reality of the 21st century confirms the validity of this thought. The most representative case of regionalism, the European Union (EU), has a single market and a common currency. ... 

 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/10/113_54185.html

 

    .12  Academe says MEDA to go beyond regionalism, should strengthen research

Philippine Information Agency - Manila, Philippines

The academic sector in Mindanao pushes for the creation of an agency that has a vision broader than the regional perspective and can improve the link between development and peace in the island-region. "We need an institution that has a vision and a mandate broader than the tribal divisions within Mindanao and more focused than national, helicopter planning ＃ an institution bigger than the regional, ethnic, geographical divisions," said Fr. Albert Alejo, of Ateneo de Davao University's Mindanawon Initiatives for Cultural Dialogue. ... Alejo said that pushing for Mindanao-specific issues and concerns has remained a problem especially that the national perspective is different. ...

 

http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=12&fi=p091021.htm&no=A0

 

    .13  Ethno-nationalism: theory and practice

The Hindu - India

The reorganisation of States on a linguistic basis took the edge off strident regional assertions. However, regionalism has since taken other, more complicated, forms 〞 some deriving and, in turn, contributing to other ideological and theoretical formulations. In Assam and its environs, regionalism as an idea almost inevitably evolved into demands for political autonomy and, in course of time, more militant forms of nationalist assertion. The reasons for such evolution are rooted in both geography and history. ...

 

http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article39650.ece?homepage=true

 

    .14  Vojvodina politician "ready to pay price"

B92 - Beograd, Serbia

Director of the Center for Regionalism Aleksandar Popov was also present at the forum where he was heard saying that centralism ※never left the heads§ of the political elite in Serbia. ※Why don＊t they give Vojvodina essential autonomy so the Kosovo Albanians could see what they were missing?§ Popov asked. ...

 

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=10&dd=27&nav_id=62625

 

    .15  Russia Needs a Nationalities Ministry to Prevent Assimilation, Eurasian Group Says

Georgian Daily - Tiblisi, Georgia

In order to stop the nations of Russia from ※disappearing quietly and without notice,§ the Russian section of the International Movement for the Defense of the Rights of Peoples has called for the creation of an ombudsman to defend these groups and also the re-establishment of a ministry for nationality affairs.  ... The Volgograd session focused on two other issues 每 the nature of Eurasianism in Russia today (Zarifullin was the leader of the Eurasian Union of Youth) and the meaning of ※cultural regionalism§ in Russia, a phenomenon in which ethnic communities share some elements at the regional level while retaining their clearly defined identities. ...

 

http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15440&Itemid=72

 

    .16  Conseil R谷gional de Basse-Normandie Deploys IPv6-Ready Collaboration Technologies to Simplify IT Infrastructure, Increase Operational Efficiency and Stimulate Innovation

EarthTimes.org

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) today announced that the Conseil R谷gional de Basse-Normandie (CRBN) has deployed Cisco® Unified Communications Manager, running the new version of Internet Protocol (IPv6), to simplify its communications infrastructure. The deployments will facilitate the implementation of new IPv6-based collaboration applications and services and help improve operational efficiency. The new system will operate with the council's VIKMAN research and education network, which uses the IPv6 protocol to provide a high-speed Internet connection between all of the region's research and training sites. CRBN is one of the first councils to deploy the latest version of Cisco Unified Communications Manager, running IPv6.

...

La R谷gion Basse-Normandie: http://www.cr-basse-normandie.fr/ 

 

Google translation to English of La R谷gion Basse-Normandie:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.cr-basse-normandie.fr/&ei=e-DoSsjrGom9lAfss4WiDQ&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBIQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DConseil%2BR%25C3%25A9gional%2Bde%2BBasse-Normandie%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26rlz%3D1B3GGGL_enUS319US319

 

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/conseil-r233gional-de-basse-normandie-deploys,1017348.shtml

 

    .17  New Study Show Rise of Regional Marketing

Adoimagazine.com - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

From an agency point of view this draws into question the role and need for regional agency teams and processes. Regional marketers spend three times more time working with their regional agency teams -  usually based in Hong Kong or Singapore - compared to local agency teams on the ground, so those networks with great internal processes, knowledge banks, management of internal conflict and communication fare much better in servicing the needs of regional business and providing better client satisfaction. ...

 

http://www.adoimagazine.com/newhome/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5062:new-study-show-rise-of-regional-marketing&catid=1:breaking-news&Itemid=2

 

    .18  Calls for regional development blueprint

ABC Regional Online - Australia

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy has called for the drafting of a blueprint to guide development in regional Western Australia. The chamber's president, Kim Horne, called for the blueprint at the Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia forum in Kalgoorlie-Boulder yesterday. Mr Horne says the State Government should set up a task force to look at which regional centres need attention over the next 20 years. "We should all then commit to putting our resources and facilities there and then the industry will be very happy to use those facilities for our people into the future," he said. "If we do not adopt that sort of plan, I think it will remain very ad-hoc and therefore inefficient." ...

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/10/28/2726496.htm?site=southwestwa

 

    .19  Promulgation of the outcome of the 'Planning Study on the Co-ordinated Development of the Greater Pearl River Delta Townships'

7thSpace Interactive (press release)

The Development Bureau and Planning Department, today (October 28), held a joint seminar in Macao with Guangdong Provincial Department of Construction and the Secretariat for Transport and Public Works of Macao for the promulgation of the outcome of the "Planning Study on the Coordinated Development of the Greater Pearl River Delta Townships". ... A spokesman of Planning Department said, "The GPRD Study is the first strategic planning study undertaken jointly by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The objective of the study is to formulate a regional development strategy by taking a forward-looking perspective to consider the opportunities and constraints of the Greater Pearl River Delta region under the 'One Country, Two Systems' framework. ...

 

http://7thspace.com/headlines/323753/promulgation_of_the_outcome_of_the_planning_study_on_the_co_ordinated_development_of_the_greater_pearl_river_delta_townships.html

 

    .20  N. Ireland Department for Regional Development Launches Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

eGov monitor - London, UK

Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy today pledged his Department's commitment to helping staff make a personal contribution to the community. The Minister was speaking as he launched the policy on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which outlines initiatives in the areas of community engagement, environment sustainability, responsible procurement and the workplace. The Minister said: ※I am very keen to support Department for Regional Development (DRD) staff to make a personal contribution to the community. One of the ways we can achieve this is through involvement with Business in the Community, which allows us to participate in schemes such as Time to Read and Opportunity Now. ...

 

http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/30117

 

    .21  Brainstorming on Omaheke regional development

New Era - Namibia

Young professionals from Omaheke Region have plans to jolt their fellow residents＊ minds to identify investment and business opportunities worth exploring within the region. They intend to do this through an economic conference in Gobabis. They also believe that young professionals of other regions could likewise use the idea in their regions, and subsequently bring about a reduction in rural-urban immigration. ... Another objective of the conference is to place the region ahead of Government development plans. Among the many development projects that Government has planned for Gobabis, for instance, is the dry port. ...

 

http://www.newera.com.na/article.php?articleid=7887

 

    .22  Vancouver area Evergreen rapid transit line gets green light

Journal of Commerce - Burnaby, BC, CA

The $1.4 billion Evergreen Line project will connect Coquitlam to Vancouver via Port Moody and Burnaby. Construction of the 11 kilometre line is expected to begin in late 2010 and be completed in 2014. The federal and provincial governments have contributed about $800 million. However, TransLink, the regional transportation authority, is having difficulty finding the funds to maintain and expand transit services over the next 10 years. Despite the bookkeeping shortfall, it＊s full steam ahead on the project. ...

 

http://www.journalofcommerce.com/article/id35899

 

    .23  University of Liverpool launches Confucius Institute

The FINANCIAL - Finchannel.com

The University of Liverpool is to launch a Confucius Institute that will teach Chinese and promote understanding of Chinese culture. The Institute 每 one of only 12 in the UK 每 will act as a hub for the Liverpool city region＊s growing relationships with China, working closely with local schools, businesses and the community. Founded on the University＊s existing base of Chinese language teaching, the Institute will be based in the University＊s Management School, and will benefit from a dedicated resource area 每 including a library 每 in the University＊s Centre for Lifelong Learning. ＃

 

http://finchannel.com/Main_News/B_Schools/50206_University_of_Liverpool_launches_Confucius_Institute/

 

    .24  Good case for a regional mayor

Yorkshire Evening Post - Yorkshire, UK

THERE is indeed a healthy debate in the Conservative Party about the potential value of elected mayors. Nationally there are some good examples, and others that are less encouraging. My purely personal view is that we should be seeking an elected mayor for the Leeds City Region 每 the whole of West Yorkshire and a little beyond it 每 just as the Mayor of London serves an area with many separate local authorities. In Britain the prosperity gap between the national capital and the regions is greater than in any other developed country. A single town or city is too small for this challenge, and the Yorkshire and Humber region is too large and too diverse. A Boris Johnson figure speaking up for the city region, and attracting public and private investment, could make a difference 每 if the right person could be found. hat approach would fit well with Coun Andrew Carter's reported support for shared back-up services at the city region level. ...

 

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/letters-to-the-editor/Good-case-for-a-regional.5759620.jp

 

    .25  West Yorkshire Police may miss regional unit deadline

Yorkshire Evening Post - Yorkshire, UK

 ... West Yorkshire force is investigating setting up an organised crime unit in conjunction with forces in North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside. Whitehall chiefs are demanding that police forces across the country have "specialist operational ability to support their regional intelligence unit" by early next year. But a meeting of the West Yorkshire force's specialist policing bosses heard the four forces may struggle to meet the Government's deadline. ... "Aside from this, we are one of four regions who do not have a regional operational capability and consequently could be accused of being a region failing to properly equip itself against the threat of organised criminality to address serious organised crime." ...

 

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/West-Yorkshire-Police-may-miss.5765988.jp

 

    .26  EuroCloud Gathers Europe's First Ever SaaS and Cloud Services Community

ebizQ -  New Rochelle, NY

EuroCloud offers the opportunity for cloud players to create a regional community or get involved in existing EuroCloud communities. Candidates can create a new local organisation under the EuroCloud brand. Any company worldwide that has operations in Europe and a strong interest in SaaS and cloud services can apply and be a player in one or all local EuroCloud communities.

 

http://www.ebizq.net/news/11826.html?grss

 

    .27  Most People Use the Web to Talk to People Nearby

Fast Company - USA

Ever use email to talk to the person sitting one office down? You're not alone. Most people use the Web to talking to people within their own city, not far-flung contacts, according to a new study by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The study says that while the Web has developed a reputation as a tool for geo-commerce and penpalling, the main utility has been to increase communications hyper-locally. In fact, the abstract says, "the volume of electronic communications is inversely proportional to geographic distance." The finding puts a new spin on Stanley Milgram's controversial 1963 hypothesis that every American is connected by roughly six mutual acquaintances. Apparently, our most-used connections--even aided by Facebook and all our other techno-tools--still have more to do with geographic distance than personality, work, politics or other uniting factors. ...

 

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/chris-dannen/techwatch/most-people-use-web-talk-people-nearby-study-says?partner=homepage_newsletter

 

   28  Google Rides Collaboration Wave

Small Business Computing

Collaborating with co-workers can be challenging enough when you＊re all in the same office, but even more so when you＊re scattered across the state, the country or the globe. Troy Dreier at Intranetjournal.com takes a look at Wave, a collaboration application and one of the latest innovations from the folks at Google.

 

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.com/news/article.php/3845921

 

 

12. Blogging about Regional Communities   Contents

    .01  Where Things Are Made

AFL-CIO Now Blog

To our nation＊s peril, the free trade orthodoxy continues to ignore a fundamental economic fact: It matters where things are made. Over the past decade, the U.S. industrial base has suffered an unprecedented decline. The loss of more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and the closure of over 50,000 manufacturing facilities have undermined our nation＊s technical capacity to innovate and to make things, while at the same time decimating our middle class.  ... Over the next decade our nation is poised to invest $2 trillion in health care, infrastructure and a greener economy. The nation must take tough and strategic steps to create good jobs, fix our trade and tax laws and rebuild our productive capacity. Governments must restructure and regulate financial systems so that long-term investment is rewarded and gambling is not subsidized. We must use our financial resources to develop and deploy domestically-produced technology and, if there is better technology overseas, use our financial leverage to get those production systems located here. We must think strategically and regionally about industry development so we utilize existing pools of displaced skilled workers, engineering talent and idled plants. And, finally, we must never again lose sight of the fact that it matters where things are made.

 

http://blog.aflcio.org/2009/10/28/where-things-are-made/

 

    .02  Regional Radio, Where Art Thou?

Daily Yonder - Keep it Rural

A few weeks ago I took a trip across six southern states in as many days. I logged 2,000 miles alone in my rental car, just me and the FM radio. Where I come from in Wyoming, one can hit a car radio＊s Seek button and enter a trance as the digital numbers fly from 88 to 107 without alighting on any sonic islands. Knowing I would need to rely on barrels of Diet Coke and constant radio chatter to keep alert on this long trip, I decided this was an opportunity: to discover if regionalism were still alive in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Texas or Arkansas, at least on the airwaves. Working from left to right on the dial, as the days rolled by I noticed the lower numbered stations tended to be public and community radio stations. ...

 

http://www.dailyyonder.com/regional-radio-where-art-thou/2009/10/23/2413

 

    .03  Community newspapers thrive by offering hyperlocal content

Shaping the Future of the Newspaper Blog

"Our franchise is local information," President and CEO Thomas Shaw was quoted as saying on Nightly Business Report. "Everything else in the electronic age is world news, national news, even regional news has become a commodity and people can get it just about anywhere. But people cannot get the information we provide our community anywhere but from us."

In Europe, a Scottish newspaper recently taken over by its staff has enjoyed similar success with the same recipe.  ...

 

http://www.sfnblog.com/launches_and_closures/2009/10/community_newspapers_expand_by_offering.php

 

    .04  Partnerships Create Wine Incubator for @IdahoWines

IdahoFoodies

Love when various groups come together for a greater good 每 and for the good of all of us who love wine and Idaho＊s burgeoning industry! In this case 每 federal, state, regional and community groups pulling together to create a Winery Incubator in Caldwell. Just got the below information courtesy of Congressman Minnick's office - an event to showcase the Incubator and the various roles each organization played to bring it together. ...

 

http://idahofoodies.posterous.com/partnerships-create-wine-incubator-for-idahow

 

    .05  DMOZ: A Solid Directory Or The Great Pumpkin Of Search?

search engine land

When I heard Bob make this comment: ※the lion＊s share of agency sites are directed and listed in the Regional area of the site, which is where a lot of the editors in this area are spending their time and effort.§ The word ※regional§ caught my ear. I＊ve been following Tim Armstrong since he came on board as AOL＊s CEO and understand he (and now AOL) have a strong interest in Patch.com. It＊s interesting to note Patch.com is a regional, community specific platform showing news and events from specific cities and towns. Seeding Patch.com with regional results from a respected directory would make a lot of sense, so if you＊re bricks and mortar based, now might be a good time to submit your business to DMOZ.

 

http://searchengineland.com/dmoz-a-solid-directory-or-the-great-pumpkin-of-search-28463O

 

    .06  What Comes After The Cloud?

ElasticVapor-Life in the Cloud

... there is a disconnect between the highly connected western world and highly socially interconnected emerging economies. In looking at the opportunities for technology in the coming decades and beyond, stop focusing on the specific features & functions within technology. Look to the opportunities for social change on an individual basis. The enablement of those who previously were not enabled. I believe that the biggest opportunities will be for enabling those with the least. So my prediction is simple, Want to Get Rich? Sell to the Poor. Places like Brazil, China, India and Malaysia are in the midst of rapid and amazing transformations. These transformations are being brought about by access to technology that was previously unavailable. Access to information and affordable technology will be at the heart of this transformation. Feed this hunger and you will empower the people within these economies. Rather then focus on globalizaton, focus on regionalization. Focus on how technology will effect that single human being. ...

 

http://www.elasticvapor.com/2009/10/what-comes-after-cloud.html

 

 

13. Announcements and Regional Links.   Contents

    .01  Core Cities Summit 2009 - 3rd & 4th November, BT Conference Centre, ACC Liverpool, United Kingdom

The Core Cities Group is a network of England's major regional cities: Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield. They form the economic and urban cores of wider surrounding territories, the city regions. The Core Cities work in partnership to enable each City to enhance their economic performance and make real advances within a highly competitive international market, increasing their comparative standing and - in different ways - securing positive identities as places to live, work, visit and do business.

The Core Cities Group is a strong cross-city and cross-party collaboration with a track record of more than 10 years. Leadership across the Cities takes in all three major political parties. It is a self-selected and self funded group. The work of the Core Cities Group has demonstrated the critical economic role of these Cities . They are major centres of business and wealth creation that in turn power the economy of the surrounding region. They sit at the heart of travel networks, surrounded by towns and rural areas that are economically dependant on each other and across which people travel to and from work; functional economic areas that have developed city region partnerships to work across boundaries.

http://www.corecities.com/

 

   .02  Open Days: European Week of Regions and Cities 每 Regional Studies Association

 2009 Open Days presentations for Regional responses to the global economic crisis and Understanding and promoting territorial cohesion - addressing the challenges of the Green Paper plus video clips.

http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/2009/oct-opendays-papers.asp

 

   .03  Governing The Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action - CoCo The Cooperation Commons

Summary of: Governing The Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action 每 Ostrom, Elinor

    Any group that attempts to manage a common resource (e.g., aquifers, judicial systems, pastures) for optimal sustainable production must solve a set of problems in order to create institutions for collective action; there is some evidence that following a small set of design principles in creating these institutions can overcome these problems.

http://www.cooperationcommons.com/node/361

 

2009 Nobel Prize for Economics Prof. Elinor Ostrom  http://www.iss.nl/About-ISS/History/Elinor-Ostrom and http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/2009/index.html  

 

    .04  ※Green§ Policy and Regional Development - EMSI - economicmodeling.com

Over the past year, EMSI has been fielding questions from local planners (workforce boards, community colleges, and economic developers) on how to look at green jobs, particularly at the regional level. To respond, we＊ve been doing our best to link labor market information (LMI) to potential green sectors (e.g., renewable energy, energy efficiency, green construction, etc.) so people can gain an understanding of trends, earnings, education levels, and even things like skills associated with ※green occupation clusters§ in their own economies. In doing so, we have made three general observations:

   1. Many of these jobs are going to fall within the construction and manufacturing sectors (e.g., welders, roofers, HVAC installers, etc.),

   2. Based on a lack of understanding, concrete information, and large scale demand, ※green jobs§ can be a very difficult development mission for local planners, and

   3. It is vital to speak ※from the data§ as much as possible for the basic reason that if plans are being made on tenuous assumptions that cannot be supported, real people＊s lives, careers, and families could be harmed.

 

Our purpose in this piece is to examine these observations at a little more length〞especially with regard to regional economic and workforce development.  ... 

 

http://www.economicmodeling.com/resources/2080_%E2%80%9Cgreen%E2%80%9D-policy-and-regional-development/

 

    05.  Stewart Brand: Rethinking Green - a discussion of his book: "Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto" - may begin at "02. Introduction"

FORA.TV

 

... power is shifting to the developing world, where 5 out of 6 people live, where the bulk of humanity is getting out of poverty by moving to cities and creating their own jobs and communities (slums, for now). He noted that history has always been driven by the world's largest cities, and these years they are places like Mumbai, Lagos, Dhaka, Sao Paulo, Karachi, and Mexico City, which are growing 3 times faster and 9 times bigger than cities in the currently developed world ever did. The people in those cities are unstoppably moving up the "energy ladder" to high quality grid electricity and up the "food ladder" toward better nutrition, including meat. The second dominant global fact is climate change. Brand emphasized that climate is a severely nonlinear system packed with tipping points and positive feedbacks such as the unpredicted rapid melting of Arctic ice.

 

http://fora.tv/2009/10/09/Stewart_Brand_Rethinking_Green#fullprogram

 

    .06 Trendsmap - Real-Time Local Twitter Trends

Trendsmap.com is a real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. See what the global, collective mass of humanity are discussing right now. To get started, move/zoom around the map and click on topics for additional information. To see an overview of Trendsmaps' features, view the Screencast. See some recent events as they unfolded on Trendsmap, on the Events page. We've just launched! Please let us know if you discover any bugs or have any suggestions. Currently only English language tweets are used by Trendsmap, but we are in the process of adding more. Trendsmap is the loving work of Stateless Systems, creators of RetailMeNot amongst other things. This remarkable vision couldn't exist without our extraordinary software engineers, Twitter's open data policy, Google Maps, What The Trend and anyone who ever tweets.

 

http://trendsmap.com/

 

    .07  Looking ahead: scenarios 每 Shell Energy Scenarios to 2050

Shell uses scenarios to explore the future. Our scenarios are not mechanical forecasts. They recognise that people hold beliefs and make choices that can lead down different paths. They reveal different possible futures that are plausible and challenging. Our latest energy scenarios look at the world in the next half century, linking the uncertainties we hold about the future to the decisions we must make today.  

'Scenarios: An Explorer＊s Guide' is written for people who would like to build and use scenarios, and also for those who want to enhance their scenario thinking skills. We visualise our audience as people who are curious by nature, who want to make a difference, and who are highly motivated to acquire a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.

 

http://www.shell.com/home/content/aboutshell/our_strategy/shell_global_scenarios/dir_global_scenarios_07112006.html

 

14. Financial Crisis.   Contents

    .01  David Cameron in Conversation with Nassim Taleb 每 FORA.TV

Nassim Taleb is the best-selling author of Fooled By Randomness and The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. So called 'Black Swan Events' are climactic, random and hard-to-predict events that have been entirely unexpected, and often hitherto perceived to be impossible.

At this breakfast event chaired by Danny Finkelstein, Comment Editor of the Times, Nassim Taleb explains the relevance of his ideas to the economic crisis, and argue for measures to create a more Black Swan-robust society. David Cameron responds and takes part in a discussion with the audience.

http://fora.tv/2009/08/18/David_Cameron_in_Conversation_with_Nassim_Taleb#fullprogram

 

    .02  What In The World Is Going On? -Australian Broadcasting Corporation - FORA.TV

With a new administration in the US government, and a global financial crisis, where do we stand now? Robin Niblett is director of the UK's prestigious Chatham House, arguably the world's foremost international affairs think tank.

Chatham House (the Royal Institute of International Affairs) is concerned with global security, prosperity, and is a source of independent analysis and ideas for decision makers in government and the private sector. Professor Stephen King and The Age's Daniel Flitton respond to Robin Niblett's speech and The Hon Michael MacKellar chair's the discussion.

http://fora.tv/2009/08/23/What_In_The_World_Is_Going_On#fullprogram

 

15. Custom search: region, regions, regional communities    Contents

To search on topics like those in Regional Community Development News use this custom search engine which utilizes over 2000 regional related sites.

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=000551187207053117963:m1gvkhigkeo&hl=en

     To search previous issues since 2003 go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

For the Blog and RSS feed go to: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

To join Regional Community Networkers and get a free subscription use this email link 每 no additional information required:  regions_work-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For the Google Groups version go to:

http://groups.google.com/group/regional-community-development-news

Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?

Please email the editor: Tom.Christoffel@...

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP - http://www.regional-communities.com/

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Regional Community Development News – October 14, 2009 [regions_work]

 

A compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Contents

Top Regional Community stories … 1. – 9.

U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State – news articles …10.01 - .17

Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet … 11.01 - .10

Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .02

Announcements and Regional Links … 13.01 - .02

Financial Crisis …14.01 - .02

Custom search: region, regions, regional communities … 15.

_________________________________________________________________________

Top Regional Community stories

� 1. Counties share $700K in federal stimulus funds - Rutland Herald – Rutland, VT, USA

Four southern Vermont counties will receive nearly $700,000 in economic stimulus money to promote energy efficiency.

Independent Sen. Bernard Sanders, who heads the Senate Environment Committee's Green Jobs and New Economy Subcommittee, authored legislation that established the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant program.

"The block grant program recognizes the importance of local efforts to create good-paying jobs in developing sustainable energy and promoting energy efficiency," Sanders said. "What I particularly like about this approach is that it relies on local initiatives and grassroots participation."

The grants were designated for county governments and Vermont, which does not have county government, was initially ineligible for the money. Sanders, along with Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy and Democratic Rep. Peter Welch, appealed to the Department of Energy to create county equivalent governing bodies, which opened the door for regional planning commissions to apply for the money.

"We had great support from all three offices in our federal delegation," said James Matteau, executive director of the Windham Regional Commission [ http://www.rpc.windham.vt.us/ ], which will receive $130,800 in stimulus money.

Peter Gregory, executive director of the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Planning Commission [ http://www.trorc.org/� ] in Woodstock, said his organization would use the $193,300 it is sharing with the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission to perform energy audits of municipal buildings and provide money for retrofit work.

The Addison County Regional Planning Commission [ http://www.acrpc.org/ ]� will also use some of its $153,700 for energy audits of as many as 30 municipal buildings, said executive director Adam Lougee, …

The grants hopefully will help the planning commissions to create programs that are self-sustaining, Gregory said.

"Although this is stimulus money and it will end at some point, we are trying to establish a program that will outlive its funding source," Gregory said.

The Rutland Regional Planning Commission [ http://www.rutlandrpc.org/ ] will receive $189,700

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20091014/NEWS02/910140340/1003/NEWS02

�

� 2. Eros Triumphs…At Least in Some Places, Mapping Natural Population Increases - New Geography

As with other advanced capitalist societies, the US population is aging. About 30 percent of US counties experienced natural decrease – more deaths than births – in the 2000-2007 period.

Nevertheless, the most exceptional feature of the United States remains its unusually high level of natural increase, and significant degree of population growth. This is often attributed to the high level of immigration, especially from Mexico, illegal as well as legal, and their high fertility. This process is indeed critical, even though most of the migration is in fact legal, and the share from Mexico is not as high as commonly perceived. Also most of the Hispanic population in the United States is native, not immigrant.

Perhaps a more important feature of US society contributing to a smaller decline in fertility than in most other advanced countries is the extraordinary cultural traditionalism of perhaps half the American population. This is reflected in the so-called “culture wars”: a more educated modernism, pejoratively dubbed as “secular humanist,” versus a more traditional, religion-observing “moral majority.”

Conservatives campaign against abortion and even contraception, and maintain an amazingly high level of religiosity and skepticism of science, creating a climate favorable to a level of fertility above replacement levels (2.1 per female). The super pro-child Mormon Church alone claims millions of members, and evangelical groups boast even more. This creates a fascinating, future-influencing tension between a younger-growing, more educated population choosing lower fertility on average, and a more traditional population more successful at reproducing themselves!

Natural increase, then, can be expected in the following kinds of areas. …

Geography of Natural Increase

Figure 1 maps natural increase by five levels, …

Map 2 sorts counties according to in or out migration, population gain or loss, and the role of natural increase versus net in-migration. … border region counties …

http://www.newgeography.com/content/001090-eros-triumphs…at-least-some-places-mapping-natural-population-increases

 

� 3. Globalization, but also regionalization - AlArabiya.net

In this era of globalization, countries do still pay a great deal of attention to matters of national interest and concern. Against the belief of some, globalization does not erode or diminish the role of nation states, it, in many ways, augments and fosters it.

But countries should be paying much attention to globalization, as it has become a reality and active engagement with it is a must.

" In the Middle East, for example, collaboration has been either minimal or not up to expectations. Borders and many old-fashioned regulations, procedures, attitudes, prejudices and biases greatly hinder (at times totally obstruct) not just the flow of persons and goods, but also basic levels of coordination and cooperation, and implementation of good ideas "

Then there are many who stress the importance of engaging at both national and global levels. But few are talking about another important level of engagement: regional.

Countries are often clustered in regions. This is why one talks, for example, about the Arab world, Southeast Asia, Central America, the Middle East, etc. As such, matters concerning regions should receive much attention.

Some regions have been paying good (at time excellent) attention to their affairs, coordinating matters of mutual concern skillfully and efficiently. Many examples can be cited from Europe, Southeast Asia and North and South America to illustrate models of good regional cooperation.

Other regions have not witnessed much cooperation among countries making them up.

In the Middle East, for example, collaboration has been either minimal or not up to expectations. Borders and many old-fashioned regulations, procedures, attitudes, prejudices and biases greatly hinder (at times totally obstruct) not just the flow of persons and goods, but also basic levels of coordination and cooperation, and implementation of good ideas. …

http://www.alarabiya.net/views/2009/10/09/87460.html

 

� 4. Logistics dream: Chamber wants to remake region's roads, rail, airports into global hub -Crain's Detroit Business - MI, USA

Three hundred years ago, the Detroit region was a thriving trading post of fur trappers and frontier settlers, a strategic gateway into the virgin American interior and worthy of geopolitical maneuvering by the great powers of the day.

Now, the Detroit Regional Chamber wants to remake the region into a modern inland air-sea-rail-ground port worthy of its colonial history through an economic development and jobs-creation initiative designed to take advantage of U.S. logistics spending forecasted to grow to $14 trillion from $4 trillion now.

To do so will require money, time, patience and cooperation.

For starters, the chamber's effort to create a global logistics hub out of Detroit and surrounding metro areas — known as Translinked — needs $1.5 million to lay a foundation by the end of next year.

The chamber has applied for government grants and private funding and expects to know in coming months if it will get the money, said Melissa Roy, the chamber's senior director of government relations and the point person on the Translinked effort.

Answering those questions together is important before we embark on a regional governance model or plan,” Roy said. “It is a challenge.

...

“It's often difficult to get the region on the same page for anything,” Roy said.

Besides the regional and state political leadership, the chamber is targeting entities such as port authorities, economic development corporations, managers of transportation systems and private industry.

…

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20091013/EMAIL01/310139998#

�

� 5. Officials sidetrack county's rail plans - SignOnSanDiego.com - CA, USA

The scenic railway that threads along San Diego County's coast has been in need of expansion and renovation for years.

So when the federal government recently launched its economic stimulus program, San Diego's regional planning agency sought $377 million to pay for improvements, including laying new track and replacing creaky bridges.

Most of the request never made it to Washington.

Instead, state officials decided to seek rail stimulus money for a single big-ticket project: a bullet train that doesn't include San Diego in its initial development.

Critics argue that the region — part of the second-busiest rail corridor in the nation — was robbed of a chance to move ahead with a series of shovel-ready improvements so the state could seek money for a project that's fatally flawed.

To Jim Mills, the former state senator who helped shape San Diego's modern-day rail system, the request shows misplaced priorities.

�“This was a good opportunity to improve existing rail service,” said Mills, known as the father of the San Diego Trolley. “San Diego County got shortchanged.”

San Diegan Lynn Schenk, a California High-Speed Rail Authority board member, said the rail system will ultimately bring huge benefits to the region, including thousands of construction jobs as well as congestion relief.

Although not the first phase of the project, construction of a Riverside-to-San Diego leg could begin by 2014, with completion by 2022, Schenk said.

…

Schenk and others say the coastal railway is a worthy candidate for other sources of government money, including state transportation bonds.

The San Diego Association of Governments, the region's planning agency, identified the $377 million in rail improvements between San Clemente and downtown San Diego.

…

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/oct/14/1n14train183934/?metro&zIndex=182205

�

� 6. White House on board to fix Detroit's bus mess – Detroit Free Press - Detroit, MI, USA

Federal officials are coming soon to figure out what can be done to help Detroit's struggling bus system, the Obama administration's top transportation official said Tuesday.

"It's the most common thing I've heard," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday, after a two-day visit to Detroit. "We need to figure out what they need. Is it more money, more equipment?"

The city -- facing a budget deficit -- has cut bus routes and 113 jobs in the Detroit Department of Transportation, leaving some bus riders stranded. …

Ed Cardenas, spokesman for Mayor Dave Bing, said the city looks forward to working with the Obama administration, "and we appreciate the offer of support."

Transit is going to be a federal priority as President Barack Obama pushes for pedestrain-friendly communities.

"One of the most critical aspects that we'll be looking at is there has to be a regional collaboration," he said. "There isn't enough money to do these things single-handedly."

In the late 1970s, the region walked away from $600 million in federal money to help build a light-rail system from downtown Detroit to Oakland and Macomb counties because city and suburban officials couldn't agree. In 2002, Gov. John Engler vetoed a bill that would have created a regional transportation authority.

"You all have to get your act together on this. It's not that complicated," LaHood said.

Metro Detroit leaders have agreed on a master plan, but they still must get the Legislature to create a regional transit authority, …

http://www.freep.com/article/20091014/NEWS06/910140304/1320/White-House-on-board-to-fix-Detroit-s-bus-mess

 

� 7. Federally funded regional consortium to test ways to improve education - The Kansas City Star – Kansas City, MO, USA

With federal dollars flying at education at the speed of a national emergency, the Obama administration would like to know the money is fueling ideas that work.

Answers to that billion-dollar question soon may come from Kansas City.

Five universities from Kansas and Missouri are teaming up with at least 32 area school districts, plus Catholic schools and charter schools, to create an education research laboratory that is garnering national attention.

“We are at a real crucial time in public education,” John Q. Easton, a Department of Education administrator, recently told a group of educators and researchers in Kansas City.

Easton spoke of the burden weighing on himself and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

“We’re spending billions of dollars,” Easton said. “And he (Duncan) said we don’t want to wait to find out five or six years down the road what ideas are successful and what aren’t.”

Kansas City is an unlikely — but potentially effective — source for quick answers.

The region is unlikely because education data are splintered between two state systems and across a diverse field of small to medium-size school districts.

Only a few of the larger Johnson County districts serve more than 20,000 students. Kansas and Missouri also use different performance tests that resist comparisons across the state line.

All of that makes it hard to amass the kind of usable data that have marked a successful research collaboration between Chicago-area universities and the 400,000-student Chicago public schools.

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/1503284.html

 

� 8. Upcoming conference will focus on regional development - Times-West Virginian - Fairmont, WV, USA

The Regional Research Institute at West Virginia University and the Economic Development Administration are coming together to focus on regional development during an upcoming conference.

Randall Jackson is director of the WVU Regional Research Institute and also a professor in the university’s geology and geography department. The RRI, founded in 1965, focuses on regional economic development research.

“Our mission over all of those years has centered on the study of regional economic development with a focus on lagging regions,” he said. “Our research is not limited just to West Virginia or the Appalachian region, (but) we obviously take special interest in research that has application to our own region.”

…

As a public service, the institute publishes the Web Book of Regional Science [http://www.rri.wvu.edu/regscweb.htm],� which is a fairly extensive collection of reference materials that instructors around the globe use for course materials and that professionals and planning agencies also utilize. …

WVU’s Regional Research Institute and the Economic Development Administration are co-hosting a conference in Morgantown this month. The First Annual EDA Economic Development Research Symposium will take place at the Clarion Hotel Morgan on Oct. 21 and 22. The symposium is titled “Charting the Course for Regional Development.”

…

The EDA is looking to be informed about the work that is being done and examine how those endeavors can be leveraged for future projects and policies, he said. The symposium will include presentations of research projects and a variety of panel sessions and discussions.

“These are all issues related to regional economic development strategies,” Jackson said.

He said discussion topics will include regional innovation systems, educational institutions and levels of research and development, workforce issues, the characteristics most conducive to presenting a healthy economy, and much more.

…

 

http://www.timeswv.com/business/local_story_284045441.html

�

� 9. Philadelphia Launches Web Site to Focus on Regional Social Innovations and Social Entrepreneurs - PRNewswire - USA

On October 14 Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal (www.philasocialinnovations.org), the first regional web-based journal of its kind, launches to bring together Philadelphia's top social innovators and entrepreneurs to recognize and solve current social issues. The quarterly Journal will provide a forum for the Greater Philadelphia region's top social innovators -- those who have demonstrated an exceptional capacity to recognize social problems and apply entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage high-impact social change locally, regionally and beyond.

"Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal will build a pipeline of social innovations for expansion, meeting our community's needs. Now more than ever, we need to invest in programs that work and find innovative, effective solutions to our nation's most serious challenges," comments Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation for the White House Domestic Policy Council.

Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal co-founders Nicholas Torres of Congreso and Tine Hansen-Turton of National Nursing Centers Consortium and Public Health Management Corporation want to bridge formal research with practice. Inspired by Stanford Social Innovation Review, also a sponsor of the Journal, Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal pioneers a new avenue, bringing attention to the current and ongoing innovative work in the Greater Philadelphia nonprofit and social sector business community with respect to access to health care, human capital, education and workforce development, and violence prevention.

"The Philadelphia region leads in creating cutting edge social innovations, many of which go unnoticed," says Torres. "Many of our region's organizations and their leaders receive a great deal of regional, state, national, and in some cases international recognition; yet, we see very little opportunity for these agencies to publish their own social innovations, share best practices or lessons learned. Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal presents that opportunity."

 

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philadelphia-launches-web-site-to-focus-on-regional-social-innovations-and-social-entrepreneurs-64000152.html

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font words are Google search terms. Bold italic words considered worth noting. �In this and section 11, 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 as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct.� �Contents

��� .01� Mayors in Rhode Island look at consolidating for savings

Providence Journal - RI, USA

The regionalization of public-safety and public-works services in seven metropolitan Providence communities is the goal of enabling legislation that Providence� Mayor David N. Cicilline plans to submit to the� General Assembly. The legislation, drafted after discussions with the other municipal leaders, is aimed at clearing potential hurdles to regionalization that may exist in city and town charters, state law or regulations so that the seven communities — Providence, Cranston, East Providence, Johnston, North Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls — could begin making plans for creation of metropolitan police, fire and public-works districts. The goal of regionalization, Cicilline says, is to maintain services and to cut costs in difficult economic conditions. “I think all of the mayors recognize that these are extraordinary times, and while we’re working very hard to grow our economies … at the same time I think we have to be willing to look at new models for the delivery of services … so that we can realize some savings because of the economies of scale,” Cicilline said. Planning for exactly how the metropolitan districts would work in a region that represents some 43 percent of the state’s population would not begin in earnest unless the legislation is passed, the mayor said. ...

 

http://www.projo.com/ri/eastprovidence/content/METRO_PUBLIC_SAFETY_10-02-09_83FTLPT_v92.3cf4d7c.html

 

��� .02� Tri-State Summit highlights results of cooperation

Hannibal.net - Hannibal, MO, USA

The road to prosperity is built with regional cooperation and support for businesses that are willing to take risks.� Speakers hammered home the message at Monday’s Tri-State Development Summit in Fairfield, Iowa. The event, the eighth such gathering in 13 years, stressed the needs of workforce, infrastructure, incentives and livability in 35 counties of Northeast Missouri, West-Central Illinois and Southeast Iowa. Entrepreneurial expert Deb Markley said businesses don’t worry about geographic boundaries, especially during hard times.� “Regionalism is essential,” Markley said. “Half the battle is getting people to think regionally. That’s happened here.” … George Walley of the Hannibal-based Northeast Missouri Development Authority said regionalism leads to a “better use of resources” in promoting growth. ...

 

http://www.hannibal.net/news_local/x593082082/Tri-State-Summit-highlights-results-of-cooperation

 

��� .03� Clayton County Transit to Fold under Budget Pressure

Public Broadcasting Atlanta - Atlanta, GA, USA

The public transportation service that helped more than 2 million Clayton County residents get around last year will stop on March 31st. The County's Board of Commissioners voted yesterday to shut C-TRAN down in the face of funding challenges, rather than modify it. ... The Commission may revisit the decision if state funding becomes available. But Tom Weyandt of the Atlanta Regional Commission says it's unlikely that the General Assembly would consider C-TRAN alone ... "It seems to me that the issue probably needs to focus on how we're going to focus on developing a sustained source of transit funding for all the transit operations we have in the region. It's not clear how Clayton might get that any sooner. The Assembly did not approve recent attempts to allow for regional transportation funding. So C-TRAN riders will likely have to find back-up plans for transportation." ...

 

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wabe/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1566112/Atlanta/Clayton.County.Transit.to.Fold.under.Budget.Pressure

 

��� .04� Regional forum on levee plan is Wednesday

Hannibal.net – Hannibal, MO, USA

… invitation letter for the forum, commissioners say the plan “holds much promise for most areas, but could cause huge amounts of damage to the crops, livestock, homes and businesses in the eastern part of Pike, Lincoln and St. Charles counties.” Mike Klingner is a Quincy, Ill., engineer with extensive experience in river studies worldwide. He is a member of the Upper Mississippi, Illinois and Missouri Rivers Association, which has endorsed the plan. Klingner said the proposal is not set in stone and there is room for it to be “fine-tuned.” The key, he said, will be regional cooperation, because Congress won’t authorize funding if there isn’t agreement on both sides of the river. …

 

http://www.hannibal.net/news_local/x1128385017/Regional-forum-on-levee-plan-is-Wednesday

 

��� .05� Speak your mind in a Northeast regional energy survey

Pine Journal - Cloquet, MN, USA

The Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) and Iron Range Resources (IRR) are working in collaboration to survey and assess activity and needs related to energy efficiency, conservation, and renewable energy projects in northeast Minnesota. The results of this survey will guide efforts to develop financial and planning assistance outreach programs for communities working on energy related projects. ... The Arrowhead Regional Development Commission (ARDC) is a regional comprehensive planning and development agency serving the counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis in Northeast Minnesota. ARDC’s mission is to serve the people of the Arrowhead Region by providing local units of government and citizen groups a means to work cooperatively in identifying needs, solving problems and fostering local leadership.

 

http://www.pinejournal.com/event/article/id/17991/

 

��� .06� New Mexico remakes itself a hub for emerging Smart Grid

Green.VentureBeat.com

New Mexico may become the epicenter of the cleaner, more efficient Smart Grid shaping up all over the country. A proposal unveiled by state governor Bill Richardson today calls for a massive electric transmission station in Clovis, N.M., dubbed the Tres Amigas Super Station, designed to connect the U.S.’s three main power grids and better channel solar and wind energy. The proposed project, which would take about five years to build beginning in 2011 or 2012, would be the largest power converter in the world, covering 22 square miles and fundamentally changing how electricity flows across the country. New Mexico, which would benefit tremendously from the jobs and revenue created by the facility, was chosen because it is located nearest to where the three power grids — referred to as the East, West and Texas interconnections — meet up. On top of that, conditions in the state would allow it to generate up to 27 gigawatts of solar and wind energy. ... Tres Amigas would route energy through underground superconductor pipelines (measuring 3 feet in diameter) equipped with AC/DC converters to provide seamless transmission between one region and the next. …

 

http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/10/13/new-mexico-remakes-itself-as-hub-for-emerging-smart-grid/

 

 

��� .07� Wrong way on FasTracks funds

Denver Post - CO, USA

Putting new rapid transit money in untouchable silos, reserved for certain FasTracks lines, might seem like a safe approach for suburban politicians who feel their towns have been shortchanged by the multibillion-dollar transit expansion plan. But it's a strategy that threatens to undermine the regionalism on which the project was founded while ignoring the true reason for RTD's present difficulties: unrealistic revenue and cost estimates. ... We hope a new, realistic set of projections will spark realistic discussions about how to get the project done in a way that will serve all of those who bought into the idea that FasTracks would unite the metro area both politically and through mass transit.

 

http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_13555807

 

��� .08� Atlanta unfairly blocks reservoirs

Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA

Metro Atlanta has been blessed with a deluge of late-summer rains. But the downpours will do little to address a historic drought and our long-term water crisis. We need new strategies now to ensure that the water needs of metro Atlantans can be met, and we need to work together — and not at cross-purposes — to create more water storage capacity in our region. This came into sharp focus when U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson ruled July 17 that Congress never intended for Lake Lanier to be used for water-drinking purposes. Judge Magnuson gave the region three years to resolve two decades of water conflicts with Florida and Alabama. Failing a new congressional resolution allowing metro Atlanta to use this critical water supply for drinking purposes, metro Atlanta’s water withdrawal, the judge ruled, must revert back to 1970s levels. But of course, our growth has exploded since the 1970s. ...

 

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/atlanta-unfairly-blocks-reservoirs-163143.html

 

��� .09� New Jersey's tax structure warps land-use decisions

newjerseynewsroom.com - NJ, USA

A recent Monmouth University/Gannett New Jersey Poll revealed, to no one's surprise, that New Jerseyans are not happy about paying the nation's highest property taxes. But the poll also offered some surprising insights into what we are willing to do to change this state of affairs-including taking some significant steps that would improve the way land-use decisions are made, and allow for more regional governance and cost-sharing. ...

 

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/commentary/new-jerseys-tax-structure-warps-land-use-decisions

 

��� .10� Residents voice concern with bullet train plans

Gilroy Dispatch - Gilroy, CA, USA

Local skeptics of the California High-Speed Rail Authority's grand vision of bullet trains zipping up and down the state at 200 mph voiced their concerns ... resident asked how the lawsuit filed against the rail authority would affect the project. ...� "That's up to the judge and attorneys," said Dave Mansen, a regional project manager for the rail authority. "Our attorneys have asked us not to comment on the specifics." Mansen would say, however, that the presiding judge chose not to issue the stop work order requested by the plaintiffs. ...

 

http://www.gilroydispatch.com/news/260070-residents-voice-concern-with-bullet-train-plans

 

��� .11� ACLU raises questions about intelligence center plans

The Daily Texan - Austin, TX, USA

The American Civil Liberties Union is expressing concern about the privacy policy draft for the soon-to-be established Austin Regional Intelligence Center, citing unclear language regarding military involvement and the administration of information. The center will be a single intelligence-gathering entity led by the Austin Police Department with participating agencies from across Central Texas, including the Round Rock Police Department and the sheriff’s offices of both Travis and Williamson counties. ... APD gave the ACLU a Sept. 3 draft of the center’s privacy policy, and the ACLU then submitted their concerns, including the lack of a clause that specifically states military participation in domestic intelligence-gathering be forbidden in compliance with federal law. ...

 

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/top-stories/aclu-raises-questions-about-intelligence-center-plans-1.1997167

 

��� .12� Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone Adds Five Counties to its Region

Reuters - USA

The US Foreign-Trade Zones Board approved a broad expansion of the Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone Inc. (GFTZ) - a move which widens the organization's reach into Middle-Georgia and paves the way for numerous companies to reap economic benefits from the program.� ... The expansion represents the successful effort for the GFTZ to take a more regional approach and management to what has been largely a metro Atlanta initiative. GFTZ had maintained sites in seven counties surrounding the Atlanta metro region - Clayton, Fayette, Cherokee, Muscogee, Spalding, Gwinnett, and Henry.� GFTZ has also sponsored multiple FTZ subzone applications at individual company facilities throughout Georgia. Georgia Foreign-Trade Zone, Inc. is a private, non-profit organization responsible for oversight of Foreign Trade Zone #26, located in Atlanta. ...

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS153061+13-Oct-2009+PRN20091013

 

��� .13� Business competition prize doubled to $200000

The Post-Standard - Syracuse.com

New York’s Creative Core Emerging Business Competition is doubling its prize money for the company that shows itself to be the most innovative and growth-oriented emerging business in the 12-county central Upstate region. The Central Upstate Regional Alliance, the group that has sponsored the annual competition since its launch in 2007, plans to announce today that the top prize next year will be $200,000, twice as much as the $100,000 grand prize awarded each of the last three years. Allen Naples, president of the Syracuse Division of M&T Bank and chairman of the Regional Alliance, said the increase makes it the largest privately-funded cash prize of its kind in the nation. ...

 

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/business_competition_prize_dou.html

 

��� .14� Tonight on TribTV: Community leaders to take residents' questions at regional forum

wisconsinrapidstribune.com Wisconsin Rapids, WI, USA

Leaders from nine south Wood County municipalities will be available to answer residents’ questions at a first-of-its-kind forum tonight. Sponsored by River Cities Community Access, the event is designed to give community members the opportunity to better understand collaborative efforts of local municipal officials and to find out more about regional issues. ...

 

http://www.wisconsinrapidstribune.com/article/20091014/WRT0101/91014135/1982

 

��� .15� Ping Identity Helps Regional Information Sharing Systems� Extend Information Sharing Across Law Enforcement Agencies

Reuters.com

Three years after launching its Trusted Credentials Project (TCP), more than 1,200 law enforcement officers are logging into their native systems and gaining immediate access to Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) resources with the help of Ping Identity. RISS users can also access resources on other systems using Ping Identity.� A federally funded program with more than 8,500 member agencies, RISS supports efforts to combat terrorist activity, illegal drug trafficking, organized criminal activity, and other criminal priorities across jurisdictional lines. ...

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS88945+14-Oct-2009+BW20091014

 

� ��.16� Metro audit brings 54 recommendations

Portland Business Journal - Portland, OR, USA

Officials from Metro, the Portland area’s regional government that oversees land use and planning issues, said the agency’s audits last year yielded 54 recommendations that will improve the agency’s operations. ... The agency reported that it has three audits under way. One, which will analyze operations in the Oregon Zoo, is expected to be completed next month. A regional transportation study will be released in January while Metro’s financial conditions audit comes out in May. Metro is also planning audits on the region’s natural areas, the agency’s budget and the way it oversees large contracts.

 

http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/10/12/daily22.html

 

��� .17� Bay Bridge motorists could soon pay $6 to cross span

The San Francisco Examiner - CA

Driving across the Bay Bridge could cost $6 as early as the middle of next year. The suggested toll hike is one of three proposals that would have Bay Area drivers paying more to cross the seven state-owned bridges in the region. The money would raise more than $160 million for regional infrastructure projects. ...

 

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Bay-Bridge-motorists-could-soon-pay-6-to-cross-span-during-busy-travel-times-64262562.html

 

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet�� Contents

��� .01� Buses running again but row far from over

New Zealand Herald - Auckland, NZ

Auckland's main bus fleet is due back on the roads this morning, but a week-long lockout of drivers has left community leaders seething over damage to the credibility of public transport in the region. The five-month dispute between NZ Bus and its unionised workforce remains far from settled after 500 drivers and cleaners yesterday voted down a revised pay offer in a secret ballot by a 95 per cent margin. ... "Auckland is the loser ... There has been a huge credibility loss by the provider. "All they have done is put us back a couple of years into the mindset that says every time there needs to be a negotiation we can't count on the buses being there - that's a huge loss." Mr Barnett, who is also deputy chairman of the Auckland Regional Council, said he held the bus provider fully accountable for the disruption rather than its drivers. Regional chairman Mike Lee believed the company was "taking an almost colonial approach" and feared it would take months if not years for bus patronage to recover in difficult political times for securing enough money for the region's transport needs. ...

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10603283

 

��� .02� EU, China hold high-level meeting on regional policy

China View - China

The European Union and China held … the 4th high-level meeting on regional policy to enhance bilateral cooperation in the field. This annual meeting is taking place within the framework of the EU-China dialogue on regional policy, aiming to agree on a joint working program for 2010 to pursue a mutually beneficial exchange of experience on regional policy. "The regional policy dialogue is one of the most successful aspects of cooperation in the overall EU-China policy dialogue, " European Commissioner for Regional Policy Pawe Samecki said in a press release ahead of the meeting. "We still have a lot to learn from each other to tackle our respective regional policy challenges," the commissioner added. The meeting has mainly focused on the publication of a joint study on EU-China regional policies. The study, which should be ready by the end of the year, will compare key aspects of regional policy in China and the EU including the classification of regions, regional governance issues, and the role of regional policy in promoting innovation and competitiveness. ...

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/13/content_12226054.htm

 

��� .03� Russia attaches great importance to cooperation at regional level with China: Russian PM

China View - China

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said here Tuesday Russia attached great importance to cooperation with China at the regional level. He made the remarks in an interview with Chinese media Tuesday during his first official visit to China since he took office as prime minister last May.� China and Russia concluded a bilateral planning outline of regional cooperation between northeast China and the Russian Far East Region and Eastern Siberia in September.� "China has worked out a plan for revitalization of its northeastern industrial bases and Russia has plans for developing its Far East region, Baikal region and Eastern Siberia", said Putin. "It will be mutually beneficial for both countries to coordinate regional development." ...

 

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-10/13/content_12225681.htm

 

��� .04� Fashola Challenges World's Lawyers for a New Legal Order

THIS DAY - Nigeria

Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola SAN, has called for a new legal order on the African continent that would reverse the current trend where the gun is cheaper than the hoe and the recurrent and tragic issue of genocide is reversed. Fashola who was speaking at a session of the African Regional Forum of the International Bar Association … ‘I predict that so much of the survival of the planet will depend on Africa’s blessings and resources and most importantly, on her people’, he said. ‘She must therefore be approached with respect’ he said to great applause.

Fashola who spoke with the IBA President, Fernando Pelaez-Pier, present also called for a review of the principle of non-interference by sovereign states. ‘The principle and policies on which the world was re-ordered after World War II, the principle of non-interference, should be revised. Rwanda, for instance, happened and everybody stood back’ he said. Fashola whose speech was interrupted several times by spontaneous applause called for ‘A new legal order that lifts the veil of sovereignty’, declaring, law was made for man and not man for the law.

He challenged the world’s lawyers, particularly members of the African Regional Forum, to take action ‘that would unleash the new legal order’. …

 

http://www.thisdayonline.com/who_we_are.php

 

��� .05� SCO states must share vision on regional peace: PM

Daily Times - Pakistan

Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani urged the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) on Wednesday to adopt a “shared vision of trans-regional cooperation” for peace and development in the region. “I have no doubt that by collective wisdom and concerted efforts, we can contribute to building a prosperous future,” Gilani said while addressing the eighth annual meeting of the SCO council of heads of governments – which was attended y Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliev and heads of other SCO governments. The prime minister said that challenges facing the region – especially the financial crisis, terrorism and extremism and the energy crisis – needed to be addressed on priority. ...

 

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\15\story_15-10-2009_pg7_1

 

��� .06� Ensuring regional cooperation, integration promote Africa's interest: State Minister

waltainfo.com - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

... 6th Session of the Committee on Trade, Regional Cooperation and Integration held in Addis Ababa at the UN Conference Center. Regional integration in Africa has been a challenge mainly due to, among others, weak infrastructural development, weak institutional infrastructure, and lack of stakeholders’ capacity in terms of finance and human resources. “Regional integration is not an end by itself. It is rather a tool that contributes towards achieving sustainable economic growth and reducing the level of poverty,” the minister noted. ...

 

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15800&Itemid=47

 

��� .07� Troms County chair of Barents Regional Council

BarentsObserver.com

... first area of priority is to improve the structures of cooperation in the Barents Region and develop a closer contact between the different regions. As important is the work to implement other regional cooperation structures in the north, and also the EU efforts in the north like the Arctic strategy and the Northern Dimension. The second area which Troms will prioritize is to promote sustainable constraints in the north. The Barents Region has a large amount of various natural resources. Therefore it is important to promote research on climate and environment and the use of modern technology. The oil and gas activity outside the coast of Barents Region will create possibilities and synergies in the High North. The opening of the Polar region for transport is an additional potential for activity in the region. Svendsg緳d urged politicians of the north to join resources in a common plan on how to face the common challenges and possibilities of the years to come. ... The third important area of priority for the Troms Chairmanship is to promote culture and business development. The aim is to strengthen the political focus on business development, and cultural understanding is a central factor to accomplish this. Through cultural awareness Troms wish to dismantle obstacles and create close relations across the borders, and thus develop the fundament for better business relations. …

 

http://www.barentsobserver.com/troms-county-chair-of-barents-regional-council.4643272-116320.html

 

��� .08� Dealing with China: African countries must model a regional approach - Andani

Joy Online - Ghana

The Managing Director of Stanbic Bank Ghana has asked African countries to model a regional approach in their dealings with China in order to get proper dealings and returns from the relationships. Alhassan Andani said China presents such a huge opportunity for African countries to exploit to develop their respective countries. Mr. Andani however cautioned that dealing with China on bilateral basis might not be the most ideal way of advancing the larger interest of the individual countries. ...

 

http://news.myjoyonline.com/business/200910/36402.asp

 

��� .09� President Ben Ali's address at Tataouine Governorate Regional Council's special session

Tunisia Online News - Tunisia

... I am pleased to chair today the special session of the Regional Council of the Governorate of Tataouine, as part of the tradition we have established to follow up the development process in all regions of the country and enrich it with the necessary measures and decisions. I take this opportunity to greet and pay tribute to the inhabitants of the Governorate of Tataouine, for their unswerving adherence to the choices of the Change, and their active endeavour to promote the development process in their region and make strides forward in all fields. ... Regional development is a support base and a source of enrichment for national development; and the latter can be comprehensive, fair and balanced only when all efforts and energies are joined to make best use of the natural, cultural, tourist and economic specificities of each region, producing that convergence that is so vital for developing our economy, enhancing our potential and spreading quality of life throughout our country.”

 

http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/?p=26047

 

��� .10� Template on disaster risk to be adopted

Business Mirror - Makati City, Philippines

The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) will launch in the regions beginning next month the guidelines in determining the various sources of disaster and finding the ways at reducing their impact on lives and properties. It will also ask the local governments to factor into the template the possible aggravating effect of climate change as manifested in the two recent devastating typhoons. Director Susan Jose of the Neda Regional Development Coordination Staff said the guidelines on Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in the regions and provinces will be launched for application in the regions “to help the local governments delineate the hazards and identify the characteristics of these sources of disasters.” ...

 

http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/17311-template-on-disaster-risk-to-be-adopted.html

 

 

12. Blogging about Regional Communities�� Contents

��� .01� Regionalism

The Prosperity Blog

I went to a really great discussion today at the University of Washington: remarks and a panel featuring Bruce Katz, the vice president and founding director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.� Katz was in town to give a lecture on Tuesday night as part of the UW’s Danz Lecture Series, and he hung around Wednesday morning to do a more intimate session with a bunch of local bigwigs and leading regional thinkers (note: I am neither, but I got to go anyway).

Anyway, the discussion was really fascinating, centering on how the central Puget Sound can more successfully act as a region, and be an economic and policy leader for the country’s recovery and beyond. But, as Gene Duvernoy of the Cascade Land Conservancy – one of the panelists – pointed out, there was one big problem with the conversation.

That problem, of course, was that it was mostly “preaching to the choir.”

...

So what are we going to do about it? Katz thinks it’s a vision thing:

The metropolis does not have a crisp collaborative vision, critical in today’s hyper-global competition. There are pieces of a vision, given the fine work of groups like the Puget Sound Regional Council, Cascade Land Conservancy, and SkillUp Washington. Now is the time to pull these disparate activities together, forge a common vision and then align federal and state investments in service of the goal.

 

I actually disagree.� We’ve got plenty of vision, like VISION 2040 and the Cascade Agenda.� And it’s not that we lack agreement on them or that they’re flawed documents; it’s that people don’t know about them. ...

http://prosperityblog.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/regionalism/

 

��� .02� Gorham vs. Berlin vs. Randolph

Last Print Journalist

I skipped the Berlin city council this evening to attend a public hearing in Gorham about expanding ATV trail usage ... One final thought: some people (including Chris Gamache from the Bureau of Trails) spoke of regionalization. I've heard that term a lot lately, from talking about schools to local government to economic development. But then, back at each town hall and city council chambers, I hear councilors and selectmen talking about how they want the businesses in their town to benefit, that they don't care about the community down the road. The Grand Hotels, Grand Adventures initiative argues the region doesn't have a critical mass to draw people in any one town, but as a region they do. But the region isn't a region; it's like Afghanistan or Africa—carved out of a map by people disconnected from its past, its future, its economy and its people. Gorham doesn't like to be associated with Berlin, and Berlin resents Gorham's success. No one there talks to Lancaster or Errol, and Colebrook is off by itself. Grand Hotels, Grand Adventures is an effort to make this appear a cohesive unit outside Co飉 County, but there is no effort to make it a cohesive unit within Co飉 County. It would be a shame if Gorham scoops the ATVers away from Berlin, if for no other reason than it will heighten the animosity between the two. The two communities will continue fighting each other, instead of cooperating to make each other stronger.

Mayor David Bertrand said in an interview today the current council thinks outside the box, something past Berlin city councils haven't done. But when it comes to regionalism, this council is in step with past councils. Provincialism runs deep, and it seems to be a box the region can't find its way out of. In a city and a region searching for useful answers to complex questions, it's a shame to see so much animosity directed at people stuck in the same boat.

 

http://lastprintjournalist.blogspot.com/2009/10/gorham-vs-berlin-vs-randolph.html

 

13. Announcements and Regional Links. ��Contents

��� .01� 56th North American Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Conference - San Francisco, November 18 - 21, 2009

The Conference is sponsored by the North American Regional Science Council (NARSC) and the Western Regional Science Association (WRSA).� For information about the conference:

http://www.narsc.org/newsite/?page_id=62

 

��� .02� Regional Studies Association Winter Conference 2009 - Global Recession: Regional Impacts on Housing, Jobs, Health and Wellbeing - 27th November 2009, The Resource Centre, London, UK

 

Information and registration:

https://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/ei/getdemo.ei?id=11&s=_0AS0VNI6L

 

14. Financial Crisis. ��Contents

��� .01� The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class

UC Television Video

 

Elizabeth Warren presents her comparison of family expenses 1970-71 to 2005-06 and talks about the continuing rise in bankruptcy among the middle-class in a 2007 lecture. The data show how changes in costs affect spending patters so that the current two-income family of four is in worse shape than their single income parents 35 years before. The research work led to her concerns about the credit problems in the U.S. and vulnerability of families to economic� setbacks. Ms. Warren is currently Chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel for TARP funds.

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akVL7QY0S8A&feature

 

Background Interview:� http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Uk-DwUvJw&feature=channel

 

��� .02��� The Great American Bank Robbery

HAMMER FORUM Video� http://hammer.ucla.edu/watchlisten/watchlisten/show_id/129363

William K. Black, the former litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board who investigated the Savings and Loan disaster of the 1980s, discusses the latest scandal in which a single bank, IndyMac, lost more money than was lost during the entire Savings and Loan crisis. He discusses the political failure behind the current economic disaster and answers questions from the audience. Black teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and is the author of “The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One.”� See it at Google books:� http://books.google.com/books?id=SI3F8wEuT24C&dq=“The+Best+Way+to+Rob+a+Bank+Is+to+Own+One.”&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=9EWTSuLiFMPhlAeR4fyYDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result#v=twopage&q=&f=false

 

15. Custom search: region, regions, regional communities��� Contents

To search on topics like those in Regional Community Development News use this custom search engine which utilizes over 2000 regional related sites.

http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=000551187207053117963:m1gvkhigkeo&hl=en

���� To search previous issues since 2003 go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

To join Regional Community Networkers and get a free subscription use this email link – no additional information required:� regions_work-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For the Google Groups version go to:

http://groups.google.com/group/regional-community-development-news

For the Blog and RSS feed go to: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?

Please email the editor: Tom.Christoffel@...

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP - http://www.regional-communities.com/

 

 

 

 

_____________________________________________________________________________

 

Regional Community Development News – September 16 & 23, 2009 [regions_work]

 

A compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Contents

Top Regional Community stories … 1. – 9.

U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State – news articles …10.01 - .23

Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet … 11.01 - .13

Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .03

Announcements and Regional Links … 13.01 - .03

Financial Crisis …14.01 - .02

Custom search: region, regions, regional communities … 15.

_________________________________________________________________________

Top Regional Community stories

�

Note: All - Sorry for the delay in releasing this. I'm in London for the Regional Studies Association. The BBC reported today, October 6, about the web posting of Gmail, Yahoo and other email accounts and passwords. When I went to change my passwords, I found I'd not approved this version for distribution after links had been checked. Cheers from the U.K. Tom Christoffel, Editor

1. Regional Council Self-Assessment and Resource Toolkit – NADO News Release

The new on-line “Regional Council Self-Assessment and Resource Toolkit” is intended to assist executive directors of regional councils, along with policy board members, in conducting a basic organizational analysis.

The toolkit is based on extensive interviews, observations and input from national, state and local leaders involved in the regional council industry (including EDA’s 381 Economic Development Districts). The toolkit is intended to help policy officials and executive directors think through the various aspects and challenges of governing and operating a highly successful regional council. It does not necessarily cover every aspect of regional council management, but it does provide a starting point for conducting an honest self-assessment of the overall condition of the organization.

Regional councils serve a unique role in public management. The positions of regional council executive director and policy board member offer major challenges and opportunities. The best training for executive directors is often on-the-job training and peer mentoring, even though most directors have post-graduate degrees in regional planning, public administration, business management or public policy. Since regional councils typically lack the traditional powers of local government, such as tax and bonding authority, regulatory enforcement, and planning and zoning ordinances, regional council leaders and staff must rely on a specific set of skills. These include building consensus and ownership, establishing credibility through the power of ideas and knowledge, and serving as public entrepreneurs and innovators.

Regional councils are political entities that must function politically—yet also in a nonpartisan manner—to be effective. ...

�The toolkit is organized as follows:

� 1. Era of New Regionalism:� Positioning Your Regional Council in a New Landscape

� 2. Your Regional Council’s Role in a Modern Era of Regionalism:� Checklist for Action

� 3. Seven Significant Issues Facing Regional Councils

� 4. Managing An Effective Regional Council Policy Board

� 5. Becoming an Effective Regional Council Leader:� Checklists and Resources for Executive Directors

� 6. State Associations of Regional Councils

� 7. Regional Council Snapshots:� Innovations and Noteworthy Practices

� 8. Peer Resource Exchange:� Food for Thought on Key Organizational Issues

� 9. Concepts of Leadership

The toolkit is a product of a partnership of:

NADO - the National Association of Development Organizations - http://www.nado.org

MACOG - �the Missouri Association of Councils of Governments - http://www.macogonline.org/ , and DDAA - �the Development District Association of Appalachia - http://www.ddaa-ldd.org/.

 

Toolkit PDF: �http://www.nado.org/pubs/toolkit.pdf

 

Note: This publication should be of interest to other executives of regional organizations as well as staffers who have such a position as a career goal.� Ed.

�

� 2. Editorial: Is it time to reconsider local government? - Old Colony Memorial and Plymouth Bulletin - Massachusetts, USA

Between 1643 and 1812, Massachusetts incorporated 14 county governments. …

Between 1997 and 2000, eight of the states’ counties were abolished; six, including Plymouth County, remain, although three of those were reorganized into different forms. … The reason for their abolition: They provided minimal services and were deemed unnecessary, wasteful and inefficient … The vast majority of government services were performed by either the state or the cities and towns. And there was a growing desire for regional approaches to planning and the administration of certain services that viewed county structure as irrelevant.

…

Yet, how efficient is municipal government, based on political boundaries established many years ago that yielded 351 cities and towns, all with local governments? That’s a lot of police and fire departments, public works departments and school districts…

Is there a better model for local governance? Tom Calter thinks so.

Calter, D-Kingston, is serving his second term as a state representative. … He’s seen the inner workings of town government. And he doesn’t like part of what he sees.

“Municipalities can’t make the current form of government work,” he told a gathering of regional business and civic leaders … “Quite simply, they are no longer able to increase their budgets to provide the next level of services our citizens have come to expect.”

It’s time for local governments to consolidate services, he said, just as business has been doing for decades. And he said the fastest way to do that is by using county government.

“We can’t afford to keep everything local,” he said. “We need to regionalize schools, police officers and fire departments. Although we may end up with the same amount of police, firemen and teachers, we could do away with costly bureaucracies, sell surplus buildings and benefit from greater economies and operating efficiencies.”

…

http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/opinion/editorials/x1073705121/Editorial-Is-it-time-to-reconsider-local-government

�

� 3. Massachusetts Regionalization Month – Mass.gov

There are countless examples of regionalization across the Commonwealth.� With the help of 13 Regional Planning Agencies in the state and the collaborative effort of neighboring municipalities, there are many opportunities for cities and towns to combine resources.� Shared services can have a positive impact on the participating communities, providing more efficient processes and cost-saving solutions.� Whether it is by creating regional 911 communication centers, intercity recycling programs, or sharing local accounting programs, there are a number of successful examples that communities can learn from as they consider regionalizing certain local services that make sense for their community.

 

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3terminal&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Our+Team&L2=Lieutenant+Governor+Timothy+P.+Murray&sid=Agov3&b=terminalcontent&f=lg_regionalmonth&csid=Agov3

 

Note: See listing of Resources including MA Regional Planning agencies. Ed.

 

� 4. Meadowlands trains-to-game show potential of regional rail - The Star-Ledger - NJ.com - New Jersey, USA

The inauguration of the special game-day trains marks a small but important first step in the regionalization of passenger rail service, whereby trains from the three commuter railroads that serve New Jersey and New York will, for the first time, run on one another's tracks.

This autumn, before 1 p.m. kickoffs for either Jets or Giants games, three NJ Transit trains will run from New Haven, Conn., through New York's Penn Station to the Secaucus transfer station, where fans will switch to trains to Giants Stadium.

… all three commuter railroads are setting new ridership records annually and expect more growth before the big projects come on line. Facilities like Penn Station must be used more efficiently at nominal cost.

Running trains through the station will not require new platforms or tracks. By not "dwelling" at a platform until its scheduled return trip, as most trains do now, a train that runs through creates a new platform slot for another to use.

This seems a simple and inexpensive idea, but it has eluded railroads for years because of a lack of vision in the statehouses, an entrenched rivalry among the railroads and their managers, and geographically restrictive labor agreements.

"The barriers to regional rail are less geographic and more institutional, labor and political," said Elliot Sander, who pushed for the football trains while MTA chief, as did NJ Transit's chief Richard Sarles.

For regional rail to fully blossom, one technical obstacle that must fall is the different ways railroads collect electricity. … �

The rail agencies believe the three-year football train pilot will show they have set aside rivalries to operate a high-quality service between states. Already, tickets are available on the commuter railroads for the entire trip.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_guest_blog/2009/09/meadowlands_trainstogame_show.html

�

�5. Governor Rell Announces State’s First-Ever Comprehensive Economic Strategic Plan - State of Connecticut - News Release September 16, 2009

Governor M. Jodi Rell announced the release of the state’s first-ever Economic Strategic Plan – a detailed, statewide blueprint for keeping and growing jobs, making the state more business-friendly and investing in the infrastructure and technology that will keep Connecticut competitive in the 21st Century.

Governor Rell said: “The plan outlines the smart, targeted investments we need to make in housing, our transportation system and work force development. It spells out the commitments needed from government leaders in both the Executive and Legislative branches to work together to eliminate roadblocks to growth and build on a climate for success. And it makes clear that these steps must be taken with the principle of Responsible Growth foremost in mind – preserving the charm and character of our state for our children and for generations to come.”

����������� The full text of the nearly 550-page plan is being posted today on the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) Web site at www.ct.gov/ecd

����������� As the plan was being developed, DECD held public meetings in 10 cities and towns in late 2007 and early 2008 to gather input from residents, business leaders and lawmakers. Since then, the global economic downturn has taken a tremendous toll on Connecticut families and employers, causing tens of thousands of job losses and leading to multi-billion-dollar state budget deficits

��� Recommendations include:

��� * Creating a $100 million, public-private student loan partnership, offering loan forgiveness in most-needed occupations such as science and engineering and depending on the length of career spent in Connecticut after graduation.

��� * Creating a $25 million International Opportunities Program to encourage global technology companies to locate their North American headquarters in Connecticut

��� * Implementing an Angel Investor Tax Credit, giving a tax break to individuals, corporations or institutions that invest in qualified start-up enterprises in areas such as biotechnology, digital media and “green” technology.

��� * Continuing the development of regionalism – programs and policies that have cities and towns working together rather than competing with one another.

 

�Full Release� http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=3675&Q=446946������ �

��

� 6. Passenger rail service brought $7B in investments, jobs, developer says - Dayton Daily News - Dayton, OH, USA

A land developer from Maine visited Dayton on Tuesday, Sept. 15, to tell local business and government leaders that Maine’s investment in passenger rail service has delivered benefits exceeding what planners expected.

Martin said Maine invested less than $100 million, and that triggered over $7 billion in additional construction investment, almost 7 million square feet of new commercial space and 18,000 new jobs. “It’s been like that all over the country, and there’s no reason to believe Ohio can’t be the same,” Martin said.

The Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission [http://www.mvrpc.org/] hosted Martin’s visit to Dayton to highlight the potential benefits of Ohio’s 3C “Quick Start” passenger rail plan.

The 3C plan would establish rail service connecting Ohio’s big three cities — Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — with service to Dayton and other cities. The Ohio Rail Development Commission officially gave its approval this week for efforts to secure $400 million in federal stimulus funds to finance the development.

Critics have questioned whether such a large investment in rail service is justified in Ohio particularly when operation of a train system will require continuing government subsidies. Some question whether enough people would use passenger trains in Ohio to make the project worthwhile.

Martin said the same questions were raised in Maine in 1995 when a smaller proposal for rail service from Boston, Mass., to Portland, Maine, was proposed.

The service, which started in 2001, has exceeded all ridership projections. Among the major related investments, Martin said, was Mattsun Development’s redevelopment of a more than 100-year-old mill property on Saco Island, Maine, for residential, commercial and recreational use.

…

About 30 people attended a presentation by Martin at the planning commission’s Center for Regional Cooperation in Dayton …

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/passenger-rail-service-brought-7b-in-investments-jobs-developer-says-300395.html

�

� 7. Joel Cayford: Ministers are grabbing the real power for city's planning - The New Zealand Herald - Auckland, NZ

Who will plan Auckland? Answers to this question are hard to find in the public discussion about transition, Maori seats and Auckland's boundaries.

But it is an important question and it is important it gets answered publicly because Auckland planning - the lack of planning, the costs of planning, or the adequacy of planning - were high on the list of arguments in favour of restructuring Auckland local government.

Few disagreed with the need to strengthen Auckland's regional governance - particularly of regional infrastructure like water, wastewater and transport - and that the planning of regional infrastructure needed to be integrated with land-use planning.

However, there has not been universal agreement about the institutional arrangements needed to deliver this sensible objective - hence the efforts of a royal commission and a parliamentary select committee.

Important questions about organisational structures, political representation, and the jobs of more than 6000 local government employees need to be answered, but so does the question about how Auckland will be planned, and who will plan it.

Recent events suggest Government wants Auckland to be planned in Wellington by ministers, and not by councillors elected to the proposed Auckland Council.

The strongest and most worrying indication of this shift in decision-making are the pet transport projects being peddled by Minister of Transport …

… Government-driven interventions strike at the bedrock of Auckland strategic planning. Built up decision by decision, Auckland's current strategic plan started with a Metropolitan Urban Limit policy in 1999, included a transport strategy in 2005 supporting freight, private and public transport, and today recognises strengthened regional governance is needed to deliver integrated urban development …

Auckland might be the city of sails, but it will not take kindly to being treated as some sort of Third-World infrastructure development project run out of Wellington.

…

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=10597738

�

� 8. The Business Case for the Arts - Pop City - Pittsburgh, PA, USA

The arts allow us to imagine a new way to live and envision the world. Artists and cultural organizations create a world in which art and business collaborate to spur development and revitalization in Pittsburgh, serving as a model for cities around the globe.

It is no surprise that Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Andy Warhol Museum and Pittsburgh's Creative and Performing Arts high school were selected to host the main White House events during the Pittsburgh Summit.

…

The arts also contribute to the economic fabric of the region. The non-profit arts and culture industry in Allegheny County generates $341 million in economic activity —$230.7 million by the organizations themselves and an additional $110.7 million in event related spending by audiences. In addition, the industry supports over 10,192 full-time equivalent jobs and $33.7 million in local and state government tax revenues.*

…

Locally, there is a history of successful business-arts partnerships. The world renowned Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra acts as ambassador for our city through its international tours and performances. The Orchestra has partnered with the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and its affiliate the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance on tours to Europe and Asia, bringing business opportunities to Western Pennsylvania.

deeplocal, a Pittsburgh based multi-media company, has created "in-residence" fellowships for businesses and artists. For the artists, the term "in-residence" means the artists are in a location, free to create and design new artwork or compose new music. For businesses, this translates to innovative problem solving, creating efficient business models or finding methods to increase productivity.

Nationally there is a trend to connect art and business sectors in order to generate new ideas, ingenuity and efficiency. In February 2004, Harvard Business Review exclaimed, the "MFA is the new MBA," giving master of fine arts degrees the same relevance as a master of business degree in the business sector.

...

http://www.popcitymedia.com/features/BusinessArt%20091609.aspx

 

�9.� Megaregions and America’s economic recovery: A look at opportunities for megaregional planning across the U.S. – SPUR - Urbanist

It has been almost five years since the concept of "megaregions" surfaced and gained recognition among urban planners and regionalists in the United States. My organization, America 2050, in the course of advocating for a national infrastructure plan, has worked with partners around the country, including SPUR, to bring this concept of a new, expanded urban scale to the fore in discussions about America's changing demographics, land-use patterns, transportation demands and energy needs in the 21st century.

The idea that our planning processes ought to take into account the scale at which travel patterns, electric grids, business relationships, housing markets and natural systems actually occur is straightforward. But the concept has been slow to take hold in federal policy — except in transportation. There, the recent infusion of funding for high-speed rail has highlighted the important role of megaregions in planning and building support for high-speed rail corridors.

While high-speed rail may set the stage for megaregions' debut in national policy discussions, this framework for spatial planning and coordination has many more applications. Right now the nation is experiencing not only an economic recession, but a profound transformation. How the nation emerges from this recession in terms of the structure of its economy, infrastructure, energy supply, workforce and approach to the natural environment will largely determine our ability to compete and prosper in the 21st century. As we contemplate a transformation in each of these areas, we also must look at the spatial dimension of our planning, governance and implementation systems.

Over the course of the past year, America 2050 has held a series of megaregion forums around the country with the aim of identifying infrastructure priorities that could be included in a national infrastructure plan. Last December's conference in Sacramento, "Investing in America's Competitiveness," co-sponsored by SPUR, the Bay Area Council, MTC and the Sacramento and San Joaquin Councils of Government was part of this series and focused on infrastructure challenges in the Northern California megaregion.

Our reasoning for regional organization is this: …

http://spur.org/publications/library/article/megaregions_and_america%E2%80%99s_economic_recovery

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font is used to add emphasis to key words and phrases. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct. ��Contents

��� .01� Brookings: Sacramento region's economy is weak

Sacramento Business Journal - CA, USA

The Sacramento region’s ailing economy is one of the nation’s weakest, hobbled by the fast-rising jobless rate and the free-falling home prices this year, according to a closely watched quarterly report released Tuesday. The four-county region was one of the 40-worst markets in the nation during the second quarter, joining the ranks of Charlotte, N.C.; Cleveland and Phoenix. The capital is in good company, with every California region also falling in the 40-worst category. Bakersfield, Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and San Jose joined Sacramento in the second-worst tier at spots No. 61 through 80. Modesto, Riverside-San Bernardino and Stockton were listed among the 20-worst markets nationwide, joining Detroit, Las Vegas and many cities in Florida and Ohio, according to the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. … The best cities for economic recovery? Austin; Baton Rouge, La.; and Columbia, S.C.� The Golden State fared poorly in the survey, with no region in the top 60. The complete report is available at http://www.brookings.edu/metro/2009_09_metro_monitor.aspx

 

http://sacramento.bizjournals.com/sacramento/stories/2009/09/14/daily31.html

 

��� .02� Region's Big Four leaders support regional cooperation on transit

Crain's Detroit Business - Michigan, USA

The Big Four didn’t quite hold hands and sing “Kumbaya,” but the tone at a Friday panel discussion at the Tri-County summit at Henry Ford Community College in Dearborn Friday was friendly, if subdued. The four regional leaders — the Big Four is a nickname for the mayor of Detroit and the leaders of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties — talked about regional cooperation on transit, with Paul Gieleghem, chairman of the Macomb County Commission, calling transit a “game changer” for the area. �Oakland County Executive Brooks Patterson said his office has received a rough draft of a regional transit mission statement from John Hertel, CEO of Detroit Regional Mass Transit. Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said he hasn’t had time to digest the latest wave of transit plans, but said he supports the concept. Detroit’s financial condition underscores the need for regional success — if Detroit goes into receivership, Oakland County will lose its prized Aaa bond rating, Patterson said. ...

 

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article/20090918/FREE/909189985

 

��� .03� Green Coast goes to Washington — Area leaders convene in capital

Pacific Coast Business Times - Santa Barbara, CA, USA

With the Obama administration nudging climate change toward the top of the political agenda, the new energy economy was a timely topic as 25 business and community leaders from the Tri-Counties convened for a day of discussions hosted by U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara. Capps said she was encouraged by efforts to develop a regional economic development plan to encourage clean technology companies under the umbrella of a Green Coast Alliance. “This is an opportunity for the entire region to develop jobs at a time when the economy is weak,” Capps said. “We come from a position of being in a deficit compared to the rest of the world.” ...

 

http://pacbiztimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1111&Itemid=

 

��� .04� Regional gang initiative grant award announced

Reno Gazette Journal - NV, USA

The Carson City, Lyon County and Douglas County Sheriff's Offices have been notified by the Office of Criminal Justice Assistance of the award of approximately $350,000 for the conceptual formation of a tri-county Regional Gang Initiative, ... Gang issues in the three counties have been a priority concern for some time, the sheriff said. "In many cases, officers are doing double duty on patrol and gang enforcement. These officers also face jurisdictional boundaries. The grant acknowledges that gangs do not recognize our county lines. They often live, function, and create discord in many different areas at the same time. By their nature, they are often transient and move to areas with the least gang enforcement presence. "This characteristic requires intense multi-agency cooperation and communications. ...

 

http://www.rgj.com/article/20090914/NEWS/90914055/1321/NEWS

 

��� .05� 3-state collaboration receives national grant to address nursing shortages

Warwick Beacon - Warwick, RI, USA

Tufts Health Plan Foundation in Watertown, Mass. has been chosen as one of 19 foundations nationwide to receive funding from Partners Investing in Nursing’s Future, a national initiative to help address the long-term shortage of nurses across the country. To develop solutions and lead efforts within Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, the foundation has been awarded a two-year grant of $250,000 to support an extensive collaboration in the three states that will develop a regional approach to nursing education. Rhode Island nurse leaders from academic and practice settings across the state will participate in this three-state collaboration, “Creativity and Connections: Building a Regional Nursing Education Framework.” ...

 

http://www.warwickonline.com/pages/full_story/push?article-3-state+collaboration+receives+national+grant+to+address+nursing+shortages%20&id=3257126&instance=home_news_right

 

��� .06� Shining Light Awards Honor Three for Outstanding Commitment to Region

Reuters -

The 2009 "Shining Light Regional Cooperation Awards" will be awarded to Judge Damon J. Keith, Mariam C. Noland and Brittany Galisdorfer for the important contributions they have made to regional cooperation, progress and understanding in Metropolitan Detroit. ... This award recognizes an individual in the public spotlight who is taking risks and demonstrating courage to improve regional cooperation and understanding. ... The Detroit Free Press and Metropolitan Affairs Coalition launched the Shining Light Awards in 2007 to highlight the critical importance of regional cooperation to the success of Southeast Michigan. ... The Metropolitan Affairs Coalition, established in 1958, is a public/private partnership dedicated to improving greater Detroit's quality of life and creating economic opportunity through regional cooperation.� Visit its website http://www.mac-web.org/

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS126762+31-Aug-2009+PRN20090831

 

��� .07� Civic Innovation Lab Has $9.4 Million Economic Impact on Cuyahoga ...

Reuters - USA

The investments and activities of The Civic Innovation Lab, the Northeast Ohio grassroots economic development organization that provides mentorship and $30,000 in funding to early stage entrepreneurs, generated economic impact in Cuyahoga County.� The Lab generated $9.4 million in economic output in 2008, added 128 jobs, increased household income by $4.1 million, and generated $1.2 million in taxes.� The study was conducted by the Center for Economic� Development at Cleveland State University and assumes that these 32 companies and organizations would not have existed without the initial funding from the Lab. Economic impact is the estimate of the economic benefits an organization creates in a given region.� ...

http://www.civicinnovationlab.org/

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS150266+14-Sep-2009+PRN20090914

 

��� .08� Salazar Launches DOI Climate Change Response Strategy - U.S. Department of the Interior – Press Release

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar launched the Department of the Interior’s first-ever coordinated strategy to address current and future impacts of climate change on America’s land, water, ocean, fish, wildlife, and cultural resources on September 14. �The secretarial order establishes a framework through which Interior bureaus will coordinate climate change science and resource management strategies.� Under the framework:

��� * A new Climate Change Response Council, led by the Secretary, Deputy Secretary and Counselor, will coordinate DOI’s response to the impacts of climate change within and among the Interior bureaus and will work to improve the sharing and communication of climate change impact science, including through http://www.data.gov/ ;

��� * Eight DOI regional Climate Change Response Centers, serving Alaska, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Southwest, the Midwest, the West, Northwest, and Pacific regions – will synthesize existing climate change impact data and management strategies, help resource managers put them into action on the ground, and engage the public through education initiatives; and …

 

http://www.doi.gov/climatechange/

 

��� .09� Metro Atlanta foreclosures swamp last year's record

Atlanta Journal Constitution - Atlanta, GA, USA

With three months left in 2009, the number of metro Atlanta foreclosure notices has already surpassed last year’s record, a sign of how deep the recession has been as well as a portent of further trouble as the economy struggles to regain its footing. ... “When you can’t sell property, that takes away one of the largest remedies for curing default. Right now, the market is pretty slow.” The biggest increases in foreclosure listings are in Cobb, Gwinnett, Cherokee and Forsyth counties, said Dan Immergluck, professor of city and regional planning at Georgia Tech. “Certainly it partly reflects the worsening regional labor market since 2008. It also reflects a continuing suburbanization of the foreclosure problem and a shift to higher value homes. ...

 

http://www.ajc.com/business/metro-atlanta-foreclosures-swamp-140045.html

 

��� .10� Seattle's version of sharing: Scraps for Tacoma, good stuff for us

TheNewsTribune.com

Regionalism died last week. Don’t blame Russell Investments. It took cynical advantage of provincial rivalries for fun and profit. Its owners in the cosmopolitan city of Milwaukee decided Russell needed a fancier address. Getting an office tower for 40 cents on the dollars didn’t hurt either. I just wish they would have told us so we could have avoided the humiliation of trying to keep the company in a town it had no interest in. No, regionalism was killed by Seattle and state leaders who preach it only when it benefits Seattle. At the same time that it views itself as a global city, its business and political powers act provincially. ...

 

http://www.thenewstribune.com/callaghan/story/882623.html

 

��� .11� Taylor says regionalism will help state economic development

Planet Weekly - Alabama, USA

Bill Taylor, president of the Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), is promoting regionalism in development for the State of Alabama. "It is a team approach. It brings more resources together in a common approach." Taylor, the former CEO and president of Mercedes Benz U.S. International, ... As Taylor has contacted development officials throughout the state, he saw no lack of motivation, desire and commitment, but he also saw a need for support, ideas and direction. "We need to bring more people to the party....We will continue to work with communities." Taylor had a meeting that afternoon with three counties to join together for one effort. ...

 

http://www.theplanetweekly.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1683&Itemid=53

 

��� .12� Coast fielding statewide hopefuls

Hattiesburg American - Mississippi, USA

Regionalism has strongly influenced the inner political workings of the Legislature over the years, pitting representatives from the Delta against those from northeast Mississippi hill country and senators from the piney woods against those from the coastal marshlands. Outside the Capitol, there's little to be gained - and much to be lost - by any group of candidates campaigning as a geographical bloc. Mississippi is a long state north to south, encompassing several cultures. It's more than 360 miles from the Civil War battlefield in the Appalachian foothills outside Corinth to the shrimp boats and casinos in coastal Biloxi. Folks in one part of the state tend to view those in far-flung places as foreigners.

 

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/article/20090915/OPINION/909150304

 

��� .13� RDA debate draws 200

Gary Post Tribune - Indiana, USA

The future of the Regional Development Authority and Porter County's role in it were the hot topics at Tuesday night's symposium in Valparaiso. ... Much of the discontent with the RDA has come from Porter County. In April, the Porter County Council voted 4-3 to leave the RDA, which it joined in 2005, and to stop sending money collected from the County Economic Development Income Tax to pay its portion of RDA funds -- about $3.5 million each year. The money is gathering in an escrow account while a judge considers the legality of the council's move. Morris said the RDA was created to tackle four projects: expanding Gary/Chicago International Airport; implementing the Marquette Plan for the Lake Michigan shoreline; extending the South Shore train line into Porter County and southern Lake County; and establishing a Regional Bus Authority. "Regionalism is becoming more and more important," Morris said. "Times are tight and resources are scarce." Supporters of the RDA cited the organization as the only way to get transformational projects accomplished, and they said the demand for public transportation will grow as energy costs grow. ...

 

http://www.post-trib.com/news/1785509,rda0923.article

 

��� .14� Urban Land Institute will use greenways to start connecting ...

Memphis Commercial Appeal - Tennessee, USA

Improving regional dialogue on important issues is the most pressing of seven new initiatives recently established by the Urban Land Institute Memphis, the new chairman says. "Right now, regional topics don't get the focus they deserve," said Russell 'Rusty' Bloodworth, who chairs the five-year-old Mid-South chapter. … new chairman of Urban Land Institute Memphis, which promotes "responsible" use of land. Sustainability, connectivity and more green space, exemplified by Schilling Farms in Collierville (backdrop), are some of the institute's concerns. The overarching goal of the institute is to promote the "responsible" use of land and to help create sustainable, thriving communities. ... The institute will begin promoting regionalism in earnest with "Greenways for the Mid-South Region: Connect the Dots," a workshop in early November ...

�

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/23/a-regional-view/

 

��� .15� UB Report Shows Little Savings from Downsizing

WBFO - Buffalo, New York, USA

The UB Regionalism Institute and the UB Law School released a report Thursday that examined the benefits and costs associated with downsizing governments. The institute did an analysis of all 44 local village, town and city governing boards. The study comes at a time when some municipalities are considering downsizing the number of legislators representing them. … Joyce Kryszak talked with the Institute's Director Kate Foster to find out why. (Audio)�

Link to full report: http://www.regional-institute.buffalo.edu/Research/Series.cfm?ID=63&Series=20

 

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain/article/0/0/1556004/WBFO.News/UB.Report.Shows.Little.Savings.from.Downsizing

 

��� .16� Secrets of the city

Detroit Metro Times - Michigan, USA

The battered abandonment, the veritable concrete jungles and the wrecked streets give Detroit its ghostly and troubled tone. It also makes the once glorious metropolis one of the world's most enigmatic modern cities. It's true. Blunt and simple: People dig Detroit, but nobody's rushing to move here. It's a wonder to outsiders — from Bloomfield Hills to Yokohama, Japan — why those residents who've the means to move away continue to stay, and how a city on life support continues to grasp onto what's left. "What is left?" they ask. But those who don't regularly navigate Detroit's busted up avenues have yet to discover the regionalism and power of Detroit life. … There's a beating Motor City heart — which was once found in dozens of monstrous factories — that now exists in cockeyed places, like in those that produce art. …

 

http://www.metrotimes.com/arts/story.asp?id=14363

 

��� .17� Two-town alliance pondered

Nashoba Publishing – Massachusetts, USA

The Regionalization Planning Committee voted unanimously at its Sept. 1 meeting not to pursue the three-town system it had envisioned. In a way, it was no surprise. As the deadline approached, proponents were clear about the sticking point -- state transition money. Although not promised, there was hope it could be found, somewhere. It was not. "We never heard back from the governor's office," after a meeting at the Statehouse last month, Simmons said. "The board felt it was an insurmountable road block." ... "We still think the three-town region is the best option," Simmons said, but absent that, there may be opportunities for collaboration between Ayer and Shirley school districts, which already have close ties. ...

 

http://www.nashobapublishing.com/shirley_news/ci_13365845

 

�� �.18� Charity forms regional alliance

Winston-Salem Journal – NC, USA

Eight local corps of the Salvation Army have formed an alliance to better publicize the work they do in the Triad region. "We really hope it will increase an overall awareness of the services that are comprehensive and available to folks throughout this service area," Maj. Terry Israel, the corps officer in Winston-Salem, said yesterday at a news conference. The corps involved in the alliance are in Asheboro; Burlington; Davidson County; Greensboro; High Point; Mount Airy; Rockingham-Caswell counties; and Winston-Salem, serving Davie, Forsyth, Stokes and Yadkin counties. ... Israel said that the alliance will eliminate unnecessary duplications of administrative tasks and structures, and help the corps benefit from the strengths of each unit and share best practices.

 

http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2009/sep/16/charity-forms-regional-alliance/business/

 

��� .19� Muskegon County Road Commission considers crushing roads to gravel

The Muskegon Chronicle - MI, USA

Looking to stop putting patchwork Band-Aids on three rural roads, the Muskegon County Road Commission is considering crushing them back into gravel as a longer term cost-saving measure. ... More than 20 of Michigan's 83 counties have turned rural roads to gravel with no immediate plans to repave, according to the County Road Association of Michigan. Approximately 50 miles have been reverted in the past three years. ... Comment: ... We used to live on a blacktop road, Brunswick Road north of Holton in Muskegon County. The Muskegon County road Commissioner ordered it ground it up last fall. We now have a big slimy mess with more pot-holes than we ever had before. …

 

http://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/index.ssf/2009/08/muskegon_county_road_commissio_1.html

 

��� .20� Prisoners of the Census: How the Incarcerated are Counted Distorts our Politics

Stateside Dispatch - Progressive States Network

Currently the Census Bureau counts prisoners as residing at their place of incarceration.� While this serves the constitutional purpose of the census - determining the relative populations of the states for congressional reapportionment - it has in the past few decades resulted in significant unintended consequences.� The two main secondary purposes of the census are state and local legislative reapportionment, and determining funding for federal grants that are based on population or demographics.� For these uses the distortions in population counts caused by prisons can and do throw the process out of whack.� …

 

http://www.progressivestates.org/node/23532#1

 

��� .21� AP source: Census worker hanged with 'fed' on body

The Associated Press

A U.S. Census worker found hanged from a tree near a Kentucky cemetery had the word "fed" scrawled on his chest, a law enforcement official said Wednesday, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment. ... Investigators have said little about the case. FBI spokesman David Beyer said the bureau is assisting state police and declined to confirm or discuss any details about the crime scene. "Our job is to determine if there was foul play involved — and that's part of the investigation — and if there was foul play involved, whether that is related to his employment as a Census worker," said Beyer. Attacking a federal worker during or because of his federal job is a federal crime. Census employees were told Sparkman's truck was found nearby, and a computer he was using for work was found inside it, she said. He worked part-time for the Census, usually conducting interviews once or twice a month. Sparkman has worked for the Census since 2003, spanning five counties in the surrounding area. Much of his recent work had been in Clay County, officials said. Door-to-door operations have been suspended in Clay County pending a resolution of the investigation, Scurry-Johnson said. The Census Bureau has yet to begin door-to-door canvassing for the 2010 head count, but it has thousands of field workers doing smaller surveys on various demographic topics on behalf of federal agencies. ...

 

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jbzG_BlkG2Hfc818EPRRn1bBlP6gD9ATASJ00

 

��� .22� Red Snow Warning: The End of Welfare Water and the Drying of the West

TomDispatch.com

...

Dead forests, of course, are fuel for the dramatic, massive wildfires you now see so regularly on the TV news. We had quite a few of those wildfires this summer in Utah, but -- what with southern California burning -- they didn't make the evening news anywhere but here. That statement can be made all over the West. Both the frequency and size of fires are on the rise in our region. Early in the summer of 2008, while more than 2,000 separate wildfires raged across his state, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made a point that many Western governors might soon be making. He claimed that California's fire season is now 365 days long. The infernos that licked the edges of the Los Angeles basin this August were at once catastrophic and routine.

...

 

http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175113/chip_ward_the_ruins_in_our_future

 

�� .23� VeriFone VTS Taxi Payment & Media Systems Now in Maryland

Reuters - USA

Barwood is the first taxi company in the Washington, DC, metro region to equip its cabs with PIMs that speed acceptance of credit and debit cards, while also providing access to video services.� Barwood, which handles about 1.2 million rides a year, expects to have monitors in its entire fleet of 435 taxis by the end of the year. ... "Across the country, forward-thinking fleet owners and municipal transportation planners are recognizing that technology available today can improve passenger convenience while bringing new efficiencies to management of taxi services."

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS101885+16-Sep-2009+BW20090916

 

 

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet ��Contents

��� .01� Top 100 Urban Thinkers

Planetizen

Planetizen readers have spoken. After more than 14,000 votes, the urban planning community has named the 100 top urban thinkers. Atop the list: Jane Jacobs.

The poll was active for one month, from August 7th to September 7th, 2009. We would never claim that this is a definitive list; voters were given free reign to submit and vote for whomever they liked. Overall, the list includes some of the brightest, most influential and most controversial figures in the development of cities and places.

The Top Ten Urban Thinkers:

� 1. Jane Jacobs

� 2. Andres Duany

� 3. Christopher Alexander

� 4. Frederick Law Olmsted

� 5. Kevin A. Lynch

� 6. Daniel Burnham

� 7. Lewis Mumford

� 8. Leon Krier

� 9. William H. Whyte

10. Jan Gehl

 

See the full list of Planetizen's Top Urban Thinkers: http://www.planetizen.com/topthinkers

 

��� .02� Media seminar on secularism and militant regionalism

Merinews -� India

WITH THE upcoming of Maharashtra state elections starting October 13, Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication (SIMC) and the Press Club of Mumbai organised a seminar on increasing regionalism in politics … Sudhaman who initiated the discussion, stated that despite all its setbacks, India is one of the few countries in the world where democracy has thrived in such a large scale. “One simply can’t deny the fact, democracy has actually led to substantial development of the country”, Sudhaman stated. He also credited Rajiv Gandhi for completely changing the political thinking in the country. … Ganesh Kanate, editor, TV9, opined that the root cause of militant regionalism was due to lack of ideology in political parties in India. “The problem is, since 1960, there has been no change in the main policies affecting the functioning of the country. This is because there is no original thought”, he said. The main idea espoused by almost all of the speakers, is that the suppression of regional needs and aspiration is the main cause of the rise of regionalism in India. But they also agreed that the media plays a big role in a democracy. They said that as members of the fourth estate, it becomes the duty of the journalist to keep problems such as corruption at bay by acting as the whistle blowers of the society.

 

http://www.merinews.com/article/media-seminar-on-secularism-and-militant-regionalism/15784136.shtml

 

��� .03� Battlelines drawn to save region's assets

Auckland stuff.co.nz

"The war’s not yet over." That’s the word from Auckland Regional Council chairman Mike Lee who says the government’s flip-flop on the Rodney district’s supercity boundary is "an outstanding victory". And the reversal, announced on Monday, shows there’s still a chance the southern boundaries could also be redrawn, Mr Lee says. ...

 

http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/papakura-courier/2867466/Battlelines-drawn-to-save-region-s-assets

 

��� .04� Council of Atlantic Premiers Launch “Let’s Right the Future” Wellness Campaign in Canada

Scotia.Web.ca – Canada

Helping children to live active and healthier lives is the goal of a new Atlantic wellness social marketing campaign, “Let’s Right the Future,” launched today by the Council of Atlantic Premiers in Saint John, New Brunswick. Premiers kicked off the campaign by highlighting the English and French TV ads and the campaign website www.rightthefuture.ca. The objective of the campaign is to inspire an Atlantic wellness movement and to make wellness everyone’s business. … The Council of Atlantic Premiers was formed by a memorandum of understanding between the four Atlantic provinces in May 2000, and is committed to identifying and pursuing opportunities for joint action among the region’s provincial governments. This commitment builds on a strong foundation of regional unity and intergovernmental cooperation spanning more than three decades. …

 

http://www.scotiaweb.ca/news/council-of-atlantic-premiers/let-s-right-the-future-wellness-campaign-launched.html

 

��� .05� $100 Bil. Set for Regional Development

Korea Times

The government will spend a total of 126 trillion won over the coming five years on the country's regional development. The five-year project was reported Wednesday to President Lee Myung-bak during a Presidential committee on regional development meeting, said the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. A total of 126 trillion ($104.2 billion) will be spent through 2013 on the long-term growth scheme, in which all Korean provinces are regrouped into seven regions with differentiated outlines to bolster business and secure global competitiveness, as well as build up the quality of life for residents. ... Under the plan, each area will autonomously develop key projects in industries, manpower and social infrastructure under the supervision of a special committee headed by governors. ...

 

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/biz/2009/09/123_51942.html

 

��� .06� Chile's Mapuches Call for Regional Autonomy

World Press Review - Worldpress.org

Leaders of Chile's indigenous Mapuche community have seized upon the death of activist Jaime Mendoza Coll甐 to rev up their long-standing campaign for land reform and political autonomy in southern Chile. Simmering tensions that periodically burst into brief fits of violence have come to mark the Araucan燰 in southern Chile, the area in which most of the country's 900,000 Mapuches live. ... The Chilean government's reaction to Mapuche acts of land seizure and vandalism has attracted international attention and criticism for its harsh severity, calling into question Chile's reputation as one of the hemisphere's most strongly consolidated democracies. ... Now Mapuche political leaders are taking the logic of land reform one step further and demanding regional autonomy for Wallmapu, as Mapudungun speakers call the Araucan燰. ...

 

http://www.worldpress.org/Americas/3418.cfm

 

��� .07� Progressive internationalism

Jamaica Gleaner - Jamaica

P.J. Patterson, this year's recipient of the Order of CARICOM has said, "Mature regionalism will remain a pipe dream unless authority is vested in an executive mechanism with full-time responsibility to ensure the implementation, within a specified time frame, of critical decisions taken by the heads or other designated organs of the community". Some formula must be found and agreement reached for what Dr Rainford calls 'collective sovereignty' and "enhanced governance arrangements". ...

 

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20090920/focus/focus4.html

 

��� .08� Acquiring political points on quarrels: Serbia and its neighbors with same problems from the past

Blic Online

“Strained relations and frequent incidents among the states from the region are not unusual and unexpected after the earthquake which happened during the disintegration of Yugoslavia. Although we are always named as the region of the western Balkans, we are not the region and these parts are not related. The only thing that connects us is a desire to join the EU and that is the reason why it is important to keep the dynamics of getting closer to the EU. The only thing which prevents us from returning to our old pace is our common European future,” says Predrag Simic, the Professor from the Faculty of Political Science ... “All leaders from this region are excellent allies, because instead of solving far more difficult problems of the borders, unemployment and of attracting foreign investments, they give each other a chance for opening old battlefields. Thus they cover up their inability to solve real life problems. This will be a problem for a long time in the region and the real solution lies in Brussels,” said Komsic.

 

http://www.blic.rs/infocus.php?id=5165

 

��� .09� Tadi� tells party end of crisis is "near"

B92.net

DS leader Boris Tadi� told his party's main board meeting in Belgrade on Saturday that the end of the economic crisis is at hand, but that it is "not over yet". However, he warned against complacency. ... He also spoke about political goals to say "there are no changes there – Serbia's most important goal is EU membership". ... Speaking about the country's regionalization, Tadi� said that this must not amount to ideas about creating "new centers of power and quasi-states on Serbia's soil", adding that the process would require "several years" to complete. …

 

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2009&mm=09&dd=12&nav_id=61726

 

��� .10� Rotterdam rules set to usher in a sea change

Livemint.com - The Wall Street Journal

A new international convention, known as the Rotterdam Rules, on the carriage of containerized freight by sea and involving an inland journey, is taking shape. The draft United Nations (UN) Convention on Contracts for the International Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea will be open for signature by all member states at a ceremony on 23 September in the Dutch port city of Rotterdam, and afterwards at the UN headquarters in New York. The convention, which took a decade in the making, will require ratification by at least 20 states.� ... According to Nicollette van der Jagt, secretary general of the European Shippers Council, the proposed convention does not fully address multimodal (carriage of goods using different modes of transport such as roads, rail and sea) issues. The new rules could prevent worldwide multimodal solutions from being developed for many years. “Because of that, the Rotterdam Rules could accelerate rather than restrain regionalization in this area as they appear to contain loopholes as to their mandatory application”, she said. ...

 

http://www.livemint.com/2009/09/17204445/Rotterdam-rules-set-to-usher-i.html?h=B

 

��� .11� Forest conservation: who has the right idea?

SidewaysNews.com

The Thai government’s recent U-turn on its decision to remove monks in temples in environmentally-protected areas has once again underlined the conflicting ideologies over forest conservation in Thailand. Last week, the Thai Natural Resources and Environment Ministry abandoned its plan to evict temples encroaching on protected forest. The eviction was fiercely opposed by the monks because of their long-standing tradition of meditating in the forest (a practice since the time of Buddha) and because they regard themselves as protectors of the area, unlike some government-approved commercial operations. Despite this, the monks - like forest villages - have no legal rights or recognition. Around 5,331 villages have registered their community forest programmes with the Thai Royal Forestry Department, but their entitlement, authority and use of the land is dependent on the liberalism of the regional RFD officer. Pearmsak Makarabhirom, a former officer at the Regional Community Forestry Centre, who made proposals on the issue of forest monks more than 10 years ago, told Sideways News: “Thai communities have been so strong and tried their best to protect and manage forests without any legal support, but many cases are still being sent to court.” ...

 

http://www.sidewaysnews.com/environment-nature/forest-conservation-who-has-right-idea

 

��� .12� Carbon Financing and Community Forestry

Mongabay.com

The following is a text of a Call for Action issued after the First Regional Forum for People and Forests: Carbon Financing and Community Forestry.� The three-day event brought together key people to analyze the risks, opportunities, and constraints that carbon financing presents for Asia-Pacific’s forest-dependent people. ... As forests in the Asia-Pacific region can potentially absorb a large proportion of global carbon dioxide emissions, the need for healthy and sustainable forest ecosystems cannot be understated nor undersold. But we must go beyond carbon to promote and ‘sell’ biodiversity, watershed conservation, and sustainable forest management as an essential holistic package. Local people hold the key to healthy forests in this region. They have the closest direct stake in forest resources and will affect the outcome of any forest management strategy, including those aimed at climate change mitigation. For carbon financing to succeed, it must learn from three decades of community forestry experience and actively engage and benefit local people.

 

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0919-recoftc.html

 

��� .13� Oh No! Global Warming Is Affecting Beer Production

Treehugger.com

The quality of Saaz hops, which are required to make pilsner lager, has been decreasing lately, and climatologist Martin Mozny of the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute thinks he knows why: Global warming. Indeed, Saaz hops are delicate and the higher air temperatures in the Czech Republic are affecting them negatively. ... But of course climate change doesn't stop at the borders of the Czech Republic. Regions of eastern Germany and central Slovakia have noticed similar changes in their crops. Beer is just an example here. Lots of other crops, plants and animals are being affected by global warming. ...

 

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/09/global-warming-affecting-beer-production-saaz-hops-pilsner-beer.php

 

12. Blogging about Regional Communities ��Contents

��� .01� Transit Summit spells out need for regional cooperation

Racine Post

A "Transit Summit" was held in Milwaukee last week to lay out the need for cooperation on bus and train service throughout southeastern Wisconsin. Kerry Thomas, executive director Kerry Thomas, executive director of Transit NOW, the group pushing for KRM from Kenosha to Milwaukee, attended the pro-transit summit and wrote a summary of the gathering, which is printed below. Here are a few key points:

� * Scott Bernstein, a national expert on transit and regional economies, said southeastern Wisconsin is competing with 400 other regions for federal money to aid economic development. The money is needed because the Milwaukee region, which includes Racine, now ranks 336th out of 392 regions as a place to live and do business. Declining transit is a major region for the decline, Bernstein said. ...

 

http://news.racinepost.com/2009/09/transit-summit-spells-out-need-for.html

 

��� .02� 40/40/20 demonstrates the pitfalls of regional transportation planning

horsesass.org

I’ve had a couple arguments in recent weeks over the merits of regional transportation governance reform,� ... Now, I don’t question the need for regional transportation planning and cooperation; buses, trains, cars and trucks cross city and county lines, so it would be stupid for our roads and transit not to interoperate. And I don’t question either the need for suburban buses, or the fact that service to these less dense areas necessarily requires a larger subsidy per passenger mile than more crowded, and thus more cost-efficient, city routes. (The fare to expense ratio in Metro’s Seattle-centric West area was roughly 26% in 2007, compared to 14% for the East area.) But when the political compromises necessary to facilitate “regional governance” result in rigid, sub-area allocations like Metro’s 40/40/20 rule, or Sound Transit’s subarea equity provisions, it can’t help but hamper the ability of Seattle taxpayers to provide themselves the level of service they want and need. ...

 

http://horsesass.org/?p=20513

 

��� .03� Four Officials From 'Kindred Cities' of Boulder to Speak at Sept. 23 Public Forum

Huffington Post (blog)

Four prominent leaders from Aspen, Colo., Madison, Wis., Portland, Ore. and Sante Fe, N.M. will share their experiences and thoughts in an evening forum, Wednesday, Sept. 23, titled "Separated at Birth: Insights from Kindred Communities." ... several topics, including:

��� * How a city's image or "narrative" affects growth both positively and negatively.

��� * How university cities navigate issues of "town and gown."

��� * How cities work regionally, integrating community issues within larger growth areas.

��� * How cities develop sustainable "green" policies.

��� * How a city's success can lead to an increasing lack of economic diversity.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jerry-lewis/four-officials-from-kindr_b_293599.html

 

 

13. Announcements and Regional Links. ��Contents

��� .01� 6th Mid-Atlantic Regional Planning Roundtable - September 30 – October 1, 2009 - Frederick, Maryland

Smart and Sustainable – Local & Regional, State and Multi-State -

How will planning contribute to achieving these goals of the citizenry?

For: Planners and Elected and Appointed Officials, Business Persons and Citizens

Sponsored by: Regional and Intergovernmental Planning Division, American Planning Association and APA Chapters: Delaware, Maryland, National Capital Area, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia to allow no admission cost to participants.

Hosted by: Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG)

Historic Roundtable Support: AMPO, NADO, NARC

Location: Cultural Arts Center of Frederick County, 15 W Patrick St., Frederick, Maryland 21701

Agenda: http://semanticommunity.wik.is/@api/deki/files/1671/=Mid-Atlantic.Regional.Planning.Roundtable.6.agenda.draft.6.pdf

 

Registration: http://www.mwcog.org/calendar/�

 

��� .02� Studies Identify Trouble Ahead for Pennsylvania’s Communities Statewide - Issues PA

Three new studies are sounding a warning bell for Pennsylvania municipalities and the state as a whole: without major changes in the structures and laws that govern municipalities and the way they are financed, and unless communities are empowered to work more closely together, their fiscal and physical integrity is at grave risk and the state’s economy will continue to struggle in the coming decades. The independent studies released by three major research institutions concurrently today are:

��� * an assessment of the fiscal health of Pennsylvania municipalities by the Pennsylvania Economy League, called "Structuring Healthy Communities;"

��� * an update of the 2003 "Back to Prosperity" report, entitled "Committing to Prosperity," prepared by the Brookings Institution for The Campaign to Renew Pennsylvania; and

��� * "Strengthening Rural Pennsylvania," a policy brief on rural issues authored by a team of researchers from The Pennsylvania State University.

…

The Penn State study revealed that the trends -- both positive and negative -- impact communities of all sizes throughout the state.

"Sometimes we have a tendency to think of rural areas as being separate from urban and suburban areas, and we make decisions about each in a public-policy vacuum," said Ted Alter, Penn State professor of agricultural, environmental and regional economics. "We need to recognize that policy changes often create a domino effect that does not stop when it gets to rural Pennsylvania."

The issues rural Pennsylvanians identified as most critical are parallel to those of residents of more densely populated communities. Yet, rural development policy has tended to focus on specific economic segments, rather than address the complexity of rural communities. The report outlines a place-based policy approach that works to leverage a region’s unique assets, encourages regional cooperation among local governments and between the public and private sectors, and takes a more holistic view of economic development.�

 

http://www.issuespa.com/articles/19661

 

��� .03� Genuine Progress Indicator – Wikipedia

The genuine progress indicator (GPI) is a concept in green economics and welfare economics that has been suggested to replace gross domestic product (GDP) as a metric of economic growth.

GPI is an attempt to measure whether a country's growth, increased production of goods, and expanding services have actually resulted in the improvement of the welfare (or well-being) of the people in the country. GPI advocates claim that it can more reliably measure economic progress, as it distinguishes between worthwhile growth and uneconomic growth. …

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genuine_progress_indicator

 

14. Financial Crisis. ��Contents

��� .01� Why capitalism fails - Boston Globe - MA, USA

Since the global financial system started unraveling in dramatic fashion two years ago, distinguished economists have suffered a crisis of their own. Ivy League professors who had trumpeted the dawn of a new era of stability have scrambled to explain how, exactly, the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression had ambushed their entire profession.

Amid the hand-wringing and the self-flagellation, a few more cerebral commentators started to speak about the arrival of a “Minsky moment,” and a growing number of insiders began to warn of a coming “Minsky meltdown.”

“Minsky” was shorthand for Hyman Minsky, a hitherto obscure macroeconomist who died over a decade ago. … He predicted, decades ago, almost exactly the kind of meltdown that recently hammered the global economy.

…

Minsky called his idea the “Financial Instability Hypothesis.” In the wake of a depression, he noted, financial institutions are extraordinarily conservative, as are businesses. With the borrowers and the lenders who fuel the economy all steering clear of high-risk deals, things go smoothly: loans are almost always paid on time, businesses generally succeed, and everyone does well. That success, however, inevitably encourages borrowers and lenders to take on more risk in the reasonable hope of making more money. As Minsky observed, “Success breeds a disregard of the possibility of failure.”

As people forget that failure is a possibility, a “euphoric economy” eventually develops, fueled by the rise of far riskier borrowers - what he called speculative borrowers, those whose income would cover interest payments but not the principal; and those he called “Ponzi borrowers,” those whose income could cover neither, and could only pay their bills by borrowing still further. …

Once that kind of economy had developed, any panic could wreck the market. …

 

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/09/13/why_capitalism_fails/#

�

��� .02 �Is your bank ‘underwater’? Check its debt level – msnbc.com

Banks with heavy debt loads are concentrated in a few states. The map shows the percentage of banks in each state that ended the second quarter with "troubled asset ratios" greater than 100, meaning they have more troubled loans than capital and loan loss reserves to cover them. Click through a state to look up any bank in the U.S., using the BankTracker from the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University.

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32651151/ns/business-us_business/from/ET

 

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