Urban Planning & Collaborative Development
Topics: Economy, Crime & Safety, Government
We like to draw boundaries around our cities and towns and govern our own affairs. But certain issues have an annoying way of showing just how arbitrary those borders are. Challenges related to land and water use, infrastructure, transportation, taxation and environmental impact don’t always respect maps, and real solutions call for partnerships and compromises between neighboring municipalities, counties, and even states. Like the proverbial thread on the sweater, one problem is often tangled up with others, and discussions can get complicated quickly as competing interests collide. But local and state officials owe it to their constituents to keep searching for the elusive third way — or fourth or fifth or sixth, if necessary. Smart regional planning and sustainable development demand it.
Created On: 01/14/2011
Conversations about this issue:
It's your Civic Commons, so you get to start the conversation you think is important.
Start a ConversationDan Moulthrop – Radio show airing 2/12/11. Citizens respond to the idea of collaborative planning and resource sharing; Cindy Lombardo on the shared resource that is the library; Lia Lockert brings new voices; Luke on the couch.
Dan Moulthrop – Civic Commons 2/5/2011 radio show focuses on the tax base sharing ideas advocated by Regional Prosperity Initiative. We interview Hudson Mayor Bill Currin and hear from Lakewood resident Don Pawlowski.
Why We Need Collaborative Planning - The Montrose/Wal-Mart example
Jason Segedy – Montrose is the premier retail and shopping destination in Summit County. It is also an important corporate center, containing thousands of high-paying jobs in several large office parks. Thousands of people also live in this area in a mix of single-family and multi-family housing. It is a place in every sense of the word. . .except the governmental sense. For what Akron-area residents call "Montrose" is in fact portions of three local communities: Fairlawn, Copley Township, and Bath Township. What this means is that, in effect, "No one rules the 'wild west' of Montrose". There is no one political or governmental entity in charge of producing a comprehensive land use plan for the entire retail area, ensuring that it is zoned in a consistent manner, or that it follows a unified design standard. Similarly, no one entity is in charge of establishing and implementing a detailed transportation improvement plan for the area. Unsurprisingly, the history of Montrose is one of largely uncoordinated and unplanned development. Numerous disjointed development decisions have resulted in poor access management, poor interconnectivity, and an extremely limited ability for the area to be accessed by public transportation, pedestrians, or cyclists. Tens of millions of public and private dollars have been spent in order to ensure that nearby roadways operate at an adequate level of service. The latest planning challenge to face Montrose is the announcement that the existing Wal-Mart and Sam's Club in Fairlawn may be relocating to a currently undeveloped site in Copley Township, less than one mile away. The land use and transportation impacts of this move are likely to be undesirable to taxpayers, as they may entail a significant expenditure of public funds to address the resulting traffic problems. The issue of uncoordinated land use and infrastructure planning is by no means unique to the Montrose area. It is a situation that has occurred, does occur, and will occur in communities throughout our region. At a time of economic hardship, it is critical that the public sector, the private sector, and everyday people work collaboratively to innovate new ways of planning our communities; ways that are truly sustainable - economically, environmentally, and socially. The following report discusses these particular challenges at greater length.
CSU Presentation - Jason Segedy (Office 2000 compatible).ppt
Jason Segedy – You may be interested in a presentation that I have prepared discussing collaborative regional planning and the soon-to-be-launched Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities initiative.
Where is the revenue to fix the infrastructure?
Jason Russell – First suburbs are facing increased rehabilitation costs and declining revenues.
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