Regional
Florida
Connecting our State’s
Regions
April-May
2002
·
Tampa
Bay Partnership Conference to Focus on Regional
Advocacy
·
Central
Florida’s myregion.org Summarizes Issues
·
South
Florida Economic Development Fight Continues
·
What’s
New in Florida’s Regions
·
Happening
in Regions around the Nation
·
Upcoming
Events
Tampa
Bay Partnership Conference to Focus on Regional Advocacy. Elected officials as well as business and
civic leaders throughout the region will attend the Tampa Bay Partnership’s
Leadership Conference May 20-21, focusing on the organization’s role in advocacy
and building a regional policy process.
“Super-regionalism” discussions will feature representatives from the
Orlando area. For conference
details, contact Elisa DeGregorio at 813-878-2208 or at edegregorio@tampabay.org.
Central
Florida’s myregion.org Summarizes Issues.
Working
toward a new round of workshops in July, myregion.org has summarized issues from
the first round of workshops. Issues summaries in 13 areas from transportation
to culture and diversity may be found at www.myregion.org. The list of regional issues draws upon
workshop participants’ perceptions of the region and frames the issues with a
regional focus. They will set the
stage for future discussions and consideration of additional
priorities.
South
Florida Economic Development Fight Continues. The
squabble between economic development agencies in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm
Beach counties may be headed to court.
Miami-Dade’s Beacon Council has said it may use “legal and legislative
remedies” to prevent state funds from being used to lure businesses to other
Florida counties. The three county
business groups had been working on a non-compete pact, but Broward
representatives said they needed more time. Visit www.miamitodaynews.com/news/020509/story1.shtml
for details.
South
Florida
Tri-Rail
May Seed Broader Regional Transportation Authority. South
Florida’s three-county commuter rail system may serve as the backbone for a
proposed Regional Transportation Authority. A proposal being floated by South
Florida business leaders calls for the existing Tri-Rail board to form a
regional authority that would make the region more competitive for government
transportation funds. However,
three county commissions need to agree on the composition of the board. For details, visit www.miamitodaynews.com/news/020418/story1.shtml. To purchase a copy of the Collins
Center’s regional Town Meeting on transportation, broadcast in Miami and West
Palm Beach in mid-April, write to pgregory@collinscenter.org.
Students
Visit Everglades Without Leaving Classroom. Students
in the 16-county area of the South Florida Water Management District have
received a new resource guide to increase awareness and understanding of the
Everglades ecosystem. Developed in
conjunction with the Newspapers in Education program, “Everglades—An American
Treasure” will bring to life the interconnected Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades
watershed and the state-federal efforts now underway to restore it. For more information, visit www.sfwmd.gov/newsr/3_newsrel.html#nie_pp.
Census
Data Now Available.
A
comprehensive on-line resource for South Florida Census 2000 data can now be
found at www.sfrpc.com/census.htm.
Tampa
Bay Area
Transportation
Blueprint Looks at Three Issues.
With
many of the region’s intercity corridors expected to fail by 2012, the new Tampa
Bay Regional Transportation Report’s draft recommendations cover critical
corridors and gateways, regional planning and coordination, and funding
options. The findings will be
discussed at the upcoming Tampa Bay Partnership Leadership Conference (see
above). For a copy of the two-page executive summary, contact Karen Raihill at
kraihill@tampabay.org.
Tribune
Editorial Boosts Regionalism.
A
May 6 Tampa Tribune editorial calls for action in “The Longtime Problem of
Regional Disconnection.” For the
full text, visit http://www.tampatribune.com/News/MGA4WHKLS0D.html.
US
Works Site Draws Strong Initial Interest. The new labor market website for the
Florida High Tech Corridor, www.usworks.com/Floridahightech,
has drawn more than 500 resumes and 400 job orders in a recent 10-day
period. In its first month, it
attracted more than 4,000 visitors.
The site is geared toward three audiences: job seekers, employers, and workforce
professionals. Visitors can see
which industries have the highest wages, which occupations are the fastest
growing as well as current salary and benefit trends.
Central
Florida
Freight
Demand to Double in Next Two Decades.
Freight
traffic to and from Central Florida is expected to double in the next 20 years
to nearly 100,000 tons. At the same
time, the region’s traffic congestion will worsen. Metroplan Orlando has begun work on a
regional freight strategy plan that would provide freight mobility, improve
residents’ quality of life, and draw upon urban design and growth
management. For more information,
click on http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2002/05/06/daily23.html.
Northeast
Florida
Dial
2-1-1 for Human Services Referrals.
Beginning
this summer, the Jacksonville area’s First Call community hotline, referral, and
information service will offer information from their shared database of more
than 100 health and human services agencies throughout the region to callers
dialing 2-1-1. For more
information, call Tess at 904-396-3052.
Planning
Staff Helps Counties Prepare Terrorism Response. The
Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council has helped emergency preparedness
personnel in St. Johns and Putnam counties prepare response plans for a
terrorist attack. For more
information, visit www.nefrpc.org.
Northwest
Florida
New
Website Aims to Increase Understanding and Participation. Hoping
to educate elected officials, business leaders, and educators on the benefits of
economic development programs, Florida’s Great Northwest, Inc. and Opportunity
Florida have unveiled a new website— www.brandnewflorida.com.
Future additions to the site will
include a job creation benefits calculator that Northwest Floridians can use to
calculate the spin-off jobs and additional tax revenues an expansion or
relocation project would bring to the region.
Regional
Coordination Brings Flood Insurance Discounts. Advance planning and coordination lead
to premium discounts on flood insurance policies in Florida’s coastal
communities. The West Florida
Regional Planning Council has been assisting local governments understand how
the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System works. CRS helps counties and cities become
more flood resistant, creating discounts for NFIP policyholders. For more information, visit www.wfrpc.dst.fl.us.
Happening
in Regions around the Nation
Alliance
Leadership Forum Focuses on Regional Partnerships. The
Alliance for Regional Stewardship’s May 2-3 Leadership Forum focused on regional
partnerships for change through dialogue and collaboration in San Diego, St.
Louis, Denver, Boston, and Columbus.
Background material for the conference may be found at www.regionalstewardship.org/leaderforum.html.
Emergency
Preparedness Best Practices Available.
The
Alliance for Regional Stewardship presented a survey of regional best practices
in emergency preparedness at the National Regional Summit on March 25. For more information, visit www.regionalstewardship.org/Documents/REPCSReport.pdf.
Orange
County, California Holds Regional Growth Dialogue. More
than 120 people from business, government, and the community met recently to
discuss regional growth at the Orange County Dialogue Leadership Forum. Visit http://cpf.grassroots.com/esummary031802/.
“Watch
Your Language,” Publication Tells Planners. The
National League of Cities’ recent publication Building Quality Communities, is an
excellent guide for local officials and citizens on how to “make local land use
decisions by choice and not chance.”
Reviewers also report a helpful section, called “Watch Your Language,”
which identifies several terms used in land use debate that are unclear or
easily misunderstood. For more information, visit http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/leadership/presidents_agenda/index.cfm.
Planning
as if People and Places Matter.
Scott
Bernstein, president of the Center for Neighborhood Technology, recently
testified before a U.S. Senate Committee on behalf of the Surface Transportation
Policy Project. His statement,
“Planning as if People and Places Matter:
Surface Transportation Research Needs and Performance for the Next
Century,” summarizes current research of how to improve the transportation
planning process. For details,
visit
www.cnt.org/congressional-testimony/bernstein-15mar02.html.
Upcoming
Events
May
22-23: Stormwater Research &
Watershed Management.
The
seventh symposium in a series, sponsored by the Southwest Florida Water
Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, will
examine the latest developments in storm water treatment and watershed
management ideas. For more
information, visit www.swfwmd.state.fl.us.
June
13-16: Tenth Congress for the New
Urbanism. Held
in Miami Beach, this national meeting with more than 1,000 members expected,
will examine transit-oriented development, improving suburban strips, and
methods for fitting new downtowns into aging suburbs. For more information, visit www.cnu.org.
June
19: Northeast Florida Regional
Cooperation Summit.
The
environment will be the focus of the fifth annual summit to be held at World
Golf Village. To RSVP or for more
information, call Patsy Heiss at 904-823-2375.
June
24-26: Greyfields 2002 Summit: Adaptive Reuse and Urban
Redevelopment.
More
than 10 major national urban and environmental organizations will convene this
summit in West Palm Beach to show best practices and strategies for the
adaptation of mixed-use development in Greyfield and urban renewal
projects. For more information,
contact Bill Chen at 703-519-6270 x206 or email chen@performanceweb.org.
July
9-12: myregion.org Workshops. Round two of regional issues workshops
will focus on 13 areas of concern to Central Florida. For more information, visit www.myregion.org.
Featured
Websites
Alliance
for Regional Stewardship:
www.regionalstewardship.org
Collins
Center for Public Policy:
www.collinscenter.org
FAU/FIU
Joint Center for Urban and Regional Problems: www.jc.fau.edu; www.soflo.org
Florida
High Tech Corridor:
www.floridahightech.com
Funders’
Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities: www.fundersnetwork.org
Jacksonville
Community Council Inc.:
www.jcci.org
mregion.org
(Central Florida):
www.myregion.org
Tampa
Bay Partnership:
www.tampabay.org
Share
your News! If you have a new regional initiative or
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This
e-newsletter is brought to you by the Collins
Center for Public Policy, an independent, nonprofit, non-partisan
organization promoting thought and action to improve Florida’s quality of life
by making governments and institutions more responsive and responsible. With offices in Miami, Tallahassee, and
West Palm Beach, the Collins Center has played a significant role in such key
projects as the South Florida Citistates Report; the Governor’s Select Task
Force on Election Procedures, Standards, and Technology; and Miami Partners for
Progress.
The
Collins Center is doing significant work in conflict resolution for consumers
and businesses, monitoring revisions to the Florida State Constitution, and
promoting civic education. The
Collins Center also hosts the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable
Communities. Consistent with former
Florida Governor LeRoy Collins’ legacy of uncompromising integrity in government
and business, the Collins Center assists policy makers and business leaders in
their decision making and implementation of policies and
laws.
For
more information about the Collins Center, visit the website at www.collinscenter.org
or call 305-377-4484.
Special
thanks to the Alliance for Regional
Stewardship for additional content.