Friday, October 18, 2002
EDPros who are interested in smart growth issues will find this report interesting. It ranks metro areas by the extent to which their growth spreads out from the core. It's one of the emerging issues that define "quality of life". Learn more.
This is important because metro regions with more compact development patterns will tend to have lower taxes...it costs less to provide public services and infrastructure. (A study Robert Burchell at Rutgers a while back indicated that more compact regions have infrastructure costs that are on the range of 30% less than metro areas that do not manage growth. To learn more about sprawl, check out this on-line guide. If you want to do some heavier reading, here's a report by the National Academy of Sciences.)
Three of the top 4 sprawling areas are in the South: Winston-Salem, Raleigh-Durham, and Atlanta. The report ranks areas by population and housing density; the mix of homes, jobs and services; the availability and use of town centers or downtowns; and the street network.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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Some Background on EDPro Weblog
The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it.
One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information.
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Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development
As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking.
Background on Ed Morrison
Download some background information on me here.
Report on suburban sprawl ranks metro regions
