Confronting growth issues Saturday, November 08, 2003 Communities all over the country are confronting growth issues. Not so much the level of growth, as its pattern. How do you develop quality growth? How do you develop growth patterns that are sustainable -- financially and environmentally -- over time? Here are two examples that caught my eye in the past week-- in Durango, CO and Santa Monica, CA. Durango is an old mining town of about 14,000 people. Recent city council meetings have turned ugly over growth issues. Last week, the council narrowly turned down a proposal for a "new urbanist" development of 800 homes, designed to reduce sprawl. Read more. A local nonprofit, Operation Health Communities, came up with an alternative to explore white hot issues. It organized a study circle and began a more enlightened discussion of options facing the town. Read more. Visit the Operation Health Communities web page. Go. Santa Monica is taking a different approach. The city council has organized a task force on sustainability. The key to this strategy: You have to be careful to involve the right people from the start. These calculations are seldom easy. As one commentator notes, that business and residents must be on the task force. "They’re going to fight and scream all the way unless they’re involved from the beginning.” Read more. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links 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. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: 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.

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