Sunday, February 01, 2004
Rural areas often face the future with no tools to manage the pattern of growth within their borders. The result: haphazard growth patterns, sprawl, strip development, visual clutter...all adding up to a loss of rural character.
That's the challenge facing Georgetown County in South Carolina, just north of Charleston. Last week the Economic Development Commission held a day long session on zoning.
John Scarborough, and EDPro from Berkeley County (outside Charleston), explained how his county adopted countywide zoning. Read more.
Good quote about zoning:
"It's not so much telling you what you can do with your property, but protecting you from what could be done on adjacent property."
Last week, I was up in Maine talking to the Economic Development Council of Maine. The same problem of zoning is creating development challenges in Southern Maine, near Kittery.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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.
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.
Confronting zoning in coastal South Carolina
