Sunday, August 15, 2004
Can Hampton Roads come together? The newspaper sure hopes so.
The region needs to come together, but civic leadership has not been strong enough to pull together the region. Read more.
It's a bit confusing for outsiders. Here's how Word IQ sorts it all out:
Hampton Roads is the name for the metropolitan area in southeastern Virginia that surrounds the Hampton Roads channel. Locals subdivide the area into two regions. Most of the region's population lives in South Hampton Roads or, more often, the Southside (not to be confused with Southside Virginia, a separate region farther inland), made up of Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Suffolk.
The northern portion of the area is typically called the Peninsula, after the Virginia Peninsula. The main cities on the Peninsula are Newport News, Hampton, Williamsburg, and Poquoson.
Got that? Now go back and read the editorial (which you probably skipped).
Are you still with it?
All this underscores a point: Outside a region, nobody much cares about all the little problems that keeps a region's civic leadership from working together.
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.
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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.
Bet you can't read all this
