Regional Community-Theses. 2008

Tom Christoffel, AICPRegional Intelligence – Regional Communities, LLC

March 28, 2008

Regional Community in the Northern Shenandoah Valley

Theses

1. Community precedes cooperation. 2. Community is how life solves problems.3. Security is the primary purpose of community.4. The Shenandoah Valley is a region where “regional

community” is emerging.5. Regional community is enhanced through geographic DNA –

– Defined by counties – the first region of consequence– Named in a way that is understood and used by the public– Aligned - organizations use Counties to build their

service areas in order to tap bridging social capital

Theses - Continued

6. The Shenandoah Valley is an intentional regional community composed of:– Those who never left– Those who left and came back– Those who have come here and intend to make

a living here, regardless of the fact that they may be worth more elsewhere.

Challenges

• The Shenandoah Valley is coming under intense pressure from the expansion of the Washington, D.C. – Baltimore MSA

• 106,000 population – 1970 • 185,282 in 2000 – 33,800 – 18% over 60• 264,000 in 2030 projected – 30% population

over 60 - 78,500• How will the community respond to the

challenges – including meeting the needs of a aging population?

Community will solve these problems – in some way

• Make the geography visible – there are–Boundaries of consequence – Nation, State, County, City, Town

- Boundaries of convenience – region, market, area - commutershed

- Natural areas

* Watersheds

* Species ranges

* Airsheds

- Political boundaries do not match the natural areas

Shenandoah Valley visibility – from above - boundaries?

Settlement Pattern – A quick look at government formation - Boundaries of Consequence

1738 - Frederick County – As it was

settled, more counties were chartered.

Since 1866 – There were 12 Counties

Here’s the family tree of Intentional Communities

As of 1910 – the NSV had 20 local governments.

Valley Vision - 2050

• Better paying jobs – less need to commute.• Better choice of good and services.• Look and feel of the Valley – same as today –

small town, small city, rural countryside• Like Northern Virginia? • NO! - That’s the negative vision – • How do we grow? That’s the challenge. • Understanding geographic context a good start.

How shall we deal with the issues?

NSV subject to East-West Pressures – in addition to North-South

Income pushes commuting.

Exurban growth is driven by metro housing cost. We get commuters & gentry. 1999 AGI total and married couple AGI shows the economic shadow:

NSV - $3.0 Billion - $45,102 Median Married Couples

NV - $60 billion - $76,761 Median Married Couples

R-R - $2.8 billion - $53,808 Median Married Couples

RADCO - $4.3 billion - $59,867 Median Married Couples

VA - $143 billion - $53,745 Median Married Couples

Cooperation seems needed – will “regionalism” do the job?

re·gion·al·ism n.1. a. Political division of an area into partially autonomous regions. b. Advocacy of such a political system. 2. Loyalty to the interests of a particular region. 3. A feature, such as an expression, a pronunciation, or a custom,

that is characteristic of a geographic area. 4. The use of regional characteristics, as of locale, custom, or

speech, in literature or art.

5. A policy whereby the interests of a nation in world affairs are defined in terms of particular countries or regions.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

On line at Bartleby.com - http://www.bartleby.com/61/

Cooperation is a no brainer – True or False?

• We learned it in Kindergarten.

• Everybody know it’s the right thing…yet

• It is hard to do in real life and appears rare in the world. Why?– Too many boundaries– Too many stovepipes– I’ve got to protect my turf.

Is competition the problem?

• Competition in nature, in sports and in business strengthens each side and leads to better outcomes, ethics aside?

• Politics is competitive, but from the standpoint of the citizen, governance is not.

• I think citizens expect that all levels of government are cooperating on behalf of efficiency.

• If they don’t, why not?

Boundaries & Stovepipes • “We need boundaries.” - Edith Wiener• “To solve problems we must cross boundaries.”

Jessica Lipnack.• Local governments were designed to be local and they

are good at it. • Local boundaries exist in organizations too – CIA,

FBI, DIA – separated by mission stovepipes extreme example.

• Shenandoah Valley – level playing field – everyone is poor.

• Use half – shoestrings – pull in the same direction.• That’s regional community.

What leads to regions that work? My formula: DNA

Have Defined state standard geographic service regions based on county government boundaries.

Regions have a common local Name.

There is Alignment of service area boundaries between single purpose multi-jurisdiction organizations – emergency services, economic development, aging, transportation, technology, community college with in the region.

1968 -Virginia Planning District Regions

This is the scale for Water Resources Planning

This is the scale for region to region planning in the multi-state region.

One last look from above to remind ourselves about boundaries.

Contact Information:

Tom Christoffel, AICP, Editor, Regional Community Development News

Regional Intelligence – Regional Communities, LLCBox 1444 Front Royal, Virginia (VA), USA 22630 E-mail: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.comPhone: 1- 540-635-8582Blog: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/Web: http://regionalintelligence.com/

Regional Community Networkers & RCDNews: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/