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In city, county and metropolitan regions across the country sprawling development, poor air quality, population growth projections and other issues have spurred a variety of efforts to develop regional planning visions and goals. In most cases such regional dialogues – some of which involve substantial citizen participation – result in guidelines for local governments, the unit of government that in most states determines land use policies. The goals, scope and nature of these efforts vary from region to region. Some efforts are led by governments, others by the private sector, nonprofit organizations, or public-private collaborations. Some of the most established include Envision Utah, Sustainable Seattle, Portland 2040, Idaho's Treasure Valley Partnership Agreement, and the regional council of governments in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Regional coordination among local governments as well as business and community leaders is necessary for metropolitan-wide agreement on which lands will be developed, which lands will be left as open space or greenbelt buffer, and priorities for transportation and transit spending. Local governments in metropolitan regions like Minneapolis-St. Paul share property tax revenues among scores of jurisdictions to even the disparities between newer, wealthy suburbs and older, inner-ring communities. Others require local governments across a region to provide a share of the affordable housing needed, so that poverty is not concentrated in any one locale, and low-income residents have access to good schools and jobs, which are often located in far-flung suburbs. Governments and business in metropolitan areas are also collaborating to promote their region in the global marketplace. In these areas local officials are discouraged from zero-sum competition for big retail businesses that pit one city against another in a race to give away land and other concessions to attract the sales tax generator. The cities of Lancaster and Palmdale, CA pool the sales taxes generated from new shopping centers rather than compete for retail tenants. Even more, savvy leaders in regions understand that to be competitive economically, they must encourage on a regional scale business-friendly elements such as good public schools for a well-educated workforce, research universities developing new technology and innovation, vibrant, walkable city centers, affordable housing, and land use and transportation planning that is livable and offers a high quality of life. The importance of livable land use and transportation planning can be seen in booming metropolitan regions like Atlanta, where sprawling land use has led to epic cases of gridlock on the region's roads during commute hours, and poor air quality, all of which, in the end, can strangle economic development. Similarly, the Silicon Valley's tremendous economic success has pushed housing prices so high that the lack of affordable housing is actually hindering the region's prosperity. The Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group has been a leader in advocating for more affordable housing. Public and private leaders in the region allied under the mantle of Joint Venture Silicon Valley Network have helped the many local cities in the region align their building codes, and implement more timely systems for reviewing development plans, in the name of fostering more economic growth. Resources
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