The Sustainable Communities Building Blocks Program seeks to provide quick, targeted technical assistance to 20 communities using a variety of tools that have demonstrated results and widespread application. This technical assistance will help selected local and/or tribal governments to implement development approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, create jobs, expand economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life.

Each technical assistance project in a community will include:

·    Public engagement — for example, a one-day workshop that is open to the general public.

·    Direct consultation with relevant decision-makers.

·    A memo outlining specific steps the community could take if it wants to implement the ideas generated during the site visit.

Among the tools that will be used are zoning code reviews, walkability assessments, parking policy analysis, climate action planning, commuter benefits, complete streets, and fiscal and economic tools.

Applying for Sustainable Communities Building Blocks

EPA announced a Request for Letters of Interest (RFLI) on February 3, 2011 (PDF) (11 pp, 172K, About PDF). Letters must be received by February 23, 2011. See the RFLI for information on how to apply.

In a time where job creation is at the top of everyone’s lists it is hard to promote innovation as a solution.  However, most studies on this issue have shown that innovation is positively correlated to job creation by creating first-mover advantages for firms; creating a cycle of expanded employment; and leading to higher productivity, increased wages and lower prices.  The bottom line is that it is not important to create just any job – but rather to secure the right mix of jobs at the right wage levels – and innovation provides the best opportunity for that.

This report (which was also produced in 2002, 2007, and 2008), claims that in order for states to be well positioned to drive innovation-based growth they need to possess specific factors.  Twenty-six indicators have been identified and used to determine the degree to which a state economy is knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, IT-driven, and innovation based. WV ranked 49^th overall when assessing each of the indicators.

It is not all bad news though; there were some indicators where WV is showing success:

• WV ranks 27^th in the number of Deloitte Technology Fast 500 and Inc. 500 firms as a share of total firms. This is up from 49^th in the 2007 assessment.
• WV ranks 24^th in the utilization of digital technologies in state government, up from 47^th in the previous ranking study.
• WV ranked 8^th in Health IT which was measured by the number of prescriptions routed electronically.

Given our low results in the other indicators, WV has a long way to go in addressing our capacity to develop a knowledge based economy.  Access to technology and infrastructure along with our rural nature are obvious impediments.  Less noted in this study is the importance of education and especially K-12 investment as an effective strategy to attracting new economy industries to our state.  Studies like this help to shine a light on what is working and what is not.  Hopefully WV can benefit from some new thinking in relation to the New Economy.

Read the full study

So here I am working on plans to develop Phase II of the Braxton Technology Center, and I’m trying to figure out how to pay for my upfront costs.  I don’t know what I would do without the graciousness of our architect who constantly defers payment until I can figure out how to pay for his work!  Now that I have that resolved, (and by that I mean I’m leaning on him again to give up his time to help me)  I need to locate funds to pay for the feasibility planning for the proposed end use. I’m sure I will muddle through—but, it would be nice to see a clear cut path for obtaining the resources for this phase of the project.  Architects, engineers, and other professionals should not have to wait months and sometimes years for payment until project funding is secured.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta used to have a program that helped to defray predevelopment costs on projects of a qualifying nature.  Those costs were advanced and then recaptured through its community development financing programs. To my knowledge this program doesn’t exist anymore. And I am not aware of anything in West Virginia to address the issue. If we want quality development projects, and we want more of them, it is going to take a concerted effort to address this problem.  I’ve talked about this for years—I know some of you are tired of hearing me! I’m tired of talking—let’s do something!  Anybody else interested?  Contact me.

The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

PARK(ing) Day as a model is successful in its local focus and ability to develop projects to fit the interests and needs of the individual community participants. Community organizers identify specific values and use the event to draw attention to issues that are important to their local public. The end goal is to challenge existing notions of public urban space and empower people to help redefine space to suit specific community needs.

Learn more and have your own PARK(ing) Day in 2011.

See more images of PARK(ing) Day 2010

The study also points to a connection between commuting and emotional well-being.  Among employees who take more than 90 minutes getting from home to work, 40% experienced worry for much of the previous day. This is significantly higher than the 28% among those with negligible commutes of 10 minutes or less. Conversely, workers with extremely long commutes were less likely to have experience enjoyment for much of the previous day or to say they felt well-rested that day.

These findings demonstrate a need for employers to mitigate the effects of long commutes on their employees. Suggestions include telecommuting and helping to defray commuting costs for employees.  This growing body of evidence further illustrates the need to develop employment opportunities locally, especially in WV where a lot of the rural labor force has to travel outside of their local communities and counties for employment.  Focusing on entrepreneurism, small business development, and the further deployment of high quality broadband may increase local employment opportunities thereby reducing commute times and improving the quality of life for our citizens.

Learn more about the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index

One solution to the issue of blight that is being used successfully in many shrinking cities across the US is land banking.  A land bank is a public authority created to hold, manage, and develop foreclosed properties.  One of the best examples of a successful land bank is the Genesee County Land Bank in Michigan which covers the city of Flint.  Here the county was able to streamline and simplify the tax foreclosure process to give the Land Bank the opportunity to strategically plan the reuse of the parcels it holds.  Through the Genesee County Land Bank nearly 1,000 abandoned homes have been demolished, 90 affordable housing rentals units and 80 single-family homes have been reconstructed, and 700 “side yards” have been sold to adjacent landowners for upkeep. A study by Michigan State University showed that the land bank’s efforts have increased local property values by more than $100 million due to the removal of blight.

As some cities are learning growth is not always going to be the answer for every community.  For some cities, shrinking in a controlled and strategic way may be the best solution.  In those areas, land banks can be an important revitalization tool.  In WV we would need reforms to our tax code in order to allow for land banking; however, efforts are underway to explore this through the current Tax Modernization Project.

Visit the Genesee County Land Bank to learn more.

According to the author, Anna Read, the first step towards understanding the application of smart growth concepts in rural areas is to understand the nature of the problems facing these communities. The trends challenging rural America include: fewer farms and farmers, loss of forest land, rapid growth at metropolitan edges, shrinking population in other areas, access to jobs and services and a lack of transportation options, and limited planning capacity.  Many of these challenges are ones we have faced for many decades in West Virginia.

Relying upon the 10 principles of smart growth developed in the 1990’s by the Smart Growth Network the following goals have been developed for application in rural settings: 

1.  Support the rural landscape – this goal looks at the protection and preservation of natural lands and the creation of an economic network to support their use. Strategies include tax credits for conservation, preferential assessment, buy local campaigns, conservation easements, and rural residential clustering, among others.

2.  Help existing places thrive – this goal focuses on maintaining the spaces, assets, and infrastructure that communities’ value. Some of the suggested strategies to achieve this include historic preservation, infill incentives, streetscape improvements, adaptive reuse, and school rehabilitation.

3.  Create great new places – the final goal is to build vibrant and enduring communities that people want to live in.  This is can be accomplished through visioning, place preservation, open space, walkability, traditional neighborhood development, and green building.

Rural communities like those in WV can take control of their futures by assessing current conditions, engaging the community in a visioning process, and implementing smart growth policies to achieve this community vision.  This ICMA report provides a great starting point for imaging how those future visions can become reality.

 Learn more about smart growth 

Download the entire ICMA report 

While the author of this piece calls into question the success of Florida’s concept of the creative-class as a magnet for development there is no doubt that his popularity has helped to generate millions of conversations across the country, and here in our own state, about the value of creativity, tolerance, diversity, and the sense of place.  These conversations may not be directly translating into jobs (or new coffee houses) but they are helping us think in new ways about what is considered economic development.  It is also helping West Virginians see ourselves more clearly – from the eyes of outsiders and in terms of what we want to become.

How do you feel about Richard Florida and his creative class approach?

TEA will engage the community in identifying new and expanding market opportunities, developing technical assistance resources and financing programs, and promoting networking and recognition for the county’s entrepreneurs.  This work will dovetail with TEA’s recent marketing strategy for the Corridor G Regional Development Authority of which Boone County is a member.

In West Virginia businesses that employ fewer than five employees account for 17% of overall employment and in more rural parts of the state, nearly one in five jobs are attributable to these small enterprises.  Eighty six percent (86%) of West Virginia’s businesses employ fewer than twenty people.  Between 2002 and 2003 these businesses added over 5,600 jobs to the state’s economy while large businesses lost a total of 6,100 jobs.

Even with these impressive statistics about the importance of small business to the state’s economy, West Virginia ranks among the lowest states for new entrepreneurial growth. In a recent study by the Kauffman Foundation, the states with the lowest entrepreneurial activity rates include Pennsylvania, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Ohio.  Activity is measured by analyzing the percent of the adult U.S. population of non-business owners that start a business as their main job each month.

We’re proud to be working with Boone County as they lead the state in developing much needed support for their local entrepreneurs!