America 2050

On March 19, SPUR, the Bay Area Council and Regional Plan Association of New York will host a public panel discussion at SPUR in San Francisco on the Northern California megaregion. Building on the work of these three organizations, there has been increasing awareness about the economic, cultural, and ecological connections across Northern California. What does this awareness mean practically? What are the pressing challenges at the megaregion scale and what are the opportunities to form political alliances and cooperate on key issues such as land use, air quality, and housing policies? Panelists will discuss policy implications and responses to this emerging geography, with time for audience questions and discussion.

Panelists include: Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director of SPUR; Jim Wunderman, President & CEO of the Bay Area Council; Carol Whiteside, Founder of the Great Valley Center; Angela Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink; and the Honorable Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento. The panel will be moderated by Robert Yaro, President of Regional Plan Association.

The event will take place March 19, 2008 from 8:30 AM - 10:30 a.m. At SPUR, 312 Sutter St. (at Grant), 2nd Floor, San Francisco.

SPUR is located close to the Powell St. BART station and several Muni lines.
The forum is open to the public, free for members and $5 for non-members.
RSVP to info@SPUR.org

Download the Brochure.

On Friday, April 18, 2008, Regional Plan Association will hold its annual Regional Assembly at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. This year's event will feature a luncheon keynote address by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, who will discuss her vision for a national infrastructure investment plan.

The Assembly will take an in-depth look at energy and water and how their increasing scarcity impacts the economic growth and prosperity of the New York City metropolitan region, with lessons for national polices. Specific workshops will examine the way this growing scarcity shapes community design, changes our workforce, focuses attention on the protection of our open space, and affects regional and national transportation.

In addition to Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, speakers include New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Atlanta Mayor Shirley C. Franklin, and Congressman Earl Blumenauer.

Register today at www.rpa.org/ra2008/

Baltimore - Regional Plan Association and the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy convened more than one hundred civic and business leaders in "Charm City" on February 29th to develop an action agenda to address the economic, transportation, environmental and housing challenges facing the Northeast and the nation at the 2nd Northeast Climate and Competitiveness Summit.  The Greater Baltimore Committee, Select Greater Philadelphia, The Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education at University of Maryland and ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability were co-sponsors of the event.  
 
The Summit featured keynotes from Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania (above) and Congressman Earl Blumenauer from Oregan (below).  Blumenauer spoke about the need for federal leadership in addressing national infrastructure challenges with 21st century solutions and discussed a specific proposal for creating a national infrastructure investment plan that would shape the federal role in transportation, water and energy infrastructure.  Rendell delivered the luncheon keynote and discussed the lack of transportation dollars and its  impact of our  failing infrastructure.  Rendell (right) is leading a parallel national infrastructure initiative with Gov. Schwarzenegger and Mayor Bloomberg called, "Build America's Future."  Other public officials who spoke included Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Maryland's Lt. Governor Anthony Brown and former Governor Parris Glendening.

The Summit's four roundtables - Northeast Corridor Mobility, Regional Landscapes and Climate Change, Local Government Forum on Climate Change, and Subprime Mortgage Crisis and Affordable Housing - were chaired by Jack Lettiere, Jack Lettiere Consulting, LLC and Former Commissioner of NJ DOT, Rob Pirani, Director of Environmental Programs at RPA, Armando Carbonell, Chairman, Department of Planning and Urban Form, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and Merilyn Rovira, Director of Housing and Community Development, Fannie Mae, respectively.

March 19: San Francisco - The Bay Area Council, San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) and Regional Plan Association (RPA) convened a public panel discussion at SPUR on the emergence of the Northern California megaregion. Panelists reacted to a recent report by SPUR describing the Northern California megaregion and discussed collaborative solutions to challenges at this emerging scale. Panelists agreed: the report had heightened awareness to the economic, ecological and cultural connections across Northern California region.  Moderated by Bob Yaro, co-chairman of America 2050 and president of RPA, panelists included Angela-Glover Blackwell, Founder and CEO of PolicyLink, Hon. Christopher Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento, Carol Whiteside, Founder of Great Valley Center, Jim Wunderman, President and CEO of Bay Area Council, and Gabriel Metcalf, Executive Director of SPUR. Read the extended entry for more information on the event and to download the Northern California Megaregion Report by SPUR.