Since 2007, America 2050 has held megaregion forums in seven of America's eleven megaregions nation-wide. There forums were held as part of a "Rebuilding and Renewing America" campaign, which aimed to build support for the infrastructure investments we need to guide America toward a sustainable and prosperous future. The forums aimed to achieve three goals:

• Build support around the country for an ambitious national infrastructure plan in the areas of  transportation, energy, and water.
• Identify and prioritize the key infrastructure priorities in the megaregions, which can act as building blocks to a national plan.
• Create megaregion coalitions to support these megaregion priorities and begin coordinating with each other.

Each megaregion prioritized slightly different issues and has followed up on the forum in varying degrees. To read about the megaregion forums and next steps, download the summary below. Also available is a PowerPoint presentation given by Petra Todorovich at the America 2050 national meeting, which also outlines common principles on federal policy that were emphasized in each of the megaregions.

Download the Summary of Megaregion Forums.

Download a PowerPoint about the Forums.

The Tampa Bay Partnership and Central Florida Partnership are hosting the state's first "Super Regional Leadership Conference."  Join RPA President Bob Yaro on Thursday, May 7, as he addresses the conference as lunchtime keynote, speaking about America 2050.

While Tampa Bay and Central Florida have several great examples of working together to create opportunity, manage growth and plan for the future, it is time for the entire region to come together and unite to build upon these successes, energize its leaders, and work together for the future of our region and our state.  The Florida megaregion stretches from Tampa Bay to Orlando to Miami and is made up of 15 million people with a collective economic output of $608 billion.  With leaders and residents ready to come together, this is the place and the time to affect change.

Please click the conference logo for more information.

In a recently released report, the I-95 Corridor Coalition outlines a transportation vision for the eastern seaboard that would invest in a multimodal transportation system, reduce the carbon footprint of the region, and enhance the region's economic vitality and global competitiveness.  To accomplish this vision, the coalition calls for significant changes to the political, institutional, and financial arrangements that control transportation planning and funding.  For these goals to be realized it would require doubling fuel efficiency, tripling the transit ridership in the region, and increasing the intercity rail ridership by eight fold.  For an overview of the recommendations from the I-95 Coalition download the executive summary of the report here.

In May of this year, the South Florida Regional Planning Council released a draft report on revitalizing the economy and overall health of the South Florida region. The analysis, conducted for the Economic Development Administration, studied demographic challenges and opportunities, business and workforce development, infrastructure needs, and environmental concerns. In addition to acknowledging the diverse population as an asset for the region's economy, the report recommends investments in local, state and regional infrastructure, improving public services and ensuring quality jobs to offset current challenges.

Read the Council's draft report.

This PowerPoint presentation includes an analysis of the South Central Florida Megaregion by the South Florida Regional Planning Council in September 2006.

Download the Presentation

The Orlando Sentinel published a special report today on the rapid rate of development along the I-4 corridor between Orlando and Tampa. The article positions the development in this corridor as part of the emergence of the Florida megareigon. It includes an online multimedia component featuring interviews with a long-time resident and local farmer, newcomers to the area, and America 2050 project director, Petra Todorovich.

Read the article.