Shaping our Future

Govt proposing that many trucks improve efficiency (AP)

2010-10-25T11:31:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press: Govt proposing that many trucks improve efficiency:

"The Environmental Protection Agency and the Transportation Department are moving ahead with a proposal for medium- and heavy-duty trucks, beginning with those sold in the 2014 model year and into the 2018 model year.

The plan is expected to seek about a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption from longhaul trucks, according to people familiar with the plan."

Columbus Insists, There’s Lots of There There - NYTimes.com

2010-08-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

Columbus Insists, There’s Lots of There There - NYTimes.com: "'No consistent image or qualities come to mind when people think about Columbus,' lamented Doug Kridler, director of the Columbus Foundation and a leader of the task force. The city must develop 'a messaging mooring-post that different groups can use to describe our authentic strengths,' Mr. Kridler said."

Adopted Goals

2010-07-08T18:00:00.001-04:00

MORPC's Policy Committee and Commission approved the following goals to be used in further developing Shaping our Future, MORPC’s Regional Plan.

Promote the reduction of per capita energy consumption and the production of energy from renewable local sources to increase affordability and resilience of regional energy supplies.
Preserve and protect natural resources to maintain a healthy ecosystem
Position central Ohio to attract and retain economic opportunity to prosper as a region and compete globally
Create sustainable neighborhoods to improve residents’ quality of life
Increase collaboration to maximize the return on public expenditures
Use public investments to benefit the health, safety and welfare of people

These goals were developed under guidance from MORPC’s 2008 Strategic Plan and through an extensive public process that included interviews with 59 focus groups that included government, citizens, non-profits and business; an on-line survey that garnered 6,600 responses; presentations to many communities and organizations; and through an open comment page on this website.

These goals will also serve as guidance for the 2012 Metropolitan Transportation Plan that is currently under development. The goals were tested against mandatory obligations identified in the SAFETEA-LU, the Federal Transportation legislation that guides MORPC’s Transportation Planning programs.

The goals include six broad statements and will be used as the foundation for developing measureable objectives that will identify targeted results for the plan and the various activities of the agency. The measurable objectives will be brought before this Board for approval.

These will be used for reviewing all MORPC projects, including those in both the Metropolitan Transportation Plan and the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Therefore, the goals should be flexible enough to cover a wide range of potential projects while also ensuring a critical assessment of project costs and benefits to the region. The proposed goals have been under review by MORPC’s committees since May and were made available for public review and comment on May 7.

Living quality study puts Columbus at 23rd - Business First of Columbus

2010-05-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

Living quality study puts Columbus at 23rd - Business First of Columbus:

"The highest scores went to well-rounded metro areas with healthy economies, moderate costs of living, light traffic, impressive housing stocks and high-powered educational systems. Columbus placed 10th for its share of adults ages 25 to 44 – they make up 30 percent of the region – and it finished in the top 20 for its share of adults holding college degrees and number of management and professional jobs. That may come as little surprise in a region that is home to a host of colleges, including Ohio State University and its 50,000 students."

Shaping our Future Draft Goals

2010-05-10T09:44:00.002-04:00

The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) announces for public review and comment the draft goals for Shaping our Future: the Regional Plan for Central Ohio and the 2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. The draft goals were derived from the results of the on-line public opinion survey and focus groups conducted earlier this year in Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Knox, Licking, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway, Ross, and Union counties. The goals are drafted in alignment with existing federal, state and regional policies and efforts. The findings of this work can be found here.

The draft goals include:

Reduce energy consumption to decrease production of greenhouse gases
Preserve and protect natural resources to maintain a healthy ecosystem
Position central Ohio to attract economic opportunity to prosper as a region and compete globally
Build sustainable neighborhoods to improve residents’ quality of life
Increase collaboration to maximize the return on public expenditures
Use public investments to benefit the health, safety and welfare of all people

You can comment on this page or send an email to regionalplan@morpc.org

State of the Air: 2010 Report - American Lung Association

2010-04-30T10:55:00.000-04:00

State of the Air: 2010 Report

The American Lung Association looks county by county at two of the six criteria pollutants regulated by the EPA as a result of the Clean Air Act.

The Crazy Quilt

2010-04-20T10:17:00.001-04:00

Metropolitan sprawl spawned a crazy quilt of overlapping county, town, and municipal governments, not to mention school districts, all taxing local property owners and households to cover considerable overhead for basic services, including police, fire, teachers, and garbage collection. Competing jurisdictions in turn rob each other for precious tax base (typically shopping centers and retailers), destabilizing neighborhoods and commercial districts when businesses move out for better deals. This chock-a-block local governance structure not only perpetuates highly inefficient bureaucracy, but also works against effective regional planning for delivering infrastructure and related services.

~ Infrastructure 2010: Investment Imperative - ULI

You shared your confusion of this "crazy quilt" in our public opinion survey, trying to locate your own home within a zip code served by a post office in one city, with a school district of another, and within the actual boundaries of a different city. That's not to mention that your fire department coverage might still exist within the governance of a disappearing township.

For more on this topic, check out Greater Ohio's Restoring Prosperity initiative.

Stream Video and Slides from 4/14 CMC Forum Presentation

2010-04-19T12:08:00.000-04:00

CMC

View more presentations from Regional Plan.

Survey Results Released

2010-04-14T11:00:00.002-04:00

News Coverage:

The Results:

CMC Presentation

Survey Results

U-Haul: Columbus climbs ranks of destination cities - Business First of Columbus:

2010-04-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

Columbus is up from 35th in 2007 to the 16th most popular one-way destination on U-Haul's list.

U-Haul: Columbus climbs ranks of destination cities

Shaping our future | The Columbus Dispatch

2010-03-29T09:42:00.000-04:00

Shaping our future | The Columbus Dispatch: "'It's certainly a good idea to have goals, but you have to do a solid cost-benefit analysis and have a real plan, not just goals,' [Professor Barry] Keating said. 'When it comes down to it, businesses wanting to grow or relocate look for places that have good infrastructure and a good, educated work force. Those things aren't very sexy, but success really comes down to basics.'"

Google Maps has Biking Directions!

2010-03-11T08:56:00.001-05:00

Best Affordable Suburbs in America 2010: Marysville, Ohio - BusinessWeek

2010-03-08T10:05:00.000-05:00

Best Affordable Suburbs in America 2010: Marysville, Ohio - BusinessWeek

Marysville made BusinessWeek's list placing it among the best affordable suburbs in the country. BusinessWeek looks at various indicators of quality: low crime and unemployment, plus access to schools, health care, parkland, and a major airport. What probably grabbed the magazine's attention were the following two statistics:

Median family income: $76,121
Median home price: $146,500

"Ohio clinches facilities race!"

2010-03-08T09:55:00.000-05:00

Find Your Watershed

2010-03-02T13:32:00.000-05:00

You're in a watershed, whether you know it or not.

Links for 2010-03-01 [del.icio.us]

2010-03-02T00:00:00-08:00

Links for 2010-02-25 [del.icio.us]

2010-02-26T00:00:00-08:00

Columbus High Five | Five Miles. Five Districts. Countless encounters.

2010-02-25T12:06:00.000-05:00

Columbus High Five | Five Miles. Five Districts. Countless encounters.

Columbus 2020

2010-02-25T07:45:00.002-05:00

We're not the only ones forming a long-term strategy for the region:

Columbus 2020 aims to strengthen region - Business First of Columbus

The structure calls for the ColumbusChamber to focus on retaining and helping existing businesses grow, while the broader Columbus2020 effort will work to attract major employers to Central Ohio over the next decade.

Columbus2020 will also focus on new business creation by leveraging the region’s research assets and entrepreneurs, said Alex Fischer, Columbus Partnership CEO...

Links for 2010-02-24 [del.icio.us]

2010-02-25T00:00:00-08:00

Eliminating Food Deserts in America

2010-02-24T16:15:00.000-05:00

Eliminating Food Deserts in America | The White House

Looking Back: Columbus Neighborhoods

2010-02-24T07:30:00.003-05:00

Links for 2010-02-23 [del.icio.us]

2010-02-24T00:00:00-08:00

The Jobs Bill Passes the Senate

2010-02-23T09:05:00.001-05:00

Senate Advances Jobs Bill - WSJ.com

Maybe it's because there's a healthy dose of transportation planners and engineers here at MORPC, but we've been keeping a close eye on this Jobs for Main Street bill (sometimes called Stimulus II, where Stimulus I was ARRA).

Surface transportation funding, which comes from the Highway Trust Fund (federal fuel tax), must be reauthorized by Congress periodically. We're still operating under SAFETEA-LU, awaiting a new reauthorization.

Another extension of SAFETEA-LU was tucked into this Jobs Bill. If the summaries I'm reading remain correct, aside it, as a part of the stimulus, is another $27.5 billion for surface transportation from outside the Highway Trust Fund.

50 percent of that $27.5 billion goes into a formula by which it is apportioned to the states. Unlike ARRA, there's a shorter 90-day time frame to get much of the states' share into contract for construction.

Now you can see why we've been paying attention.

I also know from reading responses from our survey that many of you just want to see the jobs. I also know from reading the survey responses that many of you want government action to be more efficient. I also know from your responses that many of you may have been more interested in other parts of the Jobs Bill. Share your perspective. Comment!

Links for 2010-02-22 [del.icio.us]

2010-02-23T00:00:00-08:00

Is nuclear the answer for energy needs? / Mount Vernon News

Innovating to zero!

2010-02-22T10:11:00.000-05:00

After reading through the diverse opinions in some of the 6,400 survey responses so far, I'd be interested to hear Central Ohio's take on Bill Gates' recent talk on energy (see video below or click here).

Bridge Street Corridor Study Speaker Series

2010-02-18T12:26:00.000-05:00

The City of Dublin in northwest Franklin County recently brought in a series of nationally acclaimed experts to speak on topics relevant to their historic core's future:

Christopher Leinberger
Carol Coletta
A panel of experts: David Dixon, Laurie Volk, and Sarah Woodworth

You can find full video of this series on the project website for the Bridge Street Corridor Study.

Talk to Us

2010-02-10T13:55:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the central Ohio region covers 6,300 square miles and is home to 2 million people? It is bigger than Connecticut and has a population larger than Nebraska. Our region is home to 373 local governments, plus many school, library and fire districts. There are over 44,000 employers, 138 of which have over 1000 employees. We have 24 universities that collectively enroll 117,000 students; 17 hospitals and 37 watersheds. We have 9,500 farms, 7 state parks, one national historic park and the most extensive archeological mound system in the world. Whew!

Central Ohio consists of the Marion-Columbus-Chillicothe Consolidated Metropolitan Area as designated by the US Office of Management and Budget. That means these counties have economic ties that define them as a region. In addition, the Upper Scioto watershed nearly mirrors this area. The central Ohio region is, therefore, defined by both nature and man.

Without efforts to safeguard our natural resources, utilize energy wisely, respect diversity, promote fiscally sound economic growth, have a robust transportation system, and promote livable communities, we risk not only being unable to sustain our region, but also risk losing any global competitive advantage. To grow and prosper, we need to think and act strategically as a region, while still maintaining the unique character that makes each community in central Ohio special.

As such, MORPC, in collaboration with its many partners in the central Ohio community, is creating a comprehensive regional plan that will encompass many topics including water quality and usage, energy, transportation, broadband, land use, agriculture, and economic development. We need to hear from you. Tell us what you think needs to be done. What do you love about central Ohio and what would make it better? Take our survey, provide comments in this blog. Together, let’s start a dialogue about shaping our future.