Focus Archive - Economic Development

Please note that Focus section links were valid at the time of their original posting. However, since Web sites and addresses change frequently, we cannot guarantee that all links will remain operative.

When Bad Things Happen to Good Plans (November 18)
Delays plague even the best public-private partnerships. More from Planning.

A Housing Recovery with a Solid Foundation (November 04)
Even if policy supports are ended, home affordability and shrinking inventory point to a sector on the mend. But don't expect recent price increases to continue apace. More from Business Week.

Seattle's Opportunity Emerging from the Great Recession (November 04)
To maximize Seattle's strengths as an innovative, progressive city, renewed civic collaboration and shrewd government intervention, on the small and large scale, will be necessary. More from Brookings.

Program Helps Make Downtown Renaissance a Reality (October 28)
It goes without saying that times are hard for our downtowns these days. But, despite that fact, there are things that can — and should — be done to help downtown hold on during this downturn and be ready for when the inevitable upturn occurs. More from Nations Cities Weekly.

MRSC Services Survey (October 21)
MRSC is conducting a brief survey to assess whether or not our existing services are meeting your needs and to determine your interest in any additional services. We would appreciate your taking a few minutes to respond to these nine questions. Thank you.

The 'Vacancy' Blight: Finding New Uses for Empty Stores (October 07)
Across the country, property owners and managers are trying out new uses for empty stores. More from Time.

U.S. Cities On The Rise (October 07)
Americans are moving to college towns and job-growth centers, not the big cities. More from Forbes.

The Next Federal Grant System (September 30)
The stimulus law’s transparency requirements won’t shed much light on the achievement of objectives. More from Governing.

College Towns: High Marks For Lifestyle (September 02)
At a time when many cities are struggling to spur civic vitality, places that are home to major colleges or universities are percolating along robustly, often with healthy job growth, low costs of living and rising property values. More from New Geography.

Could the Recovery Act Help Reinvent Government? (August 26)
If you think the Obama administration’s $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is just one big government boondoggle, check out some top regional implementation strategies. More from Citiwire.

Survey on WA Dept. of Commerce Priorities (August 13)
The Washington State Department of Commerce (formerly the Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development) requests your participation in a brief survey (10 minutes or less) to guide the future direction of the agency, which is charged with helping to grow and improve jobs in Washington.

Local Government Mantra: Help Businesses, Shop Local (August 12)
For localities that want businesses to stay in place, especially when the economy is struggling, local leaders must make it more cost effective for businesses to open their doors in the first place. More from Public Management.

Downtown Central-Cities as Hubs of Civic Connection (August 05)
Downtown central-cities seem poised to reclaim some of their prominence as magnets of culture and social connection. More from New Geography.

Eyes Wide Open, A Practical Guide to Business Retention (August 05)
More than ever before, a sound, systematic business retention program should be the foundation of every community's economic development strategy. More from Public Management.

Which Cities Will, and Won’t, Recover the Fastest (August 05)
While some cities are poised for a quick rebound, others face a slog to recovery that could take years. More from Forbes.

The Public Market Renaissance (July 15)
After decades of decline, America’s local markets are making a comeback. More from Good.

Recovery Act Bond Finance Conference (July 15)
The Washington State Department of Commerce, formerly CTED, will be hosting a Recovery Act Bond Finance Conference on July 31, 2009 at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Learn about financing public and private economic recovery projects for energy conservation, economic development, schools, public education and business development. Register through the Department of Commerce website

Survey - Small Businesses need Help from Local Governments (June 24)
Small businesses want more information and less "red tape" from their local governments, according to a survey by Princeton, Opinion Research Corp. (ORC). More from American City & County.

Retrofitting Suburbia (June 24)
The dearth of good, cheap, undeveloped sites in suburban markets, the escalating number of vacant greyfield properties, and the expansion of mass transit systems into suburban areas are all factoring into a changed American suburban market. More from Urban Land.

New Lives for Old Buildings (June 24)
How one city is smoothing the way for adaptive reuse. More from Governing.

The Changing Geography of Metropolitan Employment (June 17)
The continued decentralization of employment has implications for the future of the nation’s vital economic engines. More from Brookings.

One City’s Response to Difficult Economic Times (June 03)
Coral Springs, FL, has retooled its economic development strategy to make sure the city is ready for growth when the economy improves. More from Government Finance Review.

Smart City - Arts and Culture (May 27)
This week on Smart City: arts, culture and buzz. Does your city have it? How can you tell? And if you don't have it, where do you get it?

Regional Cooperation: A Pathway to Economic Recovery (May 27)
Regional cooperation is a proven way to reduce costs, increase economic competitiveness, manage development impacts and create new opportunities and synergies between communities. More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Smart City - Successful City Secrets (May 20)
This week's guest on Smart City ofers a global perspective on the secrets of successful cities.

MRSC's In Focus e-Newsletter for Councilmembers and Commissioners (May 20)
MRSC's bi-weekly In Focus e-newsletter is an excellent way for your elected officials to stay informed about the latest news, research, events and trends affecting Washington city and county governments. Sign them up today.

Why the Shovels Matter (May 13)
The state and local governments that are going to benefit from the stimulus package the most—the ones that will get the most bang for the buck and move their economies back to prosperity most quickly—are those that did their strategic thinking long ago. More from Governing.

Green Loans Improve Energy Efficiency, Local Economies (May 06)
For savvy homeowners ready to improve the energy efficiency of their homes but hesitant to make the investment in today’s troubled economy, HELP is on the way. More from NACo's County News.

Broadband — at Any Price (May 06)
Small cities are eyeing stimulus money to bring high-speed Internet to all. More from Governing.

Grounded (April 30)
Times are tough at small airports. More from Governing.

Celebrating 75 Years of Research and Services! (April 23)
MRSC proudly continues the program begun as the Bureau of Governmental Research and Services in 1934 at the University of Washington. In honor of our organization’s 75th anniversary, we hope that you will enjoy a multimedia slideshow containing highlights of our history. Also see “Twenty-Five Years of Governmental Research and Service” prepared in honor of the Bureau’s 25th anniversary in 1959.

Uneven Stimulus (April 22)
The feds are dumping piles of stimulus dollars on all 50 states, but when you look behind the 11-digit numbers, some interesting disparities emerge. More from Governing.

MRSC Blog: Selected Local Government Press Releases (April 22)
We have launched our blog containing selected local government press releases to keep you informed on new Washington local government programs and initiatives. Each entry is assigned a category (finance, planning, etc.) and a tag (wetlands, urban forestry, etc.) so you can sort them by topic. If you have not already done so, please add blog@mrsc.org to your agency's press release distribution list.

Brookings Report Assesses Impacts of Stimulus Spending (April 15)
A new Brookings report, Metro Potential in ARRA: An Early Assessment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, provides an initial overview of the intent, approach, and content of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) from the point of view of metropolitan America.

Cities Taking Measures to Stimulate their Local Economies (April 15)
Building on national economic recovery efforts, local governments across the nation are strategically assessing the needs of their communities and employing creative solutions to stimulate business growth and development. More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Getting Ready for Build America Bonds (March 26)
There's a new tool for financial officials and managers to master. More from Governing.

Message to President Obama: Don't Forget the Suburbs (March 26)
American suburbs are increasingly diverse places and the economic engines that drive metropolitan areas, which are the key to the nation’s prosperity. More from Citiwire.

What the Stimulus Bill Really Means for Cities (March 26)
President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act contains an abundance of funding figures that should make urban enthusiasts very happy. More from Next American City.

The Dying Auto Mall (March 26)
Over the past two decades, the funding of local government has become increasingly intertwined with the sale of cars. More from Governing.

Stimulus Stirs Debate Over Rural Broadband Access (March 18)
This piece from National Public Radio looks at the debate over plans to use more than $7 billion from the stimulus plan to expand broadband Internet access in rural areas.

A Ghostly Commercial Sprawl Drains Municipal Funds (March 18)
Empty offices, malls, and factories blight U.S. communities just when they most need commercial real estate revenues the sites once provided. More from Business Week.

A Time for Strings (March 11)
We need to stimulate state and local economies. We also need to keep close watch on what we’re stimulating. More from Governing.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree (March 11)
Why "green jobs" may not save the economy or the environment. More from Slate.

Government Seeks Major Input on Broadband Build-Out (March 11)
By design, there were a lot more questions than answers at the first meeting of the three government agencies charged with overseeing the broadband deployment portion of the economic stimulus package. More from Broadcasting & Cable.

Dead Malls (March 11)
Malls built over the last few decades are being refurbished into so-called lifestyle centers, a term created by developers to describe what may be the world’s oldest location for retail commerce: an urban mixed-use community. More from Sustainable Industries.

Putting Parking into Reverse (March 11)
Four years after the publication of UCLA Planning Professor Donald Shoup's book, The High Cost of Free Parking , cities across America are devising ways to stop parking in its tracks. More from Intransition.

Broadband Provisions in Federal Stimulus Bill (March 04)
Grants through the broadband stimulus bill can potentially bring significant job creation and other economic benefits to small towns and rural communities. However, few of these benefits will reach full fruition if you don't pay attention to D.C. during the next 30 days. More from consultant Craig Settles.

Radical Renewal (February 19)
Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak loves economic development. He just wants to do it his way. More from Governing.

2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure (February 05)
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently released their 2009 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, estimating the nation still stands at a D average. More from ASCE.

Stimulating Main Street (February 05)
Most infrastructure is local. That's where stimulus spending can do the most the quickest. More from Governing.

Rethinking the Interstate (January 29)
What if we used our 46,000 miles of highway as the backbone of a new 21st-century infrastructure? More from Metropolis Magazine.

Farming in Urbanizing Areas (January 29)
A recent report on the problems and opportunities of sustaining agriculture in urbanizing areas includes a case study of efforts in King County.

Green Jobs Report (January 15)
A new report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors and Global Insight, Current and Potential Green Jobs in the U.S. Economy, examines the economic benefits of the 'Green Economy.'

The Ellis Island Economy (January 08)
The next time you buy a pair of jeans from Forever 21, you might consider that the retail clothier was founded by a Korean immigrant to the United States. More from The Next American City.

Bloggerly Love (December 18)
Techies and their interactive tools may be the way to lure tourists to local fairs and state parks. More from Governing.

Going for an Upturn (December 11)
Faced with stagnant tax revenues and a dwindling jobs base, elected officials — and their appointed economic developers — feel tremendous pressure to do something to turn things around. More from Governing.

Broadband makes Tiny Town an English-Teaching Hub (December 04)
Ten Sleep, Wyoming, population 350, is just as connected as any place these days, and home to a new company that is outsourcing jobs not from the United States to the Far East, but in the opposite direction. More from Forbes.

Return on Perception (December 04)
Four key elements of urban design create value: architecture, green spaces, water settings, and transportation. More from Urban Land.

For Sale: 200,000-Square-Foot Box (November 25)
What happens to big-box buildings when a retailer abandons them? More from Slate.

Is The Mall Dead? (November 20)
With lighter wallets and heavier burdens, Americans are rethinking their conspicuous consumption. That's bad news for retailers. More from Newsweek.

APPA Municipal Fiber Broadband Study (November 13)
The American Public Power Association (APPA) has issued a study titled: The Municipal and Utility Guidebook to Bringing Broadband Fiber Optics to Your Community. Communities considering broadband for either residential or commercial deployment should review this thorough report, which details the experiences of several jurisdictions.

New Malls, Old Ideas (November 07)
With a handful of new retail projects, several major architects are attempting to bring the much derided mall into the 21st century. But is good design enough? More from Metropolis Magazine.

Once A Wal-Mart: The New Lives Of Big Boxes (October 30)
Across the country, communities are turning abandoned big-box stores like Kmart and Wal-Mart into churches, schools, libraries — even museums devoted to everything from Spam to Route 66. More from National Public Radio.

Down on the Farm (October 16)
As an economic development strategy, agriculture usually looks like a loser. More from Governing.

Harnessing the Power of the Arts (October 02)
Cities and counties that invest in the arts reap the additional benefits of jobs, economic growth, and a quality of life that positions those areas to compete in our 21st-century creative economy. More from Public Management.

Good Question! (October 02)
Regular users of this site know that we feature an "inquiry of the week" on the MRSC home page (see right-hand column). We have now incorporated a compilation of these questions and responses into the MRSC Index. The MRSC Index is a one-stop listing of all web pages, documents and inquiries that we have on any given topic. Browse the index by topic or search it by keyword.

Local Government Budget Library (October 02)
MRSC maintains an extensive collection of local government budgets organized by city, county and special purpose districts. We also link to online budgets (along with other documents and services) within the profiles that we maintain for each city and county.

Putting Out the Vacancy Sign (September 18)
Rather than the usual campaigns municipalities run to lure new residents or attract industries, Federal Way is running an economic-development campaign to fill its 500,000 square feet of empty office space.

Brownfields and Land Revitalization Conference (September 11)
The Washington Department of Ecology's Toxics Cleanup Program invites you to participate in the State's first-ever Brownfield Conference, October 21-22 in Tacoma.

Revival by Restaurant (September 04)
Downtowns used to be the place to shop. Now, they’re the place to eat. More from Governing.

New Feature - National News Clippings (September 04)
We've added a new feature to our "Local Governments in the News" section below. Now, in addition to our regular local news source clippings, we will also be featuring news clippings from various national news sources highlighting current events, trends and other news affecting Washington city and county governments and special districts.

Muni Fiber Networks Bounce Back (August 28)
Despite some high-profile failures, the deep-seated need for broadband keeps municipalities on the fiber-to-the-home-track. More from Telephony Online.

Web Sightings - Everything Green (August 28)
Web Sightings - Everything Green In a time of high energy costs and concern about climate change, communities are embracing a variety of green strategies. The following are some of our favorite “green” sites:

MRSC Web pages

• Green Communities and Building Design
• Healthy Communities
• Renewable Energy – Green Power
• Smart Growth and Sustainable Development

National Green Resources

• Green Development, Smart Communities Network - Comprehensive site with links to information on green principles, tools, financing, success stories, ordinances, and more
• Green Communities - U.S. EPA
• Smart Growth Online - Comprehensive network with information on smart growth principles and issues and extensive resource library
• Green Plans in Action: State of the States and Climate Change - Resource Renewal Institute, Innovations for a Sustainable Future - International resource with state-by-state information
• ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA - International membership association of local governments dedicated to climate protection and sustainable development

Washington State and Local Resources

• Sustainable Washington - Information about Washington State’s Interagency Sustainability Committee and actions to address sustainable economy, sustainable environment, and sustainable society
• Kirkland Green Homepage - Information on Kirkland’s Green City initiatives
• Olympia Sustainability - Putting sustainability into action is one of the Olympia City Council's four primary goals
• Shoreline Environmentally Sustainable Community - Implements Shoreline City Council goal to create an environmentally sustainable community
• Richland Green Recognition Program - Annual awards for green practices

Cities in a State of Rapid Decay (August 19)
While the mortgage crisis has hit hard in California and other prosperous regions, the cities that are sliding fastest into decline are still in the Rust Belt, with disappearing populations and bleak job prospects. More from Forbes.

The Promise of Municipal Broadband (August 19)
Broadband is too important to the economy, education, and, well, democracy to be at the mercy of Comcast, Verizon, or AT&T. More from The Progressive.

Romancing the Factory (August 19)
Forget about the brightly lit movie complex and pedestrian shopping patterns. The New Economy isn’t for everyone. More from Governing.

Lodging Tax Reporting Forms Available (August 07)
SHB 3206, which passed during the 2008 legislative session, made several changes to previous legislation requiring cities to complete reporting forms about lodging taxes. More from AWC.

NATOA’s Broadband Principles (July 24)
The National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors (NATOA) has published their concise “Broadband Principles,” outlining the need for a national broadband policy and for local governments to take all possible steps to provide fiber to the premises for their communities.

The Cracks are Showing (July 17)
America’s tradition of bold national projects has dwindled. With the country’s infrastructure crumbling, it is time to revive it. More from The Economist.

Quick Links to City/County Information (July 17)
MRSC recently expanded the types of key documents (e.g., budgets and comp plans) and services (e.g., council broadcasts and online service request forms) that we track in our "city profiles" page. Use these profiles for quick access to city and town documents and services. For county information, see our "county profiles" page.

Tips from the Top (June 26)
Attractive communities come in all shapes and sizes, but the formula for making them flourish always includes a little creative vision, a lot of hard, dirty work, and generous amounts of public support. More from American City & County.

Transit Oriented Development 202: Station Area Planning (June 26)
Station Area Planning: How To Make Great Transit-Oriented Places is the first in a series of ''TOD 202'' guidebooks from Reconnecting America that promote best practices in transit-oriented development.

Waterfront and Center (June 12)
With renewed interest in revitalizing their waterfronts, many cities are turning their attention to parks and green spaces as critical elements to success. More from Parks & Recreation Magazine.

Big-Box Stores Slim Down for Urban Settings (June 05)
Big-box retailers across the country are becoming substantially more flexible about what kind of box they can use. More from Architectural Record.

Best Cities to Live, Work and Play (June 05)
Kiplinger's approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. More from Kiplinger's.

Eds, Meds and Urban Revival (May 29)
In many cities, a big university is becoming the economic engine that a big corporation used to be. More from Governing.

Receive RSS Feeds of In Focus (May 23)
We’ve added another option for you to receive information from MRSC: RSS Feeds. Simply click on the RSS button to create an “MRSC In Focus” folder in your email program or RSS reader. You will automatically begin receiving updates to our main Focus page, “Local Governments in the News,” the four Advisor columns, and our “What’s New” section. You can unsubscribe at any time by simply deleting the folder from your RSS reader or email program.

EarthLink Ends Philadelphia Wi-Fi Story (May 15)
EarthLink officials recently announced that the company is shutting down the troubled municipal Wi-Fi network in Philadelphia. More from Government Computer News.

New Report Examines Impacts of Mortgage Meltdown on Rental Housing (May 15)
A new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS), America’s Rental Housing: The Key to a Balanced National Policy, examines recent mortgage market events in the context of long-standing affordability problems that plague millions of renters. More from JCHS.

Bellevue Rated Best Place to Live and Launch (May 15)
Citing its growth as a high-tech hub, balanced by cozy neighborhoods and nearly 100 parks, Fortune Small Business rates Bellevue, WA the best place in the United States to live and launch a new business. More from Fortune Small Business.

Homeward Bound (April 23)
Foreclosure affects more than individual families; it also can diminish the quality of life for entire neighborhoods, disrupt the local market for ownership and rental properties, and destabilize the municipal finance system. More from American City & County.

Virtual Traffic (April 23)
How will the rise of the virtual work place, where workers operate in small-office settings with PCs and communication technology as key back up tools, affect traffic patterns? More from Forbes.

2008 Washington Economic Development Association Conference (April 17)
The Washington Economic Development Association will be holding their Spring Conference at the Lynnwood Convention Center on April 29 through May 1, 2008.

Riding on the Future (April 17)
Faced with a projected population increase of 130 million people over the next 20 years and poor planning that has put its cities behind those of the rest of the world in developing mass transit infrastructure, the United States is trying to catch up. More from Urban Land.

Does Your Community Have a Redevelopment Vision? (April 09)
Using a set of best practices and technical assistance, the Michigan Suburbs Alliance Redevelopment Ready Communities® (RRC) program helps localities build deliberate, fair, and consistent development processes from the inside out—and to effectively communicate them. More from Public Management.

Reduction in New Housing Starts Adversely Affects Local Governments (April 09)
More than a loss of property tax revenue due to foreclosures, an ICMA survey shows that reductions in new housing starts are adversely affecting local governments. More from ICMA.

Downtown Revitalization Training Institute (March 27)
The Washington State Dept. of Community, Trade and Economic Development's 22nd Annual Downtown Revitalization Training Institute will be held in Wenatchee on May 13-15, 2008. Program and registration information are available here.

Our Aging Infrastructure: Voices For Change Mount Quickly (March 27)
The infrastructure issue — the long shadow thrown across America’s future by deteriorating roadways, bridges, railroads, water systems and schools — finally seems to be getting hot. More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Fine-Tuning Wi-Fi (March 20)
Atlanta-based EarthLink's February confirmation that it was selling off its municipal Wi-Fi business sounded the final death knell for some cities' ambitious goals to offer ubiquitous wireless broadband. More from American City & County.

Kirkland Lecture Series - Robert Gibbs Video Presentation (March 13)
The city of Kirkland recently hosted a presentation by Robert Gibbs, a nationally known retail specialist, on "New Trends in Town and City Retail Commerce." Windows Media Player is required to view the video.

Is Your City a Great City? (March 13)
The Project for Public Spaces offers a checklist to see how your city measures up. More from Making Places.

Locate Sample Ordinances, Contracts, RFPs (March 13)
You can use MRSC's search system to locate a wide variety of local government documents. Note the new options to the right of your search results that allow you to limit your results by agency type, population range, region, form and class of government. Watch a brief tutorial to learn more about using our advanced search features.

Conservation Creates Green Collar Jobs (March 13)
As local governments pass policies and create programs to encourage “green” building and sustainable development, they also are fostering the development of jobs in construction, horticulture, hazardous waste remediation and energy conservation. More from American City & County.

Smart City - On the Riverfront (March 06)
The redevelopment of riverfronts has been one of the drivers of urban revitalization in many U.S. cities. This week's guests on Smart City are working to bring new life to two of those riverfronts.

Stemming Foreclosures: No Time to Lose (February 27)
What can America’s cities do about the tsunami of home foreclosures engulfing so many communities? More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Do You Really Want to be the Best? (February 14)
Cities see both benefits and drawbacks to being ranked a top place to live. More from Governing.

Reimagining Cities (February 14)
The latest issue of Science is dedicated to looking at cities, their development and the changing demographics that are shaping our urban lifestyles. More from Science Magazine.

USDA, FCC Launch Rural Broadband Web Site (February 07)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced the launch of a new online resource that can be used to help deliver broadband services to rural communities. More from The USDA.

Web Sightings - Community-Supported Agriculture and the Local Food Movement (February 07)
Web Sightings - Community-Supported Agriculture and the Local Food Movement Interest in community-supported agriculture and local farmers markets has been growing as part of the trend toward sustainable agriculture. These are the subjects of this month's Web Sightings:

Community-Supported Agriculture

• Community-Supported Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture - Links to publications and information regarding CSAs.
• CSA organizations and Web sites, compiled by Mary V. Gold, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2006
• Community-Supported Agriculture, Washington State University Small Farms
• Sustainable Table, Community Supported Agriculture - Links to general information on CSAs.

Local Food and Farmers Markets

• Farmers Markets and Public Markets, MRSC Web page
• Puget Sound Fresh - Regional consumer education and product identification program covering 12 Puget Sound counties, sponsored by Cascade Harvest Coalition and King County
• King County Eat Smart Program - Information for King County employees and their families
• Clallam Grown – Why Eat Local?
• Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network - Grassroots, statewide advocacy organization for sustainable agriculture and family farms in Washington State
• Local Harvest - Website to find farmers markets, family farms, and other sources of sustainably grown food in your area.

For more information, see Washington Agriculture and the Economy, MRSC Web page.

Next-Generation Retail (February 07)
Looking for ways to differentiate their projects from the pack, innovative developers are inadvertently nearing the tipping point of a new retail age where customer convenience rules and the local entrepreneur is king. More from Urban Land.

Seattle Suburb Endures Growing Pains (January 17)
Once upon a time, Kirkland, Washington, was a quiet bedroom community on the east side of Seattle. Now condos, restaurants and boutiques are popping up, attracting many high-tech employees with discretionary income. More from NPR's Morning Edition

Ghost Malls (January 17)
Malls aren't turning into haunted houses just yet, but they may be on their way, thanks to the recent wholesale shuttering of national retail chains. More from Slate.

Five Ways Public Libraries Can Help Communities (January 09)
A new report from the International City/County Management Association, Local Government Managers and Libraries: Partners for a Better Community, features ways that libraries are used to address economic, educational, and social issues that challenge their communities.

Birth, Death and Shopping (January 02)
While malls continue to multiply outside America, they are gradually dying in the country that pioneered them. More from The Economist.

Beyond Wi-Fi (January 02)
It’s time for local, state and federal leaders to focus on making the U.S. more competitive when it comes to broadband. More from Governing.

Fields of Dreams (December 20)
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Washington-based Brookings Institute, 450,000 brownfield sites, comprising more than 80,000 acres, currently blight America's cities. More from American City & County.

Art, Culture, and Planning (December 13)
While there certainly are measurable financial benefits associated with cultural activities, arts and culture projects are also particularly well suited to strengthening the quality of community life. More from The Commissioner.

Temps Welcome (December 13)
Once considered purely a regulatory hassle, many cities are now taking a fresh look at the benefits offered by creative temporary uses. More from Planning Magazine.

HECB Seeks Applicants to Form Health Sciences and Services Authorities (November 06)
The Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) is seeking applicants from Washington cities and counties to form health sciences and services authorities to promote bioscience-based economic development, advance new therapies to combat disease and to promote public health. More from the HECB. ( 38 KB)

Build, Crumble and Build More (October 31)
Why don’t we fix old roads and bridges? Because it’s more fun to make new ones. More from Governing.

Collaborating With Developers to Make Strip Redevelopment a Reality (October 31)
Developers overhauling outdated community shopping centers say collaborating with suburban governments is essential to a successful redevelopment project. More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Hyping the Hip (October 17)
Cities need to attract both the "creative class" and blue-collar manufacturing to survive in the 21st century. More from Governing.

New Report on Housing for Working Families (October 17)
A new report from the Center for Housing Policy, "The Housing Landscape for America's Working Families, 2007," updates national trends on the number of working families paying more of their income for housing and/or living in dilapidated conditions.

America's Most Stable Housing Markets (October 10)
Forbes Magazine recently released its list of the most stable housing markets in America placing Seattle, which continues to buck national housing trends, at the top. More from Forbes Magazine.

Redeveloping Strip Centers Vital for Cities' Economies (October 10)
Many first tier suburbs, those defined as beyond central cities but "inside the ring of developing suburbs and rural areas," are plagued with underperforming neighborhood centers, according to research by the National League of Cities. More from Nations' Cities Weekly.

Where's My Free Wi-Fi? (October 03)
City dwellers won't be able to get high-quality wireless Internet access for free. If they want it, collectively, they'll have to pay for it. More from Slate.

Place Matters (September 19)
Spatial factors and location are often missed, but critical, pieces of the puzzle in developing public and private policies that support working families. More from the Urban Institute (81 KB).

Municipal Wi-Fi - Reality Bites (September 19)
American cities' plans for ubiquitous internet access are running into trouble. More from The Economist.

Community Development - Change of Climate (August 28)
Emerging trends in five European cities suggest what could be ahead for the U.S. development environment. More from Urban Land.

Cities Design for Pedestrian Safety (August 28)
Many urban centers are revitalizing their downtown corridors, revamping commercial and entertainment areas and constructing new developments. To handle the increase of vehicle and pedestrian traffic in core areas, cities are introducing street designs that are safer for pedestrians. More from American City & County.

Web Sightings – Heritage Tourism (July 10)

MRSC Web page on Cultural and Heritage Tourism - Good starting point for information, including background resources, economic impact of cultural tourism, and local examples

General and National Resources

• Heritage Tourism, National Trust for Historic Preservation
• Cultural Heritage Tourism, Partners in Tourism, National Trust for Historic Preservation - Electronic clearinghouse for cultural heritage tourism information.
• Cultural Tourism, National Assembly of State Arts Agencies - Information on policy, practice, trends, and resources
• Cultural and Heritage Tourism Alliance - Promotes cultural tourism and integration of cultural tourism into economic development strategies through advocacy, annual conference, and other activities. This year's conference is in Seattle, Nov. 29 - Dec. 1, 2007
• Preserve America Communities and Neighborhoods - White House initiative that supports community efforts to preserve and enjoy cultural and natural heritage; now includes 500 communities.
  • Links to Washington State’s Preserve America Communities

Washington State Resources

• Tourism Development - Cultural and Heritage Tourism, Washington State Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development
• Visiting Washington State's Cultural Attractions (412 KB), Washington State Arts Commission, Summer 2003
• Washington Scenic Byways, Washington State Department of Transportation

Historic Tours

• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, National Park Service
• National Register Travel Itineraries - Includes three itineraries for Washington State
• Snohomish County - Things To Do - Heritage

The Effects of Broadband Deployment on Output and Employment (June 25)
This study, a cross-sectional analysis of U.S. data on broadband, provides new estimates of the effects of broadband penetration on both output and employment, in the aggregate and by sector, using state level data. Read the study from the Brookings Institution

Flames Sear Historic Market — Why We Care So Much (May 15)
Americans’ interest in farmers markets and fresh foods seems to be on the rise. Why? More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

Smart City - Transforming Anchor Institutions (May 01)
What would happen if every anchor institution in your city -- your universities, libraries, parks, major sports facilities, and museums -- were in perfect alignment around a few big goals, contributing their maximum to your city's success and their own? More from Smart City.

The Retail Chase (April 18)
Cities will do almost anything to land the store of their dreams. More from Governing.

Betting the Farm (March 27)
Data storage is the backbone of today’s Internet economy. But are power-hungry server farms worth wooing for economic development? More from Governing.

What’s the Survival Formula For Our Second-Tier Cities? (March 27)
Smart states and cities, in today’s knowledge economy, focus on great urban universities, high-finance and high-tech firms that rely heavily on drawing young professionals. But what happens to America’s second-tier cities? More from Nation's Cities Weekly.

At the Tipping Point (March 27)
Has tax increment financing become too much of a good thing? More from Planning Magazine.

Guidebook for Freight Policy, Planning, and Programming (March 27)
The Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Guidebook for Freight Policy, Planning, and Programming in Small- and Medium-Sized Metropolitan Areas explores how freight policy, planning, and programming processes can be most effectively designed, initiated, and managed. More from the TRB.

Where the Lights aren't Bright (March 22)
How two booming cities have tried, and failed, to revive their centres. More from The Economist.

Public/Private Development (March 13)
Public/private partnerships have become a favored strategy for implementing complex urban developments, but the large volume of literature on the topic falls short of providing city planners, development experts, and policy analysts the knowledge needed for either teaching or practice. More from the Journal of the American Planning Association (1172KB).

Historic Preservation - 2007's Dozen Distinctive Destinations (March 13)
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's recently announced 2007 Dozen Distinctive Destinations, an annual list of unique and lovingly preserved communities in the United States, includes one very special city in Washington.

One Tiny Town Becomes Internet-Age Power Point (March 13)
While much of the U.S. frets over a residential real-estate slump, this small farming town on Washington State's plains has the opposite worry: A boom-town economy is inflating housing prices. More from The Wall Street Journal.

Smart City - An Authentic Sense of Place (March 13)
Authenticity is one of those qualities that is hard to define, but you know it when you see it - or feel it. This week's guests on Smart City explore its meaning and its application to places.

How Can a Metro Wi-Fi Network Benefit Your Community? (March 13)
In the past few years, an emerging technology known by a variety of names, including "metro-scale Wi-Fi," "municipal Wi-Fi," and "mesh networking," has been doing for high-speed Internet access what cellular telephones did for voice services. More from Public Management Magazine.

Local Wireless Networks - A Prerequisite for the Future (March 07)
More than 140 cities and counties in the United States (compared with 12 municipalities in 2004) are pursuing wireless networks while another 200 are studying the issues or are in the feasibility phase. More from Public Management Magazine.

The Implications of Service Offshoring for Metropolitan Economies (February 14)
A report by the Brookings Institution examining the impacts of service offshoring—the movement of service jobs overseas—forecasts higher than average job losses in many U.S. metropolitan areas between 2004 and 2015. Information technology jobs, and the areas where they are concentrated, will be hardest hit. More from Brookings.

The Resilient City (January 31)
Resilience is a quality that is greatly underrated in successful cities. This week's guests on Smart City are making their own special contributions to understanding how to make cities resilient.

The Economic Potential of American Cities (January 23)
A recent Brookings Institution report examines the profound demographic and economic changes roiling the nation and outlines six key strategies, and their federal policy components, for American cities to leverage these trends for greater prosperity. More from Brookings.

E-Greetings from Bothell (January 23)
The city of Bothell's Web site lets residents compose and send e-card greetings to friends and family complete with selected photos showing off local points of interest.

Smart City - Strategic Thinking for Cities (January 23)
This week's guests on Smart City make their living thinking about the future and its implications for cities and for business. More from Smart City.

Puget Sound Regional Competitiveness Indicators (December 28)
The Prosperity Partnership recently published their 2006-2007 Puget Sound Regional Competitiveness Indicators report evaluating our region's comptetitiveness using a set of 20 economic and social indicators. More from the Prosperity Partnership.

City and Suburban Poverty Trends 1999-2005 (December 12)
A recent study by the Brookings Institution found that for the first time in 2005 there are more poor residents of suburbs than central cities. More from the Brookings Institution.

This Old Factory (December 06)
In a number of states, there’s starting to be pushback against rezoning industrial land for housing. More from Governing.

How to Create Workforce Housing (December 06)
What are we doing to build our communities? The housing of all workers is a critical component to building viable, sustainable, equitable, economically competitive communities. More from the Urban Land Institute.

Economics 101: What Travel and Tourism Mean for Your County (November 14)
The American Hotel and Lodging Association reports that tourism is currently the nation’s third largest retail industry, behind automotive and food stores, and one of America's largest employers. More from NACo's County News

Attracting Development To Brownfields Sites (November 08)
Deteriorated infrastructure, out-of-date zoning, and overly complicated local approval processes often can severely hinder a brownfields redevelopment project. With many key approvals for these projects needed at the local level, local governments are in a great position to level the playing field and better attract developers to these properties. More from Public Management Magazine.

PSRC's 2006 Regional Demographic and Economic Forecasts (October 31)
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) has released new forecasts developed to replace the 2003 Regional Demographic and Economic Forecasts and Forecasts of Population and Employment at Sub-County (Small Area) detail. More from PSRC.

The Role of the Finance Officer in Economic Development (October 25)
The finance officer’s involvement early in the economic development planning process is central to a development program that succeeds both in the short and long term. More from Government Finance Review ( 6.2 MB).

Should Municipalities Provide Wireless Internet Service? (October 17)
A new report from the Federal Trade Commission, Municipal Provision of Wireless Internet ( 380 KB), offers guidance to local policymakers considering if, and to what extent, a municipality should involve itself in the provision of broadband Internet service.

What Comes After Incorporation? (October 11)
After a city is formed comes the hard work of creating a government, bolstering the tax base and building a reliable set of public services. And then what? If new cities in the Seattle area are a guide, next comes the search for distinctiveness. More from Civic Strategies.

Giant Regional Wi-Fi Network in Washington State (October 03)
Southeastern Washington state has Wi-Fi service that covers 3700 square miles, thanks to the Columbia Rural Electric Association, a non-profit electric cooperative. More from MuniWireless.

Brownfields Roadmap (October 03)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Road Map to Understanding Innovative Technology Options for Brownfields Investigation and Cleanup publication helps brownfields stakeholders identify and select innovative site characterization and cleanup technologies during the redevelopment process. More from the EPA.

The Shape of Things to Come (September 26)
If you want to learn about metropolitan areas, a good way is to study retailing trends. And what does retail teach us about metro areas these days? The suburban form, as we've known it, is dead. More from Civic Strategies.

Why Mobility Matters (September 20)
A new report from the Reason Foundation, Why Mobility Matters ( 878kb), describes how the freedom that mobility gives us is gradually being taken away by congestion and why we can no longer regard it as merely an everyday irritant.

Building Lifestyle Centers Instead Of Malls (September 12)
"Lifestyle centers," are becoming very popular with shopping center architects and designers. Gone are the big anchor stores, enormous parking lots and food courts. In their place are smaller stores, walkable streets, fountains and sidewalks. More from National Public Radio.

How Rail Impacts Retail (September 12)
A successful transit line means a more intense commercial life around the stations, and that means higher property values, higher rents and the invasion of chain stores. More from Governing.

County Officials Bullish on Economy, Split on Immigration (September 06)
Balancing county budgets was easier in 2006 than in the past few years, and county elected officials were more upbeat about the economy, according to the 2006 National County Elected Officials Poll. More from NACo's County News.

Annexation and the Fiscal Fate of Cities (August 15)
New research from the Brookings Institution finds that a city's ability to annex land from its surrounding county is a primary determinant of its fiscal health. More from the Brookings Institution.

Communities Bank on Cultural Tourism (August 01)
In a landscape of cookie cutter neighborhoods, big-box retailers and national restaurant chains, a growing number of American travelers are searching for unique attractions. Communities that preserve and advertise places and activities representing their history and culture are capitalizing on a niche tourism market. More from American City & County.

Web Sightings - Community Festivals and Fairs (July 26)
We've selected a few community festivals, fairs and events for you to check out this summer: