Regional Planning
Did you know that there are over 200 special purpose districts “doing their own thing” in the Upstate—running sewer lines, building new roads, and constructing new schools—with little or no coordination or even communication among themselves? Meanwhile, each county, city and town government in the Upstate is making planning decisions, often independent of one another. This situation is a formula for redundancy, overlap, territoriality, and chaos, and is prone to wasting tax dollars and keeping only select parties engaged. What is the solution? Regional planning.
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| Regional planning can help rural areas avoid intensive development. |
Rather than looking at planning issues within individual political jurisdictions, regional planning takes a broader look at our region as a complex, interconnected system of towns, cities, counties and special purpose districts. While each person in the Upstate identifies him- or herself as belonging to a certain “place,” our modern lives are conducted within a region: a person living in Walhalla may go to church in Westminster, work at the hospital in Seneca, shop in Anderson, and go to football games in Clemson. Planning at a regional level, such as the Upstate, allows us to bring the diversity of the region to the table and find ways to achieve a better quality of life for all residents.
Just a few of the advantages of planning at a regional scale are:
- Initiatives promoting business and industry are pursued at a broader level (e.g. the Upstate region is becoming a premier location for the automotive industry)
- A well-planned region is better positioned to compete in the global economy
- Services can be coordinated and allocated more efficiently
- Localities can move past the zero-sum game of competing for specific projects and instead support one another to achieve mutually beneficial goals.
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An effective transit system must be coordinated regionally, as residents must often cross jurisdictional boundaries to access jobs, housing, education, and health care.
Photo courtesy Bike and bus, John S. Allen. |
There is currently an exciting regional planning initiative happening here in the Upstate called Upstate Together. Upstate Together aims to make the 10-county Upstate region competitive from an economic development perspective by addressing issues at the Upstate (not county) level. Their website includes numerous resources on Upstate growth and regional planning.
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The
“scenarios” represent four options on how to accomodate
the next one million people in the Salt Lake region and dramatically
reveal how thoughtful planning can save enormous amounts of both
land and money.
From History of Envision Utah, p. 37 (reprinted with permission). |
One successful, long-term regional planning program that provides a terrific model for the Upstate is Envision Utah. Envision Utah was formed in 1997 to coalesce residents, politically constrained entities (e.g. special purpose districts, such as school, water, fire, and sewer districts), and community leaders at the public and private level in anticipation of the area’s growth from 1.6 million residents in 1995 to a projected 2.7 million residents by 2020 and 5 million residents by 2050. As part of this effort, a public-private partnership of community advisors was formed. Participants analyzed different growth scenarios for the region, and came to a consensus on a preferred quality growth strategy that has helped guide land use decisions for their region.
In 2004, Upstate Forever was a partner in bringing Utah Senator Greg Bell, the former chairman of Envision Utah, to this area to describe the program in detail. Although it is located 2,000 miles away, the Salt Lake region is remarkably similar to the Upstate. Both regions are politically conservative, topographically blessed with spectacular mountains and rich farmlands, have the same number of counties (ten), and are governed by a complex structure of hundreds of local councils and special purpose districts. Both regions, too, face the immense challenges associated with rapid population growth. Bell’s visit was inspiring confirmation that we can have a similarly exciting and effective regional planning initiative here in Upstate South Carolina.
Additional Resources and Information:
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