In this issue of Spotlight on The Region:

- Key Issues got Short Shrift this Election Season

- Development Pressures Reach the CT Highlands

– Calendar

Key Issues got Short Shrift this Election Season
With Election Day rapidly approaching, many of the issues critical to the region’s prosperity have unfortunately been shortchanged in the major campaigns in New York and New Jersey. This makes it even more important for thoughtful people who care about our region to learn about the issues and take the trouble to vote. We here at RPA have been trying to pick up some of the slack, but it has been an uphill battle.

In the Garden State, RPA focused its pre-election work on two policy areas that are critical to the state’s future: property tax reform and transportation financing. While property tax relief has been the leading issue in the gubernatorial campaign, the debate has been far from satisfying. Neither candidate has provided the public with enough clear information to determine whether his program would provide reform in addition to relief, or how he would pay for it. Just as importantly, as RPA noted in a recent report (“Fundamental Property Tax Reform”), the debate has completely overlooked the impact that these proposals would have on land use in the state. This is a tremendously complicated issue that has plagued the state for a generation and could not have been solved during a campaign. But the lack of serious discussion is a concern even as we remain optimistic for more ambitious action in the early days of the new administration.

The news is a little better on transportation financing in New Jersey, as the report released by RPA and its partners in July effectively alerted the public to the impending Trust Fund crisis. Despite a growing understanding of the problem, again neither candidate put forward an adequate plan for resolving the situation. Instead of proposing balanced financing plans that rely on a diverse set of revenue sources, Corzine and Forrester chose to duck potential voter anger and avoid any talk of tax or fee increases. The conventional wisdom suggests this issue will be handled during the lame duck legislative session following the election, but the new governor and all New Jersey residents will suffer if the funding package proves to be just a stop-gap measure.

In New York City, RPA joined the Center for an Urban Future and the Center for NYC Affairs in releasing a mayoral policy book in August. While many of the issues addressed in the report – including economic development, transportation and education – have appeared in the campaign debate, Mayor Bloomberg’s massive lead in the polls has robbed the public of a serious policy discussion. The minimal amount of substantive media coverage seems lost on a city populace convinced of a Bloomberg victory, regardless of how each individual intends to vote personally.

Also on the ballot in New York State on Tuesday is the critical Transportation Bond Act. The Act would provide $2.9 billion to maintain and expand the state’s transportation network, as described at length in the last edition of Spotlight. The consequences of the Bond Act going down are severe, but there’s little reason to believe the public knows this. Despite the active support of almost every major elected official and candidate in the state, it has been extremely difficult to reach voters with adequate information about the Act. Media coverage has been scant for an issue without real sex appeal. Competing with the Mayor’s spending for the public’s attention has proven impossible. Still, RPA has played an active role in a modest targeted campaign and there’s hope that with a strong turnout next week the Bond Act will pass.

Despite it all, I hope you’ll vote on Tuesday. And if you vote in New York State, I hope you’ll vote yes on Prop 2. Maybe doing so will make you feel just a little bit better about the region’s chances for tackling the tough issues that have been largely ignored this campaign season.

- Jeremy Soffin, Director of Public Affairs


Development Pressures Reach the Connecticut Highlands
An October drive along Route 7, or any of the scenic byways of Connecticut’s Highlands region, offers the prospect of sweeping vistas from which to view fall’s brilliant foliage. This 28-town area in the northwestern portion of the state is characterized by quaint villages and small industrial cities, natural beauty and environmental treasures, large tracts of productive farmland, and historic settlements. In short, the Highlands region offers the traditional essence of New England.

Of course other seasons in the Highlands are also a treat: winter’s snowcapped hills, spring’s thaw winding down through the Farmington, Naugatuck and Housatonic rivers and summer’s fields of grazing animals, fruits, vegetables and wildflowers all draw scores of visitors. The area lures hikers, boaters, whitewater rafters, campers, canoeists, kayakers, skiers and more from all parts of the country. The Connecticut Highlands has some of the state’s most valued farmland, mostly family-owned crop and livestock farms. This scenic splendor fuels a thriving tourist industry, offering weekend visitors and day-trippers a welcome relief.

New residents and businesses are also attracted to the Highlands, and therein lies the conflict. Too often, this development degrades the high quality and special character of the Highlands’ towns and villages that attracted the development in the first place. While state leaders are beginning to explore the techniques of Smart Growth and other anti-sprawl methods such as improving public transit and building more densely, this type of development will continue to eat away at the Connecticut Highlands unless more comprehensive action is taken.

Luckily, there is hope on the horizon, although much still needs to be done to make it a reality. A part of the Appalachian Highlands stretching from Pennsylvania to Connecticut, the Connecticut Highlands and its high conservation value were recognized by Congress and President Bush in the Highlands Conservation Act of 2004. The Act provides for up to $110 million over ten years for land conservation in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut.

Studies conducted by the USDA Forest Service in cooperation with RPA in 1992 and 2002 in the New York and New Jersey Highlands helped engage local leaders and citizens in a scientific natural resource analysis. That analysis substantiated the federal interest in the Highlands, and will now help direct funding available from Congress under the Highlands Conservation Act. These studies were also used to advance statewide legislation in New Jersey that created a “Highlands Council” charged with adopting a regional plan to protect water quality and promote Smart Growth. A similar effort is now underway in Connecticut, with the goal of harnessing some of the funds authorized by the 2004 Act.

The Connecticut study team is led by the USDA Forest Service in cooperation with the University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension, Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Housatonic Valley Association, and Regional Plan Association. A working group of local and state officials, conservationists, developers, landowners, farmers, wildlife experts and ecologists met for the first time in late September to begin the natural resource assessment process.

Public listening sessions are now underway to gain citizen input and perspective. Two of the three listening sessions have already been held in New Milford and Torrington and one will be held on November 7th in Falls Village. The first two sessions were well attended by a wide variety of landowners, farmers, state and local representatives, conservationists, students and Highlands residents. These participants were given the opportunity to assess the value of the five most critical natural resources in the region: Water, forest, biological, agricultural and recreational resources. Session participants also mapped and wrote about specific areas within the Connecticut Highlands that they deem worthy of national recognition, and protection through federal funding. The resulting assessment by the Connecticut Study Team and U.S. Forest Service, to be released in draft form this winter, will lend an important voice in support of stewardship and preservation of the Highlands’ legacy in the State of Connecticut.

The assessment is just an initial step, the first of many that must be taken if the Connecticut Highlands are going to be substantially protected. But the good news is that the beginning of the journey is well underway.

– Emily Moos is an Associate Planner in RPA’s Connecticut office. For more information about the Connecticut Regional Study, visit http://na.fs.fed.us/highlands. The next public listening session will be held November 7, 7-9 pm, Housatonic Valley Regional High School, Warren Turnpike, Falls Village.

November 7
RPA, the US Forest Service, the University of Connecticut and The Housatonic Valley Association of Connecticut will host public listening sessions to aid in the U.S. Forest Service study of the CT Highlands Region. Meeting will be held in Falls Village, CT. For more information, email rpirani@rpa.org.

November 10, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Benefit on the Brooklyn Navy Yard Waterfront. See the Navy Yard waterfront perched high up, out in the harbor at this benefit for Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI). BGI will honor Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez who secured $14.6 million in the federal transportation bill for the greenway’s implementation. Greenway friends and supporters are invited to attend, eat, drink, dance and view plans for the 14-mile greenway from Greenpoint to Sunset Park. www.brooklyngreenway.org

November 11th and 12th
Eco-Metropolis 2005: Toward a Green, Just, Joyous, Sustainable Greater NYC. The conference will bring together many of the cream of Greater New York's grassroots environmental justice, neighborhood, water, air, food and transportation activists; "green" architects and designers; urban planners, social entrepreneurs, scientists, artists, engineers, educators and labor leaders to discuss their work and help build new partnerships. One special focus will be on students and youth. CUNY Graduate Center, 365 5th Ave at 34th Street. To register, call New York Open Center at 212 219 2527, ext. 2 or visit www.ecometropolis.org.

November 15, 8:00 p.m.
Bruce Babbitt, former Secretary of the Interior, speaks at Princeton University. Sponsored by the Princeton Environmental Institute, he'll be giving the 2005 Taplin Environmental Lecture, in room 104 of the Computer Science building, on campus. Secretary Babbitt's talk relates to his recent book, Cities in the Wilderness, published by Island Press. The book looks at models for a strengthened federal role in land use planning across America. This event is free and open to the public.

November 16, 8:00 – 9:30 a.m.
Jan Gehl, a world renowned architect and urban designer, will speak at a breakfast meeting at the Rudin Center. Mr. Gehl will speak about his work on creating a better balance between traffic and pedestrians, improving conditions for walking and cycling in urban environments, as well as share his extensive knowledge and experience in successful street planning with business managers, the Mayor of London, and many other city agencies. Seating is limited and is on a first-come first-served basis. To register, email mnn2@nyu.edu or call (212) 998-7545. 295 Lafayette Street, 2nd Floor.

November 17, 12:30 p.m.
The Women's City Club of New York presents: The Next Four Years: Framing the Mayoral Agenda. Women’s City Club Office, 33 West 60th Street, 5th Floor. Our panel of experts will discuss what they see as New York City’s most pressing problems and how these issues can be addressed in order to improve the city and quality of life for its residents. No charge for WCC Members and students with current ID; $10/nonmembers. To register for this event or for more information, please call (212) 353-8070, ext. 10, or email info@wccny.org.

December 2
The Race for Open Space: A Discussion of the Road to the Future of Preservation. Presented by Policy Research Institute for the Region and New Jersey Future. Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. Please hold the date: details will be available shortly.