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Economic Development – Illegal in Washington State?
Caterpillar, Inc. chose Spokane for its new distribution center. Recently, I was meeting with a new city official who had just moved to Washington from Florida. He’d had a successful track record in...
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Civic Cyclists Unite!
MRSC’s team of Civic Cyclists participated in the Group Health Commute Challenge for Bicycle Month in May. We didn’t set any records or win any prizes, yet our group of six found that bicycling is a...
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The Deadline for Filing for Final Plat Approval – the Rule Keeps Changing!
With new legislation changing (again) the rule for how long after preliminary plat approval an applicant has to file for final plat approval, I thought it would be a good time to review that rule. As...
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Infill Development in My Back Yard? Strategies for Winning Infill Development...
Infill development, by definition, brings change to its neighborhood. It may be an understatement to say that existing residents often view any proposed changes next door with suspicion. But a number...
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How Green is Green?
Bullitt Center, Miller Hull Partnership During the last decade, cities and counties worldwide have developed green building and sustainable community programs and have adopted requirements for green...
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What’s New in the MRSC Library – Designing Healthy Communities
Designing Healthy Communities is a provocative and challenging new four-hour public television series (2012), hosted by celebrated author and teacher, Richard Jackson, MD, MPH. Dr. Jackson makes the...
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Not Your Grandfather’s Town Meeting
Formal public hearings have their place – They are often required, after all, and they assure the basic, minimum rights of interested citizens to know what’s going on and to make their views known....
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Got ideas? You can participate in MRSC’s upcoming strategic planning process
MRSC is about to embark on the development of a strategic plan for our organization. Although we have made preliminary steps in strategic thinking in the past, MRSC has never had a comprehensive...
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More Variations on the Public Meeting Theme
In my August 15, 2012 blog post (Not your Grandfather’s Town Meeting), I described several interesting technological tools that can create buzz, boost meeting participation, quickly gauge the views of...
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The Density/Transportation Connection
Density is an issue that has stirred great controversy and heated emotions in many a community. While some advocate added density as the fix to our transportation woes and as an essential element of...
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Improving Citizen Outreach and Engagement
I have had the pleasure over the last eight years of serving as a member of the city of Kirkland Planning Commission. At our annual retreat a couple weeks ago, we were discussing ways to improve...
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It Takes a Community (and Some Smart Investing) to Create the Shining City on...
To become that shining city (or county) on a hill, or to make that “Best-Places-to-Live” list, communities must successfully implement a vision. This requires investing limited resources wisely for the...
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Climate Change: Local Governments in the Lead
Image courtesy NASA Goddard Several years ago, when I suggested a climate change page for our website, it was thought that climate change was not really a concern of local governments. Within a few...
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New MRSC Webpage: Shifting National Flood Insurance Program Requirements in...
MRSC is offering a new webpage to assist local governments with floodplain regulation revision. Court decisions and a subsequent federal agency opinion have changed requirements for National Flood...
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Healthy Corner Stores—Past and Present
In the first half of the 20th century, the corner “Mom and Pop” grocery store and the neighborhood pharmacy were common fixtures in communities across the U.S. The neighborhood store was a gathering...
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More Sage Advice for Councils and Commissions
MRSC has been fortunate to have so many generous Council/Commission, HR, Finance, Planning, and Open Government Advisors over the years who have been willing to share their time and expertise writing...
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What will MRSC be in the future? Update on MRSC’s Strategic Planning Process
Last fall, MRSC began work on the development of a three- to five-year strategic plan for our organization. It was an ideal time for a strategic planning process due to internal changes, including a...
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Impact Fee Deferral System Deferred Again
On the last possible day before the bill would have become law, Governor Inslee vetoed ESHB 1652. This bill would have required cities and counties that assess GMA impact fees to adopt a permanent...
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It’s Really Happening – the Local Marijuana Store!
The voters passed Initiative 502 last November, but perhaps you expected the federal government to step in and stop this “foolishness.” Well, we’re still waiting for any federal response, so it seems...
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Farmland Preservation: American Farmland Trust in Washington State
Agricultural lands preservation is an ongoing concern in Washington State and around the U.S. The Puget Sound region has lost 60% of its farmland acreage since 1950 (U.S. Department of Agriculture)....
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