The ability of cities to play a regionally-optimal role in the future is challenged significantly by circumstances and by larger-than-regional policies that provide an uneven playing field. Significant efforts are required on the part of many parties to improve the ability of cities to participate in the future economy of the region and prepare suburban and rural communities to leverage development pressures to achieve community sustainability, livability and identity. The outcome is not likely to be successful without altering practices of the past.
The New Visions 2030 Plan calls for urban reinvestment, concentrated development patterns, and smart economic growth. The Plan provides clear evidence for supporting efforts to address the mismatch between highway function and financial responsibility within the region’s cities. Such an effort would build on both CDTC’s long-standing principle of access to resources based on need and function, not ownership and CDTC’s long-standing objectives for urban revitalization and economic health.
