Policies and Politics I.Policies – rules, funding, other actions taken by government in pursuit of its goals A.In this class, focus on smart growth and metro equity policies II.Politics – in part, is the process of making policy decisions A.Creating the “metropolitan majority” of residents in communities that are declining or at risk because of sprawl and polarization

Politics Interviews - Questions I.What words come to mind when you hear the word “politics”? Why? II.What has been your experience in politics? What have you done? Why? How did that feel? III.How would you like politics to change? IV.What do you expect will be your participation in the future?

Politics Interviews - Findings I.Feelings A.Cynicism 1.[vs. skepticism] B.Apathy C.Disillusionment II.Experiences A.Elections - school, city, national, etc. B.Community organizing

Alternative View of Politics From talk by Ernie Cortes – Rogers (Cold Anger) – pp I.Currently, “politics” is limited for most people to elections in which they have no real power II.Politics can be much more, involving everyday people in the key decisions of society III.This kind of politics lifts up and empowers people, gives them a greater purpose and makes them more fully human IV.It takes hard work and skilled organizing to create this kind of politics

Holding GroundHolding Ground: the Rebirth of Dudley Street Tells the story of DSNI - the Dudley Street Neighborhood InitiativeDSNI This story is about both policies (New Urbanist principles) and politics (community organizing) See also: Streets of Hope: the Fall and Rise of an Urban Neighborhood / Peter Medoff and Holly Sklar Boston, Ma: South End Press, C1994

Policies and Politics – Conclusions: Policies I.Key policy areas A.Smart growth: land-use policies to stop sprawl, direct investment back to the core 1.E.g. urban growth boundary B.Metro-equity: policies to stop and reverse socioeconomic polarization and racial segregation 1.E.g. inclusionary zoning, tax-base sharing

Policies and Politics – Conclusions: Politics I.The “metropolitan majority” coalition A.Is the key to promoting smart growth and metropolitan equity policies B.Is based on the short-term and long-term self- interest of: 1.Core cities 2.Inner-ring suburbs 3.Fiscally-stressed outer suburbs 4.Affluent outer suburbs where people want to limit growth

Metropolitan Majority, continued: The Process of Building the Coalition II.Key players – elected officials, labor and business leaders, organized religious communities, neighborhood and civic organizations, community organizing groups III.Process: relationship-building, education, action, reflection, organizing IV.Opportunities – self-interest of the great majority, increasing awareness of problems and opportunities V.Challenges – fragmentation and history of competition, distrust (political, economic, racial) interests; top-down versions of regionalism; lack of leadership at the state level

Regional Economic Competitiveness – one basis for larger coalition of the ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ I. Basis for the coalition: A.Regions are the basic economic unit of the global economy B.Regions that coordinate their economic development tend to be more competitive C.Smart growth and metro-equity policies can be part of this regional cooperation II.Recent stories A.“Team NEO” – Lack of successful regional economic cooperation in NE OhioTeam NEO B.Successes in other regionsSuccesses in other regions