Quality of life issues will rule

With the third century of American history drawing to a close, a new set of challenges and issues is facing communities around the country. If the 18th century was the age of exploration and the 19th century the age of industry, the 20th century was the age of technology and innovation. Now we face a new era, replete with challenges brought on by the explosion of technology, globalization and rapid growth.

As the rate of change has continued to increase, it has become clear that we have only scratched the surface in understanding how those changes will affect society. As we begin to appreciate the magnitude of those changes, communities and local officials nationwide will be forced to re-examine the measures they take to ensure a high quality of life for their citizens.

That re-examination has created a new language of governance. While the previous era most valued expansion and economics, today, communities are equally concerned with issues of environment and equity. Local leaders are realizing that as the world “shrinks” with the increased interconnectivity the global economy produces, the definition of what makes a community attractive to both potential businesses and current residents has changed. Quality of life has risen to prominence, and so the concept of sustainable communities, where economic prosperity, environmental security and social equity are viewed as equal partners, has taken hold.

The increased attention to sustainability on the part of local officials is likely to continue well into the next century. And it will do so not because mayors and county officials say it is important, but because their constituents do. In 1998, the year of the most recent national elections, more than 70 percent of the ballot measures and referenda nationwide contained questions dealing with some aspect of sustainable development, such as land use, community visions for the future, brownfields redevelopment or assuring access to jobs.

The concept of sustainability is one of those big issues with implications for a wide range of citizens, governments, businesses, environmentalists and other community stakeholders. As we move into the 21st century, decision-makers must stop thinking and behaving as though the challenges they face in economic development, environmental protection and social equity stop at city or county lines. Twenty-first century challenges will be multi-jurisdictional in nature. Urban sprawl does not stop at the city line.

Air quality concerns do not stop at the county courthouse. Water contaminated in rural areas does not become clean just because it has crossed into the city. And criminals do not limit their range to an urban or suburban area.

Fortunately, the current trend in thinking and action is encouraging. From Atlanta to Aurora, from Chattanooga to Cincinnati, from Youngstown to Yuma, city and county officials are reaching across jurisdictional lines to develop the partnerships necessary to meet those challenges head on.

On juvenile and adult crime, on watershed protection, on regional transportation planning, business recruitment and housing, local governments are increasingly working together as they must to fulfill their duties to their citizens. Because of those efforts, we can hope to enter the 21st century building communities that are more prosperous, healthier, more secure – and more sustainable – than they have ever been.

Among the many tools for moving ahead is the Joint Center for Sustainable Communities, a collaboration of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National Association of Counties, which provides a forum for long-range program and policy development. It’s on the Web at: www.naco.org/ programs/comm_dev/center/index.cfm.

A lot is being done, but old laws remain as barriers, and some of the new laws coming out of the U.S. Congress and state legislatures continue to reflect old ways of thinking. More city and county officials need to become involved, both in finding ways to meet local challenges together and in urging state and federal officials to catch up. Building sustainable communities will need sustained effort.

Randall Franke is a commissioner in Marion County, Ore. He is a member of President Clinton’s Council on Sustainable Development.