First Suburbs Coalition 2011 Agenda

The First Suburbs Coalition adopted the following agenda for 2011 at its December 10, 2010, meeting and updated it at their March 18, 2011 meeting:

• Determine the redevelopment priorities for elected officials, private interests, the public and the staff—based on the redevelopment activities determined by members in 2010 to be important determine which ones are priorities for elected officials, staff, the public and the business community. Completed.
• Document the best strategies for maintaining existing neighborhoods and reinvesting in existing housing stock—with development expected to be slow for the next year or two it is important to focus on maintaining what communities already have. This initiative is intended to discover successful models and share them within the First Suburbs Coalition. Neighborhoods include residential areas, and the commercial areas and institutions that support them.
• Renew the Home Remodeling Loan Program and combine the program with energy retrofit incentives and market the loans as a means to foster home energy retrofits—there are a considerable number of resources now being devoted to building energy retrofits. This program will tie the existing Home Remodeling Loan Program with these new incentives in order to provide homeowners with a high value incentive to remodel their home.
• Explore the trends in public infrastructure investments within the first suburbs and nationally and the potential impact of these trends, particularly as it impacts the maintenance of existing infrastructure—the concern is that tight budgets will lead to a lack of investment in maintaining existing infrastructure and a resulting increase in problems associated with deferred maintenance.
• Explore with MARC and others the potential for the first suburbs being the core of a new transit development strategy—it is difficult to develop a regional transit system in one bite. This initiative would explore whether the first suburbs and core communities would make a plausible phase I in the development of a more robust regional transit system.
• Participate actively in the Transportation Outlook 2040 plan implementation and the development of tools, plans, and demonstration projects through Creating Sustainable Places—these two initiatives hold great promise for the first suburbs, but they must be actively engaged to see the benefits.
• Assist and encourage older suburbs to develop new land use strategies and tools more appropriate to a community that is fully developed—first suburbs need to work together to develop new land use strategies that are appropriate to their current fully developed situation and that will facilitate the kind of vibrant places the aspire to.
• Work with MARC over the year to better understand the “story” that is being told by the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey and develop a picture of key issues that are facing first suburbs.
• Develop a program to present to elected officials and other community leaders on the mission, history and agenda of the First Suburbs Coalition.

The First Suburbs Coalition and its working groups will be responsible for this agenda. For more information on the agenda, contact Dean Katerndahl.