Report Offers Cities A Blueprint for The Future (NAPSA)—Building a “quality” community is not something that happens by accident. Community building requires agreement among a numberof constituencies about a community’s values and a vision that can guide a community’s decisions about land use and related issues. That’s the position of an advocacy group that works to strengthen and promotecities as centers of opportunity, leadership, and governance. A recent report—Building Quality Communities—noted that local elected officials can participate in these efforts as convenors, moderators or hosts. They can also join in the discussions as forceful advocates on behalf of the community interest, and ensure that those discussions cover the full range of issues that get at the heart of what it means to build a quality community. The report—published by the National League of Cities—offers many examples of local strategies and programs from cities and townsofall sizes and all regions. The report also contains analysis of crucial issues such as: * the need for regional partnerships, particularly when addressing issues such as homelandsecurity. * looking at jobs, transportation and housingasrelated issues. the need to encourage the economic and cultural vitality of downtown areas and neighborhood commercial areas. (= TD) Experts believe that the process of city building must address the need for regional partnerships. the need for an urban area to balance public and private interests when pursuing development. The report closes with several examples of steps that cities, such as Redmond, Washington; Boulder, Colorado and Austin, Texas, are taking to build communities. The report was developed as part of the National League of Cities Futures Process. Established in 1989, the NLC Futures Process helpslocal officials by providing a structured process for examining the near future. The Futures Process is a three-year cycle of activities. The National League of Cities is the oldest and largest national organization representing munici- pal governments throughout the United States. To learn more, visit the Web site at www.nlc.org.
