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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

IMPROVED REGIONAL PLANNING THROUGH
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

presented by

Kenneth St. Clair

has been accepted towards fulfillment l
of the requirements for '

Master degree in Urban Planning

 

 

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Copyright ® 1978 by Kenneth Edwin St. Clair

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission
from the author.

11

IMPROVED REGIONAL PLANNING THROUGH

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

By

Kenneth St. Clair

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

MASTER OF URBAN PLANNING

Department of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture

1978

ABSTRACT

IMPROVED REGIONAL PLANNING THROUGH

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

By

Kenneth St. Clair

There is an obvious need in this age to find ways of communicating
problems on communities to the public more coherently. A correspond-
ing need arises for improving the objective basis for public participation
in considering options and alternatives to these problems.

The establishment of non-profit regional centers is proposed to
make a wide range of information on communities easily available to citi-
zens. Citizens will have pertinent regional indicators to understand the
significant aspects of any specific problem or issue. Indicators, which
portray relevant knowledge, are descriptive measures useful in the resolu-
tion of any problem. Because of the critical need of indicators in
regional planning, the study of these indicators forms a major contribu-
tion of this thesis. Regional centers will allow a high level of public
participation and assist people in formulating regional policies responsive

to their particular concerns.

Chapter

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LI ST OF TABLE S O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

LIST OF FIGURES. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

GLOSSARY

I.

II.

III.

REGIONAL PLANNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS. . . . . .

A.

B.

Regional Crisis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Information Services of Traditional Planning
AgenCieS O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Basic Studies of Traditional Planning
AgenCieS O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0

Comparison of Information Systems of
Traditional Planning Agencies with
Proposed Institution . . . . . . .

EMERGING INSTITUTIONS. . . . . . . . . .

A. Santa Barbara's ACCESS Project . . . . . . .

B.

New York Region's CHOICES FOR '76
Project. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

REGIONAL INDICATORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A.

Information Systems of Proposed Regional
centers 0 O O O C O C O O O O O I O C O O

The Need of Regional Indicators and the
Description of Regional Components . . . . .

Population Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . .

General Characteristics. . . . . . . . .
Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Labor Force, Employment, and Income. .
Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Crime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

U‘lJ—‘WNH

iii

Page

10
l6

l7

19

24

24

25
33

33
38
43
48
52

Chapter

Institution Indicators . . . . . . . . .

School Institutions. . . . . . . . . .
Government Institutions. . . . . . . .
Health Institutions. . . . . . . . . .
Households and Families. . . . . . . .
Private Economic Institutions.

U'IbUJNH

Artifact Indicators. . . . . . . . . . .

1. Housing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. Land Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. Transportation . . . . . . . . . . . .

Natural Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Natural Areas. . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. Air Quality. 0 O O C O O O O
3. Water Quality and Quantity . . .

IV. PROPOSED REGIONAL INFORMATION CENTERS. . . . .

A. Financial Support of Centers . . . . . . .
B. Administration and Organization of
Centers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C. Regional Scale of Centers. . . . . . . . .
D. Modern Communications Technology and
Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
E. Continuing Process of Education and Public
Participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F. Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

iv

Page

56
58
64
76
84
90
96
96
104
112
120
128
128
133
139
145

145

146

148

149

151
153

157

LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1 Scope of the Information Systems of Three

Regional Planning Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

Figure

LIST OF FIGURES

Scope of Information Systems of Most
Regional Agencies . . . . . . . . . . . .
Scope of Proposed Information Systems . . .
Components of Regions . . . . . . . . . . .
Dominance of Culture in Broad Framework . .
Indicators and Decision Making in

Regional Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Structure of New Centers . . . . . . . . .

vi

Page

11
13
26

28

30

147

GLOSSARY

artifacts - material components that are man-modified or formed.
Land used for agriculture is an artifact since man has modified it.

ecology - l. (biological or narrow usage.) The science that deals
with the interrelations of plants and animals and their environ-
ment.

2. (new or broader usage.) The study of the human environment
that deals with the complex relationships of man with nature,
artifacts, institutions, and the cultural system.

environment - all of the surrounding conditions and influences that
affect the development of a living thing. In this thesis, people
coexist in many environments at the same time. Some of these
environments are: the cultural environment, the institutional
environment, the social environment of human interaction, and the
environment of artifacts.

 

forms - the patterns or shapes of natural and artificial entities.

heirarchy of forms in human settlement - the major forms of the human
settlement are ranked at levels below and above each other to
make clear the relationship of one level upon another. The higher
levels act as formative on the lower levels.

immaterial culture - a system of meanings and values. Culture has a
design or shaping influence on the other major components of the
human settlement.

institution - a social form with rules and procedures that is formed
through the legal sanction of government. Institutions are
components of the social system or level.

nature - land, water, plants, animals in their natural condition with
very little or no modification by man. Natural systems answer
to their own impersonal laws of physics, chemistry, and biology.
All aspects of the natural setting - geography, climate, plants,
animals, and water - are in a dynamic balance. They are naturally
interdependent.

vii

persons - a major level or component of all human settlements. The
size, distribution, and characteristics of the population are
essential information for planning.

reductive explanation - in the hierarchy of forms, each level of form
must be understood and explained on its own terms. For example,
if the institution level is explained by the prOperties of a lower
level, like the artifact level, this is reductive explanation.
The institution level must be understood and explained by the
concepts of institutions. Reductive explanation is an oversimpli-
fied explanation of something and therefore incorrect. Each level
of form must be understood and explained on its own terms.

regional indicators - includes what is commonly referred to as social
indicators, but is broader because regional indicators also des-
cribe natural systems. Regional indicators are descriptive measures
of all major components of regions: culture, person, institution,
artifact, and nature.

social - refers to the organized forms and institutions within which
human interaction takes place.

social systems planning_- the design of a social system and its
institutional components. The term "social planning" should not
be used to refer to social welfare programs that give assistance
to individuals. Welfare assistance programs should more properly
be called "human services planning". Social system planning in-
cludes the design of new institutions or the redesign of old
institutions.

 

superimposition of form - is the action of a higher level on a lower
level. The higher levels shape the lower levels. For example,
an institution requires artifacts to accomplish its objectives.
The institution shapes those artifacts to achieve certain ends.
The process of shaping artifacts by the institution is super-
imposition of form.

viii

CHAPTER I

REGIONAL PLANNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS

A. Regional Crisis

 

Each one who reviews the regional situation sees a different
crisis, but the underlying causes of a particular cris s are often
overlooked. Every decision necessary in the resolution of a crisis
embodies some cultural value. The cultural system shapes or influences
the values and goals of individuals and institutions. The cultural
system in this study will be referred to as immaterial culture, which
is the mode of meanings, values, and perceptions.

The lack of attention to immaterial culture has obstructed efforts
to resolve pollution, congestion or other crisis. Since meanings and
values have a molding effect upon peOple and institutions, the cause
of any crisis originates in immaterial culture. Both the issues
that people perceive as problems and the solutions to problems are
strongly influenced by immaterial culture. For example, the dominant
values of economic efficiency and profit of private industry often
conflict with the values of health, amenity, and habitability. Manu—
facturing companies will use water and air as a free resource for
waste disposal since the treatment of all waste products would increase

their costs of production and lower their profits. The primary value

of private industry is economic gain which conflicts with the values
of environmental quality and habitability. Both the economic values
of industry and the habitability values of citizens are dominant values
of immaterial culture. When people or institutions have conflicting
values which give rise to a confrontation, a crisis usually develops.
Because policy decisions embody values and meanings, the key relation-
ship of immaterial culture with any current crisis must be fully
understood and utilized.

Almost every city has recognized the decline of certain areas
or neighborhoods and sought to investigate the factors that contribute
to that decline. This crisis has continued even in cities where
serious public and private efforts are made to maintain liveable con-
ditions. Although some gains have been made by certain neighborhoods,
particularly in education and income, the decline continues. The
decline is marked by overall environmental deterioration, overcrowded
housing, and personal anxiety. However, these are only symptoms.
The real crisis is one of meanings and values of the cultural system.

Bridging the gap between material artifacts and immaterial cul-
ture are the institutions of society. Institutions organize the
physical environment into artifacts to serve the ends of the culture
of society. Institutions develop as a response to the values and
priorities that people acquire through their culture.

The institutional crisis of our day is actually the crisis of
values since our present institutions promote values contrary to
human and community needs. The dominant values of our culture are

financial profits for the corporation and individual. Coupled with

this value is also the emphasis on utilitarian - technical efficiency
in the production and design of artifacts. When a wider appreciation
of the source of the urban crisis becomes understood, people can begin
to clarify the values they wish to see expressed in public policy mak-
ing. Their new values will either bring new institutions about or
reform existing institutions which will respond to community needs.
New institutions will provide the means to resolve the dysfunctions

of poverty, unemployment, slums, and personal anxiety with positive
goals of habitability.

The approach of most regional planning agencies to the study of
human settlements has been incomplete. Their narrow perspective has
contributed to the urban crisis. They have considered primarily the
artifacts and population of the human settlement while omitting the
study of the cultural and institutional components. In describing
a human settlement, all the parts must be understood and measured.
The distinctive nature of cultural causality in human settlements is
primary to an understanding of the human settlement. All policy work
involves an understanding of the significance of the meanings and
values of the cultural subsystems of the community.

The omission of the study of the cultural and institutional com-
ponents of regions by present planning agencies contributes to
the urban crisis and delays effective solutions to the crisis. The
cultural component superimposes values upon institutions that are
formed to carry out those purposes. Institutions in turn superimpose
these values on the bio-physical environment by designing and making

artifacts. These artifacts include employees, land, buildings, and

equipment. This shaping from the cultural level at the top to lower
components of institutions and artifacts shows the formative force
of the higher levels. The basic and most formative part of regions
is the cultural component, and present planning efforts will be in—
effective until citizens gain an improved understanding of this most

important component.

B. Information Services of Traditional Planning Agencies

 

Traditional regional planning agencies have difficulty in expand—
ing their communication and information services because of the large
expenditure of time and budget that is needed. While they recognize
the importance of meeting their responsibilities, it is a tremendous
task to increase the accessibility of information to citizens. The
budgets of traditional planning agencies will not permit the oppor-
tunity to experiment with new technology to analyze, synthesize, and
communicate regional problems and their Options for public informa-
tion. Therefore, past and present regional planning agencies are
unwillingly compelled to limit the range and depth of information
and new approaches to communication to the usual planning reports and
public hearings. Such a limited effort is partly the cause of the
urban crisis and contributes to the continuing failure of citizens
to understand and participate in a process to defend and enhance the
quality of life for themselves.

The following describes the means that the Southeastern Wisconsin

Regional Planning Agency uses to encourage citizen participation.

Citizen participation is, of course, further broaden-

ed by the use of public hearings and informational meetings

on all regional and subregional plan elements; by commission

participation in community assistance programs, including

both formal and informal working sessions with both local

public planning agencies and with private neighborhood as-

sociations, civic associations, and resource conservation

groups; and most importantly, by extensive attitudinal

research efforts included under such important commission

work programs as its regional transportation and regional

housing programs. Finally, the planning reports of the com-

mission provide a focus for greater citizen participation

in all major related developmental issues arising subse-

quent to the completion of major commission work pro-

grams.
For many planning agencies the communication efforts of the South-
eastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Agency would represent a signifi-
cant level of citizen participation. However, the actual impact of
this traditional approach may only appear to be impressive. Is there
a high percentage of the region's population involved with current
issues? Is two-way communication employed? Is there the opportunity
for citizens and policy-makers to evaluate their concerns as a con—
tinuous process? What understanding of the region does the resident
population possess? Do they have the use of advanced visual tech-
nology to facilitate information exchange and opinion formulation?
Can citizens and policymakers meet in a forum to consider concepts
and alternatives without dealing with an impending crisis? The low
priority of traditional planning agencies in their information ser-
vices is evident when presented with these questions.

In their 1974 Annual Report, the Tri-County Regional Planning

Commission, Lansing, Michigan, described their methods to disseminate

 

1Kurt W. Bauer, "Regional Planning in Southeastern Wisconsin",
Traffic Quarterly, XXVIII (October 1974), p. 555.

 

information as follows: (1) preparing news releases, (2) coordinating
speaking engagements, (3) sponsoring public meetings, and (4) prepar-
ing information bulletins, brochures, and special reports. Their
annual report also described such things as the preparation of dis-
plays in shopping centers and coordinating publicity for some public
meetings.

During the current year, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission,
Lansing, Michigan, has estimated that for those planners and others
on the staff who do engage in community contact about 15% of their
time is devoted to public contact.2 Tri-County Commission includes
the full range of community participation mechanisms as part of the
15%. For Tri-County, there are about 15 to 20 persons that give an
average of 15% of their time to public participation. In all, this
represents an expenditure of about $50,000 per year. There has been
a gradual increase in the amount of time given to public participation
because four years ago an average Tri-County planner would give about
7% of his time to public contact.

Tri-County's approach represents a common pattern of information
services. Its limitations are revealed when the services are examined
for effective communication to a large number of peeple. What
dialogue and opinions are being contributed? What alternatives are
presented to the public that have a vital impact on the quality of
life in the region? Is there a sense of community and dedication

to problem solving? Is advanced communication technology used to

 

2Interview with Arlene Madden, Chief of Management and Budget, Tri-
County Regional Planning Commission, 2722 East Michigan Avenue,
Lansing, Michigan, on May 6, 1977.

analyze and communicate information? Are long range views given proper
weight in relation to near term economic pressures? What are the
significant impacts of what has been happening? Are those impacts
good or bad? Why? What are the problems and opportunities confront-
ing the region? Why are these things positive or negative for the
community? Can something be done to resolve these problems or to
capitalize on these opportunities? What will it take to get some-
thing done (for example, money, land, new local controls, new or
changed State laws)? What results when issues are decided upon by
a few persons who have a vested economic interest? What are the
regional issues confronting us? What kind of multicommunity action can
be taken to deal with more than local issues? What are the state-
wide growth issues which the State should be addressing in coopera-
tion with the regions? When these questions are given serious thought,
it shows what a minor emphasis is given to the interchange of informa-
tion in current regional decision making. Past and present regional
planning agencies continue to have a low priority for improving their
information and communication responsibilities.

We are moving into an era when meaningful citizen involvement
must be realized. The vast social changes that have complicated all
relationships have created serious problems in planning. This lag
in understanding has led us to try remedies which are unsuited to the
ills of our urban areas. A more rational interdisciplinary regional
research and dialogue process seems to be needed.

We need to create more accurate perceptions of problems, causes,

impacts, and options. We need to create a better consensus about

the problems which confront us on the part of policy-makers and the
public. A more open, multi-disciplinary regional research process
is needed. Communication and focus on community policy choices are

primary to gain local understanding and participation.

C. Basic Studies of Traditional Planning Agencies

The scope of the basic studies of three regional planning agencies
is shown in Table l. The number of basic studies in the culture,
person, institution, artifact, and nature framework is given on the
same horizontal line that the name of the agency is listed. An over-
view was made of these regional planning agencies by reviewing their
annual reports, summaries prepared by the U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, and reports prepared by the planning agencies.
The basic studies of the three regional agencies during a seven to
ten year time span afford a representative range of the types of
major planning studies completed by each agency. The regions selected
cover populations that range from about 400,000 to nearly two million
and are located in three different states.

Among the basic studies conducted by the three traditional planning
agencies on the five major components, the percentage of studies on
artifacts accounted for the largest number. Indeed, the extreme
emphasis on artifacts, ranging from 95% to 98% of all studies, was
so large as to leave little attention to other components. Land use,
transportation, housing, energy, water and sewage facilities, other
utilities, and recreation facilities are the artifacts studied most

frequently. Artifacts are all the material things made by man and

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10

the parts of nature modified by man.

Basic studies of population made up from zero to three percent of
all basic studies completed by the three regional agencies. Also the
survey showed how little was done on nature and that none of the three
agencies completed any studies on culture or institutions. Of the
three agencies only the Southeastern Wisconsin agency completed studies
of nature. This survey of basic studies performed by traditional agen-
cies clearly shows their neglect of the culture, institution, and
nature components of the region. The omission of studies of culture,
institutions, and nature contributes to the continuing failure of
citizens to understand and participate in public decision making.

Since policy making involves these components, citizens cannot intelli-
gently defend or enhance the quality of life as they attempt to de-

termine it in their region.

D. Comparison of Information Systems of Traditional PlanningiAgencies

with Proposed Institution

 

In the early discussion of the "urban crisis" and of traditional
planning agencies, the need for a more complete understanding of the
region was explained and emphasized. There are serious gaps in the
kinds of information gathered and presented by existing agencies.
The omission of essential components of the region creates both a
distortion of understanding and an inability to resolve the crisis.
In describing a region all of the parts must be understood and measured.
All actions affecting any particular component affects other come

ponents.

11

A contrast will be made between the kinds of information that is
now part of current planning practice and what would be part of the
proposed information system. Figure 1 presents the scope of informa-

tion that most planning agencies presently consider.

People

Figure 1. Scope of Information Systems of Most Regional Agencies.

0f the three major components, description and measurement of popula-
tion and artifacts is most common. Artifacts are man-made and include
the vast array of items from houses to tools. Also artifacts include
land in agriculture or forests, parks, and rivers. A list of arti-

facts is almost endless since man has either made or modified so

12

many things. The number and detailed characteristics of houses, land
use, public utilities, parks, streets, transportation vehicles, and
tools of production are needed to make decisions and understand
problems.

The need for population indicators is obvious to understand the
region and make decisions of what was, what is, and what should be.
Every policy decision is in some way related to people.

Information on nature is now part of the information system of
many traditional planning agencies because of the new emphasis on the
environment. Systematic enforcement of air, water, and land standards
depends upon better monitoring and data. Such data are necessary to
develop a long-term strategy to prevent problems and deal with them
before they become serious.

While there may be a few exceptions, traditional regional planning
agencies restrict the scope of their information system to the major
components of population, artifacts, and natural environment. This
creates a distortion because it does not provide a complete under-
standing of the region which is needed for informed policy decisions.

This thesis proposes a new institution that will provide a wider
and more complete information system. Figure 2 illustrates the major
components of the new information system and the complex multi-relation-
ship among them. Compare this diagram with Figure l. Immaterial cul-
ture creates meanings and values and has a dynamic role in motivation.
Its significance is in its shaping influence or role of design upon
all the other major components.

There are three levels where culture has this design or shaping

Figure 2.

l3

Scope of Proposed Information Systems.

 

14

influence. Culture shapes people in their social relationships with
each other and in their aspirations. Culture shapes types of person—
alities and actually permeates personality. At the institutional
level, culture shapes institutional form and institutional objectives.
Each institution is motivated by some dominant cultural value. Finally,
culture shapes artifacts. Artifacts are the visible form of the mean-
ings and values of immaterial culture. Artifacts can only be explained
on the basis of cultural meanings and values. In the past the cultural
system has been the least described and the least understood. The

need of including the cultural component in the new information

system is evident because of its shaping and conditioning impact on
people, on institutions, and on artifacts.

The other major component that will be included in the new infor-
mation system is the institutional level. An institution is a semi-
permanent way of organizing people for particular functions. Institu-
tions make up the heart of the social system. Institutions are in-
visible. While an institution owns or uses artifacts and people, it
is distinct from them. An institution is a social form with rules
and regulations that has one dominant goal or primary purpose. The
purpose of an institution comes from the cultural component. Past
and present traditional planning agencies have neglected to analyze
and communicate information on the number, size, and characteristics
of institutions. The new information system will include descriptive
information on all institutions in the region.

The sc0pe of the information systems of the proposed institution

will provide a more complete understanding of the region than offered

15

by traditional planning agencies. Comprehensive understanding of a
region is necessary before there can be comprehensive planning by the
people in the region. The public and regional policy-makers need
information on the cultural system, people, artifacts, nature, and
institutions to make informed decisions. The new regional information
system.will take into account all major regional components and will

offer citizens a comprehensive understanding of their region.

CHAPTER II

EMERGING INSTITUTIONS

As described previously, the limited approach to comprehensive
planning by existing traditional planning agencies has contributed to
the continuing failure of citizens to understand and participate ef-
fectively. The basic studies of traditional planning agencies gives
little or no attention to the culture and institution components.
Moreover, there is little public participation and informed under-
standing of the regional problems and options. Present traditional
planning agencies have not changed enough to meet the challenge.

To cope with current crises, a new institution is needed that
can provide for citizen participation and improve on the scope and
depth of information. It will use new communication technology and
techniques to clarify alternatives and involve the public more inti—
mately in the planning process. It will revolutionize graphic display
and help policymakers and citizens consider the issues. While leaving
decisions to public and private institutions, the new institution will
develop the means to improve the overall understanding and contribu-
tion to policy formulation by residents of regions.

Two examples of emerging institutions will be described here.
Their information systems will cover the culture, person, institution,

artifact, and nature framework of components as described in Section

16

17

C of Chapter 1. The two examples will function at the regional level
and will provide continuous interchange of information and analysis.

They are described to show that a new type of institution is now pro-
viding the scope of information and the means of public participation

for improved regional decision making.

A. Santa Barbara's ACCESS Project

ACCESS, an acronym for "Alternative Comprehensive Community En-
vironmental Study System" is a pilot project in Santa Barbara, Cali-
fornia. The project received its first grant of $65,700 in 1974 from
the National Science Foundation:3 William R. Ewald, Jr. Chief Consultant
for the Project, sees ACCESS as a possible model for similar studies
throughout the United States and Canada.

ACCESS is an action/research project concerned with environmental
policy making and citizen involvement. The project encompasses the
South Coast Region of Santa Barbara County, California, from the crest
of the Santa Ynez mountains to the channel, from Point Conception to
the Rincon-Ventura County line (10 x 60 miles, 163,000 peOple).

The objectives of the ACCESS process are:

- to locate the information needed to properly evaluate

alternative policies of concern to city council persons,

county supervisors, and other regional policymakers.

- to assemble, display, and transmit all the information
required for a specific or general planning problem.

- to focus on community policy choices and their long
term regional consequences.

 

3William R. Ewald, Jr., ACCESS The Santa Barbara Regional Pilot Process

(Washington, D.C.: William R. Ewald, Jr., 1730 K Street, NW, 1973), p.15.

 

18

- to concern itself with regional environmental issues,
conceived in the broadest sense of the word.

 

- to study for the most creative practical resolution of
issues within the region.

- to integrate regignal policy by means of a system which
makes better use of science and technology for furthering
the human purpose and "Quality of Life", as defined by
the people of the region.

The purpose of ACCESS can be stated simply. It is a national
prototype located at Santa Barbara to explore new means to use modern
telecommunication to gather, organize, and distribute information'
concerning the conservation and development of regions.

The emphasis of the ACCESS process is in visual communications
for policy making. ACCESS has moved from the design phase, which
started in the early part of 1974, to a four year Pilot phase. The
purpose of the Pilot phase is to demonstrate and evaluate the effec-
tiveness of various visual media when used to explore selected regional
issues. Also the Pilot phase will permit the groundwork to be laid
for a Research Demonstration Phase. This latter phase will include
tests of two-way cable television and computer-assisted systems.

A significant part of the project will be the regional situation
room. The room will allow interested persons as well as public de-
cision makers, to see, understand, and discuss problems and options.
The results of policy-related research will be displayed graphically
and will fully utilize graphic technological innovations.

Briefly, then, the ACCESS project has four basic elements. It
is regional in scope; focuses on regional policymakers; is a nonprofit

citizen sector supported by government, foundations, business, and

19

education; and uses computer-assisted graphics and other new graphic
techniques. While leaving basic societal decisions where they are now,
the Santa Barbara Project will develop an independent, competent,
research and dialogue process to improve those decisions for the con-
servation and development of the region. Its long-range purpose is

to find ways to make as much knowledge as possible accessible to the
decision-maker and to concerned citizens. It will be a continuing
educational process, flexible to change. It represents a new kind of

organization to facilitate public participation.

B. New York Region's CHOICES FOR '76 Project

CHOICES FOR '76 was a project for public participation in the
New York Urban Region. It was organized and managed by the half cen-
tury-old civic research Regional Plan Association. The project started
in October 1970 with a modest beginning and gained momentum as it proved
itself an effective outreach. Fifty-one critical policy choices were
presented on television, newspapers, radio, films, and in home discus-

sion groups. A background book, How to Save Urban America, Signet,

 

1973, was prepared especially for the project. Two-way communication
was obtained through questionnaires with ballots, the discussion groups,
meetings, and telephone.

When this project was first considered, the problem of what to
do first was foremost. They knew that a large range of issues should
be presented without bias. Also, they knew that communication to a
llarge number of people would require the mobilization of a number

of participants. Busy civic leaders and others would have to be

20

convinced that the sponsoring body could handle such a large and com—
plicated project. The three pillars, therefore, that were essential
were: a balanced exposition of the issues, a way to mobilize large
numbers of people to take part, and a way to communicate with those
people.

The CHOICES FOR '76 program began with television where the
largest number of people could be reached. If the television stations
in the New York Region would agree to provide the necessary time free,
those who would have to provide the other essential elements could also
be persuaded to contribute. Indeed, a unanimous television commitment
would electrify the Region's imagination. With that commitment, Re-
gional Plan could not fail to win enough financial support to prepare
background information, prepare films, and establish a system for
public response. With that success, civic, educational and other or-
ganizations would recognize that many people were taking the project
seriously.

The Regional Plan Association did succeed in a commitment from
all 18 television stations in the Region to run the Town Meeting films.
The contribution of time by the television stations undoubtedly helped
gain the newspaper and financial support needed. Newspapers were
probably the most selfless contributors to CHOICES. They provided
continued publicity, editorial support, ballots published at their own
expense, and reports on ballot results. A few of them published ex-
tensive background reading before each Town Meeting. Much of this
newspaper support appears to have resulted at least as much from a

very long, close and trusted relationship between Regional Plan and

21

the newspapers as from their enthusiasm for the project.

CHOICES FOR '76 involved nearly three million people in a process
of obtaining new information on the Region's problems, discussing
alternatives, and registering their views. CHOICES FOR '76 brought
citizens into the planning act in a big way. It was the first regional
outreach of significant size with main dependence upon television. It
was an experiment in public participation in urban—decision—making,
using extensive television, newspaper, business and community channels
for two-way communication.

Nearly $2 million in money and donated services was contributed
for CHOICES during six years from 1970 through 1976. Fund-raising was
the major problem in managing CHOICES. Because fund-raising continued
parallel with spending the money, the Plan Association never knew how
much money was available for any part of the project. The most important
reason fund sources gave for turning down requests was skepticism that
the project could be done. This placed the Plan Association in the
precarious position of pushing ahead without knowing if needed funds
would appear in time. During the course of the project, some fund
sources had refused to contribute money but later changed when they
saw the progress to that moment. Often the new funds came just when
earlier contributions were about to run out. In order to receive funds
from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Plan
Association was first required to raise funds from private corporations
or foundations. The support for CHOICES was rather equally divided
among three sources. About a third came from foundations, a third

from corporations, and a third from HUD. The completion of the project

22

is evidence of the Regional Plan Association's long term reputation
of commitment in the New York Region.

The response to the varied outreach was excellent. An average of
about 600,000 households of seven million in the Region were tuned to
each of the five television programs. Somewhere around 30,000 partici-
pated in at least one discussion group. An average of 26,500 ballots
were received after each of the television presentations. Each tele-
vision program was presented as a Town Meeting with arrangements for
ballots to be returned on the issues presented intheaprogram. There
was an over representation of those with more education and higher
incomes who returned ballots. Also, the public was asked to discuss
the issues in small groups - at home, in church, at work places, in
fraternal halls, and in schools.

CHOICES FOR '76 involved nearly three million people over a five
year period. It provided a series of anchors for further thinking and
citizen involvement. Its termination is unfortunate and inconsistent
with the objective of continued involvement. The means of funding
an ongoing public participation outreach should become a major concern
in the New York Urban Region.

The two examples given here of emerging institutions are for the
purpose of providing the means of wider participation of regional policy
makers and the public and access to information. It will be a citizen's
forum in which advanced communication technology will be used to
analyze and communicate information on issues and problems. It will
describe what decision-making is and how more people can understand

the direct part they can play in their region. Both the ACCESS and

23

CHOICES FOR '76 examples have achieved some success. They both are
creative, timely, and promising projects. As the understanding of
these and similar projects increases, they will be a model for other
regions to consider to communicate regional problems and their options

for public information.

CHAPTER III

REGIONAL INDICATORS

A. Information Systems of Proposed Regional Centers

There is clearly a need in our transitional society to define and
identify the factors that determine and influence our general welfare.
The practical importance of social indicators has been recognized since
the publication of the first United States census, conducted to deter-
mine representation in the United States Congress and potential military
strength. Our ability to evaluate what has been done, and to plan
ahead, is dependent on our ability to assess how we are relative to
how we were. The search for indicators is an attempt to obtain new
information that will be useful to evaluate the past, guide the action
of the present, and plan for the future.

A good social indicator permits us to trace trends or compare
urban areas with respect to some social value or goal. Since the scope
of information systems for the regional centers proposed in this thesis
includes the natural systems, regional indicators will be used instead
of "social indicators". The natural systems refer to geographic areas
that have not been modified or changed by man.

Regional indicators, which portray relevant knowledge, are des-
criptive measures useful in the resolution of any problem. These

indicators will make relevant information available and improve the

24

25

objective basis for public participation. Graphic communications of
regional indicators will convey complex relationships and cut through
many semantic difficulties. Because of the critical need of indicators
in regional planning, the study of these indicators forms a major con-
tribution of this thesis.

In the section immediately following this one, there is presented
the theory of regional components and the need for regional indicators
to describe each component. After explaining each sub-component, a
list of common issues is listed. The issues raised in the questions
are designed to create a broader perception of the problems, causes,
and options. Following the questions, there is a suggested list of
indicators to describe each sub-component. The issues raised in the
questions and the indicators are not a comprehensive list. They are
common issues found in most regions. The questions might be asked
during the analysis or discussion of problems at the regional centers
by planners, other staff at the center, and those participating in any
way. The purpose of information, questions, and indicators is to help
interested persons better anticipate, understand, and manage change.
The indicators presented in this thesis represent the first step toward

the development of a more extensive indicator system.

B. The Need of Regional Indicators and the Dggcription of Regional

Components

The limitations of past and present regional planning agencies
has been described in Chapter I. The scope of the information systems

of most existing agencies is limited to the major components of

26

population, artifacts, and nature. This restricted concept of regional
structure is misleading as explained in Chapter I. The key components
of regions that are now omitted by most regional agencies are the cul—
tural level and the institutional level.

In describing regions all of the components should be portrayed
and understood. The major components of the region are ranked in
Figure 3 to show the formative shaping of the higher levels upon the
lower. This ranking of the levels identifies the broad framework of
the region and shows the multi-perspective approach required in public
policy participation.‘ In the hierarchy of levels, design always moves
from the higher levels downward. An improved understanding of regions

is acquired by distinguishing the major components of regions.

I. Culture
II. People
III. Institutions

IV. Artifacts

1. animal
2. plant
3. chemical
4. physical

V. Natural Systems

Figure 3. Components of Regions.

The action of a higher level on a lower level is called super-

imposition of form. This relationship, as shown in Figure 3, is

27

important in all policy making because the higher levels shape the lower
levels. For example, the cultural level imparts to persons certain
values that motivate them. Also, every institution is motivated by
cultural values. Since institutions are ranked above artifacts in
Figure 3, institutions acquire and shape artifacts to achieve certain
ends. Superimposition of form is a basic principle or relationship

of the levels or social structures of human settlements and regions.

The formative action of the cultural level upon the other levels
is shown in Figure 4. Its position in the center of the figure il-
lustrates its molding effect upon the other universal components of
regions. The values of immaterial culture are superimposed on the
other levels. At the institutional level, each institution mirrors
some primary idea or meaning such as aesthetic health, education, or
economic. The American Red Cross, for example, emphasizes the values
of health, protection, and disaster assistance.

Every policy decision embodies some cultural value or combination
of values. Values are expressed when decisions are made about what will
be developed and for what reasons. Planning can be looked upon as a
process that has possibilities of returning many benefits as the
citizenry becomes more aware of how goals are formed. The involvement
of citizens in the process of making regional policy will be possible
with the proposed regional information centers. The centers will
show the basic need for describing and explaining the prominent effect
of cultural values upon the entire policy decision process. The cen-
ters will deal with current issues and show how the values of the cul-

tural level are superimposed on the lower levels.

28

 

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Figure 4. Dominance of Culture in Broad Framework.

 

29

Regional indicators are descriptive measures of existing condi-
tions. To portray all regional structures, indicators will include
statistical measures, maps, photographs, models, displays in three-
dimensional perspective, remote sensing data, data from computer driven
regional models, and animated color movies derived from computer
graphics. Indicators will offer a potential for clarifying perception,
improve the grasp of large complex systems, and disclose the values
and attitudes behind conflicting viewpoints. Graphic communication
can convey complexity much more quickly, provide spatial orientation,
and cut through semantic difficulties that confuse different political
and cultural views. Indicators will provide a regional profile which
reflects the quality of life and reveals significant changes in regional
characteristics. They can be used to raise the level of understanding
of regional problems and possibly the level of agreement concerning
specific choices. When collected continuously, indicators will docu-
ment the direction and degree of change and show whether certain ob—
jectives are being reached.

The process of regional policy making is shown in Figure 5.
Regional indicators of all types should probably be collected in a
regular sequence in order to document the direction and degree of
change. There is consequently an important tie between the growing
interest in regional indicators and the wider participation of the pub-
lic in policy formation at the local, regional, and State levels of
government.

The use of indicators can improve the planning process. Indicators

are usually used on a comparative basis. That is, they can indicate

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31

the relative well-being of regions in comparison with previous years.
Comparisons can be made with other cities or regions, or parts of cities
or regions. Similarly, indicators can show any progress toward the
goals and objectives of communities and regions.

Indicators enhance communication with policy-makers and the general
public. When indicators are used to study a particular subject or
category a new dimension is added which furthers communication. Indi-
cator studies, because they include both direct and indirect influences
on a given subject, can be used to explain or justify the existence of
a condition or proposal. For instance, the failure of a sewage treat-
ment facility to meet environmental standards can better be explained
in light of population increases, increased demand on budget resources,
and increased demand for service. These considerations frame the
problem in a more realistic context. Indicators can be used to point
out important relationships, show what options are available, and raise
the level of understanding of citizens and policymakers.

Indicators may be presented in the statistical and visual modes.
Both modes can be used in combination or separately depending on the
audience or circumstances of presentation. The visual impact realized
from presenting indicators is one of the positive factors recommending
their use.

Although this study proposes the eventual use of regional indi-
cators for all five major components (Figure 4, page 28), it necessarily
omits indicators for the cultural component because before such indi-
cators can be identified, numerous, cultural values and meanings must

be identified, described, and analyzed. Because of the lack of such

32

information and because obtaining it would require a major study by
itself, this study will confine itself to discussing indicators for
populations, institutions, artifacts, and nature.

Within each of these components, certain topics of broad interest
have been identified and addressed in separate sections. In the next
section, the identified topics for the population component are: general
characteristics, educational characteristics, labor force (employment
income), health, and crime. Following a brief overview of the topic,
issues and indicators are given for each topic. The issues raised in
the questions are designed to create a broader perception of the prob—
lems, causes, and options. The purpoSe of the overview, issues, and
indicators is to help interested citizens to better anticipate, under—
stand, and manage change. The use of new graphic technology to portray
particular characteristics or conditions described in the indicators
will enhance people's capabilities to examine the issues and options.

The indicators listed in the following sections are not necessarily
applicable in every instance to all regions, since the intensity of
certain concerns will vary from region to region. Citizens in each
region would obviously devise and select indicators which are appropriate
to their concerns regarding regional policies that they wish to consider.
Wider use of indicators will help improve the objective basis for con-
sidering issues, options, and trends. Selected significant aspects of
the problems and opportunities for each topic are covered in the indi-

cators listed in the following sections.

33

C. Population Indicators

 

Trends in the population growth and distribution are fundamental
aspects of any regions' historical development and character. An ex-
amination of the basic elements of population change - births, deaths,
and migration - combined with the information on other components, helps
us to grasp the forces behind the growing complexity and diversity of
our regions. Information relating to past and prospective changes in
the size, growth rates, composition, and geographic distribution of
population provides essential background perspectives for viewing the
indicators presented in the sections which follow.

The indicators shown in this section on population and on other
topics in subsequent sections have been selected because they reflect
significant aspects of the topics addressed.. The population indicators,
for example, cover certain aspects of population change, distribution,
educational attainment, rates of unemployment, median income of persons,
per capita health care expenditures, crime rates by type of crimes, and
other population concerns. This section is organized in five headings:
general characteristics, educational characteristics, labor force (em-

ployment, income), health, and crime.

1. General Characteristics

An understanding of the region must include its population. Some
concept of the future growth of population is necessary in planning
public improvements and applying public controls over private develop-

\

ment. General characteristics of the population are derived from a

34

study of the past growth of the region in its relation to the growth
of other regions, state, and nation, and of the forces that are basic
to growth, such as industry and commerce.

Trends in the distribution and composition of population are
needed to analyze and synthesize many regional problems and their
options. For example, the increasing percentage of older persons and
the diminishing size of families have an important bearing on future
development. This affects the number and type of housing, recreation
and public facilities, and the kind of local industry. The following
questions will serve as a basis for inquiry about the region's popula-
tion.

Population Change

How fast and in what ways has the population been changing in

the region; what changes have taken place in the distribution
of population in the region?

What was responsible for the growth or lack of growth of the
region in the past ten or twenty years?

What has been the estimated net increase or decrease due to births
and deaths during the last ten and twenty years; what has been the
net increase or decrease due to migration?

What change has taken place in the fertility rate1 in the region;
What influence will this have on school enrollments; on medical
care and recreational facilities; on adult education?

What similarities or differences are there in the growth of the
region with other nearby regions, with the state, and with the
nation?

 

4Births per 1,000 women 15-44 years old.

35

What is the value of full and complete population facts; what is

the value of forecasting population and its distribution; how are
regional goals dependent upon current population information and

forecasts? '

Are there any constraints that limit the region's population;
what are they and how can they affect future settlement patterns?

Should the distribution and size of population in the region be
guided by the characteristics of the region's natural ecosystems?

How self-sufficient should the region become for food; for energy;
should the region set upper limits on population to attain a certain
level of self-sufficiency?

Sex, race,_residence and age ofgpopulation

What is the age, sex, race, and nativity composition of the
region's population; its urban centers; and the non-urban parts?

What is the median age level of the region; has it been rising;
what will be the median age level of the region ten years from
now; twenty years from now?

Has the percentage of people over 65 increased in the last
ten years; twenty years; what is the expected percentage of
people over 65 ten years from now; twenty years from now?

How can a higher proportion of those over 65 be employed full

or part time; what effects will a higher proportion of people over
65 have on cultural values; on institutions; on legislation; on
artifacts?

Should community surveys be made to determine the interest in a
zero population growth for the region?

Do you want your region to grow; by how much do you want your
region to grow?

36

How is the quality of life in the region related to a growing

population; does our region have access to the necessary resources

to accommodate growth; what kind of planning is necessary whether
we grow or not?

The population indicators presented below describe the status of
the population with respect to concerns common to most regions. They
are not necessarily applicable in every instance to all regions since
the intensity of certain concerns varies from region to region. Citizens
of each region would devise and select indicators which would meet their
informational needs.

Where these indicators for population or for other components are
available in the form of time series of observations, they reflect trends
in the particular condition, so that the citizen can gauge the direction
of major changes or developments over time. These time series might
be used as a basis for developing illustrative projections whereby the
consequences of continued trends (or alternative assumptions) may be
examined. Indicators in the form of time series are dependent upon the
time span over which the data is collected (e.g., 1930-1970, 1960-1980,
etc.) and the frequency of data reporting (annually, every three years,
every five years, etc.). Since concerns for this information will vary
from region to region, time spans over which the data is collected and
the data reporting frequencies have not been specified for the follow-

ing indicators. Citizens of each region will select this data for

developing their indicators.

Population Change

Population by residence, sex, age groupings, race, and income.

37

Estimated and projected total regional population by age and sex.

Components of pOpulation change 1930 to 1977, and percent net
increase or decrease. ‘

Estimated and projected total fertility rates.
Natural increase (or decrease) in the region.

Number of widowed persons age 60 and over by type of living ar—
rangement.

Inmates of penal and non-penal institutions by type of institution,
sex, age, and length of stay.

The ratio of rural non-farm population to farm pOpulation in the
non-urbanized areas of the region.

The percent of rural non-farm population that have an urban
orientation.

Net migration gain or loss of the region per 1,000 population.
Population Distribution and Marital Status
Marital status of the population by sex.

Marital status of the population, by sex and age, with percentage
distribution.

Marital status of black population, by sex and age, with percentage
distribution.

The percent of the population under 5 and over 65 in the central
city of the region.

38

The percent of the total population of the region under 18 years
by location.

The number and percent of the total population over 65 years by
location.

Black population as a percentage of the total population and
by location.

2. Education

Education is a prime determinant of future income and occupation.
Education provides the skills such as literacy and job security which
are needed to fully participate in American life and in planning.
Moreover, the mental development fostered by education adds to a per-
son's sense of fulfillment and meaning in life.

The pursuit of a college education should not be emphasized as
the answer to everyone's career aspirations. Preparing students for
entrance into the skilled trades and vocational areas must be gen-
erated. Students who do not choose a college career or who are not
academically ready for college must be given realistic alternatives.
New curricula is needed for human relations skills which will open new
horizons for many people as they realize this essential aspect of any
job they may hold. Also, new and creative approaches are needed to
design other ways of training people in order to reach those who feel
alienated from the present academic system.

The following questions will serve as a basis for inquiry about

the educational characteristics of the population:

39

What are the basic skills that parents want their children to
learn in the local elementary and secondary schools?

What are the important influences in the family and in the neigh-
borhood of the child that affect the school retention rates?

What percent of the regional population is high school educated;
what has been the trend in the last ten or twenty years?

What percent of the black population is high school educated;
what has been the trend in the last ten cu' twenty years?

What percent of the adult population is participating in some
form of education or training?

What are the local school retention rates for elementary schools;
secondary schools?

What is the correlation between educational achievement and quality
of life in the family and in the neighborhood?

What are student-teacher attitudes in the local schools?

What-are parent attitudes; community attitudes?

Are school attendance rates a problem; how serious is the high
school drop-out problem; is juvenile delinquency a problem; is
school vandalism a problem?

How many high school graduates continue on to other training or
to higher education; how does this percentage compare with other
regions; with the nation?

Should all high school students in the region be required to pass
a standard region-wide examination in order to get a high school
diploma?

Is the decline in national test scores of students in recent years
an indication that the quality of education today is declining;
if so, what are the reasons responsible for this decline?

40

Two basic concerns govern the selection of indicators for educational
characteristics. First is the acquisition of a basic education by the
population, as reflected in school enrollment rates and years of school
completed by different subgroups of the population. Second is the op-
portunity to pursue higher education and to expand one's knowledge and
skills in adult life, as reflected in enrollment in institutions of
higher learning and in adult training and education programs. .

Where the following indicators are available in the form of time
series of observations, they reflect trends in the particular condi-
tion, so that the citizen can gauge the direction of major changes or
developments over time. These time series might be used as a basis
for developing illustrative projections whereby the consequences of
continued trends (or alternative assumptions) may be examined. Indi-
cators in the form of time series are dependent upon the time span
over which the data is collected (e.g., 1930-1970, 1950-1980, etc.)
and the frequency of data reporting (annually, every three years,
every five years, etc.). Since concerns for this information will
vary from region to region, time spans over which the data is collected
and the data reporting frequencies have not been specified for the
following indicators. Citizens of each region will select this data

for developing their indicators.

School Enrollment

Young adult - 18 to 24 years old and 25 to 34 years old - enroll-
ment in education in actual number and as a percentage of the
population their age in each of the past ten years in the region
and comparison with State and national averages.

41

School enrollment by type of school, public and non-public, kinder-
garten through higher education.

Percent enrolled in school, by level, by sex and age, and percent
of total regional population.

School enrollment by race, level, public and non-public, age.

Preprimary school enrollment of children 3 to 5 years old, by race
and residence.

School enrollment of persons 5 to 17 years old, by race and resi-
dence (in central cities, outside central cities, or rural).

Total number and percent of total of persons 16—21 years old that
are not in school and not high school graduates.

Exceptional children enrolled in special programs.

Handicapped pupils, by type, and professional staff for handi-
capped.

The percent of adults participating in adult education by sex,
race, age, and instructional source. How many participated ten
years ago. Estimate of percent and number of adults who will
participate ten years from now.

' Years of School Completed and Illiteracy
The percentage of all persons 25 years and over who are high

school graduates.

The percentage of all persons 25 years and over who have the
equivalent of two or more years of college.

The median school years completed.

The number and percent of persons 16—21 years old not in school,
not high school graduates, and either not in labor force or un—
employed. '

42

Changing educational attainment of the regional population in each
of the past ten years - median school years completed and the
percentage distribution of formal schooling completed by persons
25 years and over.

Relation of unemployment rate with educational attainment and
age of all the unemployed in the region for each of the past
ten years.

Years of school completed, by sex, race, and age, percentage of
population completing.

Percent of population with less than 5 years of school and with
4 years of high school or more, by age, race or ethnic origin.

Years of school completed by major occupation group of employed
persons: white collar, blue collar, service, farm - by sex and
race.

Illiteracy - age, sex, and race, in number and percent of popu-
lation. Comparison with other regions, the state average, and
the national average.

The percent of high school graduates going on to other training
or to higher education.

Achievement on Standardized Tests

Mean test scores on standardized college entrance examinations in
each of the past ten years in the region and comparison with State
and national mean test scores.

Change in reading scores of 9 year-olds in the region and compari-
son with state and national means.

Reading scores of 9 year-olds, 13 year-olds, and 17 year~olds in
the region for each of the past ten years and comparison with
State and national mean scores.

43

Achievement in major subject areas for males and females on
standardized tests as percentage points either above or below
national mean scores for 9 year-olds, l3 year-olds, and 17 year-
olds in the region for each of the past ten years.

The percent of students below the mode by race, sex, and age
on the achievement tests prepared by the National Assessment
of Educational Progress in ten subject areas, such as science,
citizenship and writing, literature and reading, music and
social studies, mathematics, and second-cycle science. Also,

a comparison with students in other regions, the state average,
and the national average.

3. Labor Force, Employment, and Income

Personal income is the income we receive from all sources. Wages,
rent from property, interest from savings, profits, Social Security,
and unemployment benefits are personal income. Social Security, un-
employment benefits, and public welfare are called "transfer payments"
and amounted to about 12%5 of total personal income for 1974.

There is a general relationship between the skills acquired through
training and education, and the incomes earned later in life. The median
family income in four year average, 1968-1971 by the educational level
of the head of household was $6,767 for those with eight years or less
of school, $10,691 with four years of high school, and $15,252 with
four years or more of college.6

There is much public discussion about the incomes of our people.

Differences in incomes associated with race and sex are often the

 

5The Advertising Council, Inc., The American Economic System and Your

Part $3 I; (New York: The Advertising Council, Inc., 825 Third Avenue,
1976), p- 15. '

 

6Executive Office of the President: Office of Management and Budget, Social
Indicators, 1973 (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Government Printing Office, 1973),
p. 177.

44

result of discrimination and the lack of educational opportunity. In
New York City, for example, about one out of every seven people is on
welfare. Some people raise the question about welfare affecting the
work ethic especially of low income workers. Low income workers voice
strong opposition to idle welfare recipients living on the taxes col-
lected from their small wages. Others say that a measure of security
is necessary to give people the courage to take risks. While changes
are needed, many people accept public welfare as a means to support
those unable to work because of family or personal limitations.

The following questions about employment and income will help
people to consider these problems.

How stable is the economic environment in the region?

To what extent does the community depend on local industry and
business for employment?

Is there a wide choice of employment opportunities in the region?

Can the types of industry and business in the region offer reason-
ably high incomes?

What suggestions do you have for students who will terminate
their schooling at the public school level to acquire job entry
level skills?

Is the present unemployment rate for the region: satisfactory;
unsatisfactory; no opinion?

Should special attention be given to unemployment among: minority
persons; persons under 25; persons over 65; and women?

How can improved job opportunities be provided for ex-addicts?

45

How can public assistance be provided to those without sufficient
income without taking away an incentive to acquire training or
education?

What is the number and percentage of persons and heads of house-
holds lacking an employable member?

What is the number and percentage of families with members under
18 which lack a male head?

How many persons in the region are below low-income level7 in
numbers and as a percentage? Persons below low-income level by
age, race, place of residence, and by race and sex of family head.

How can the lot of the disadvantaged, particularly minority women
in urban settings, be improved?

Does everyone have a right to some form of guaranteed annual
income?

What is the number and percentage of adults over 60 who reside in
alternative care facilities?

What is the number and percentage of adults over 60 who live alone?
How many live at below low-income 1evel7?

Should those who are physically unable to work be provided with
the necessities of life? What are the necessities anyway?

Is there enough work to go around? If not how can some measure
of economic security be provided so they can participate in some
work or study interest?

Should a voluntary regional service be set up to bring together
available persons with service opportunities?

 

7Low income level. Low income is based on a definition developed by

the Social Security Administration in 1964 and revised by a Federal inter-
agency committee in 1969. The 1964 index provided a range of income
cutoffs adjusted by such factors as family size, sex of the family head,
number of children under 18 years old, and farm-nonfarm residence.

46

What is the "proper" age for retirement? And when one does retire,
are Social Security and private pensions adequate?

Who is to pay for welfare and how does it affect their sense of
worth? Must "making it" always mean winning in a competitive sense?
Is anyone who fails therefore a loser? Has our pursuit of success,
in fact, worsened our lives in some respects?

What is genuine success? Is it to be found in money, fame, and
power - or in self-respect?

Can we structure regions so that everyone can know the satisfac-

tion of recognition? How has the pursuit of material success

affected our morality and the way in which we value human life?

and the environment?

The indicators for these issues dealing with "Labor Force, Employ-
ment, and Income" are designed to summarize and describe information and
options. Useful indicators will raise the level of understanding and

point out what is important.

Labor Force

 

Labor force and participation rates, 1965 to 1977, and projec-
tions to 1990, by race, sex, and age.

Labor force - percent distribution, by age and sex.

The percent and number in professional, managerial and technical
positions.

The percent and number in sales positions.

The percent and number in clerical positions.

The percent and number of craftsmen.

The percent and number of operatives.

47

The percent and number of laborers in non-farm work and in farm
work.

The percent and number of service workers.
The percent of the labor force employed in blue collar occupations.

The number and percent of males 16 years and over not in the labor
force.

The number and percent of females 16 years and over not in the labor
force. ‘

The number and percent of persons 65 years and over in mandatory
retirement against their wishes and able to work.

Persons and Families Below Low-Income Level and welfare Services
Persons below low income level, numbers and percent, by family

status, and race, and sex of head.

Persons below low income level and aggregate income deficit, by
race of head and family status.

Food stamp recipients by number and location other than those on
public assistance.

Public aid - payments and number of recipients, by type of assist-
ance.

Public aid - average monthly payment by type of assistance.

Public aid - number of recipients of aid to families with dependent
children; total number of children and average payment per child.

Public aid - total amount of public aid from all assistance programs
for the region, percentage of total from federal funds, percentage
of total from state funds, and percentage of total from local

funds.

48

Employment and Unemployment

Employment status of the population; the number and percent un-
employed; the number not in labor force - by sex and race.

Employed married women, husband present, by occupation.

Unemployed jobseekers by jobsearch methods used - public employ-
ment agency, private employment agency, anployer directly, adver-
tisement, friends or relatives, other - by sex, race, age, and
reason for unemployment.

The monthly unemployment rate for the region. A comparison with
this rate with other regions, the state average, and the national
average.

The number and percent of males 16 years and over unemployed, by
location in the region.

The number and percent of females 16 years and over unemployed,
by location in the region.

Ratios of the number and types of current job openings with the
number and types of job seekers on a continuous basis.

Ratios of the number and types of prospective job openings with
the number and types of prospective job seekers for the present
and forecasts over the next five years and ten years.

4. Health

 

Health information is needed for increased awareness of disease

prevention and improved treatment. Past and present health programs

have emphasized the treating of illness and curing of disease. But in

the last several years, there has been more concern on the prevention

of illness and disease.

The first step in any involvement in preventive medicine must be

49

taken by each person, individually. The life-style many of us have

come

to enjoy has unfortunately produced a variety of health-threat-

ening habits. Many of us skip regular check-ups and ignore symptoms of

illness or disease because we want to avoid the expense, are afraid of

bad news, or do not know where to go or whom to see about health care.

All too many of us wait until we become seriously ill before seeking

help, and realize too late that we must pay a high price for our neglect.

some

The following questions about health issues are given to stimulate
thought and understanding.

What are the health-related issues which are of the greatest
concern to the region; which are the most urgent; which can be
influenced by: local action in the region?

What were the principal causes of deaths in the region during the
last ten years; how does this compare with other regions and with
national averages; what is the crude death rate in the region and
how does it compare with other regions and with the national
average?

What is the infant mortality rate in the region for each of the
last ten years; how does this compare with other regions and with
national averages; where in the region is the infant mortality rate
the highest; what explanation is there for the occurrence of high
mortality rates in certain parts of the region?

What is being done in the region to reduce mortality rates?

Has there been any serious outbreak of communicable diseases
in the region during the last ten years; what were the causes and
what are the present measures to prevent any recurrences?

How is the health of people and animals related to the condition
of the land and water in the region?

How is the quantity and quality of both surface and ground-water
in the region related to the misuse or damage of aquifers, wetlands,
woodlands, and hillsides in the region?

50

How can the personal well-being of individuals be measured; is it

safe to walk alone at night; what can be done to make the region

safe at night?

The following indicators will provide a starting point for looking
at the total health of the population. The purpose of indicators is to

help citizens and policy makers make more informed decisions.

Vital Statistics

 

Live births, deaths, marriages, and divorces - number and rate
per 1,000 population.

Births and birth rates - numbers, average annual percent change
from prior year - by race.

Live birth rates, by race and age of mother.
Birth expectations of wives, by age and race.

Legal abortions - number, rates per 1,000 women 15-44 years old,
and ratios per 1,000 live births.

Total fertility rate and intrinsic rate of natural increase, by
race.

Infant, maternal, fetal, and neonatal death rates - deaths per
1,000 live births - by race.

Illegitimate live births, by race, and age of mother.
Average lifetime in years, by sex.

Expectation of life at birth, by race and sex.

Deaths - total and rate per 1,000 population, by race.

Death rates for the 10 leading causes of death in the region.

51

Marriages and divorces - total and rate per 1,000 population.

Duration of current marriage for married women, by number of times
married and by race.

Health Expenditures
Personal health care expenditures, total for the region and by
source of funds, by age.

Personal health care expenditures, by type and age group.

Percent of population covered under private health insurance plans
by age group and type of care.

Mean expenditures for personal health services and percent of
expenditure by source of payment and selected characteristics.

Private health insurance - total number of persons covered for
specified benefits and the percent of population covered for
specified benefits.

Aggregate family outlay for personal health services as a percent
of family income, by income group.

Persons uninsured for hospital coverage, by age, sex, income, educa-
tion, and residence - numbers and percent of the total population.

Disability, Injury, and Diseases

 

Days of disability, by type, and by sex of patient - total days
of disability in the region and days per person.

Acute conditions, by type, and by age group - number of conditions
and rate per 1,000 population.

Persons with activity limitation caused by selected chronic condi-
tions (all causes), by age and sex.

Selected preventive care procedures, by type of procedure, sex,
and age of person.

52

Civilians with visual impairment or legally blind, by type of
affection and by sex.

Specified reportable diseases - cases reported - by age, sex, race,
and residence.

Reported narcotic addict/abusers - by drug used and age of user.

Estimated alcoholism, total number and rate per 100,000 population,
by sex.

Cigarette smoking and health characteristics, by sex, age, and
cigarettes smoked per day.

Persons limited by nervous or poor mental health by age and sex.

Persons under doctor's care with mental problems, by age and sex.

5. Crime

Crime is a social problem and the concern of the entire community.
Many factors influence the nature and extent of crime in a particular
community. Population is only one of many factors which must be con-
sidered in a comparative study of crime. Economic status and the mores
of the population, stability of population, climate, educational and
religious characteristics, and the policies of the courts and correc-
tions are other factors and conditions. Additional factors in relation
to crime include the effective strength of the police force and the
composition of the population with reference to age, sex, and race.

A crime rate takes into consideration only the numerical factor
of population and does not incorporate any of the other elements which
contribute to the amount of crime in a given area. Crime experiences
are affected by a complex set of involved factors and are not solely

related to numerical population differences.

53

Victimization surveys have shown that the number of actual crimes
far outnumber those reported to the police. Crimes normally reported
include murder, arson, auto theft, robbery, and aggrevated assult.
However crimes like rape, larceny, fraud and vandalism are less fre-
quently reported due to embarrassment, deductable insurance clauses,
fear of reprisal, and lack of faith in the ability of the police to
solve the crime. Victimless crimes are perhaps the most under-reported
since they are seldom reported by anyone except an arresting officer.

Information on crime in the region will be useful to the public
in realizing the severity of the problem. Emphasis on prevention will
not only reduce the loss to the victim but also prevent or reduce the
number of potential criminals. Public awareness and support in protect-
ing property is a major untapped approach to reducing crime.

The following questions on Crime will help people to consider these
problems.

What are the crime-related issues which are of greatest concern

to the region; which are the most urgent; which can be influenced
by local action within the region?

Has the incidence of some types of crimes been increasing in
the region; which ones are these; what should be done by the citizens
of the region to remedy this increase?

Where can unemployed transients obtain temporary help in the region;
is there an excessive amount of unemployment anywhere in the region;
are crime rates any different where unemployment is highest?

If there is any indication that a higher percentage of arrests
comes from a particular section of the region, what are the factors
attributing to it?

54

Are law enforcement officers Specifically concerned about the pre-
vention of crime as well as apprehension of criminals; are they
encouraged to use courtesy at all times?

Are there any movements underway in the region to curb juvenile
delinquency, such as the use of drugs; name them and evaluate them.

What are the usual charges brought against juvenile delinquents;
what is the usual causal-background of these cases?

Are children under 18 being detained in jail? If so, are they
.segregated from adults?

Do any of the civic clubs or privately supported organizations
appoint members to assist as guides or 'big brothers' in rehabilita-
tion of juveniles released by the courts or state industrial
schools; if so, what have been the results, and which programs

are the most successful?

Does the region provide shelter for the homeless and transients;
what kind?

Are there some places where persons are afraid to walk alone at
night; are residents afraid to leave their homes at night to attend
recreation or social events?

The following indicators will help people to understand some of the
issues just presented and make more informed decisions.

Crime and Victimization Rates

Crime rates for violent crimes by type, and average annual percent

increase.

Crime rates for property crimes by type, and average annual per-
cent increase.

Crime rates by type, by population size of incident.

55

Victimization rates of crimes against persons, by race and sex
of victim, and relationship of victim and offender.

Victimization rates of crimes against households.

Household and commercial crime victimization rates, by type of
victimization, selected crimes.

Estimated percentages of non-reported personal and household
victimizations, by completed versus attempted victimizations.

Estimated rates of personal victimization, by age and type of
offense.

Estimated rates of household victimization, by family income and
race of head.

Homicide victims and suicides, by race and sex.

Sex, race, and age of victim and of offender by type of violent
crime and comparison with other regions and national averages.

Relationship (family; friend, neighbor or acquaintance; stranger;
unknown) between victim and offender by type of violent crime
and comparison with other regions and national averages.

Place of occurrence (home, inside location other than home, out—
side location, unknown) of violent crime by type of crime.

Persons Arrested

Numbers and rates of arrests, by offense charged and size of place.
Persons arrested, by offense charged, sex and age group.

Offenses known to police and cleared by arrest by offense and method
of disposition.

Disposition of persons formally charged by the police, by offense.

56

Juveniles in public custody by type of facility.

Juvenile offenders taken into police custody, by type of disposi-
tion and size of place.

D. Institution Indicators

Institutions are a separate component of regions; they are not to
be confused with the artifacts or the people associated with them.
Therefore, institutions are invisible because they are only the social
form and structure that people and artifacts flow through. Usually,
each separate institution has one dominant purpose or objective such as
financial profit, public service, or education. Institutions are a semi-
permanent way of organizing people for particular functions and make up
the heart of the social system.

The formal organization of institutions is provided through the
olegal procedures of government. An institution for profit or one for
non-profit must meet certain requirements to function. It is given
official status similar to a person before the law and can enter into
legal litigation as a person. It has a charter, a name, and a date of
formation.

An understanding of all institutions is needed because of their
importance in the social system. As a major component of regions,
institutions have great significance in how people live, work, and
spend their time. Institutions order real relations between persons
and between persons and nature. Whatever relationship a person may
have with an institution, there are given roles for the interchange.

An employee of an institution must meet certain expectations. But

57

other institutions or persons - a shareholder, a creditor, a private
firm that buys or sells to the institution - will have other roles.

Recently, many institutions have moved out of central cities to
outlying locations. The effects of these changes on land use, energy,
air quality, water, and transportation are far-reaching. Institutional
size and power will become more important in the future. For example,
what will be the political implications on county and township govern-
ments by large corporations that own and farm over half of all the
agricultural land? The results of the four day work week on recreation
is another example of the effects of the relationship of institutional
change on the time patterns of people who live and work there.

Every region is a collection of institutions. There is a wide
range in the size, type, and characteristics of institutions. Like an
actor in a play, each institution has a concept of what is expected of
it. It identifies with that mental image. Institutions influence the
persons within them and therefore become a strong molding influence on
people. Institutional change often creates problems when other components
of regions change either faster or slower. An understanding of all
institutions is needed because of their importance in the social
system.

In this section important issues and regional indicators will
be suggested to help people understand and make informed decisions about
some major institutions. The indicators on schools, government, health,
households, and the private economy will show what exists and how well

it functions.

58

1. School Institutions

This section on school institutions will present some of the issues
and data about formal education in the region. Data on enrollment,
personnel, students, administration of schools, and finances will pro-
vide the citizen with information needed to shape educational policy.

Sometimes legislators and officials in state or Federal govern-
ment who have no direct contact with schools, make important decisions
about educational policy. Local autonomy of the educative process is
subject to growing pressure with the corresponding rise in state and
Federal funds for local schools. Local school boards must meet certain
stipulations and guidelines prepared by the state and Federal agencies
to receive the financial aid they administer. As local school authori-
ties become more and more dependent on state and Federal support, their
capacity to decline this outside financial assistance is lessened.
Similarly, the input of those directly involved in the educative pro-
cess - teachers, students, parents, and interested persons of the re-
gion - is reduced. Therefore, an increased dependence of the public
schools in the region upon outside financial aid will impair the mission
of the regional information center to gain a higher level of participa-
tion.

Some questions and issues that may be considered about schools
are given here to raise the level of understanding and the possible
level of agreement concerning specific options.

Are the spending levels too much, too little, or about the right
amount on improving the region's educational system?

59

What financial contribution does the state and federal government
make to the region's school districts; should this outside help
he continued, reduced, or increased?

With the recent decline in student enrollment at the elementary
level what changes can be expected in high schools?

Should elementary and secondary schools begin to prepare students
for non-print communication?

What kind of an "architectural review procedure" could be established
to assist in selecting architects to design proposed school faci-
lities; what are the social advantages of good design?

How well does the school system attain the goal of providing a
variety of educational objectives; what specialized types of educa-
tional experiences should be considered?

Should the elementary and secondary schools provide students with
the opportunity to learn about basic ecological relationships?

What innovative activities relation to vocational education and
the education of the handicapped can be designed and implemented
in the region?

What are the two concerns that you think need the most attention
regarding our school system?

How can the quality of education in our public schools be improved?

Would the. evaluation and documentation of experimental projects
be more useful and complete by having it an integral part of each
project from the beginning?

Is a new definition needed of who can be a student and at what
times in his life he can become one?

What new resources would serve to allow individuals or groups to
fashion their own education off campus?

60

What are some innovative approaches to the development of environ-
mental awareness that have come out of the projects funded by the
Office of Environmental Education; which ones would be suitable

to use?

Are there parent-teacher associations in each of the schools;

how many members; do parents discuss their child's training at

the meetings; do the parents take responsibility for the conduct
of the association or do the teachers take the lead; what are some
recent issues presented at the meetings?

Does it seem that the schools of the region are flexible instru-
ments to fit the developing needs of the individual child, or do
they form a rigid system to which the individual child must adjust?

Has any group of citizens organized a temporary fact-finding
campaign about a school within the past five years; what was its
area of interest; are the results available in report form?

Has any fact-finding surveys or consulting firms submitted work

or recommendations during the past five years about schools; under
whose auspices were they taken; what recommendations resulted;

what steps were taken to call needed action to the attention of
responsible agencies or persons; were the findings widely distribut-
ed to the community; did anyone organize the community for action?

What changes could be made in local elementary schools to formulate
improved learning outcomes; what can current educational research
propose in competency-based learning programs; what are the latest
results of competency-based programs for problem-solving, analytical
reasoning, and communication?

What can be applied to local elementary and secondary schools that
achieved good results in the Headstart or Vista programs, such as
improving the retention of students or improved learning environ-
ment?

What ways can adults without high school diplomas or college
degrees become aware of all the educational resources in the
region; would a Regional Learning Service provide the means

by creating inventories of community-based educational resources,
by training counselors, and by initiating the brokerage operation
of educational resources?

61

How can students make choices of training without regional emr
ployment forecasts; could a Regional Learning Service provide
employment forecasts to meet this need?

What new programs can be designed to involve the poor in suitable
training or education; how can the poor learn about available
financial aids; what changes need to be made so the poor will use
career or vocational awareness counseling?

What are the expenditures per pupil for the schools in the region;
how does this compare with other regions; the average for the
state; for the nation?

What is the elementary and secondary school expenditures as a
percent of total state and local spending; what was it ten years
ago; how does this compare with other regions; with the average
for the state; with the national average?

What is the average annual salaries for classroom teachers, public
elementary and secondary schools in the region; how does this compare
with other regions and with the state average; with the national
average?

How many school districts are there in the region; how well do

the school boards in different districts cooperate with each other;
what is the ideal school population that a school district should
serve; how close do the existing school districts approach to the
ideal school population that a district should serve?

In what ways can waste and inefficiency in the educational frame-
work be reduced or eliminated; how can parents and citizens of the
region make recommendations and suggestions for the improvement

of the schools; what information does the citizen need to know in
order to make recommendations?

Is school consolidation always the best solution; what are both

the advantages and disadvantages to school consolidation; are
financial savings (lower cost per student) the only factor to
consider when school consolidations are recommended; what informa-
tion does the citizen need to better decide whether school consoli-
dations are advisable?

Is it possible for the state to give aid to children attending a
private or denominational school without at the same time providing
Special benefits to the denomination or private interest that
controls that school?

62

The following indicators on schools will improve the understanding
of the citizens and encourage thought about their improvement. A fuller
understanding of these important institutions is needed to make decisions
for a higher return on the very large investment of public monies.

Schools - Enrollments

Number of public and private schools in the region by level, type

of school, and type of control.

School enrollment, by type of school, level of instruction, and
type of control.

Number of public school districts in the region, number of schools
per district, and level of instruction offered.

School enrollment by sex and by level of instruction and percent
change from previous year.

Public elementary and secondary schools - number and average salary
of classroom teachers and distribution.

Public elementary and secondary schools - classroom teachers, by
experience and degrees held.

Higher Education and Vocational Training
Institutions of higher education - faculty and student enrollments

by sex, by 2-year institutions, 4-year institutions, and under-
graduate-graduate institutions.

Junior colleges - number and enrollment by type of control.

Institutions of higher education - average tuition and required
fees and charges for dormitory rooms for entire academic year by
type of control.

Institutions of higher education attended predominantly by blacks
- enrollment by type of control.

63

Institutions of higher education - median annual salaries of instruc-
tional staff and administrative officers.

Institutions of higher education - earned degrees conferred, by
level of degree.

Institutions of higher education - value of plant, current—fund
income, and expenditures.

Noncollegiate postsecondary schools by type of training offered,
number of faculty, student enrollment, number completing their
training by type of skill or training.

Work and training programs, manpower development and training
program, and other Federally aided vocational programs in the
region by program - students enrolled, sponsoring agency, type of
training, length of training, annual budget, and students placed
in employment after completflmaof training.

School Finances

Total expenditures of elementary and secondary schools in the region
by type of school, per pupil in average daily attendance, and per
capita of regional population.

School expenditures - public and private, by type of control and
level of instruction; current expenditures and interest; capital
outlay or plant expansion.

Total expenditures - public and private, by level of instruction
and by source of funds, Federal, state, local, private, and other.

Variation in per-pupil expenditures in the region by type of control
and level of instruction expressed as a percent difference from
the national mean of expenditures per pupil.

State share of State-local-other revenues for public elementary
and secondary schools in the region.

Local expenditures for education - amount and percent of all
local public expenditures spent on education.

64

State expenditures for education - amount and percent of total
general expenditures of the State for education.

Public elementary and secondary schools — number and average salary
of classroom teachers.

Total number of school bond elections by purpose of bond, amount
of bond, and location of school, and approval or disapproval of
bond.

Public elementary and secondary schools - revenue and expenditures
- amount of revenue and percent from Federal, State, local, and
other sources.

Amount of expenditures and percent for growth, maintenance, and
renewal.

Federal support of education - all types of programs and level of
- instruction, the amount and the percentage of total expenditures

that is received from Federal government.

2. Government Institutions

A primary function of a local government is that of providing public
facilities and services. This requires the construction and operation of
such typical facilities as water supply and sewerage systems, schools
and institutional buildings, streets, bridges, airports, and recreational
facilities. Equipment and buildings are needed to provide for fire, police,
and health protection and in the general administration of municipal
affairs. The physical plant and equipment for all of these services
and facilities is called "public works" or "public improvements".
Funds expended for the building of this plant are "capital expenditures"
or "capital outlays".

If local government is to provide the public improvements and

services which even average standards of efficiency require and, at the

65

same time, is to continue on a healthy financial basis, it is confronted
with a governmental problem that cannot be solved in a haphazard fashion.
The budgeting operation should cover all public improvements regardless
of how they are financed. To be successfully accomplished, this task
must be approached through an orderly farsighted procedure based upon
three fundamental considerations. First, the cost of proposed projects
must be related definitely to the financial resources of the local govern-
ment through essential financial planning. Second, prOposed projects
must be selected from the point of view of general community need. This
involves community planning. Third, the element of flexibility must be
provided, if the procedure is to be realistic and of continuing value.
Conditions in a community are never static and changes and additions are
ever necessary to provide for growth and development.

The current reporting of local public expenditures is difficult
to relate to policy determination. Expenditures are now reported by
categories of education, police, fire, sewerage, public welfare, high-
ways, and others. When expenditures are reported by functions, it is
unrelated to the problems of growth, maintenance, and renewal.

When a community decides to relate its growth to its financial 1
capacity to provide new services, the functional reporting of public
expenditures does not fit. When the amount of funds for streets is
reported, there is no way of knowing the proportion spent on maintenance
of present streets and the amount spent for new construction. Local
government cannot relate its expenditures with community objectives by
reporting them in the traditional manner of streets, public welfare,

education, and others.

66

The division of public expenditures into the categories of growth,
maintenance, and renewal is a dramatic departure from current practice.
When local expenditures are presented in this new system, it will raise
the level of understanding of budgetary problems. The communication of
local spending in this new way will stimulate local understanding and
participation.

In the new reporting system for the region, growth expenditures
would show the costs of any added public improvements required for new
facilities or for expansion of present ones. Streets, water, sewerage,
parks, schools are some of the growth costs in new residential develop-
ment. Here are some policy issues that can be answered by this new
system. What amount of the region's total annual expenditures is for
new growth? How do growth expenditures compare with those for mainten-
ance and renewal?

The second category of expenditures will be for maintenance of
current operations. This includes salaries and overhead expenses of all
the local school personnel and government employees for providing all
the services of the city. Also, it includes the cost of operation of all
city owned equipment for fire, police, parks, airports, hospitals or
public health facilities, libraries and general administration. The
interest of any debt would also be in this category of maintenance.

The last category is for renewal or replacement expenditures.
Existing streets, sewer facilities, public buildings, and pumping
stations are some examples of public property that need replacement.
This category will be especially revealing in the older central parts

of larger cities where deterioration and declining conditions are

67

critical and widespread. Indeed, local government has depended upon
the federal government in most of the urban renewal programs of recent
years. The cost of renewal is so great that most cities have left this
task untouched.

The differentiation of expenditures for growth, for maintenance,
and for renewal will provide a new perspective for both the policy maker
and the citizen. This new system will raise the level of understanding
and facilitiate people's capacity to take into account the long-range
impacts of current actions. The new system.will help them to consider
the impacts of their decisions for new development and the resources
available to meet these costs.

The following questions can be asked to learn more about government
institutions.

What two or three things do you think ought to be done to restore

the public's confidence in government to higher levels?

How do you feel is the best way to communicate your concerns to
local government; what can the citizen do if his displeasure grows
too great?

Among the functions of local government, which ones are most in
need of change; how should the improvements be made; should some
services be reduced; should some services be transferred to private
business?

Is the public in general aware of local government budgets; how
can the public become better informed and how can the public ex-
press to policy-makers their priorities?

Are there too many special districts in the region; which ones
should be transferred to a local government or to a regional
council?

Has the program of physical improvements been checked against
estimated future income?

68

If your local government required more revenues to meet new and
improved services and facilities, should it be obtained from:
increased property taxes; increased sales taxes; increased debt;
or other taxes?

Would you want your local government to depend less than it does
now on Federal funds?

What approach should be taken to solvethe problem of inequitable
financing in metropolitan areas with a highly fragmented pattern
of special districts and governments?

What is the bonded indebtedness of the cities, towns, and counties
in the region?

Are present local property taxes acceptable? Are they too high?

Should some capital improvements (like storm drainage or sewers)
be placed on a direct vote to the citizens for approval as in a
referendum?

Should local government improve its fiscal reporting system so
' that citizens can relate policy choices to the financial capability
of their government?

Is a new budgetary reporting system needed to allot all public
expenditurs as growth, maintenance, and renewal to show what amount
is spent for each of these three areas?

What are the initial growth costs to the local governments per house
for a new low density single family subdivision? What amount of the
local government's total annual expenditures are for Ell kinds of
new‘ggowth?

 

What are the annual maintenance expenditures of the local govern-
ments per dwelling unit for residential development of various ages
and various densities? What amount of the local government's total
annual expenditures are for gll_kinds o§_maintenance?

 

What is the estimated renewal costs for the entire region for all
facilities that need replacement; what amount is now spent each

year in the region for renewal; which local governments have proposed
renewal expenditures in their budgets; what is the total amount of
these proposed renewal expenditures?

 

69

How can a local governmental financial reporting system be designed
that is understandable to the public?

How can the duplication of planning activities be eliminated; how
can all planning programs in the region be kept consistent with the
goals of the region?

The following indicators will provide information on the issues of
government institutions. They can be used to look at government per-
formance and effectiveness and to evaluate specific options.

Cities, Towns, and Villages

Cities, towns, and villages revenue - amount and percentage of

individual income, sales, property, intergovernmental, insurance
trust, charges and miscellaneous, utility revenue, and other taxes.

Cities, towns, and villages - per capita amount of revenue from
all major sources.

Cities, towns, and villages - amount and per capita amount of inter-
governmental revenue from state government and from Federal govern-
ment.

Cities, towns, and villages - amount and percent of total revenue
from intergovernmental revenue, property tax, and other taxes,
charges, and miscellaneous.

Cities, towns, and villages - intergovernmental revenue from
Federal government as a percentage of total local government general
revenue.

Cities, towns, and villages - amount and per capita amount of revenue
from own sources, and percent of all revenues.

Cities, towns, and villages - percent distribution of general
revenue, by source.

 

8
General revenue - property taxes, intergovernmental revenue, sales
taxes, other taxes, charges, and miscellaneous.

70

Cities, towns, and villages - percent distribution of tax revenue,
by type of tax.

Cities, towns, and villages - percentage of all tax revenue pro-
vided by property taxes.

Cities, towns, and villages - expenditures by function: educa-
tion, public welfare, highways, health/hospitals, police, fire,
recreation, housing and urban renewal, sanitation and sewerage,
interest on general debt, and other expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - general governmental expenditures
per capita and per capita expenditures by functions.

Cities, towns, and villages - growth expenditures by each function
and as a percentage of the total expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - percent of total public expenditures
for growth, for maintenance, and for renewal.

Cities, towns, and villages - maintenance expenditures by each
function and as a percentage of the total expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - total maintenance expenditures as
a percentage of total public expenditures and total per capita
maintenance expenditures.

Cities, towns and villages - renewal expenditures by each function
and as a percentage of total expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - total renewal expenditures as a
percentage of total public expenditures and total per capita
renewal expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - total debt outstanding and per capita
total debt.

Cities, towns, and villages - long-term debt with full faith and
credit and long-term debt nonguaranteed. Short-term debt.

71

Cities, towns, and villages - long-term debt by purpose. Per capita
amount of long-term debt by purpose.

Cities, towns, and villages - total debt for growth expenditures,
for maintenance expenditures, and for renewal expenditures and
percent of each to total debt.

Cities, towns, and villages - full-time equivalent employees and
October payroll. -

Cities, towns, and villages - full-time equivalent employees by
function and October payroll by function.

Cities, towns, and villages - full—time equivalent employees per
10,000 population by function.

Cities, towns, and villages - full-time equivalent employees per-
cent distribution for growth expenditures, for maintenance expendi-
tures, and for renewal expenditures.

Cities, towns, and villages - full-time equivalent employees per
10,000 population distribution for growth expenditures, for main-
tenance expenditures, and for renewal expenditures.

Townships and Counties
Each indicator given under the previous heading "Cities, Towns,

and Villages" would also be used under this heading, as they would
apply to townships and counties.

Special Districts

 

Special districts revenue - amount and percent of total from inter-
governmental, property taxes, charges and miscellaneous, and utility
revenue.

Special districts revenue - per capita amount revenue from all
sources.

Special districts - percent distribution of general revenue by
source.

72

Special districts - percent of all revenue from utility revenue.

Special districts - number and percent authorized to levy property
taxes.

Special districts - number of single-function districts by their
function and by area served.

Special districts - number of multiple-function districts by area
served.

Special districts - object of expenditures: capital outlay, personal
services, interest on debt, and all other expenditures.

Special districts - expenditures by function - education, public
welfare, highways, health/hospitals, police, fire, recreation,
housing and'urban renewal, sanitation and sewerage, interest on
general debt, and other functions - and percent of total expendi-
ture for capital outlay.

 

Special districts - utility expenditure by type nf‘fifiiity’ana by- ”””””””” 7
“Eharacterwand’per Capita amount of total utility expenditure.

Special districts - growth expenditures by each function and as
a percentage of the total expenditures.

Special districts - total per capita growth expenditures.

Special districts - maintenance expenditures by each function and
as a percentage of total expenditures.

Special districts - total growth expenditures by each district and
per capita growth expenditures of all special districts.

Special districts - total maintenance expenditures as a percentage
of total expenditures and total per capita maintenance expenditures.

Special districts - renewal expenditures by each district and per
capita renewal expenditures of all special districts.

73

Special districts ~ renewal expenditures by each function and as
a percentage of total expenditures.

Special districts - total debt outstanding and per capita total
debt. -

Special districts - total debt by function and per capita amount
of long-term debt.

Special districts - total debt for growth expenditures, for main-
tenance expenditures, and for renewal expenditures and percent of
each to total debt.

Special districts - total debt of districts having property—taxing
power and total debt of districts without property-taxing power and
per capita amount of debt for each.

Special districts - full-time equivalent employees and October
payroll.

Special districts - full-time equivalent employees by function and
October payroll by function.

Special districts - full-time equivalent employees per 10,000
population by function.

Special districts - full-time equivalent employees percent distribu-
tion for growth expenditures, for maintenance expenditures, and
for renewal expenditures.

Special districts - full-time equivalent employees per 10,000
population distribution for growth expenditures, for maintenance
expenditures, and for renewal expenditures.

Regional Summary
Local governments by type of government - number and percent of

total for cities, towns, villages, townships, counties, special
districts, and school districts.

74

All local governments - total revenues and total per capita amount
by source of revenue - intergovernmental, sales and gross receipts
taxes, property, income, charges and miscellaneous, utility revenue,
and their revenues.

All local governments - total per capita revenues from all sources.

All local governments - total intergovernmental revenue and the
percent of total revenue from intergovernmental revenue.

All local governments - total expenditures by function - education,
public welfare, highways, health/hospitals, police, fire, recrea-
tion, housing and urban renewal, sanitation and sewerage, interest
on general debt, and other functions.

All local governments - per capita expenditures by function.

All local governments - percent distribution of all expenditures
by function.

All local governments - growth expenditures by function and as a
percentage of total expenditures.

All local governments - percent of total public expenditures for
growth, for maintenance, and for renewal.

All local governments - combined growth expenditures in the
region for all functions.

All local governments - per capita combined growth expenditures
for the region.

All local governments - total maintenance expenditures by each
function - education, public welfare, highways, health and hos-
pitals, police, fire, recreation, housing and urban renewal, sani-
tation and sewerage, interest on general debt, and other functions.

All local governments - combined maintenance expenditures in the
region for all functions.

75

All local governments - per capita combined maintenance expenditures
for the region.

All local governments - percent of total public expenditures for
maintenance and percent change from previous year.

All local governments - total renewal expenditures by each function
- education, public welfare, highways, health/hOSpitals, police,
fire, recreation, housing and urban renewal, sanitation and
sewerage, interest on general debt, and other functions.

All local governments - percent of total public expenditures for
renewal.

All local governments - combined renewal expenditures in the
region for all functions.

All local governments - per capita combined renewal expenditures
for the region.

All local governments - total debt outstanding and per capita
total debt.

All local governments - long—term debt with full faith and credit
and long-term debt nonguaranteed. Short-term debt.

All local governments - long-term debt by purpose. Per capita
amount of long-term debt by purpose.

All local governments - total debt for growth expenditures, for
maintenance expenditures, and for renewal expenditures and percent
of each to total debt.

All local governments - full-time equivalent employees and October
payroll.

All local governments - full-time equivalent employees by function
and October payroll by function.

76

All local governments - full-time equivalent employees per 10,000
population by function.

All local governments - full-time equivalent employees percent
distribution for growth expenditures, for maintenance expendi-
tures, and for renewal expenditures.

All local governments - full-time equivalent employees per 10,000
population distribution for growth expenditures, for maintenance
expenditures, and for renewal expenditures.

3. Health Institutions

 

The local hospital is often the most crucial element of a health
delivery system. Hospitals and their services must be planned carefully
to insure comprehensive and quality health care at a reasonable cost.
The size of a hospital, its facilities, and equipment must accurately
reflect the needs of the community.

If we are to achieve quality health care in our communities, we
must get involved in hospital planning. The administration, design and
development of hospital facilities must be specifically oriented towards
a community's current and projected needs to avoid the waste of un-
necessary space, staff and equipment, and to keep costs down and ef-
ficiency up. An active and committed hospital board working closely
with community and hospital staff is a necessity. Constructive inter-
action between our communities and hospitals can contribute greatly to
meeting all our needs.

The following questions about health issues are given to stimulate

some thought and understanding.

77

Are there adequate services for health education and information;
are there well-defined and ongoing education and health information
programs in the schools; are the resources of national organizations
such as the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, the
American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and the
American Diabetes Association being used?

Is there a medical screening program in the region? If not, can
we mobilize support to establish such a service?

Are there significant segments of the region which are either
underserved or entirely bypassed by traditional health care systems;
can existing or new programs be developed to tackle this problem?

Are there areas in the health care system in which volunteer in-
volvement is needed?

Is the region sufficiently involved in the care and treatment of
persons addicted to alcohol and drugs?

What is the ratio of physicians to the population; does the region
or any part of it have a doctor shortage; if so, what can be done
about it?

How many and what is the location of all housing units in the
region that do not use a public water supply; what is the source

of their water supply and how frequently is the safety and quality
tested; how many and what is the location of all housing units in
the region that are not connected to a public sewerage system; is
any untreated sewage discharged in any surface waters; is there any
risk of contamination of ground water supplies by any discharge
from.any industry, commercial, or residential units?

Are all public sewerage systems in full compliance with all regula-
tions governing their Operation and permissible discharge limits?

Are the interests of the region adequately represented in hospital
planning?

How are the governing boards of hospitals appointed; how large
are the boards, length of term, and occupation or profession of
members?

78

What private or public institutions provide information on food
values and the relationship of nutrition to good health?

How can access to quality health care at reasonable prices be
improved; where would rural health treatment centers using para-
medical personnel be needed?

How can primary care services be provided eSpecially for those
located in rural or medically underserved areas of the region?

How can the region set its own priorities for health care programs
based on the particular needs of its low-income population and its
resources? ’

How can the region integrate its health programs into a cohesive
whole? What particular programs or agencies should coordinate their
services to better serve the public at less cost?

What kinds of preventive health services should be developed and
implemented? .

How can Federal assistance be used with maximum local discretion
to meet the needs of low-income children in nutrition and other
preventive health services?

How can inappropriate institutional health care be prevented or
reduced?

Would the region's population use and benefit from the establish-
ment of a "health services information center"?

Are public water supply and public sewage systems needed in any
growth center in the region?

Is the region part of a public health district; does it maintain
its own department of public health?

79

Do the annual reports of the department of public health list the
causes for deaths during the past year; of the deaths that were
caused by disease, where could public action have reduced the
number of deaths and the amount of illness; why must the government
and regional chapters of the American Public Health Association and
other voluntary or semi-public agencies unite their efforts to
improve public health?

Why is it important that physical defects in children be given
prompt attention; what public institutions besides the schools
should assume more responsibility in early detection of physical
defects in children; will corrective measures taken at the proper
time make possible more lives of usefulness and happiness?

Is there a board of health in the region; administrative or advisory;
paid or unpaid; how appointed and for what terms; qualifications which
led to appointment of present members; how many physicians, laymen;
what are its powers and duties; does it appoint the director; what

is the title of the director?

What duties has the health department in the region in regard to
inspection of water, milk, and food supply; what other inspection

duties does it have; how well are these inspection duties per-
formed?

What is the greatest health reform needed in the region? What do
you think is necessary to bring it about?
Some of the significant aspects of the institutions that provide

health care are covered in the following indicators.

Institutions providing_health insurance coverage

Public health insurance under all government programs - by type of
program, enrollees, charges, percent of population covered.

Public health insurance under all government programs - by labor
force status of family head, by annual income class, by type of
expenditure, and age of enrollees.

80

Public health insurance under all programs - by types of health
expenditures - hospital care, professional services, nursing home
care, drugs and eye glasses, other services, construction, and
research - amounts and percent of total.

Public health insurance under all programs - total and per capita
annual expenditures on each type of coverage and the percent of
each individual's total annual expenditures paid by public health
programs.

Public health insurance (Medicare) under Social Security - annual
expenditures by type of hospital coverage and by type of service
of medical coverage.

Public health insurance (Medicare) under Social Security - medical
insurance enrollees and charges for covered services.

Public health insurance under all government programs in the region

- annual expenditures on each type of coverage, average per capita
expenditure on each type of coverage, and percent change from previous
year for both. Percent of regional population covered by public
health insurance programs.

Private health insurance enrollment rates of persons under age 65
not covered by medicaid, by labor force status and selected income
class.

Employer contribution toward family's premiums for health insurance
policies carried through a work group or union.

Private health insurance enrollment by labor force status of family
head, by annual income class, by type of expenditure, and age of
enrollees.

Private health insurance by types of health expenditures - hospital
care, professional services, nursing home care, drugs and eye
glasses, other services - amounts, per capita annual expenditures
on each type of coverage.

Public and private health insurance coverage combined - by type of
program, enrollees, charges, percent of population covered, and
age of enrollees.

81

Public and private health insurance coverage combined - by types
of health expenditures - hospital care, professional services,
nursing home care, drugs and eye glasses, other services, construc-
tion, and research - total amounts and the percent of each type

of expenditure of the total.

Poverty level individuals and families without public or private
health insurance coverage by labor force status of family head, by
race, and by residence.

Total regional health expenditures - percent paid by public health
insurance, by private health insurance, by individual direct pay-
ment, and by other.

Total regional health expenditures by age level, income, and source
of payment.

Percent of total population covered by hospital insurance by method
of enrollment and by public or private coverage.

Hospitals and Nursing Homes

 

Number of general hospitals, beds, average daily census,9 and
occupancy rate.

Number of all other hospitals, beds, average daily census,9 and
occupancy rate.

Number of general hospitals, beds, admissions, average daily
census, and by ownership of hospitals - nonprofit, proprietary,
state-local, Federal.

Number of all other hospitals, beds, admissions, average daily
census, and by ownership of hospital - nonprofit, proprietary,
state-local, Federal.

Number of patient visits to hospitals with out patient services, by
family income, race, and age.

 

9Average daily census is the average number of in-patients per day.

82

Number of selected full-time personnel employed in hospitals by
ownership of hospital - nonprofit, proprietary, state—local, Federal.

Number of days of hospital care per 1,000 population by income, race,
and age.

Hospitals - beds per 1,000 population - type of service and owner-
ship of hospital.

Hospital utilization - general and special - admissions per 1,000
population, total days in hospital per 1,000 population, average
length of stay, and occupancy rate.

Hospital admission requirements for emergency treatment - proof of
insurance coverage; prepayment by patient or his family guarantor
required; or no financial capacity to pay required.

Hospital expense per patient day - short term, long term, basic
rates, and special rates - by type of hospital.

Average hospital cost per stay and per day and percent change from
previous year.

Governing body of hospitals - how appointed, size, length of term,
renumeration, occupation or profession of members.

Number of nursing and related care facilities - beds, residents,
full-time personnel, and by ownership.

Number of days of nursing home care per 1,000 population by in—
come, race, and age.

Nursing home care - total number of beds, employees per 100 resi-
dents, and total expenditures for nursing home care.

Nursing homes: selected characteristics, average monthly resident
charges and primary sources of payment.

83

Number and percent distribution of nursing home residents in the
home for one month or more by age and sex, according to primary
source of payment for care.

Nursing home utilization - general or special - admissions per
1,000 population, total days in nursing home per 1,000 populations,
average length of stay, and occupancy rate.

Nursing and related care facilities - beds per 1,000 population,
resident patients per 1,000 population, personnel employed per
1,000 population.

Skilled nursing facilities - beds per 1,000 population, beds per
1,000 enrollees, and total number of beds.

Nursing homes: selected characteristics, resident charges, and
primary sources of payment.

Health personnel

 

Physicinns, dentists, and nurses per 100,000 population and come
parison with national averages.

Physicians by type of practice, and percent distribution.
Physicians, by sex, speciality, and major professional activity.

Self-employed physicians and dentists by field of practice - median
net earnings from practice.

Malpractice insurance for physicians and surgeons - premium cost
per physician and surgeon and cost as percent of income.

Estimated persons employed in selected occupations (including
physicians, dentists, and nurses) within each health field.

Number of persons per physician.

Projected supply of health professionals - physicians, dentists, and
nurses for 1980, 1985, 1990, and 2000 per 100,000 population.

84

Selected full-time and part-time personnel in nursing care homes by
ownership of the home.

4. Households and Families

 

A "household" comprises all persons who occupy a "housing unit".
The housing unit may be a house, an apartment or other group of rooms,
or a room that constitutes "separate living quarters". A household
includes the related family members and all the unrelated persons, if
any, such as lodgers, foster children, wards, or employees who share
the housing unit. A person living alone or a group of unrelated persons
sharing the same housing unit as partners is also counted as a house-
hold. For each housing unit there is either (1) direct access from the
outside or through a common hall, or (2) complete kitchen facilities for
the exclusive use of the occupants. Transient accommodations, barracks
for workers, and institutional-type quarters are not counted as housing
units.

The term "family" refers to a group of two or more persons related
by blood, marriage, or adoption and residing together in a household.
A primary family consists of the head of a household and all other
persons in the household related to the head. A secondary family come
prises two or more persons such as guests, lodgers, or resident employees
and their relatives, living in a household and related to each other but
not to the household head.

A "subfamily" is a married couple with or without children, or
one parent with one or more unmarried children under 18 years old,

living in a household and related to, but not including, the head of

85

the household or his wife. Members of a subfamily are also members of
the primary family with whom they live. When the number of families
is given, the number of subfamilies is not included.

A "married couple" is defined as a husband and his wife living
together in the same household, with or without children and other
relatives. "Unrelated individuals" refers to persons (other than in-
mates of institutions) who are not living with any relatives.

What is the total number of households in the region, their size,
and income?

How many households in the region have only one person; what is
their age, sex, income, and employment status?

How many single parent families are there and what are their
characteristics?

What is the average number of persons per household; what are their
age characteristics; how many and what percentage own their resi-
dence; what types of residence do they have?

What is the location and number of overcrowded households (1.51 +
persons per room)?

What number of families move one or more times within two years;
what is their size, income, and employment status; what percent do
they represent of the total families in the region?

What number of families own more than one automobile; what number
of families have more than one person employed; what number of
families have a second home and where is it located; what are the
age, income, education, and employment characteristics of the
above families?

What is the average annual income per household in the region;

how many families in the region receive incomes less than poverty
level; what has the number of families with below poverty level in-
comes been in each of the last ten years; where do they live and
what is the race of the head of the family?

86

How many families have an unemployed adult who is seeking employ-
ment?

What is the interrelationship of family income and educational
attainment?

How many families have moved into the region within the last
two years; what is the occupation of the head of the family, race
and age of the head, and their annual income?

In a rural America, children were considered as economic asset

as each shared in the work on the farm. Contrast this with America
today in which 75% of the population live in cities. What reasons
make families have children today?

In our present specialized and technical society, many persons feel
like numbers in a computerized world. Where can individuals find
satisfying experiences like intimacy, warmth, understanding, and

a feeling of importance?

Today many elderly feel unwanted and unable to live independently.

Should there be a change in attitudes toward the elderly? How can
the elderly serve a more useful role in today's modern family?

What is the future of the American family?

Some indicators on households and families that will help people

understand this aspect of their region are presented here.

Number,_Type, and Size of Households and Families

Households, by number per household and race of head of the house-
hold in the region.

Total number of households in the region by size, race, and highest
educational attainment of the head of the household.

The average number of persons per household in the region. The
number of one-person households in the region and the percent that
one-person households represent of the total households in the
region.

87

The total number of households by size - 2 and 3 persons; 4 and 5
persons; 6 and 7 persons; and 8 or more persons - in the region and
the percentage that each size grouping represents of the total
number in the region.

Number of households by type of head and percent change from pre-
ceding year - husband-wife; other male head; or female head - with
the age of all household members in age groupings. The number of
households of one person with their age and sex.

Characteristics of households by type, by farm and nonfarm resi-
dence, and age of head of household by age groupings for the region.
Comparison with other regions and with national averages.

Married couples by age of husband, by age of wife and their race
with percentage distributions for the region.

Families by employment status and occupation group of employed head
and by number of own children under 18 years old in the region.

Total number of families in the region in the last ten years by
location of residence - SMSA's of various sizes, cities under 50,000,
villages, and farm - and by size of family, race of head, age of
members, and the number of own children under 18.

Total number of husband-wife families in the region in the last ten
years by the following characteristics: size of family; members of
family under 18; number of own children by age under 18; race and
metropolitan—nonmetropolitan residence; income; and employment
Status.

Number of families by type and size, number of members 18 years old
and over by race and age of head.

Number of families by type and composition, education and labor
force participation of head and wife, and race and age of head.

Total number of families with one or more unemployed adults seeking
employment.

88

Household and Family Economics

Non-farm home ownership - total monetary value by type of structure,
age, and size and the average monetary value by type of residence.

Major household equipment and durables - total monetary value of

motor vehicles and appliances and the average monetary value per
household.

Household liabilities - mortgage debts on residence by type of
obligation and loaning agency. Average amount of mortgage debt

per household, average monthly payment, average duration of mortgage
per household by type of residence.

Household liabilities - total consumer credit outstanding and ratio
to gross annual income.

Consumer credit by type of credit and purpose of credit and average
amount of credit per household.

Household net worth - total household assets less total household
liabilities by type of household.

Money income of households and families, by characteristics, by
level.

Annual income of families by years of school completed, age, and
race of head.

Annual income of families by occupational status and race of head.

Type of income of families and unrelated individuals by race of
head and place of residence, and sex of head of family in the
region.

Poverty status of families in the region by employment status,
weeks worked in the year, occupation group, sex, and race of head.

Poverty status of families in the region by years of school completed,
age, sex, and race of head.

 

89

Number of families in the region with public assistance, social
security, or retirement benefits as the major source of income.

Total number of families with income less than poverty level with
the percent with female heads, the percent non-white, and the per-
cent with head of family 65 or over.

Size of income deficit among families and unrelated individuals
with incomes below poverty level by number of related children
under 18 years, and age, race, and sex of the head.

Money income of families - percent distribution by income level
- comparison.made with other regions, state, and national averages.

Wife's contribution to family income as housewife in the home -
percent distribution by income level and the annual monetary value
of her services if equivalent services were paid at existing rates
of pay. Real family income - the monetary value of wife's contribu-
tion and the monetary income earned by husband.

Medianlo family and per capita income.

Meney income - families with heads 25 years old and over, by income
level, by race of head, and years of school completed.

Money income — distribution by percent of families, by income level,
by race of head of family.

Money income of families, by characteristics, by level.

The number and percent of families with Social Security income and
private pension retirement income or just one of these. Their
median family income and the number who receive less than the low-
income level.

Central City, suburban and rural distribution by income level.

 

'loThe median is the point at which the population is divided into two

equal parts. Therefore, fifty percent of families receive income above
the median and fifty percent below.

90

Changes in the Cost of Living Index. (The base year, 1967, is
assigned a value of 100. If prices are now higher than during the
base year, the index will exceed 100.)

Personal debt by income level and family status and reason for
debt.

Comparison of total personal wealth held by the highest fifth
(20% of regional population) with the total wealth held by the
lowest fifth (20% of regional population) in percentage and total
amount.

Personal wealth - number of top wealth holders (assets over $50,000
per household or family) by characteristics and by size of net
worth.

5. Private Economic Institutions

The private economic system consists of individual, family, and
company or corporate property, wealth, expenditures, incomes, and profits.
Economic well-being is the most commonly accepted measure of well-being.
Monetary income or profits represent the ability to purchase goods and
services and provide economic security.

Regions and cities develop distinguishing characteristics. The
extent and importance of trade areas, the diversification of industry
and retail business, the importance of any single resource or employer,
and the natural ecosystem are distinguishing factors. The issues
raised for business activity will reflect the availability or lack
of availability of employment opportunities, the output of services
and goods, and the kinds of business institutions in regions.

Does business find the region a desirable place to remain and con-

tinue?

What new businesses have been attracted to the region in recent
years; what are the particular advantages that the region has?

91

What is the trend in industrial development?

Should more diversity of industry he encouraged to guard against
unemployment periods?

How can we preserve the benefits of competition in our American
economic system and still meet the needs of the less fortunate?

What are the important exports which are shipped out of the region
by local industry; how do the present top five in monetary value
compare with the top five exported five years ago and ten years
ago?

What are the important imports brought into the region from outside;
how do the present five import items with the highest market value
compare with the top five items imported five years ago and those
imported ten years ago?

Of goods produced, manufactured, or processed in the region, what
proportion is consumed within the region?

How will the continuing higher cost of energy influence the present
categories of products exported by private business; does the region's
private business have other economic advantages to compete with
private business in other regions?

How can the recycling of material in the region by private business
reduce the amounts of imported material required by business? What
categories of material can most effectively be recycled in the
region?

Should incentives be given to business and industry so they will
locate in smaller communities or new towns in the region to help
in redistributing the population?

How should private industry and business expand economic Opportuni-
ties for persons of low and moderate income?

How can wider community support and cooperation in job creation in
both the private and public sectors be developed?

 

92

Many existing and past programs prepare people for work in areas
which are not expanding. What are your suggestions for improving
the matchup between available people and available jobs?

Who should coordinate a local program that will deal effectively
with the unemployment, training, and placement of the unemployed?

In what ways should the public school system contribute to counseling,
guidance, and orientation of students for the world of work?

What are the major factors influencing industrial location; note
some factors influencing location of particular industries; when
may an industry be said to be strategically located?

What proportion of the industry is controlled by residents of the
region; what proportion are controlled by persons outside the
region?

The following indicators are designed to help citizens and policy-

makers address the issues given above.

Farm and Farm Characteristics
Farms - number and average annual change from prececeding year;

total regional acreage and annual change from preceding year;
average acreage per farm.

Farms - number, acreage, and value, by tenure of operator.

Farms - number, by size, 1950 to 1977, and by acreage - percent
distribution.

Farms - number, acreage and value of sales, by economic class.

Commercial farms, by type, value of farm products sold and per-
centage of total regional farm products sold.

Commercial farms by type, number of employees, and gross receipts
- owned by firms outside the region and the percentage of total
regional farm receipts.

93

Farm population and components of change and net change from pre-
ceding year.

Agricultural services by type of service, number of establishments,
gross receipts, paid employees, and annual payroll.

Gross farm production - summary.

Production assets used in agriculture.

Government payments to farms, by type.

Government payments to farms, by value of farm sales.

Agricultural exports and imports - total annual value in dollars
and by individual product.

Relative self-sufficiency of the region as a percentage of each
product produced and consumed in the region.

Farm income and expenses - regional totals and average income per
farm. '

Principal crops - acreage, production, and value.
Livestock - number on farms and value.

Manufacturers

 

Number, size, value added, annual payroll, type of ownership of
manufacturers.

Industrial production - indexes, by industry.

Capacity utilization rates by size of firm and type of goods
produced.

 

94

Percent of shipments accounted for by large manufacturing companies
- largest; two largest; four largest - by selected industries.

Capital in manufacturing industries - equipment, structures, inven-
tory .

Manufacturers - expenditures for new plant and equipment and gross
book value of depreciable assets.

Percentage of manufacturers shipments sold outside the region and
percent sold within the region.

Minority owned and managed manufacturers - number, size, value added,
annual payroll, annual gross sales.

Manufacturers by goods produced, number of employees, and gross
annual receipts owned by firms with top management outside the
region and their percentage of total regional manufacturer receipts.

Trades and Services

 

Regional income originating in trade and services - by type of trade
and service.

Persons in trade and service industries.

Retail trade - establishments, sales, and personnel.

Retail trade - size of establishment and legal form of organization.

Merchant wholesalers - estimated sales, by kind of business.

Merchant wholesalers - establishments, sales and payroll, by sales
size of establishment.

Selected services by kind of business.

Selected services - receipts by kind of business.

 

95

Selected service establishments - capital expenditures, gross value
of fixed assets, and lease and rental payments.

Minority owned and managed trade and service establishments -
number, size, value added, annual payroll, annual gross sales.

Trade and service firms by the type of business, number of employees,
and gross annual receipts owned by firms with top management out-
side the region and their percentage of the total regional trade

and service receipts.

Regional Summary

Gross Regional product by major type of product, by type of expendi-
ture, and by sector.

Gross Regional product, by major economic groups - persons; business;
government (Federal, state, and local); and exports of goods and
services.

Rates of economic growth - average annual compounded rates of change
in gross regional product.

Gross regional product by industry in current and constant (1972)
dollars.

Bank deposits - the total amount of bank deposits and the amount
per 1,000 population:

a1 deposits x 1,000]

Deposits per 1,000 population: [TOtRegion population

Retail sales - the total amount of retail sales and the total amount
per 1,000 population:

 

[Total retail sales x 1,000] .

Retail sales per 1,000 pOpulation = Region population

 

96

E. Artifact Indicators

The bulk of the human settlement is made of artifacts. Anything
made by man or even modified by man like rivers, parks, and land are
artifacts. The list of artifacts is almost endless since man has either
made or modified so many things.

Nature and artifacts are opposites since nature is non-modified
by man. Nature supplies the raw material that man uses to form arti-
facts. A socialized relationship occurs when man shapes nature into
an artifact. The socialization of nature occurs as man takes such
things as petroleum, iron ore, and timber from nature to make arti-
facts.

my selection of artifacts is limited to housing, land use, energy,
and transportation. Information on these artifacts will help citizens
determine the problems, options, and potentials. They need this in-

formation to make informed decisions.

1. Housing,

Housing is so important to man that there have been programs with
many different approaches to this continuous problem. Some programs
have approached the problem by finding ways to develop low-cost tech-
nology and reducing the adverse effect of governmental building codes
and regulations that prevent innovation. Other programs have tried to
facilitate land tenure rights for low-income families and gain new
forms of credit for home building. Public housing programs of the

federal government and some state governments have offered financial

97

aid through rent subsidies, renewal efforts, local public housing,
financial aids to private builders, and varied insurance and mortgage
provisions.

The outcome of all past and present efforts have obviously not
matched the goal of providing people of all incomes with adequate hous-
ing at prices they can afford. Many programs have sought to meet the
problem by offering too narrow a solution like a rent subsidy or renewal
program. So many influences enter into the housing system that a multi-
perspective approach is required.

The problems of the general economy, public fiscal insolvency, and
unemployment are all related to the total housing system. There has
also been an unwillingness of part Of the population that has adequate
housing to support public programs for the poor. There are inequities
in our social system because personal economic gain takes priority over
meeting everyone's needs. There is also apathy and low motivation among
the poor to improve their lifestyle. The problem therefore of finding
improved housing for people of all incomes at prices they can afford
is compounded by all of these conditions.

The following issues and options about the housing system are
suggested to help citizens and policy-makers think about their impor-
tance and analysis.

Is there a variety of housing of different types and prices through-

out the region?

What is the location, supply, type, and quality of housing in the
region?

What is the total number of substandard housing units in the
region; what percentage Of total housing is substandard?

 

98

What is the total number of new housing starts for this year in the
region by type, location, price; what is the total number of new
housing starts for each of the previous ten years in the region by
type, location, and price?

What is the total number of existing housing more than 30 years
Old in the region by type, location, and condition; what percent
of the total housing in the region is more than 30 years Old?

What is the total number of households living in crowded condi-
tions; where are they located and what type of housing do they
occupy? (A crowded household is generally defined as one in
which there is more than one person per room.)

Are there any concentrations of poor housing known as "slums" or
"bad neighborhoods" in the region; are the streets congested, narrow,
or crowded with parked cars?

What are the various deteriorating environmental and neighborhood
forces that encourage the decline of neighborhoods; how can the
blighting effect of traffic or poor maintenance of housing be
overcome?

Have any recent forces been evident that have caused or are causing
a change in the character or quality of any neighborhood in the
region?

Where are the trailer parks in the region; are they located near
major highways, industrial plants, railroads, billboards, large

overhead public utility lines, substandard housing, a cemetery,

or other unsuitable conditions?

Are there any migrant workers housing in the region; what is the
condition of the housing and the surroundings?

Is there any public housing in the region; what is the condition
Of the housing and the neighborhood?

How should the Federal government finance housing for the poor?

What characteristics of Federal public housing are undesirable;
what is the initial reaction to public housing by the average
person?

99

Are the subsidized Federal housing programs serving the appropriate
people?

Are the Federal programs having the desired effect on those served
and on the community at large; is the well-being Of the family
participating in the subsidized housing programs increased?

How can new public housing avoid the past appearance of institu-
tional or bleak and unhomelike quality?

How do the benefits of Federal housing programs compare to the cost
incurred?

Could the region form a non-profit corporation to plan, construct,
finance, and manage well designed public housing; could it over-
come all the mistakes of previous Federal housing; could it set
aside the multi-layered bureaucracies of the Federal government?

Where should the cut-Off point on annual income be set for qualifi-
cation to live in government subsidized housing?

What are some goals that need to be made for quality, diversity,
and design of new housing in the region?

Should the goal of decent housing be considered a right; what
are the arguments, both pro and con?

How can the interest and cooperation of citizens be gained to make
housing goals and successfully carry them to completion?

Is home ownership for the poor a feasible concept; can poor people
cope with all the financial Obligations and legal involvement of
home ownership; how can the purchase of a home be simplified?

How can the architectural design of housing be improved; how can
street patterns be better designed; does the quality Of public
facilities influence private development?

What principles and standards of improvement should govern the
location and design of park and recreational facilities?

100

How can the supply of credit available to finance home purchases
in the region be increased?

How can the cost of housing be reduced; how can families be en-
couraged to become home owners through tax deduction provisions?

How can more families be assisted in the purchase Of housing on a
non-discriminatory basis?

How can families maintain their homes by facilitating improvement
and rehabilitation?

How can the promotion Of research in housing quality be encouraged?

How can the financial complexity of home purchase be made under-
standable to the public?

How can regionally based housing agencies be assisted in providing

public housing?

Indicators for housing will show the condition, the number, and
the location of housing. The cost of housing for both the renter and
the owner are also shown. Housing is mostly privately owned. A wider
understanding is therefore needed to gain citizen support for all re-
lated public improvements and to view every community within the context
of neighboring communities and the entire region. This will avoid
duplication or counter-productive growth and help plan the character
of communities in relation to all development.

The following indicators on housing will provide a way to measure
the existing number and characteristics of housing supply. They will
also Offer suggestions on how to stimulate better housing at the least

COSt.

101

Housing,Stock

. Occupied housing units - tenure, and population per occupied unit,
by race of household head and by location (central cities, suburbs,
rural, farm).

Occupied housing units - percent of home ownership, by race of
household head, inside and outside standard metropolitan statis-
tical areas.

Year-round housing units - total, status of plumbing facilities,
and tenure, by race of occupants.

Occupied units - monthly rent and value.

Occupied units - selected characteristics (rooms in unit; units
in structure; plumbing facilities; and year structure built) of
owner-occupied and renter—occupied units, for the region.

Selected household and housing characteristics of homeowners and
renters, by income.

Occupied units - selected neighborhood characteristics (no un-
desirable conditions; undesirable conditions; neighborhood services)
Of homeowners and renters, inside and outside standard metropoli-
tan statistical areas.

Housing units - number and percent of all units in the region
dilapidated11 by tenure, by location, by type Of unit.

Annual housing production in the region - non-subsidized; federally
subsidized; mobil home shipments - number and percent change from
previous year and number by type, location, and price range.

Net gain or loss Of housing stock in the region by type of housing,
location, and price range.

 

11Dilapidated - housing which does not provide safe and adequate shelter,
and endangers health, safety or well being of occupants. U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development, Housing $2 the Seventies (Washington,
D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1974), p. 166.

 

102

Low rent public housing - number Of families moving in; charac-
teristics, by minority group category.

Mobile homes - number of mobile homes as a percent of total oc-
cupied housing and as a percent of occupied single-family housing.

Number of vacant dwelling units in the region by reason of vacancy
(in urban renewal area, abandonment, for sale, sold but not yet
occupied, for rent, rented but not yet occupied) - by type Of
housing, price range, location, and condition of housing.

The number Of dwelling units not using a public water supply in
the region by location, condition, and type. The number of dwell-
ing units not using a public sewerage system in the region by
location, condition, and type. (Excluding all farms of 10 acres
or more in size.)

All public and publicly aided housing in the region by name, date
Opened, type of units, and number of units in each project. Condi-
tion of each housing project and the neighborhood.

Status of all urban renewal projects with number of housing units
- application approved; contract executed; under construction;
available for occupancy.

Cost of Housipg

Annual and monthly home ownership costs - home purchase price (full
price or monthly payments and interest); maintenance (repairs)
costs; and Operational costs (insurance, utilities, property taxes,
and special assessments) by type Of unit.

Average per unit home purchase price, pro-rated for life Of house
and the average percent of the total home ownership costs, by type
of structure.

Average per unit maintenance costs and average percent of the total
home ownership costs, by type of structure.

Average per unit operational costs and average percent of the
total home ownership costs, by type of structure.

103

Changes in components of overall home ownership costs for median-
priced new homes - monthly mortgage payment, interest rate, sales
price, maintenance, property taxes, property insurance.

Changes in components of overall home ownership costs for mixed
quality new homes - monthly mortgage payment, interest rate, sales
price, maintenance, property taxes, property insurance.

Changes in share Of major cost items - hard cost (labor and mater-
ial), land, financing, overhead and profit, other cost - for a
typical single-family house.

Housing costs and cost changes for a first-time home buyer of an
existing home in each year.

Price index of new one-family houses sold - 1967 base period.

Median value of owner-occupied units by type of housing, age, and
location in the region.

Occupied units - monthly rent in increments (less than $40; $40—
$59; $60-$79; $80-$99; etc.) and percent change from 1967 base
period - by type of housing. '

Low rent public housing - number of families moving in, median
income Of family by race, median gross rent paid by family.

Distribution of low rent public housing by income class - public
housing households as percent of all households in that income
class.

Federal National Mortgage Association activity, mortgage trans-
action and mortgage holdings.

Total number of housing units and total dollars by all federally
assisted housing program in the region.

Costs Of home Ownership and renting compared to per capita dis-
posable income.

104

Average sale price of mobile homes and median monthly payments of
buyers of mobile homes.

Average cost per square foot for mobile and for conventional homes.

2. Land Use

 

An inventory and analysis of existing land use and the changes that
occur each year is the basis for understanding and guiding future develOp-
ment. Such information will be used by the citizen to relate develop-
ment of all kinds with the character of the community and with natural
ecological processes. Experience has taught us that land is a compli-
cated resource, and the real estate market cannot handle all allocation
considerations.

Misuse of the land is now one of the most serious and difficult
challenges to environmental quality, because it is the most out-of—hand
and irreversible.' Land use is still not guided by any agreed upon
standards as some aspects of air and water protection are. Land use
is influenced by a welter of sometimes competing, overlapping govern—
ment institutions and programs, private and public biases, and dis-
torted economic incentives.

An effort to achieve an environment and diversity of life styles
to fulfill peoples' values is one of our most challenging responsibilities.
The use of land, more than any other single factor, determines the quality
of the environment of a community and its desirability as a place to
live. Good indicators will broaden the understanding of the citizen
whether this condition is improving or degrading.

A current land use issue that is receiving much attention is just

how much control a State must exercise and how much control can be

105

left with local governments. Along with this question is the place of
regional authority. Essential land areas are being damaged or lost that
have important significance to society now and in the future. Forest,
agricultural lands, sensitive environmental areas, undeveloped land with
mineral resources, and historical sites are some of these essential

land areas. Each of these areas requires institutional constraints

and public policies. Each region and State should seek to promote this
approach to achieve an aesthetic and healthful environment while con-
serving valuable natural and historic areas for the benefit of present
and future generations.

A common occurrence around the fringe of cities is for development
to jump over open areas to cheaper lands or larger parcels. This dis-
continuity of development, coupled with the trend of low-density resi-
dential development, creates urban sprawl and wasted land. It causes
larger public expenditures in providing public water, sewer, and streets,
as well as problems for schools, parks, and other public facilities. This
spread out development pattern makes dependence on the automobile neces-
sary which in turn causes air pollution, traffic congestion, and the
loss of identifiable communities.

There is a growing concern among many people that this wasteful
pattern of development can only be controlled at the regional or State
level because cities and towns are limited to their own jurisdictional
areas. The counties and townships have continually refused to assume
this responsibility of control. The complexity of regulating develop-
ment rights with the growing attitude that land should be considered a

resource .

106

Land use planning and control is a set of ideas whose time has
come in our country. There is a growing interest on the effect of urban
growth on rural land uses and on the protection of a quality environ-
ment for living. Therefore, land use planning and control relates
closely to regional development policy, public participation, and urban
growth policy. Today's broader view of land therefore includes the
long-term use of non-replaceable resources, ecological significance of
sensitive lands, and the protection of air, water, and land from pollu—
tion. An informed public that understands these broader relationships
will support the need for more controls.

The role the state government is exercising in land use controls
is growing. Those who want local government to retain present control
see this as an unwanted intrusion. The passage of any Federal land use
legislation would strengthen the role of State government since Federal
grants would be made to the State governments. While local input and
interest in land use controls has always been required in any proposed
Federal legislation, the issue of local government versus State govern-
ment will become more pressing as well as the role of regional or
metropolitan councils.

A number of land use issues are given here. Since land use is
related to food production, natural resources, and living space, the
range of issues is wide.

What is the urban-rural balance of population in the region; what

size cities and towns would provide the kind of life most desired?

What variety of housing types, housing density, site development,
and neighborhood development should be a goal for the region;
how can community characteristics be kept distinct?

107

How can natural areas and other open spaces in the region be saved
for their value of recreation, bio-physical supporting functions,
and aesthetic values?

How can the wasteful pattern of development Of spreading across
open land be replaced with a clustering pattern of development; how
can agricultural lands be protected?

How can the benefits of competition of the American economic system
be in harmony with conservation of natural resources and protection
of the environment?

How can private land uses be controlled for public benefits and
purposes; does the owner of open or rural land have the right to a
monetary profit from chance location, public improvements, or other
unearned situation?

How can the long term American attitude of viewing land as a com-
modity for personal gain be replaced with an attitude of land as
a common resource? ‘

How can maximum compatibility and cooperation be realized between
central city and suburbs or between townships and cities in the
region; how can communities set aside a competing interest in gain-
ing a new industry or shopping center for their own tax advantages?

How should specific land use changes be guided, motivated or other-
wise achieved; how should land use conditions be enforced?

Should any new industrial activities be required to meet strict
performance standards?

Should green belts be used to preserve open space and agricultural
land around existing cities and towns; how can new communities of
a predetermined size be designed to minimize or take away the need
for personal automobile ownership?

If some things can be best planned and implemented at the State
level, other things best planned and implemented at the regional
level, and other things best planned and implemented at the local
level, how can they all work together to solve future issues in a
comprehensive manner?

 

108

How can older city land be restored to more productive use instead
of allowing it to remain vacant or poorly used?

How can agricultural lands be protected; what incentives can be
built into the system so that the more productive lands will remain
in agricultural use?

If government restrictions have the effect of reducing the economic
return to the owners of some lands, do you think the government
should compensate the owner for losses resulting from reductions

in property value; if so, which level of government?

Should the State government assume greater control in land use
planning and implementation than it has; if so, in what ways;
should the regional council or metropolitan council have planning
and implementation authority; if so, in what ways?

What is the region's most important land use problem; what is
your recommended solution?

Is there any reason why land resources should not shift to those
uses that promise the highest economic return; compare the economic
interests of individual operators and the interests of society on
this point.

Why do people develop land resources; why are they interested in
investing in resource developments; what is land speculation; how
can land speculation be justified?

What are some of the more important development or production costs
that arise when land is brought into farm or forest use; when farm
land is converted to residential use; when less intensively used
lands are developed for industrial, commercial, or transportation
purposes?

When should society step in and assume the responsibility for land
conservation; when is it economical for society but not for the

individual to conserve; does conservation always pay for the
individual?

 

 

109

Is the individual's attitude toward land conservation practices
influenced by availability of information, customs, pressure of
debt, insecurity of tenure, amenity factors, and the stewardship
concept in land use; what types of public programs and institutional
arrangements are needed to promote conservation; how might the
conservation problem be affected by technological changes?

How can haphazard and piecemeal development be replaced with a
rational pattern of development?

What are the most effective ways of preserving open space in the
region? Can the conservation of open space be gained through the
purchase of development rights on existing agricultural lands?

What ways can the diversity of land use in the region be achieved

in guiding new development?

Land use indicators are descriptive measures of land resources,
existing patterns of land uses, and land use issues. Where the follow-
ing indicators are available in the form of time series of observations,
they reflect trends in the particular condition, so that the citizen

can gauge the direction of major changes or developments over time.

Land Use Patterns
Total area of region in square miles - total land area, total

water area. '

Miles of coastline, lake frontage, stream and river frontage and
the percent of each in public ownership.

Extreme and mean elevations.

All natural or man-made bodies of water larger than 10 acres -
by size, maximum depth, water purity, and present use.

Use of total land area and inland water - forest, agriculture,
inland water, recreation, urban, transportation, and other uses in
acres and as percent of total.

110

Major forest types in acres and as a percent of the region's total
forest area.

Acres of forest in the region that are clear-cut annually.

Region's total acreage primarily suitable to forest production
and percent of this in production.

Acres in parks and recreational areas; acres per 1,000 population
for the region.

Total acres of right-of—way in the region traversed by overhead
transmission lines.

Land in governmental ownership by level of government, agency,
and land utilization; federal, state, local, and special districts.

Total acreage in the region in wild or natural areas that are
non-modified by man - percentage of this total natural area in
some form of control or ownership to maintain its natural state.

Urban Land Use

 

Acres of vacant land by city, town, and village and location and
zoning classification.

Agricultural land in farm use by city, town, and village - loca-
tion and zoning classification.

Acres in accessory parking lots and in licensed parking lots by
city, town, and village - number of lots per 1,000 population for
each city and total acreage in accessory parking lots for the
region.

Acres in park and outdoor recreation by city, town, and village
and acres per 1,000 population in the region and description of
recreational facilities.

Acres in residential use by type of dwelling, by city, town, and
village - location and zoning classification; percentage of total
urban land .

111

Acres in commercial, office, and wholesale use by city, town, and
village - location and zoning classification; percentage of total
urban land.

Acres in industrial use and storage yard use - light, heavy, and
outside storage - by city, town, and village - location and zoning
classification; percentage of total urban land.

Acres in automotive storage and service by city, town, and village
- location and zoning classification; percentage of total urban
land.

Acres in public and private institutions by type of institution;
by city, town, and village - location and zoning classification;
percentage of total urban land.

Acres in transportation by type of transportation; by city, town,
village - location and percentage of total urban land.

\

Acres in automobile and other junk yards by city, town, and village

- location, zoning classification, and percentage of total urban
land. '

Agricultural Land Use

Farms - acreage of principal crops and percent of regional farm
output of each principal crop that meets the annual consumption
pattern of the regional population.

Farms - surplus or deficit production of region's farms in meeting
regional population consumption patterns of each dominant agricul-
tural category.

Quantity and monetary value of each dominant agricultural cate-
gory in which the region lacks self-sufficiency.

Farms - number, total regional acreage in farms, and by tenure of
operator (full owner, part owner, tenant, or manager).

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Farms - number, by size (under 10 acres, 10-49 acres, 50-99 acres,
100-199 acres, 200—299 acres, 300-399 acres, 400-499 acres, 500—
599 acres, 1,000-1,999 acres, and 2,000 acres and over) and per-
centage distribution of farm size in the region.

Farms - number, acreage, and tenure by value of products sold
(under $2,500, $2,500-$4,999, $5,000-$9,999, $10,000-$19,999,
$20,000-$39,999, and $40,000 and over).

Farms - land utilization by dominant agricultural category - acreage
in each use and as a percentage of total.

Farms - total acreage irrigated, by product watered and source of
irrigation water.

Farms - average size, average value, average net worth (total
assets less total liabilities), and average return on net worth by
tenure of operator (full owner, part owner, tenant, or manager).

Farms - acres of harvested cropland.

Annual average net loss or gain of all farms in production - amount
of loss or gain and relation of size of farm with profitability.

Total annual conversion in acres of farm land to urban develop-
ment, airports, highways, reservoirs, floor control projects, parks,
and recreation areas.

3. Energy

 

Until our dependence on foreign sources for petroleum became
front page news three years ago, the average citizen gave little thought
to energy utilization. Now, many of the country's outstanding experts
are working daily to solve the energy problems that confront the Nation.
The recent experiences with natural gas supplies in a severe winter
and the oil embargo of 1973 have provided clear evidence of the country's

dependence on certain nonrenewable energy resources.

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The roots of the energy troubles may be traced to the gap between
energy consumption and domestic production that has been filled mostly
by imported oil. In just over 20 years the United States reversed its
role as a net exporter of energy. This turnabout was caused by an in-
crease in energy consumption of about five percent each year during the
1950's, 1960's, and 1970's until the oil embargo in 1973. In contrast,
domestic production grew at an annual rate of only three percent between
1950 and 1970 but has shown little or no growth since then.

While the post-1985 period will see the increased use of nuclear,
solar, and geothermal sources of energy, the present dependence on coal,
oil, and natural gas will continue. Conversion to other energy sources
often requires a lead time of more than five years. In some instances
the lead time required for a change to alternate sources of energy ex-
ceeds ten years. Thus the outside dependence for energy by most regions
and the inflexibility to make rapid conversion to other sources creates
two major limitations for any region to determine an energy policy apart
from the national or even world interdependence. This dependence on I
outside sources of energy makes regional energy policy very dependent on
national goals, programs, and actions. Energy is the one place where
regional self-sufficiency is impossible in the near term under present
conditions of industrial and agricultural dependence on fossil fuels.
Inadequate information about these limitations and relationships has
contributed to the current problem.

The following issues about energy are prominent in the understand-
ing of the problems, conflicts among competing goals, regulatory prac-

tices, and institutions that are poorly structured to respond to current

114

problems.

What is the current energy use pattern or budget for the region;
of the total energy used in the region, what percent is imported
from outside the region and what percent is obtained within the
region?

Of the total energy used in the region for all purposes, what are
the total annual amounts that come from coal, oil, natural gas,
nuclear, solar, geothermal, wind, and water driven sources; what
is the percentage of the total of each of the above of the total
annual energy consumed in the region; what percent of the above is
renewable energy sources and what percent is non-renewable; what
are the above amounts and percentages for each of the last ten
years?

What are the total annual regional monetary costs for energy by
the following: transportation, heating, cooling, industrial pro-
duction, recreation, agricultural production?

What are the total annual regional monetary costs for energy by

the following: commuting to work, shopping, recreation, social or
entertainment, religious, and other business travel besides commut-
ing to work?

What are the total annual regional monetary costs for energy by
the following: residential, commercial, industrial, recreation?

How much energy is presently being wasted each year in the region;
by households and families, private economy, school institutions,
and government institutions?

Under the present conditions of dependence upon fossil fuels from
outside the region, how can the region plan or implement any kind
of a near—term energy program; should more thought be given to
long-term energy policies?

What is the appropriate division of responsibilities among Federal,
state, regional, and local governments in all dimensions of energy
policies; how can the other governments proceed with any plans until
after the national energy policy is shaped and passed into law?

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How can regional agricultural productivity be maintained through
lowbenergy intensive methods, new sources of energy, or by methods
which take advantage of locally available, renewable energy re-
sources?

Who are some of the country's outstanding experts who can work with
regional representatives to seek out alternative ways for the de-
velopment of regional, ecologically sound, and self-sufficient
production/distribution energy plans and goals?

How can goals for regional agricultural production and distribution
of food be raised from one based solely on economics and use to one
including ethics, diversity, and renewable energy resources?

How do the goals for minimum environmental damage relate to the
goals for lower energy-intensive agricultural and industrial pro-
duction?

What new approaches or processes should be used to ensure proper
consideration of air, water, and land use impacts to appropriate
reclamation in surface mining?

What emphasis should be given to new sources of renewable energy
resources in relation to nuclear or fossil fuel resources?

How can the region finance study and research programs to solve
energy problems?

Can the recycling of wastes into energy be applied in the region;
what are the amounts and kinds of wastes in the region that can
be recycled into energy?

How can the packaging of food and other commonly used items be
changed to reduce the amount of paper, plastic, and other container
made materials?

What can be done in the region to improve the collection, disposal,
and management of solid wastes? Is the best resource potential of
solid wastes through recycling, transformation to fuel or ferti-
lizer, or innovative landfill techniques?

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Can new commercial, industrial, and residential developments be
designed to conserve energy; how can places of employment and resi-
dence be related to reduce or remove the use of the automobile for
commuting to work?

Who should pay for pollution control; how should business and the
public share the responsibility and costs; should the cost of dis-
posing of a container or a car, for instance, be built into its
market price?

Should sacrifices be made in environmental quality in order to
develop new energy resources?

Should surface mining developers be required to provide local site
reclamation; are new energy sources a more important consideration
than environmental quality; which of the following energy sources
presents the greatest risk to the environment? (Coal, oil, gas,
nuclear, hydroelectric, solar, geothermal, other.)

If a crisis threatenes the nation's supply of imported petroleum,
should the government depend on voluntary measures to reduce con-
sumption?

Should conservation of energy only be practiced on a voluntary
basis; should tax incentives be allowed all energy users who prac-
tice energy conservation measures; where should the conservation of
energy be practiced the most (homes, industry, business, transpor-
tation, or other)?

Will the Federal government have to supersede state and local
powers at times to achieve an equitable energy program?

Do current energy prices constitute an economic hardship?

If a crisis occurs, is the public capable of making the necessary
changes for a less-intensive energy-using lifestyle; what can be
done now before the crisis to help people cope with it in an
emotional sense?

Can new towns be designed so residents don't need cars?

 

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Should there be a ban on throweaway bottles and cans to conserve
materials and energy; should all speed races - car, boat, motorbike,
airplane, and others - be cancelled?

The following indicators will afford citizens and public officials

better understanding of patterns of energy consumption and use. The

indicators will offer alternative ways of viewing energy problems in

relation to regional goals. Over the next several years many resource

and conservation measures will be decided in relation to energy.

Energy Consumption

Households and families - total and per capita consumption in
British thermal units (BTU's)12 by energy source (coal, petroleum,
natural gas, nuclear power, and other source) and projections to
2000.

Households and families - total and per capita monetary costs for
energy and the energy share (as a percentage) of gross household
monetary expenditures.

Households and families - median household and family expenditure
for energy and expenditure for energy ranked with all other major
household and family expenditures.

Households and families - energy share of household and family
median income.

Households and families - conversion efficiency of energy con-

net energy input
gross energy input

 

sumption as a percentage ( ) and average annual

waste in BUT's and monetary cost on basis of best known conserva-

tion practices by purpose of fuel usage.

Households and families - total regional energy waste of all house-
holds and families in BUT's and in monetary costs on basisflof best

”Mknown‘cOfiEErvationppractices”byipurpose'offuelqusage:

 

12British thermal unit is the quantity of heat required to raise the

temperature on one avoirdupois pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.

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Private economy - total consumption in BUT's by energy source
(coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power, and other source)
and projections to 2000.

Private economy - total monetary costs for energy and the cost of
energy as a percentage of all private economy expenditures.

Private economy - expenditure for energy ranked with all other
private economy expenditures.

Private economy - total regional wastes of all the private economy
of energy in BUT's and in monetary costs on basis of best known
conservation practices by purpose of fuel usage.

School institutions - total13 and per unit consumption in BUT's
by energy source (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power,
and other sources) and projections to 2000.

School institutions - average annual monetary costs for energy

per student by energy source (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear
power, and other sources), school level, age of school building,
and location in the region.

School institutions - total monetary costs for energy13 for all
schools and the energy share (as a percentage) of gross school
monetary expenditures.

School institutions - student per capita monetary costs for energy
and the expenditure for energy ranked with all other major school
expenditures.

School institutions — conversion efficiency of energy consumption
net energy input
gross energy input
BTU's and monetary cost per student on basis of best-known conserva-

tion practices by purpose of fuel usage.

 

as a percentage ( ) and average annual waste in

School institutions - total regional energy waste of all schools
in BUT's and in monetary costs on basis of best-known conservation
practices by purpose of fuel usage.

 

13The total energy consumption for schools includes the cost of bussing.

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School institutions - research and development expenditures for
the purpose of reducing energy waste and monetary costs for energy
and the design and innovation of new schools to improve energy
efficiency and create an atmosphere to lift the human spirit.

Government institutions - each indicator given under "School
Institutions" would also be used here as they apply to government
institutions at all levels. Per capita employee would replace
wherever per capita student appears.

Total consumption - regional total and per capita consumption in
BTU's by energy source (coal, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear power,
and other sources) and projections to 2000.

Total consumption - regional total and per capita monetary costs
'for energy and the energy share (as a percentage) of gross regional
product.

Total consumption - percent of gross regional product for total
energy consumption and comparison with other regions, the state
average, and the national average.

Energy Waste

 

Total waste - total regional energy waste in BUT's and in monetary
costs on basis of best known conservation practices by purpose
of fuel usage.

Total waste - total regional energy waste in BUT's and in monetary
costs by reason for waste (insufficient insulation, unnecessary
transportation of people and goods, production of unnecessary goods,
unneeded heating or cooling of buildings, materials that could be
recycled but are not; and wastes that could be used for fuel but
are not. '

Total waste - per capita total regional energy waste in BTU's and
in monetary costs on basis of best known conservation practices by
purpose of fuel usage.

Total energy consumption versus total energy production - regional
deficit or surplus of production by energy source (coal, petroleum,

natural gas, nuclear power, and other sources) and projections to
2000.

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Total monetary costs of regional deficit in energy production for
households and families; private economy; school institutions;
and government institutions.

Total waste - percentage of total wastes recycled into use or as
fuel by type of waste.

Total wastes - total waste in monetary cost and in BUT's by sector
- households and families; private economy; school institutions;
and government institutions.

Total wastes - percentage efficiency of energy usage on basis of
best known conservation practices by purpose of fuel usage by
sector - households and families; private economy; school institu-
tions; and government institutions.

4. Transportation

Transportation is vital to our economy and lifestyle, and a central
factor in our decisions about where we live and work. Transportation
is essential to the movement of goods and services. Transportation
systems have opened up new avenues of recreation as well, enabling us
to travel more widely and reach resorts and recreation centers more
easily.

While the advanced technology of our nation has provided us with
many kinds of transportation, our reliance on the automobile has gen-
erated problems of traffic congestion and parking. New shopping centers
have accelerated the decline of downtown retail districts and older
central industrial centers. Automobiles made possible the spread-out
suburbs and outlying industrial locations. The environmental conse-
quences of the automobile are of ever increasing concern. The large
percentage of total energy consumption for private cars is now realized

with present energy consciousness. The relationship of land use with

transportation is also apparent. The design of land use with the

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objective of reducing transportation needs is now an outgrowth of energy
conservation and environmental quality.

One of the solutions to the automobile is mass transit. Metro-
politan subway systems, area and county-wide systems and commuter trains
that serve a number of rural communities are vital transportation al-
ternatives. They are needed by those who are not able to afford a car
or choose not to drive one, or for those who are too old or physically
unable to operate one safely.

Traffic congestion can be relieved, especially during rush hours,
by establishing express lanes on major roadways for use by multi-passen-
ger vehicles and car pools. The banning of all single passenger vehicles
from expressways during rush hours around major employment centers would
create a very strong incentive for individual drivers to either use mass
transit or join a car pool.

In recent years the bicycle boom has provided another alternative
to automobile use. A recent study revealed that the average trip to
school or a shopping center is about one and one-half miles, and the
average distance we travel to work is about three miles. By creating
bike paths and placing bike storage racks in central locations, we may
be able to further discourage people from using cars to travel short
distances.

The scape and severity of each community's transportation problems
differ, often depending on such factors as its housing and employment
patterns. In recent years many communities have begun to take a new
look at their transportation needs and the ways they are meeting them.
Many have developed new transportation patterns and services that are

quicker, safer, and more convenient. They have met the transportation

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challenge by realizing that the function of transportation is to serve
the community, not disrupt it.

In planning to meet our transportation needs for the immediate
future, there is a need for integrated transportation planning that
considers housing patterns, recreation, industrial growth, noise and
air pollution. New towns, such as New York's Roosevelt Island and The
Woodlands, Texas, have been built with transportation as an integral
factor in their design. Large new residential and office buildings,
like the Hancock Tower in Chicago, emphasize the reduction of traffic
congestion and easy movement between house, work, recreation, and shopping.
For existing communities the execution of integrated planning is somewhat
more difficult. Transportation, therefore, is directly related with and
must be planned in relation to all parts of the community and intercity
movement of people and goods.

The issues of transportation include what kind, how much, for whom,
and how to pay for it. The range of responses to problems in transpor-
tation is extremely wide because each region's unique set of circum-
stances demand solutions dictated by the needs and desires of the resi-
dents. The need for innovation is raised in the following issues.

Which groups within the region, such as the elderly, the handi-

capped, the poor, or commuters, have the most pressing transpor-
tation needs; what is being done to meet those needs?

What are the region's most pressing transportation problems; how
can citizen input be a vital part of any comprehensive planning
effort that considers these problems?

How can the region's transportation policies and plans be inte-
grated with policies for housing, land use, energy, recreation,
and employment?

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What transportation alternatives to the automobile can be developed;
how can mass transit be made more attractive?

How can people be encouraged to walk or ride bicycles on short
trips to work, school, and shopping; are bike lanes and bike paths
needed?

Can downtown shopping areas he made more convenient and attractive
to shoppers by implementing pedestrian malls?

To what extent should transit systems be subsidized; can reduced
fares be provided for the elderly, students, the poor, and for
commuters?

How can the region's highways be made safer and more attractive;
enforce speed limits; ban all billboards and signs except on the
business site?

How should parking problems he met; should free parking facilities
be located adjacent to mass transit stations, railroad stations,
and along certain major bus lines to encourage the use of sub-
ways, buses, and trains to major employment centers and downtown
areas?

Are the passenger stations conveniently located with respect to
the business and residential districts?

What part of the passenger traffic on the railroads consists of
commuters?

Is it possible to coordinate the various forms of transportation
to a greater extent? '

Where does the greatest congestion occur on the major roads and
expressways in the region during rush hours?

Is the principal starting point for the consideration of transport
innovation the definition Of goals for the design of the transport
system - how people want to live in towns and the priority they
give to mobility and accessibility?

124

Will the promotion of ride sharing and car pools change people's
travel habits; what will change their travel habits; what particular
part of the population - the elderly, those under 24 years of age,
or others - would most likely change their travel habits if ime
proved transit service were available?

How will the cost of fuel, its availability, and future increases
in its cost affect the future mix of transportation modes in the
region; how will the higher cost of fuel and its availability
affect the number of trips made by private automobile; how will
the higher cost of fuel and its availability affect types of trips
or purpose of trips for which the private automobile is used?

From the standpoint of a region designed to furnish needed economic
goods at the lowest transportation costs, how much of the current
movement of people and goods in the region can be written off as
loss, leakage, and waste?

If regional self-sufficiency in food production is increased by
about 20%, how many ton-miles of transportation costs will be
saved per year; how many gallons of fuel will be saved per year;
how much will air pollution, traffic accidents, and highway de-
terioration be reduced in the region per year?

How much does it cost to transport one person 1,000 miles today
by auto, fixed route/fixed schedule bus, commuter bus, commuter
rail, air, and train; how many gallons of fuel are expended per
1,000 passenger miles for each mode; which mode consumes the least
amount of fuel per 1,000 passenger miles of travel; which mode
consumes the most amount of fuel per 1,000 passenger miles of
travel?

What is the cost per seat mile by auto, fixed route/fixed schedule

bus, commuter bus, commuter rail, air, and train; which mode offers

the most economically way per seat mile; which mode costs the most

per seat mile?

The indicators for transportation systems will give a good under-
standing of the functions performed by the different elements of the

total system. The location, volumes of traffic, types of traffic, carry-

ing capacities, types of transportation systems, total mileage, and

125

frequencies of service are some of the vital measurements required.
Much of this information can best be shown on maps to bring out its

significance and usefulness.

Rail

Volume of intercity rail freight traffic in millions of ton miles
by movement within the region and by either origin or destination
outside the region.

Railroad companies by class - Class I, Class II, switching and
terminal, proprietary, and other - by mileage owned, capital and
property investment, income and expenses, and number of employees.

Railroad companies by class - locomotives in service, passenger-
train cars in service, freight train cars in service, and mileage
owned (first track, other main tracks, yard track and sidings).

Railroads - cars of revenue freight loaded - regular, piggy-back,
and total. Cars loaded by commodity group.

Railroad passenger service - passengers carried and passenger-
miles within the region and by origin or destination outside the
region.

Railroad passenger service - passengers carried by type of service
(commuter and non-commuter) and the percentage of each for all
railroads.

Highway

Highway traffic flow in average number of vehicles per 24 hours
on all Federal and State aided highways and roads.

A11 highways and roads - non-aided by Federal or State and aided
highways and roads - with current traffic flow exceeding present
traffic carrying capacity.

Highway mileage in the region of all Federal and State aided high—
ways and roads and the percent change from year to year.

126

Proposed streets, roads, and highways by type, location, length,
relation to existing highways and roads, and current status
(under construction, contract executed, approved by controlling
authority, or in planning stage).

Motor-vehicle travel, by type of vehicle (passenger vehicles,
passenger cars, buses, trucks and combinations) by rural and
urban, millions of vehicle miles, and average annual percent
change from preceding year.

Trucks and truck-miles, by body type, type of fuel, annual miles,
vehicle type, size class, range of operation, year model, and
major use.

Trucks and truck miles - truckloads, tons, and revenue of freight
shipped within the region by commodity group.

Trucks and truck miles — truckloads, tons, and revenue of freight
shipped with either the origin or destination outside the region
by commodity group.

Truck carriers - major commodity groups imported into the region
in tons and market value of commodity and in fright revenue to
carrier.

Truck carriers - major commodity groups exported out of the region
in tons and market value of commodity and in freight revenue to
carrier.

Truck and bus carriers - by type of motor freight transportation
and by type of passenger transportation - number of establish-
ments, operating revenue, payroll, and number of employees.

Bus and transit service on highways and streets - by ownership
of system, passenger vehicles owned, range of service, revenue
miles operated, passengers carried by type of vehicle, average
fares, and amount of outside aid or subsidy received.

Motor-vehicle registrations by type of vehicle, size class, year
model, type of fuel, body type, and major use - automobiles, trucks,
buses, motor-cycles, and other.

127

Persons per automobile.

Means of transportation to work - number and percent of total
regional work force that uses motor vehicles for travel to work

- by place of residence, private automobile (number in each vehicle),
bus, trolley coach, taxicab, and other.

Designated federal-aid highway systems - interstate highways and
federal-aid, urban highways - mileage, location, and traffic
carrying capacity - open to traffic, under construction, and in
planning stage.

Rural and municipal highway mileage, by governmental control and
by traffic carrying capacity - open to traffic, under construction,
and in planning stage.

Air

Air passenger service - inbound-outbound passengers by air and the
percent of total intercity passenger service this represents.

Scheduled air carriers - available service and traffic carried -
revenue ton-miles by passenger, U.S. mail, express, freight.

Air carrier routes within the region and points outside the region
by number of passengers carried and tons of freight carried.

Airports in operation in the region - public or private, by miles
of paved runways and capacity for aircraft, and number of inbound-
outbound flights per 24 hours.

Scheduled air carriers - personnel and payroll of air carriers
and revenue passenger enplanements per year.

Air cargo - tons, and revenue from freight shipped - within the
region by commodity group.

Air cargo - tons, and revenue from freight shipped with either
the origin or destination outside the region by commodity group.

128

Air cargo — major commodity groups imported into the region in
tons and market value of commodity and in freight revenue to
carrier.

Air cargo - major commodity groups exported out of the region

in tons and market value of commodity and in freight revenue to

carrier.
F. Natural Indicators

The natural environment is the unmodified ecosystem. It is free
of most or all controlling involvement by man except for special situa-
tions where man's impact is carefully introduced for a particular pur-
pose. For example, there may be a need for restoring some natural
balance or removing some threat for the existence of a species. In

contrast to the natural ecosystem, the cultural or artificial environ-

ments are shaped and modified by man in many different ways.

1. Natural Areas

MOst people look at the world around them and see it as a mass
of meaningless objects. They do not look at a leaf and see its many
meanings, especially its vital importance as both oxygen producer and
carbon-dioxide absorber. They see a wasp simply as an isolated insect.
They do not consider that the wasp is related to other insects or ani-
mals, and that its hunt for food forms an exciting adventure. Most of
all, people do not realize that all life on this earth forms a complex
association, an ecosystem, which is delicately balanced; natural life
in harmony with rocks, minerals, waters, atmosphere, sun, and moon.

While many regions in our country no longer contain any natural
lands, there are some very good reasons for considering their impor-

tance. These unmodified lands produce natural space and time which have

129

intrinsic values aside from social values. Each form of life has its
own space-time relationships. During each stage of its development,
the raccoon has different space needs which are in delicate balance
with the land, vegetation, and water of its habitat. A beech tree moves
through the seasons and years at its own rate of biological time.
Natural systems answer to their own impersonal laws of physics, chem-
istry, and biology.

we do not know how much undisturbed nature should be preserved.
Since it is irreplaceable, it is best to err on the conservative side.
As our country becomes more and more urbanized, additional stress is
placed on all natural ecosystems. Interested persons and groups in
the region can undertake efforts to survey natural areas where they
exist and work with Federal and state agencies to broaden people's
understanding of natural ecosystems.

The natural ecosystems are the least understood part of regions.
One reason may be the fact that most Americans, as urban dwellers, are
sealed off from the land. This physical separation and insulation by
a technological wall may have eroded our respect for the land. Another
reason for our limited understanding of natural processes is our treat-
ment of land as a commodity. By thinking of land as a commodity, owners
often abuse land and fail to recognize interlocking resource relation-
ships.

Regional policy making in the future will include natural values
because the basic decisions of government are ecological, aesthetic,
and social. In policy making we need to distinguish economic values

from non-economic values. A clarification of values is a constructive

130

way to avoid problems later. Non-economic values and perspectives

are a very sound basis for keeping natural lands in regions. The follow-
ing issues and indicators for natural ecosystems will help citizens and
policy-makers think about their importance and analysis.

As compared with other levels of government, local government has
the least amount of discretionary funds to use for the environment.
Also, local government has the least in technically trained person-
nel and equipment when compared with federal and state government.
How can local government take the lead and represent local interest
in achieving any environmental goals in the region with these great
disadvantages?

What are prevailing popular values about the man-environment situa-
tion; how well does the public understand the larger processes
and complex issues of environmental change?

How can more people become clearer about the values of environ-
mental stability and diversity?

Is it possible to have a politics of problem solving instead of a
politics of adversary conflict; (we have been committed to what's
called the adversary process in making public decisions. We are
asked: Are you for or against the Alaskan pipeline? We do not
have an opportunity to consider the full range of possibilities
in relation to some specified goal or end. With environmental
problems, a problem-solving approach may be possible where there
is some agreement upon outcomes.)

How can more coordinated efforts be made on pollution and environ-
mental problems since they cut across many local boundaries; what
institutional changes are needed?

What agricultural practices in the region affect the water quality
of lakes and streams?

What is the relation of water and soil health to plant and animal
health; what is the relation of human health to plant, animal,
water, and soil health?

131

Why should we set aside large wilderness areas; why is it unneces-
sary to justify such natural areas on economic reasoning?

What natural areas in the region add diversity and natural values
worth keeping; what natural areas in the region provide a habitat
. for fish and wildlife? '

Can we count on some new technological discovery to give us a
cheap and easy answer to our pollution problems?

How can the crucial interrelationships of an ecological problem
be revealed?

What are the practical limits of an ecological problem; would the

solution to an ecological problem be practical from the cost-
benefit basis?

Do any natural areas exist in the region; what is the size; what
is there and how much is there?

How can natural areas be ranked in a priority scale to show which
areas are most sensitive to damage or pollution; what natural
areas are most needed?

Do we owe anything to future generations; why; what?

How can our public and private schools at all grade levels intro-
duce relational thinking for an understanding of ecological rela-
tionships? '

What unique natural areas in the region should be kept in their
natural condition?

would an ecological inventory of all streams, lakes, wetlands, and
other critical environmental areas and an understanding of their
bio-physical supporting functions provide a sound basis for poli-
cies relating to ecosystem renewal and maintenance; would an
ecological inventory be needed to properly determine what effects
any new modifications by man would have on the bio-physical sup—
porting functions?

132

Are criteria needed to measure the bio-physical supporting functions
of the natural system?

WOuld the awareness of the natural ecosystem be improved by des-
cribing the values of natural space; can the intangible values of
nature be measured so a quantitative figure will represent them?

How can the public's attitudes about the natural system be deter-
mined before some particular environmental crisis develops; many
people think of land conservation as merely setting aside areas
for recreation, why is this view of land conservation quite in-
complete?

What causes a decrease in fish or water fowl habitat?

How many people hunt waterfowl in the region; where do they live
and where do they hunt; how old are they; how many birds do they
bag in one hunt and in one season; what are the precise effects
of changes in bag limits, season lengths, and so forth?

How many people hunt big game in the region; how many hunt small
game; how many fish; where do they live and where do they hunt;
how old are they; what are the season lengths for the various

game and what is the annual kill by hunters in the region for each
species of small game, big game, fish, and waterfowl?

What basic research is available or is needed to know how man's
modification of wildlife habitat affects the abundance, distribu-
tion, and reproduction of the region's wildlife; what research

is needed to better understand the relationships between various
species of fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife?

If the present numbers or even existence of certain wildlife is

to be assured, what wildlife habitats must be set aside; how many
watersheds, woodlands, other land covers, streams, and wetlands in
the region is enough; how many is enough ten years from now; twenty-
five years from now; what will be the consequences of not having

the basic research needed to answer these questions; what will
result if the public is not informed about these issues?

The following indicators will provide some of the information needed

to facilitate careful study and analysis of wild or natural areas.

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Natural Areas

Natural areas by type, size, location, and priority of natural
importance in existing state.

Natural areas by control or ownership and the natural value func-
tions of each area (wildlife habitat, floodland area, erosion
control area, ground water protection area, outdoor recreation
area, forest area, and other functions).

Natural areas - bio-physical supporting functions of each area,
intangible values, and the relationships of natural areas with
cultural areas.

Natural ecological divisions of the region by characteristics,
size, and location.

Natural areas - description of replacement values and monetary
costs if the area's natural functions and values are reduced or
destroyed.

Natural areas - description of natural values produced in natural
space and time.

Natural areas - total number of each species of wildlife, the sta-
bility of their numbers, and the size and bio-physical supporting
functions of their habitats.

Wildlife research areas and laboratories in the region by purpose,
annual expenditures for basic research, and number of full-time
employees.

.2. Air Quality

 

The public needs to be provided with accurate, timely, and under-
standable information about the air quality conditions. For all pol-
lutants, there is a need to develop more accurate descriptions of the

human health risks and more sophisticated indicators. Indicators are

134

needed to measure how many persons are exposed, how individuals differ

in their sensitivity, and how pollution levels vary within the region.

The success of any commitment to improving air quality may depend upon

the support of citizens who are well-informed about air-pollution problems
and the progress of abatement efforts.

Air pollution abatement in the United States today is an under-
taking of staggering proportion. To conduct it effectively and effi-
ciently, we must be well informed about air quality conditions and
trends. The most critical need for improving that information is
better quality control in the processes by which air monitoring data
are acquired and handled. This means that:

- The right pollutants must be measured.
- The numbers, locations, and methods of measurement must
be scientifically consistent and adequate to provide valid

and useful data.

— The data must be handled and used effectively to provide
the needed information.

A description of the region's air quality should provide an accurate
picture of the significance of air pollution levels to health, property,
vegetation, and the ecosystems. The public is not sufficiently consc-
ious of the need for this information. Increased awareness is, of
course, the objective of the public involvement and participation part
of the new institution.

Air quality includes the need to measure pollutants that our
standards and monitoring have omitted so far. Present ambient air
quality standards and most monitoring of suspended particles, for
example, are concerned only with the total weight of airborne par-

ticulate matter, as measured by high-volume samplers. But total weight

135

is at best only a crude indicator of trends in the kinds of particulates
that are most important to human health. By itself such a measurement
is inadequate for many scientific purposes and therefore may be in-
adequate as a regulatory guide.

There are two major reasons for this inadequacy. First, the total
weight of airborne particulates does not distinguish between tiny
particles, which can penetrate the human respiratory system efficiently
and thus pose considerable hazard to health, and the larger particles
which generally do not. The proportion of respirable (small) particles
- less than 3 microns in diameter - varies roughly from less than one-
third to more than two-thirds of the total suspended particulates.

The second important reason is that most of the effects on public
health of particles in the air depend upon their chemical composition,
which can also vary greatly. Toxic substances like acid sulfates,
nitrates, trace metals, and organic compounds are important and poten-
tially harmful consituents of airborne particulate matter, but there
are no ambient standards and there is very little monitoring for these
constituents now.

What is the difference between pure and polluted air?
What is the most serious air pollution problem in your community?

What can be done to decrease our dependence on the automobile;
what changes in lifestyle will be required if the automobile
is phased out?

Would you want a regular 6 month inspection of pollution control
devices on all cars in the region?

136

How should we deal with the problem of air pollution from fine

particulate matter; why is it one of our more serious pollution
problems?

Should we base our pollution control programs on tonnage data
alone? (The effect of a specific pollutant is not based solely
on its total tonnage per year but on its relative toxicity and
the average length of time it remains in the air before it is
rendered harmless by natural processes or chemical cycles.)

(A better evaluation of the air pollution problem can be obtained
by considering both the total weight and the relative tolerance
for each of the major pollutants.)

Should air pollution always be permitted until its damage can be
proven beyond any doubt?

There are air quality standards designated for six major pollutants
by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Total suspended particu-
lates, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, photochemical oxidants, nitrogen
oxides, and hydrocarbons are the six major pollutants that are now
measured on a regular basis. Where the following indicators for these
pollutants are available in the form of time series of observations,
they reflect trends in the particular condition, so that the citizen

can gauge the direction of major changes or developments over time.

Trends in Air Quality

Total region-wide emissions of particulates by location and by
type of source - transportation sources, fuel combustion at sta-
tionary sources, industrial processes other than fuel combustion,
and emissions from other sources.

Total region-wide emissions of sulfur dioxide by location and by
type of source - transportation sources, fuel combustion at sta-
tionary sources, industrial processes other than fuel combustion,
and emissions from other sources.

137

Total region-wide emissions of carbon monoxide by location and type
of source - fuel combustion at stationary sources, industrial pro-
cesses other than fuel combustion, transportation sources, and
emissions from other sources.

Total region-wide emissions of photochemical oxidants by location
and by type of sources - transportation sources, fuel combustion

at stationary sources, industrial processes other than fuel com-

bustion, and emissions from other sources.

Total region-wide emissions of nitrogen oxides by location and by
type of source - transportation sources, fuel combustion at sta-

tionary sources, industrial processes other than fuel combustion,
and emissions from other sources.

Total region-wide emissions of hydrocarbons by location and by type
of source - transportation sources, fuel combustion at stationary
sources, industrial processes other than fuel combustion, and emis-
sions from other sources.

Total region-wide emissions of major pollutants and percent of
total by source of pollution - transportation, fuel combustion in
stationary sources, industrial process losses, solid waste dis-
posal, agricultural burning, and miscellaneous.

Number of days per year by location when pollutant concentra—
tions have harmful impact on health - moderate, unhealthful, very
unhealthful, or hazardous.

Expenditures to Reduce Air Pollution

 

Annual amount of expenditures for air pollution control and abate-
ment by consumers, by business, by Federal government, State, and

local government.
\

Annual increase of expenditures for air pollution control and
abatement by consumers, by business, by Federal government, State,
and local government.

Private and public spending for air pollution abatement and control.

138

Percentage of total pollution abatement and control for goods

and services to directly reduce pollution, for regulation and
monitoring, and for research and development by public and private
sectors.

Gross regional outlays for air pollution abatement and control.

Percent of total regional expenditures for all pollution abate-
ment and control that is allocated for air pollution abatement and
control.

Federal grants to State and local governments for air pollution
abatement and control.

State grants to local governments for air pollution abatement
and control.

Federal and state expenditures in the region for pollution abate-
ment and control by type of expenditure - pollution abatement,
regulation and monitoring, and research and development.

Other sources of grants to local governments for air pollution
abatement and control.

Local government's expenditures for air pollution abatement and
control from their own revenues.

Per capita expenditures for all air pollution abatement and
control in the region.

Total expenditures for air pollution abatement and control and
percent of gross sales by industry.

Per capita expenditures by industry for air pollution control
and abatement.

Percent of gross regional product expended for air pollution
control by industry and by public and private sectors.

139

Percent of gross corporate product expended for air pollution
control by industry.

4. Water Quality and Quantity

There is no single measure of water quality just as there is no
single measure of human health. There are dozens of specific physical,
chemical, and biological characteristics of water. Dissolved oxygen,
coliform bacteria, temperature, nutrients, trace metals, and pesticides
are some of the variables affecting water quality.

Many waterways exhibit good water quality at some locations and
at given times of the year but show signs of degradation at other times
or other places. A region's streams, lakes, or coastal waters also
vary considerably in size, flow characteristics, and the extent and
the type of human impacts on them. All these factors affect water
quality.

Most definitions of water quality depend upon how suitable the
waters are for particular uses and purposes. For example, it is one
thing to evaluate the lower Mississippi River as a public drinking
water supply and quite another to evaluate Lake Erie for swimming, and
the Chesapeake Bay for commercial shell fishing. Water quality must
be evaluated differently for each of these uses. Even when a particular
water quality variable is important to more than one type of use, it must
be assessed separately in relation to each type of use.

What is the function and value of wetlands in the region?

140

What is the function and value of aquifer recharge areas in the
region; what is the function and value of flood plains; is there
uniform recognition throughout the region of the need to prevent

and remove any residential and commercial structures from the flood
plains of the streams, rivers, and lakes of the region; should strict
enforcement of building restrictions in flood plains and aquifer
recharge areas be made?

What functions and values do forests, shore lines, high water
tables, and conditions of poor drainage have in the larger processes
of environmental change; what large-scale effects does their mis-
use have in the region?

What kinds of damage to water recharge areas would result in con-
tamination of public water supplies; what changes to water recharge
areas would be irretrievable to their continued use; are all the
catchment areas for water supply in the region maintained free of
all possible pollution?

What relationship exists between the quality of water of the lakes,
streams, and rivers in the region with the suitability of recrea-
tion activities?

How is the protection of private property and life related with
the limitations and protection of environmentally sensitive lands
like wetlands, aquifers, woodlands, watersheds, and hillsides?

Why is it so important to intergrate land use, water use, energy
use, and pollution control policies; why hasn't this been done;
are there plans for doing it in your town or region?

Should a water control commission be established to regionally
coordinate water pollution control studies; how can this be or—
ganized and controlled within the region with the objectives and
goals set by those who live in the region; wouldn't such an or-
ganization represent the actual objectives of what the people of
the region want?

How much of the total water consumption in the region is from wells;
what percentage is from wells; how much of the total water consump-
tion is from surface waters; what percentage is from surface waters;
what amount and percentage is obtained from other sources?

141

What is the annual water consumption of the region over the last
ten years; what is the average per capita water consumption over
the last ten years?

What is the quality of the public water supply throughout the
region?

What major water projects or facilities have been completed in
the region during the last ten years; what major water projects
are being planned for the region?

What major storm drainage facilities have been completed during
the last ten years; what major storm drainage problems or plans
are now under consideration?

How can sources of nonpoint pollution such as road salt, pesticide,
and fertilizer runoff be controlled or reduced?

What water quality standards are acceptable to the people of the
region?

Should we tax water use and take the funds to establish a regional
water and land use and pollution control trust fund; what are some
of the political, ecological, and economic implications of such an
approach; what important problems does it solve; what problems
does it create?

Where can the less costly preventative methods of pollution control
be employed instead of corrective methods which usually require
construction of plants and related facilities?

What good is a water quality management plan if law is not suf-
ficient to carry it out; is there legislative authority to estab-
lish a regulatory program for controlling pollution?

What modifications to existing state law would be needed to
implement a water quality management plan; can state, county,
regional, or special agencies operate as designated management
agencies to implement the plan?

142

The following indicators will monitor and measure the quality of
water for regions and make possible a systematic approach to reach the
goals of water quality desired. In modern terms, water quality is
related to the suitability of water for specific beneficial uses.

Water quality is measured directly by chemical, physical, and biological
variables. The number of variables needed to determine the suitability
of water and the acceptable ranges of those variables depend on the
specific water use, such as drinking, swimming, aquatic life protection,
irrigation, or industrial supply.

water Use

watersheds in region - size, location, sources of water, and hun-

dreds of thousands of gallons of water withdrawn per day and per
capita amount withdrawn per day.

Watersheds in region - average daily withdrawal in hundreds of
thousands of gallons by source (ground water, surface water, imr
ported from outside the region, and other).

Watersheds in region - depth of ground water-level by location and
percent change from previous year.

Watersheds in region - number and ownership (public or private)
of water systems in the watershed and the average daily withdrawal
in hundreds of thousands of gallons of water per day.

Watersheds in region - present and projected water withdrawals per
capita for public and private water supply systems for each water-
shed in region.

Regionwide estimated water use in hundreds of thousands of gallons

for all public and private water supply systems and projections to
1980 and 2000.

Regionwide estimated water use in gallons per capita per day for
all public and private water supply systems and projections to
1980 and 2000.

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Regionwide estimated water use in gallons per capita per day for
public and private water supply systems by type of use - domestic,
public, commercial, industrial.

Regionwide water use for industrial use by type of industry and
projections to 1980 and 2000.

Regionwide water use for agricultural irrigation and projections
to 1980 and 2000.

Inter-regional transfer of water - amount in hundreds of thousands
of gallons imported into the region or exported out of the region
and projections to 1980 and 2000.

Physical Water Data

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - temperature,
specific conductance, turbidity, color, and odor.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - relative acidity
or alkalinity, oxidation-reduction intensity, suspended solids,
and other.

Chemical Water Data

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - dissolved solids,
chloride, nitrogen nutrients, and phosphorus nutrients.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - common ions,
hardness, and radiochemical.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - dissolved oxygen,
other gases, minor elements, and pesticides.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - detergents, bio-
chemical oxygen demand, and dissolved carbon.

144

Biologic and Sediment Water Data

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - coliforms, other
micro-organisms, and other.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - fish, birds,
mammals, and other.

Fishable freshwater areas in the region in thousands of acres in
lakes, streams, and other water of significant value to fish.

Streams, lakes, reservoirs, ground water, or other type of water
body by name, location, and place data recorded - sediment concen-
tration (suspended), particle size (suspended and bed material),
and other. -

Number, size, and location of wetlands, aquifer recharge areas,
woodlands, watersheds, and hillsides - ranked in terms of their
sensitivity to damage or pollution, their importance for present

and future water supply, wildlife, fish, and natural characteristics.

CHAPTER IV

PROPOSED REGIONAL INFORMATION CENTERS

A. Financial Support of Centers

Financial support of the proposed centers would come from corpora-
tions, foundations, membership fees, and contributions from all levels
of government. Since both private and public funding have their re-
spective disadvantages, a blend of both tends to discount some of
these disadvantages of each. In the beginning, financial support from
outside the region is almost essential because the first year's budget
may range somewhere between $250,000 to $500,000 or more. The most
likely source of outside funding is from the Federal Government or large
private foundations. The National Endowment for the Arts, the National
Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare,
and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are some of
the federal agencies that may fund this new approach.

The financial support must be sufficiently broadly based to avoid
the actual or apparent domination of the program by one or any limited
combination of those who contribute. This neutral position is most
important. While a large federal grant is often needed at the begin-
ning, the new institution should not continue to depend upon a single
source of support. Financial support from a wide range of groups in

the region should increase as evidence of its potential contribution

145

146

becomes apparent. It must be free of bias in presenting all sides of
specific regional issues and give everyone access to information. This
is essential so it will continue to be regarded as a reliable source

of information.

B. Administration and Organization of Centers

The new institution, its governing board, and its responsibilities
are described in the charter. The charter for this new institution
will make clear that it is not to be a regional planning agency or
assume the role of a local planning agency. It will be a market place
for concepts and offer new and advanced means to analyze, synthesize,
and communicate the problems of the region.

The organization of each new center will also be described in the
charter. The new institution will be guided by a governing board
consisting of persons who broadly represent the region without any
special loyalty. As shown in Figure 6, the governing board has full
authority and independence to determine policy, manage its budget, and
employ staff. The board will select a director to manage the staff
and to complete responsibilities that it has selected for the staff to
accomplish. The board may create a subcommittee from its own member-
ship to study a particular problem or coordinate a project assigned
to the staff. The chairman of the board will be selected by the board
from its own membership to preside over its meetings, assign duties to
the director of the staff, and be the representative of the governing
board on matters that the board approves.

Since the new organizations must maintain a reputation of

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credibility, it should be free of domination by any interest group or
individuals. This neutrality may be maintained by selecting members

of the governing board to represent various segments of the population.
Each member of the board should also be free of any strong loyalty that
would cause him to be partial or one-sided about certain issues. The
regional centers would limit the maximum amount of financial assistance
they receive from any one source to a small percentage of their total
annual budget.

With regard to specific regional issues and their alternatives,
the regional centers would insist that a full range of points of view
be considered so that the impacts of each option or alternative be
adequately explored. The information centers would insist on insuring
that all sides or options be heard, and the centers would not recommend
or support any one side or proposal. The charter of each center would

stress this neutral position.

C. Regional Scale of Centers

There is growing awareness that the regional approach is the most
appropriate scale to deal with the wider issues of land use, environment,
transportation, energy, water supply, and waste disposal. The inter-
relatedness of these and other issues requires regional understanding
and decision-making. Many environmental, land use, and other problems
can best be resolved on the regional scale.

The size of a region is not determined by any single factor. The
strongest unifying element may be geography, economic ties, or natural

features as a river basin. Every area will decide the limits of its

149

own region because each area has its own characteristics. An urban
region exists by virtue of the fact that the people living in it share
some of the same facilities and some of the same community concerns.
Effective community participation grows out of this kind of concern.

The regional approach offers a more constructive, considered, and far-
sighted manner of meeting the many inter-related issues. It is inherent
in the regional concept that the process of understanding alternative

options be considered from the perspective of the region as a whole.

D. Modern Communications Technology and Techniques

Graphic communication offers a potential for clarifying our under-
standing of the region's topography, artifacts, nature, and the rela-
tionship of the many parts. Graphic communication can convey complexity
much more quickly and cut through semantic difficulties that confuse
different specialities and cultural views. For example, pollution of
air and water over different time periods and places can be quickly
shown with graphs, aerial photographs, films, and simulation models.
Many of the regional indicators described in Chapter III can be shown
graphically.

Regional situation rooms would offer a variety of graphic and
analysis support facilities. The situation room is a specially designed
facility large enough to accommodate about 30 people and the following
equipment. Television would offer equipment for video-taping and for
conveying two-way signals. Large graphic wall displays, multiple pro-
jection screens, and charts on sliding tracks along two walls of the

room would provide a flow of information like the National Aeronautics

150

and Space Administration space flight centers. With two-way capability,
graphics can be queried to suit and enhance the understanding of the
user. When connected with a computer, visual display installations
provide an interaction of man and computer. A cathode-ray-tube display
scope is the medium through which man converses with the computer in

a question-and-answer session concerning for example the design of a
road or other facility. A light pen is used to make drawings on the
face of the display tube; the pen also relays data about the drawings

to the computer. This computer-aided design system has many uses with
graphic displays. These new electronic tools can contribute to develop-
ing a capability that we now lack for managing change.

A whole new language of visual communication will describe the
unique properties of each level or major component of regions. As
described at the beginning of Chapter III, each level or major component
has its own set of functions, environments, and mode of knowledge.
Therefore, the culture level demands measures different from the person
level. Similarly, institutions require separate indicators from arti-
facts.

Comprehensive planning is presently limited in its portrayal of
regional structures. These limitations were discussed in Section A of
Chapter III. One of the purposes of this thesis is to show how current
planning efforts are seriously obstructed until planners and those in
certain other disciplines begin to develop indicators for the culture,
institution, and nature levels. When a complete family of indicators
is constructed, futuristic graphic displays will reveal the unique

properties of each of the five major structures . . . .

151

0 culture

0 person

0 institution
0 artifact

0 nature .

Clear portrayal, using graphic displays, will assist citizens in come

prehending the interrelationships among these major structures.

E. ContinuinggProcess of Education and Public Participation

There is an obvious need in this age to communicate regional prob-
lems to the public more coherently than ever before and to find new
means of receiving effective feedback from the public. In Melvin
Webber's words:

Many are thus coming to visualize an idealized urban intelli-

gence center . . . such an intelligence center would seek to

describe and explain what is going on, to report on stocks

and flows, and to identify cause-and-effect relationships.

Flatly rejecting the notion that it can serve a single client,

it would seek to supply information on current conditions and

predictions of future conditions to many interested parties.

(Melvin M. Webber, "The Roles of Intelligence Systems in Urban-

Systems Planning" Journal of the American Institute of Planners,

Vol. XXXI, No. 4, November 1964, p. 353).

The proposed regional information centers are precisely an attempt
to meet these new and pressing demands. They would supplement the
existing public planning agencies in regions and provide intelligence

centers of the sort described by Webber. They will assemble, display,

and transmit regionally significant and timely information in ways that

152

facilitate more comprehensive approaches to policy making. This is
an ongoing process of research and communication concerning regional
policy issues and options.

The regional situation rooms described in the preceding section
are a specific example of how citizens and policymakers can gain the
understanding and information they need to make informed decisions.
Citizens can use electronic tools in the situation rooms to request
additional information and ask questions. The two-way communication in
the situation rooms allows the user to make inquiries and receive re-
plies. The capacity of self-government as they increase their under-
standing of their region and their community.

Newspapers, reports, radio stations, television, and speakers are
mass modes of communication that can be used by the regional centers for
continued education. Broad participation in various people's surveys
can be achieved through local newspapers, radio, and television pro-
grams. In Iowa City, Iowa, the municipal Department of Community
Development prepared and distributed a City guide and survey to all
households in Iowa City during April of 1977. The "People's Guide and
Survey" was useful in presenting a review of city development and plan-
ning process. The survey provided citizens with a chance to express
their opinions on their neighborhoods, city growth options, city
services, citizen participation, energy, and social services. It is
with the use of such mass modes of communication that the proposed
new type of regional information center would gain feedback and criti-
cisms. The objectives of the center and how comprehensive planning

will enhance the region's well-being could be explained in the survey.

153

Facilities for studying regional issues could be described in surveys,
reports, and public meetings.

The proposed centers are designed to increase the opportunities
for citizens to learn on a continuing basis the wide range of informa-
tion required to make informed decisions. Each center would attempt to
meet the specific circumstances in their region. With the balanced
competence, credibility, and tools of communication to improve the
process of long-range planning, more people can contribute their ideas

for improving the quality of their lives.

F. Conclusions

It is the conclusion of this study that past and present institu-
tions have obstructed efforts to provide a complete understanding of
regions and gain effective public participation. The underlying problems
in regions are cultural because every decision embodies some cultural
value, and values govern goals. The cultural system shapes or influences
the values and the goals of individuals and institutions. Values are
expressed when decisions are made about what will be developed and for
what reasons.

Past and present planning institutions have a limited concept
of the major components of regions revealed by the omission of cultural
and institutional components. Such a limited effort is partly the cause
of the regional crisis and contributes to the continuing failure of
citizens to understand and participate in a process to achieve quality
of life for themselves. All policy work involves an understanding

of the significance of the meanings and values of the cultural subsystems

154

of regions. The cultural component superimposes values upon institu-
tions that are formed to carry out those purposes. Institutions in
turn superimpose these values on the bio-physical environment by design-
ing and making artifacts. The understanding of the cultural and insti-
tutuional components is vital to a comprehension of regions.

As a result of these failures, there is a need to design and create
a new type of institution at the regional level to facilitate a more
complete understanding of regions by including the cultural and institu-
tional components. A whole new language of visual communication will
describe the unique properties of each level or major component of

regions. Each of the five major components or levels . . .

0 culture

0 person

0 institution
0 artifact

0 nature

has its own set of functions and modes of knowledge. Therefore, the
cultural level demands measures different from the person level. Sim-
ilarly, institutions require separate descriptive measures from the
other major components. This thesis proposes the use of regional
indicators to describe and measure all five major levels. However,
indicators are not developed in this thesis for the cultural component
because before such indicators can be identified, numerous, cultural
values and meanings must be identified, described, and analyzed. Be-

cause obtaining such information would require a major study by itself,

155

this study confines itself to discussing indicators for populations,
institutions, artifacts, and nature.- Regional indicators offer a poten-
tial for clarifying perception and improving the grasp of large complex
systems. Some of the regional indicators should be portrayed on ad—
vanced electronic-graphics and others on maps, photographs, models,
three-dimensional displays, charts, and tables. Graphic communication
can convey complexity more quickly, provide spatial orientation, and
disclose different values or meanings.

This thesis proposes the establishment of regional centers to make
a wide range of information on communities easily available to citizens.
As non-profit institutions, the proposed centers could be organized in
many regions of the country or the world. The new centers will provide
region-wide civic education and will not take sides with regard to
specific regional issues or their alternatives. While remaining neutral,
the proposed centers will insist that a full range of points of view
be expressed and the impacts of all options be adequately explored.
Also, the process will function as a public forum without pressure of
existing crisis or the pressure of bowing to the Special interests of
any individual or group.

The proposed regional information centers will deal with current
issues and make possible participation by a larger number of people
who are better informed. The particular emphasis of this process is on
the continuous interchange of information. As an on-going process,
the centers will create a sense of community and interest that is
not ended when some particular issue is settled.

The new institutions proposed here will offer many opportunities

156

for residents to become informed and increase their capacity for self-
government. With the opportunity to study a problem in depth, citizens
can begin to understand the complex relationships around each specific
problem. In presenting the broad perspective of culture, institution,
person, artifact and nature framework, the proposed institutions will
facilitate people's access to expert information and to each other
concerning it. Comprehensive understanding of a region is necessary

before there can be comprehensive planning by the people in that region.

* * *

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