Missed the "Advancing the Choice" Expo?
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Don't sweat it if you missed WRCOG's "Annual Advancing the Choice" Expo, which focused on the future of transportation. Just make a New Year's resolution to attend our 2016 event, at which time you will also be 10 pounds
thinner, have run in multiple marathons and been kinder to strangers and cats, right?
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TUMF Program Status:
Total TUMF revenues to date:
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$649 million
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Total TUMF revenues FY 2015/2016:
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$12 million
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Projects completed:
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85
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Projects under construction:
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14
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The TUMF Program is designed to mitigate the cumulative traffic impact of new development on the regional arterial system in Western Riverside County. The Program is a development impact fee, and therefore is subject to the California Mitigation Fee Act (AB 1600, Govt. Code ยง 6600) which mandates that a Nexus Study be prepared to demonstrate a reasonable and rational relationship between the fee and the proposed improvements for which the fee is used.
The
Nexus Study for the TUMF Program Update has been delayed until the final 2016-2040 Southern California Association of Governments' (SCAG) Regional Transportation Plan / Sustainable Communities Strategy (2016 RTP/SCS) growth forecast is available for inclusion in the Nexus Study.
In the meantime, WRCOG has held workshops in each of the five TUMF Zones to review the technical data and methodology to the Nexus Study. The workshops provide a technical overview and the opportunity for stakeholders to thoroughly review and discuss the data inputs and methodology used to prepare the revised Nexus Study. One more workshop is scheduled as follows:
- January 27, 2016, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m., Riverside County Admin. Center, 3rd Floor, Conference Room A.
If you were unable to attend any of these meetings, and cannot attend the meeting scheduled for January 27, 2016, don't sweat it. Watch one of the TUMF Technical Workshops.
"85 and Counting"
Haven't yet committed each of the completed TUMF projects to memory? Keep an e
ye out for our soon-to-be-released report titled "85 and Coun
ting," which will provide an ov
erview of each and every TUMF project that has been completed in order, since the Program
began in 2003.
Examination of fees / exactions: how do they impact economic development?
WRCOG staff, with consultant assistance will be conducting a review of local fees / exactions for jurisdictions within and bordering the subregion to analyze their role and impact on the local economy. Our expectation is that this will be a "first of its kind" study that will go way beyond just a simple comparison of fees. Rather, the study will look at fees as just one component of the overall cost of a project development, and how changes in fees, and changes in other components (such as interest rates, cost of land, cost of labor, cost of materials) affect the "bottom line." Additionally, the study will examine the economic impacts of fees in light of the jobs they create and infrastructure provided. We hope that the study can be completed by late spring or early summer.
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HERO Residential Program Status for Western Riverside County
AND
California:
Completed projects:
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37,382
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Completed projects funding:
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$767.4 million
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The table below provides a summary of the total estimated economic and environmental impacts for HERO projects completed to date:
Economic and Environmental Impacts Calculations
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KW Hours Saved - Annually
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292 GWH
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GHG Reductions - Annually |
77,824 Tons
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$ Saved - Annually |
$39 Million |
Projected Annual Economic Impact |
$1.4 Billion
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Projected Annual Job Creation |
6,516 Jobs
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Feasibility Study for Western Riverside County on the formation of a Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program
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A CCA is a program that enables local governments to purchase electricity for constituents while retaining the existing electricity provider, Southern California Edison (SCE), for customer billing, transmission, and distribution services. Existing CCAs in California have found that they can provide "greener" electricity to constituents at less cost than can be provided by the utility company.
The Executive Committee directed staff to release an RFP for a Feasibility Study to examine the pros and cons, implementation structures, and costs associated with CCA formation, and to provide recommendations on moving forward with a CCA. WRCOG will move ahead, in conjunction with work being undertaken by the County of Riverside, to ensure that a comprehensive, cost effective, and non-duplicative approach is taken.
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CAPtivate: A Healthy Western Riverside County
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Another milestone was reached in WRCOG's CAPtivate: A Healthy Western Riverside County program, the Agency's initiative to implement its 2012 Economic Development and Sustainability Framework and the 2014 Subregional Climate Action Plan (CAP).
Funded through a Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) grant, WRCOG staff completed 1) an Adaptation & Resiliency Study, outlining strategies for the subregion to respond to future increased drought, wildfire, extreme heat, and flooding conditions; 2) a Model Implementation Book, providing suggested General Plan language, model codes / ordinances, and other recommendations for local implementation of greenhouse gas reduction measures; 3) a listing of Health Indicators that can be improved through sustainability actions; and 4) a monitoring tool to track local progress towards CAP goals.
All materials and information on CAPtivate can be found on the WRCOG website at www.wrcog.cog.ca.us/community.
Implementation of all, some, or none of the strategies contained in CAPtivate by member agencies is purely voluntary.
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Executive Director's Column
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A New Years Revolution
Can we get serious about the future?
I don't know about you, but I'm all about the long-term benefits of actions. Not to say that I don't care about the present; I do. I can relate to Monica Seles who said, "I'm all about the present." But I just don't want to be like Joy Fielding who said, "I've always been hopelessly stuck in the present."
I identify with Charles Kettering, accomplished and multi-patented American inventor, who said, "My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."
We're all going to spend the rest of our lives in the future, which makes it a big deal.
The future is important for Western Riverside County. During the next two or three decades, this subregion will continue to be one of the fastest-growing areas in the United States. We will add 800,000 new residents, who will be living in more than 300,000 new homes. There will be more than 400,000 new employees.
Are we prepared for such drastic change? I mean, really. ARE WE PREPARED FOR SUCH DRASTIC CHANGE? Are we aware of the changes that are coming, not just by way of more people, but more importantly how and where they will live, how they will move around, and what resources will or will not be available to them so that their quality of life improves? Should the planning practices and approaches that have resulted in today's Western Riverside County be the same ones we use for the next 800,000? Probably not. Too much is changing, and changing fast. Are we going to be able to identify these changes in advance? More importantly, can we move the so-called planning needle in order to address, accommodate, and even position the subregion to take advantage of new circumstances, many of which are trending now right before our eyes?
What about it?
What about the future of housing?
California home prices and rents are higher than just about anywhere else. One contributing factor is that there simply is not enough housing being built to accommodate the households who want to live here. That, along with community resistance to housing, environmental policies, and lack of incentives for local governments to approve housing, all contribute to a significant shortage in new housing construction. Amid this housing shortage, many households are forced to make serious trade-offs to afford living here, none of which are good for the economy or quality of life. Workers in California commute further each day than commuters elsewhere largely because limited housing options exist near major job centers. According to a
report recently issued by the California Legislative Analyst's Office
, Californians are also four times more likely to live in crowded housing, and the State's high housing costs make California a "less attractive place to call home, making it more difficult for companies to hire and retain qualified employees, likely preventing the state's economy from meeting its full potential."
Is this region ready to support new housing and also support an increased housing mix to address changing living preferences of increasing baby boomer and millennial populations? Or will the general "meh" attitude toward housing, which underestimates its importance to a growing economy, preclude us from reaching our economic potential?
What about the future of poverty?
More than 3 million people in the six-county SCAG region lived in poverty in 2012, representing 18% of the total population. That figure represents a 69% increase since 1990, which is nearly three times the rate of population growth in the same period. A
Public Policy Institute of California report
indicates
that 16.4% of Californians lacked enough resources - about $24,000 per year for a family of four - to meet basic needs in 2014. And poverty line numbers do not account for California's high housing costs, or other family needs and resources. One in four children lives below the federal poverty line. What are the projected impacts of continued and possibly increasing rates of poverty, joblessness, and homelessness on Western Riverside's future? What plans, if any, are in place or in the works to address this significant issue?
What about future of public health?
Winston Churchill, former UK prime minister, stated that, "healthy citizens are the greatest asset any country can have." If you take a look at the overall health of the United States' population, it is not evident that "healthy citizens" is an asset we can claim with confidence.
Studies
indicate the United States spends significantly more on health care compared to other developed countries throughout the world, yet continues to demonstrate some of the worst health outcomes. According to the
National Institutes of Health
, the United States is expected to have its "first sustained drop in life expectancy in the modern era." Chronic disease has taken a heavy toll, especially on children, as they are expected to live shorter lives than previous generations.
Riverside County faces shortages in medical facilities and primary care physicians; with only 44 physicians per 100,000 residents, Riverside County has less primary care physicians than the state average. A lack of hospital beds also contributes to the difficulty of providing adequate care. Medically underserved areas due to factors like poverty, infant mortality, elderly populations, and decreases in primary care physicians remain a big problem. In order to provide a quality of life for Western Riverside County's current and future residents, we need a change in our health picture. This desire for improved health outcomes is not just for altruistic reasons, but is motivated by economic reasons as well. An unhealthy community burdens the economy. An unhealthy population leads to
increases
in health care expenditures, higher premiums for health insurance, reduced productivity, and decreased community investment. Better health has also been linked to a specific monetary value. For example,
economists estimate
that that a 10% national reduction in heart disease mortality is worth more than $3 trillion to the United States' economy, and a 1% reduction in cancer mortality is worth more than $400 billion.
According to the
International Monetary Fund
, investing in health directly affects GDP. In other words, the economy is dependent on people who are able to work efficiently, earn an adequate income, and invest their money as consumers. Investing in health also improves education. Studies show that
healthier
children are more likely to attend school, have improved cognitive development, and live longer. Education also increases their chances of obtaining higher paid jobs and boosting the economy.
Communities must look at the bigger picture when considering ways to invest in health. Health is multifaceted and affected by many social determinants.
The World Health Organization
defines social determinants of health as the "conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age," which are all affected by "distribution of money, power and resources at global, national, and local levels." This means that factors like sidewalks, bike lanes, public transportation, location of health care facilities, education, and access to healthy foods directly impact a person's health.
Local communities must continue investing in health in creative ways in order to change the downward trend of United States' health outcomes and expenditures. Investing in health will look different within each community due to varying needs and resources. The outcome will be the same, lasting, positive effects: saving money, and more importantly, improving the lives of people today and their children tomorrow.
What about the future of transportation?
Are new services such as Uber and Lyft game changers? How about autonomous vehicles, which might allow for the doubling or tripling of highway capacity? How far off is it, and how might it change the way regional planners view and plan for future transportation systems and improvements? Will California move away from the existing gas tax structure to a road user-based system? Are driving - and overall transportation - trends going to change dramatically?
This drought isn't just California's problem, either. Much of the western United States is in a drought situation, one that has been prolonged enough to garner attention from the
EPA
, which has recently stated that "
Future water scarcity will be compounded by the region's rapid population growth, which is the highest in the nation. Projected temperature increases, river-flow reductions, dwindling reservoirs, and rapid population growth will increase the competition for water resources across sectors, states, tribes, and even between the United States and Mexico. This could potentially lead to conflicts."
California has serious water issues now, with 38 million people in this state. Exactly how are we going to provide sufficient water when (not if)
California's population reaches the 50 million mark by 2050
, and 53 million by 2060? That's like adding the entire population of Illinois here during the next 35 years.
We now know that a drier California should be seen as the norm, not the exception. What are the solutions? What is being and can be done, both statewide and locally, to keep California's population properly hydrated?
Keep an eye out for WRCOG's second annual "Future of Cities" Conference to be held sometime this spring. The conference will convene experts, leaders and thought stimulators who will engage and challenge us regarding these and other prominent issues.
Make it a New Year's Resolution to attend the Conference. Make it a New Year's Revolution to be a change agent.
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January 13
WRCOG Administration & Finance Committee (12:00 p.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 4th Floor, Conf. Room A, Riverside.
January 14
WRCOG Planning Directors' Committee (9:00 a.m.). Location TBA
January 14
WRCOG Public Works Committee (2:00 p.m.), Transportation Annex, 14th Street, Conf. Room #3, Riverside.
January 21
WRCOG Technical Advisory Committee (8:30 a.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 5th Floor, Conf. Room C, Riverside.
January 27
TUMF Nexus Study Workshop
(10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 3rd Floor, Conf. Room A.
January 27 Western Riverside County Clean Cities Coalition (1:00 p.m.), Location TBA.
January 28
WRCOG Finance Directors' Committee (10:00 a.m.), Lake Elsinore Cultural Center, 183 North Main Street, Lake Elsinore.
February 1
WRCOG Executive Committee (2:00 p.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 1st Floor Board Chambers, Riverside.
February 10
WRCOG Administration & Finance Committee (12:00 p.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 4th Floor, Conf. Room A, Riverside.
February 11
WRCOG Planning Directors' Committee (9:00 a.m.). City of Riverside Council Chambers.
February 11
WRCOG Public Works Committee (2:00 p.m.), Transportation Annex, 14th Street, Conf. Room #3, Riverside.
February 17
WRCOG Solid Waste Committee (1:00 p.m.), Location TBA.
February 18
WRCOG Technical Advisory Committee (8:30 a.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 5th Floor, Conf. Room C, Riverside.
March 7
WRCOG Executive Committee (2:00 p.m.), County of Riverside Admin. Ctr., 1st Floor Board Chambers, Riverside.
March 10
WRCOG Planning Directors' Committee (9:00 a.m.), Location TBA.
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