Economic sustainability is about placemaking
New Urban News Article with image, 3/1/2009
Lessons from a quarter-century of development in Arlington, Virginia
No regional economy or locality is totally recession-proof. However, good planning is about nurturing long-term economic sustainability that allows a place to overcome all kinds of economic shock.
The community I work for, Arlington, Virginia, has lost a top 20 employer nearly every year for the past decade. The Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action of 2005 will cost us 17,000 Department of Defense jobs by 2011. So why were we just named the most economically resilient locality in the nation by Business Week magazine?
Some of the reasons are a strong federal government presence, diversification of the economic base in recent years, and our location across the river from the District of Columbia’s downtown. More important has been a strategy to create an urban environment that is attractive to employers, residents, and visitors. Placemaking in its broadest context is the key to our success.
