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by Michael Dey | May 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
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| Robert Dietz, Ph.D. |
Your Home Builders Association is the sponsor of a discussion and presentation on May 19 of efficient development patterns in the Upstate.
What: The Dollars and Sense of Development Patterns
When: May 19, 3 p.m. until 5 p.m.
Where: The Crowne Plaza, 851 Congaree Road, Greenville
Click here to register.
Produced by Ten at the Top and Upstate Forever, and also sponsored by the Greater Greenville Association of Realtors, The Dollars and Sense of Development Patterns is the second of four events this year intended to facilitate a discussion of facilitating a vibrant, growing, and efficient Upstate.
Keynote
The featured speaker is Joseph Minicozzi, AICP, principal of Urban 3, LLC, an Asheville-based real estate consultancy affiliated with Public Interest Projects. Urban3 develops geospatial representations of economic productivity which is designed to change the way a community looks at the concept of urbanism and the value of well-designed cities. Their case studies help drive planning strategies and tax policies related to urban development patterns.
NAHB Economist
Also speaking will be Robert Dietz, Ph.D., Vice President of Ecomomics at the National Association of Home Builders. Dietz will present a report of market trends and the results of NAHB’s Consumer Preference Study, which focused this year on the preferences of millennials.
Dietz specializes in Tax and Market Analysis for NAHB, where his responsibilities include economic and legal analysis of tax and policy issues, as well as analysis of housing market data. Dr. Dietz has published academic research on the housing and tax issues in peer-reviewed journals. He has testified before the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, and the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy on housing and tax issues. Prior to joining NAHB in 2005, Robert worked as an economist for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, specializing in revenue estimation of legislative proposals involving housing, urban development, and other business tax issues. He is a native of Dayton, Ohio and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from the Ohio State University in 2003.
by Michael Dey | Jan 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
Illustrating the importance of collaboration, partnerships and planning as we look toward future transportation needs in the Upstate, the two largest federally mandated transportation planning organizations in the region – the Greenville Pickens Area Transportation Study (GPATS) and the Spartanburg Area Transportation Study (SPATS) – in partnership with the Appalachian Council of Governments, have approved a Memorandum of Understanding that will allow staffs from these organizations to formally collaborate on planning and implementation of transportation projects.
The agreement is also expected to help entice the region for economic development, reduce costs while improving efficiencies, improve communications regarding plans, projects and programs and better position the region for being awarded regional transportation grants.
While agreements of this nature are common among neighboring transportation planning entities across the nation, this is the first such agreement in the Upstate.
“There are many commonalities between what we are doing and what is being done at GPATS,” said Jim D’Amato, Transportation Planning Manager for SPATS. “This agreement will allow us to formally identify where we can work together and increase efficiencies across the Upstate.”
The agreement was approved by the SPATS policy board at their meeting on November 14th and by the GPATS policy board during their meeting on January 9th. The Appalachian Council of Governments agreed to serve as a third partner because they serve as the transportation planning organization for the non-urban areas in Greenville, Spartanburg and Pickens counties as well as for Cherokee, Oconee and Anderson. The hope is that this agreement will eventually also include the Anderson transportation planning agency as well as the other councils of governments that support the transportation needs in the non-urban areas within Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens and Union counties.
“By approving this MOU we have now sent a message that we are taking collaboration and regional planning for future transportation needs seriously here in the Upstate,” said Rick Danner, Mayor of the City of Greer and a member of the GPATS Policy Board. “Hopefully this will help trigger greater coordination with state and federal authorities to ensure that they understand and support fulfilling the long-term transportation needs within this region.”
In addition to the three partners, local cities and counties other organizations involved in the discussions that led to the Memorandum of Understanding include Greenlink, GSP Airport, SPARTA, Ten at the Top and Upstate Forever.
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