metcouncil: State of the Region

Strib op-ed today about Peter Bell. Essentially, I agree with them when they say that Peter Bell is the best we could have done given a hard right governor like Pawlenty in office.

Still, given that he's part of the most conservative administration since the Met Council's founding in 1967, Bell's pragmatism has helped maintain the momentum of the past two councils. A natural resources atlas to help guide the growth of far-flung suburbs has been completed, new regional parks proposed and new benchmarks on regional growth established.

Those benchmarks should be refined to measure progress on some of the metro's thorniest questions: Is it good enough that 30 percent of household growth is occurring in central cities and inner suburbs, or would a 50-50 split be a better goal, given that this region is still sprawling faster than its peers? Are new jobs concentrating along transit corridors or in scattered places that will require more auto trips? Is the metro area becoming even more economically segregated?

Peter Bell: not as bad as he could have been.