Arrowhead 2009 | Economic Crisis as Opportunity for Reform

The 19th Annual UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium on the Transportation – Land Use – Environment Connection: “Economic Crisis as Opportunity for Reform“

Held October 18-20, 2009 at UCLA’s Lake Arrowhead Conference Center

Program

Presentations

Proceedings

This is an unprecedented time. The depth of the economic downturn is historic, and its effects on cities, regions, land markets, and transportation systems are profound. Record foreclosures threaten the social and fiscal stability of cities, while those responsible for transportation systems face both deep budget cuts and expectations that increased transportation/infrastructure spending can help to stimulate the economy. Further, the specter of climate change has shifted debates over land use – transportation relationships and their role in a new, greener economy. New state legislation seeks to incorporate greenhouse gas emissions into planning practice, and some form of federal legislation is on the horizon. Amidst these economic and environmental challenges, however, are opportunities to effect fundamental changes to public policies and planning practice. Accordingly, this year’s UCLA Lake Arrowhead Symposium explores these challenges and the opportunities they present for reforming the transportation – land use –environmental connection.

Over two and one-half days the participants in this symposium will explore the roots of the current economic crisis, its global scale and its local implications for both transportation systems and local government finance. We will examine the crisis in transportation finance, why a sustainable finance system has proven elusive, and what opportunities are presented by the current economic crisis for reforming how we pay for transportation. We will also address the challenges to building consensus for action amidst potentially competing economic and environmental imperatives, and consider opportunities to better measure and evaluate the performance of urban and transportation systems across a wide array of objectives. Finally, we will turn to debates over efforts to fundamentally alter systems of governance and public policymaking in California in order to increase the stability, accountability, and performance of government at all levels in the Golden State. Fundamental change, whether it is to the structure of state governance or to the roles of local planners, most often occurs during times of stress. As such, the symposium will close with a sharing of ideas – large and small – for positive change in
response to economic crises. This symposium is intended for decision makers and analysts at all levels of the public and private sectors whose work concerns land and transportation systems and their environmental consequences.

2009 Sponsors

LEAD SPONSORS

California Department of Transportation
Orange County Transportation Authority
Southern California Association of Governments
Southern California Edison
The Ralph & Goldy Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
University of California Transportation Center

CO-SPONSORS

Automobile Club of Southern California
Bay Area Air Quality Management District
California Air Resources Board
Federal Highway Administration
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Los Angeles World Airports
Port of Long Beach
San Bernardino Associated Governments
San Francisco County Transportation Authority
South Coast Air Quality Management District
Southern California Gas Company
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Western Riverside Council of Governments