Corporate Social Responsibility Best Practices

Our Vision is 20/50
By Debra Kent Faulk
Published: September / October 2008

By the year 2050, the population of the Tampa Bay region is expected to double to 7 million people. To protect the region’s economic vitality, sense of community, and natural resources, we each have the responsibility to carefully consider how we handle that growth.

We can allow growth to happen randomly or we can actively participate in developing plans so that Tampa Bay residents in 2050 and beyond benefit from the best design, technology, resource protection, and transit options that make living and working here even more attractive.

Businesses of all sizes should consider taking a leadership role in guiding the type of future we want for Tampa Bay. The thoughts and insights of many is absolutely critical to developing a regional vision that local governments can use as a tool help them make the decisions that will shape future Tampa Bay communities. Individually, and as a community, we must strive to work together. In order to create the best Tampa Bay region possible, there is a need for immediate regional cooperation and planning.

The message of regional cooperation and planning resonated with the leaders of ONE BAY. The ONE BAY partnership, formed a little more than one year ago, provides a forum to work collectively toward a better future. ONE BAY is reaching out to the many separate planning efforts across the seven-county Tampa Bay region to assist in the public development and implementation of a regional vision that addresses future growth as a connected community. While ONE BAY has no regulatory powers and does not seek to forcibly impose a plan on the region or its local governments, they are committed to building a consensus among the people of the Tampa Bay region to preserve and enhance our area’s quality of life, natural resources, and economic prosperity.

Creating the vision
ONE BAY is in the early stages of a visioning process for the Tampa Bay region. Beginning last year, more than 1,000 citizens from across our seven-county region participated in a series of events to help define and express their vision for Tampa Bay’s next 40 years. Participants in 15 ONE BAY workshops built virtual communities based on priorities most important to them. These priorities, referred to as Guiding Principles (or values), focused on:

• Clustering higher-density developments around transportation corridors

• Maximizing mobility using multi-modal transportation

• Preserving our natural resources

• Balancing jobs and housing for affordable quality of life

• Attracting higher-paying jobs and strengthening economic development initiatives

• Preserving farmland and sustaining the role of agriculture

ONE BAY then used that citizen input to develop four possible future patterns of land use for the year 2050. Each pattern, or scenario, illustrates general concepts that represent clear and consistent choices. These four scenarios are being used as a tool to help to further assess the priorities deemed most important by today’s citizens in looking ahead to the future.

Your say for tomorrow’s community
It’s time for the public to weigh in again! As part of developing the ONE BAY vision, the project team is asking all residents of the region to respond to various questions about the four scenarios and offer their input through a survey accessed at www.myOneBay.com.

The opinions and data gathered will be analyzed, and a method on which to obtain even greater input will then be developed and implemented. All this will ultimately lead to a unified vision for the seven-county Tampa Bay region and the start of a strategic, comprehensive framework for managing our region’s growth and expansion to achieve the best quality of life possible for the generations ahead.

Building the best possible Tampa Bay for our children and grandchildren requires the participation of each and every resident. They are counting on us to help shape their future and where they will want to live, work and play. Participate today: www.myOneBay.com.

ONE BAY is a diverse partnership of private and public leaders aligned to facilitate a regional visioning process with the goal to achieve a sustainable, high-quality community now and into the future. The leadership behind the ONE BAY effort is an equal partnership of five regional organizations: Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, Tampa Bay Estuary Program, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Tampa Bay Partnership Regional Research & Education Foundation and Urban Land Institute Tampa Bay District Council. For more information, visit www.myOneBay.com.

Debra Kent Faulk is principal of DKF Connects, a socially conscious marketing services firm specializing in public relations, social marketing, and strategic partnerships. For more information, call (813) 258-2599 or visit www.DKFconnects.com.

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