[Vision2020] When Moscow Doubles - the Knowledge Corridor

Mon May 22 21:53:48 PDT 2006

It seems to me that the knowledge/research corridor that Peterson mentioned 
should be a high priority.  Something that encourages the location of 
businesses and research facilities with access to high bandwidth 
connectivity in the infrastructure of the community would be something that 
can draw on the strengths of the area, intellect and education, without 
being hindered by the weaknesses of lack of water and transportation costs 
for manufactured products.

Bruce Livingston

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nils Peterson" <nils_peterson at wsu.edu>
To: "Jerry Weitz" <gweitz at moscow.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 6:47 AM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] When Moscow Doubles - Questioning the premise

| D-8 is a reference I don't understand.
|
| If the consensus here is that Lambert is wildly unrealistic, both based on
| anecdotal evidence and Census projection, and if the demographic that is
| arriving is post-children retirees, then we could ask a couple questions:
|
| 1. Is this passive growth (and demographic) alright, or should we be 
taking
| out ads in AARP magazine? How are we thinking about integrating these 
people
| into Moscow; lacking children, they may lack some of the means that many
| other people have to integrate themselves into the town.
|
| 2. Given 1-2% growth rate (not Lambert's 5%), what planning, organization,
| etc, should be undertaken?  MarkS will note water. Keely will note the
| schools issues (driven by aging facilities, and flat, or declining?
| enrollment).
|
|
| On 5/21/06 10:05 PM, "Jerry Weitz" <gweitz at moscow.com> wrote:
|
| > Like Mark I do not see doubling potential for the Palouse in general. 
What
| > would be the driving variables?  Anecdotally, at the dental office, I 
have
| > observed a moderate influx of retired folks relocating here, not 
families
| > with children.  My basic premise for encouraging growth 
(economic/business)
| > is to help bolster  UI's fortunes through a research triangle.  Hence, 
if
| > this has validity, then we need planning.  Mark deserves credit for 
being
| > the commissioner who kept D-8 in Latah County.  Mark really suffered
| > through a recall that was initiated by his efforts for D-8.  jerry
| >
| > At 08:22 PM 5/21/06, Nils Peterson wrote:
| >> (Thanks Mark, for pointing out that I mis-addressed this; I did want it 
go
| >> into the general conversation)
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >> I think the pivotal issue here is demographics. Who are these would-be
| >> doublers?
| >>
| >> They are not UI or NSA students. The demographic of 18-22 year olds is
| >> peaking and headed down. More likely the university will struggle to 
hold on
| >> to its position in an increasingly competitive market. WSU seems to be
| >> positioning itself as a graduate university. NSA may fare better than 
UI in
| >> that it has a very special market niche.
| >>
| >> The doublers are not university employees. See above. WSU's move 
up-market
| >> may increase its faculty numbers, but not hugely.
| >>
| >> What about high tech? Schweitzer et al? Harder to predict. The right 
company
| >> could grow from nothing today. More likely, if the right handful that 
are
| >> small today experienced double digit growth. Less likely, but possible, 
is a
| >> company re-locating here. Not a huge company. 100 employees.  This 
makes a
| >> topic for this discussion, how would we recruit/ screen/ facilitate or
| >> impede such a company? Given my theme of identifying gov't & civic
| >> organizations that are needed for this doubling -- the Chamber and LEDC 
seem
| >> to be the organizations we have to do this work.
| >>
| >> Are the would-be doublers retirees? At age 50, I consider myself the 
end of
| >> the baby boom, and have watched recreational property that I might 
enjoy
| >> (like a place at the Oregon Coast) jump way up in price as the boomers 
ahead
| >> of me got similar ideas.  Imagine a couple that have had good, steady
| >> employment for the last 20+ years. They purchased and paid off a home. 
It
| >> has appreciated significantly because of its location in an urban area,
| >> perhaps to $400,000 or more. This couple is 62, kids grown and gone, 
and
| >> they are tired of the urban life. They draw $50K in retirement from 
several
| >> sources. There are thousands of these people. Might they come to 
Moscow?
| >> This is a wild card, but unlike new high tech business, I'm not sure 
what
| >> gov't and civic organizations might be needed.
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >>
| >> On 5/21/06 8:34 AM, "Mark Solomon" <msolomon at moscow.com> wrote:
| >>
| >>> ...more likely that we'll see a leveling of the growth rates between
| >>> the two: 0.75% annually for Moscow. Of course, we are a different
| >>> community with different amenities (such as a forested mountain just
| >>> outside of town) but I would like someone to explain why we should
| >>> either plan for or expect our population to double in 15 years when
| >>> there is no historical trend to indicate it will occur. We are not
| >>> Boise or Coeur d'Alene or Sandpoint or McCall or Kuna or Meridian
| >>> or....
| >>
| >> _____________________________________________________
| >>  List services made available by First Step Internet,
| >>  serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
| >>                http://www.fsr.net
| >>           mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
| >> ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
| >
| >
|
|
| _____________________________________________________
| List services made available by First Step Internet,
| serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
|               http://www.fsr.net
|          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
| 