Mississippi’s Tort Reform Triumph

Stephen Moore, Senior Economic Writer for the Wall Street Journal, says in today’s column that”… four years ago, Mississippi transformed itself from judicial hell hole to job magnet, a story that is instructive for other states trying to attract jobs in turbulent economic times. The lessons here are especially timely, because the pro-growth tort reform trend that was once spreading across the country may soon reverse course.”

Read the complete column.  

 

CDF in Tupelo named in Top Ten economic development organizations.

Site Selection magazine has named the Community Development Foundation, headquartered in Tupelo, Mississippi, to its 2007 list of Top Ten economic development groups in the United States.  The selection is based on the following criteria:

total capital investment;
investment per capita;
total jobs created;
jobs created per capita;
the contributions of the local or regional economic development organization toward the attainment of these numbers;
overall economic vitality;
depth and breadth of economic strength;
diversity of industry;
ability to generate breakthrough deals;
and the ability to provide verifiable documentation for all projects. 

A Better Way to Zone: Ten Principles to Create More Liveable Cities

The above-titled book by Donald Elliott will be of interest to planners and zoning officials.  According to the author’s Web site, “A Better Way to Zone provides a vision of future zoning that is not tied to a particular picture of how cities should look, but is instead grounded in how cities should work.”

The principles are:

1 - More Flexible Uses
2 - The Mixed Use Middle
3 - Attainable Housing
4 - Mature Area Standards
5 - Living With Non-Conformities
6 - Dynamic Development Standards
7 - Negotiated Large Developments
8 - Depoliticized Final Approvals
9 - Better Webbing
10 -Scheduled Maintenance