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We need to think and act like a region

OUR OPINION: COLLABORATION CAN HELP SOUTH FLORIDA REALIZE ITS POTENTIAL

What does South Florida have more of than 33 states in the union? People. The 5.7 million residents of this region outnumber the populations of such high-growth states as Arizona, Colorado and Nevada.

To the thinking of the folks at the Catanese Center for Urban & Environmental Solutions at Florida Atlantic University, this population growth can represent either opportunity or calamity. It depends on how quickly and how well the region's leaders find ways to harness the tremendous energy generated by nearly six million people.

Traffic congestion

But first our leaders -- and residents -- have to start collaborating like a region rather than acting as separate counties and cities. The report ''Regional Shift: South Florida in Transition,'' issued last week by the center, sums up the immediacy of this issue. South Florida's counties and cities must pull together now to manage the demands and pressures of growth or face a continued erosion of economic opportunities and quality of life.

Consider traffic. The report cited worsening traffic congestion that now costs each South Florida motorist between $500 and $900 per year, adding up to an estimated $2 billion to $3 billion in lost revenue to the region. What a waste.

At least a Regional Transportation Authority exists, but it needs both funding and empowerment as the primary agency to push for intra-county transit solutions. Some are in the works, such as the double-tracking project to improve Tri-Rail's service between Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, in cluding travel between airports. Others, like Miami-Dade's plan to expand Metrorail north thanks to the 1-cent sales tax for transit, are years away.

Burdens to the region

Increasing traffic comes from increased development, and here a regional approach is desperately needed. Hurricane evacuation is one concern raised about a proposal to build what amounts to a small city on land that Florida City hopes to annex. Monroe officials decried the plan, which would further clog the only Keys evacuation route. Such large projects need Regional Planning Council approval, but most developments, which incrementally add up to equal the big ones in impact, need only a single county's nod. Yet every new subdivision adds burdens to the region that are seldom considered in the aggregate. The Legislature irresponsibly has weakened rules for approval of developments of regional impact, thus dumping the job of managing growth onto counties. The counties must do it together.

For South Florida to fulfill its potential while sustaining its population, it needs to collaborate regionally to develop its economy, meet transportation and education needs, and protect natural resources that make this region such a magnet.

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