Table of Contents

I. Purpose and Background

A. Pennsylvania’s Statewide Action Plan: An Overview

B. Building upon Northwest Pennsylvania’s Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development

C. Overview of the RAP Planning Process

II. Existing Conditions Review

A. Introduction

B. State-Level Reports

C. Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Reports

D. Regional Economic Trends Overview

III. Vision and Mission Statements

A. Vision Statement

B. Mission Statement

IV. Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Objectives

Goal 2: Objectives

Goal 3: Objectives

Goal 4: Objectives

Goal 5: Objectives

V. Action Strategies

Action Strategy 1: Regional Educational Initiative on Sustainable Development

Action Strategy 2: Quality Growth Partnership Initiative

Action Strategy 3: Targeted Infrastructure Investment Initiative

Action Strategy 4: Sustainable Land Use and Development Initiative

Action Strategy 5: Target Industry Competitiveness Program

Action Strategy 6: Regional Downtown Revitalization Initiative

Action Strategy 7: Regional Tourism Infrastructure Competitiveness Project

Action Strategy 8: Public Service Innovation Center

Action Strategy 9: Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Infrastructure Finance Authority

Action Strategy 10: Pennsylvania Fund for Governmental Innovation (PFGI)

VI. Summary

VI. Appendices

I. Purpose and Background

The Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Action Plan (NWP-RAP) creates a strategic direction for the future development of the Northwest Pennsylvania region.

At the heart of the RAP is a set of strategic priorities, if adequately invested in by the public and private sectors, will help re-position the region and its counties for stronger sustainable economic development in the future.

The NWP-RAP is a direct response to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s request that such a plan be put into place in each of the Commonwealth’s regions to:

  • Increase economic prosperity.
  • Promote orderly and fiscally responsible development.
  • Respect the environment.
  • Conserve natural, historic, rural, and recreational resources.


While many priorities are considered important to facilitating regional economic development, State officials have expressed a special interest in working with its regional partners in advancing land use and transportation resources for economic development. Each has a major influence on the quality and spatial pattern of development occurring in regions. Each represents an opportunity to re-shape development patterns within Northwest Pennsylvania.

A. Pennsylvania’s Statewide Action Plan: An Overview

At the onset of this plan document, it is important to review the background leading up to Pennsylvania’s Regional Action Plan (RAP) Initiative.

In May 2003, the secretaries of four state agencies [Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) and Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED)] hosted a Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development. Invited participants included economic development professionals, state agency representatives, planners, and municipal officials, as well as business, civic, and community organization leaders.

The Northwest Pennsylvania RAP will be consistent with the State’s Action Plan, which grew out of the 2003 statewide conference.[1] The following primary goals supporting sustainable development and conservation are identified in the State’s Action Plan, which provides an integrative framework for the Regional Action Plans (RAPs) being developed across the Pennsylvania:

  • Retain and attract a young, diverse, educated workforce by the quality of economic opportunity and the quality of life offered in Pennsylvania’s varied communities.
  • Revitalize Pennsylvania’s many cities and towns through incentives for public and private investments in economic development, infrastructure, housing, environmental protection, natural and historic resources, and recreational enrichment.
  • Reuse “brownfield” and previously developed sites in urban and rural communities for economic activity that creates jobs as well as housing, mixed use development, and recreational assets.
  • Promote new infill development in and around cities, boroughs, and villages, using and improving existing infrastructure, and fostering well-designed, walkable, bikeable communities that offer healthy life style opportunities for Pennsylvania residents.
  • Direct public investments toward meaningful projects, designed in scale and scope to have lasting positive impacts on local economies and quality of life.
  • Grow our rural economy and conserve rural lands for agriculture, extractive industries, timbering, recreation and tourism, as well as for our tradition of rural living.
  • Plan for and promote the present and future economic viability of agriculture, and permanently preserve productive agricultural land through conservation easement programs.
  • Conserve the Commonwealth’s watersheds and natural resource areas for ecological health and wildlife habitat.
  • Maintain and improve recreational infrastructure throughout the Commonwealth, including state parks, forests, greenways, fishing and boating areas, and game lands offering recreational opportunities for Pennsylvanians and tourists.
  • Preserve Pennsylvania’s exceptional heritage – its archaeological and historic sites, buildings, and communities for our citizens, tourists, and future generations.
  • Reduce sprawl and conserve public and private fiscal resources.

Five implementation themes flow from these priorities and give focus to the State’s Action Plan:

  • Agency Coordination: Improve coordination of Commonwealth agencies’ policies, funding and actions relating to economic development, transportation, conservation and land use.
  • Planning, Program and Project Delivery: Improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transportation and comprehensive planning, programs, project development, review and approval by Commonwealth agencies.
  • Investment/Leverage: Provide counties and local governments with funding and incentives to achieve mutual economic development, transportation, conservation and land use goals.
  • Intergovernmental Partnerships: Strengthen collaborative processes between and among counties, local governments, state agencies and private sector organizations in order to achieve a more coordinated approach to economic development, transportation, conservation and land use at all levels of government, more efficient municipal service delivery and maximum use of available resources.
  • Education: Provide comprehensive educational and technical assistance programs to various audiences in order to further the Commonwealth’s development and conservation goals.

B. Building upon Northwest Pennsylvania’s Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development

Following the statewide conference, the Northwest Commission organized a Regional Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development, which was held on May 18, 2005 in Meadville.

The conference was helpful in defining a regional development vision for Northwest Pennsylvania and in setting priorities in achieving this vision.

Vision Statement

When envisioning the region twenty years in the future, regional conference participants agreed that the region must strive for a balanced, diverse economy. A first step is to establish a coordinated, cooperative regional strategy, one that incorporates smart growth and that ties infrastructure—transportation, communication, and public works systems—to development.

At its best, the Northwest Pennsylvaniaregion will have:

  • A business-friendly environment, facilitated by equitable tax structures, a well trained workforce, modern infrastructure, and a regional commitment to entrepreneurship.
  • Attractive employment opportunities to support a diverse workforce and educational offerings that continue to support innovative workforce development and worker (youth) retention.
  • Multi-modal transportation systems, including public mass transit, readily moving people and goods throughout the region and beyond.
  • Preserved green spaces and open lands (both public and private), the result of coordinated land use planning that seeks to reuse and recycle previously developed land.
  • Thriving cities and smaller municipalities, with revitalize downtowns, secure neighborhoods, and a strong sense of community pride.
  • Vibrant farming communities, producing commodities that reach more markets.
  • Enhanced cultural, historic, and recreational resources that re-enforce the region’s identity as a tourist destination.
  • A reputation as a leader in regional cooperation and coordination, with an emphasis on smart growth that enhances the quality of life for all of the region’s residents.

Strategic Objectives

Six objectives received the greatest support at the RAP Conference in Meadville:

  • Identify regional priorities, incorporating a focused process for securing government funding for related actions.
  • Develop a long-term regional marketing plan.
  • Implement smart growth concepts.
  • Establish investment criteria for public investments to ensure return on investment (ROI).
  • Encourage the involvement of the private sector in all economic development activities (planning through implementation).
  • Focus on local communities’ needs for strengthening and developing strong communities.

Nine other objectives received some support at the regional conference. These were:

  • Coordinate land use, transportation, and economic development horizontally (interaction among state agencies) and vertically (intra and inter-regionally).
  • Assess existing resources. Use benchmarks to make better use of government money.
  • Ensure that infrastructure development is concurrent with new development.
  • Encourage locals to implement county plans to facilitate proactive zoning.
  • Establish greater cooperation between post-secondary education and the public and private sectors.
  • Retain youth through education.
  • Strengthen the region’s small businesses.
  • Change local municipalities planning code (MPC) so that county plans have more “teeth.”
  • Make Pennsylvania’s tax structure more competitive.

This plan builds upon the major inputs received at the earlier regional conference.

C. Overview of the RAP Planning Process

Following the regional conference, the Northwest Commission and its partners launched the formal planning process to develop a RAP for Northwest Pennsylvania.

A Steering Committee, comprised of key public and private sector stakeholder interests across the region, was formed.

The Commission then hired Donald T. Iannone & Associates, a strategic planning and organization development consulting firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, to facilitate the planning process and help prepare the RAP document.

Since late last fall, the following action steps have been taken toward developing the Northwest Pennsylvania RAP:

  • Key background reports have been reviewed and their salient conclusions and recommendations have been drawn into the RAP.
  • Focus groups have been conducted with the major stakeholder groups within the region (elected officials/local government representatives, planners, economic developers, infrastructure and utility service providers, state government representatives, and tourism specialists.
  • Meetings have been held with the RAP Steering Committee to review findings and receive inputs of the plan direction.
  • With the input of the Steering Committee, the top priorities for the RAP have been identified and actions steps to achieve them have been defined.
  • Best practices from comparable regions have been identified and analyzed.
  • The plan document has been written for review by the Steering Committee and key representatives from state government.

II. Existing Conditions Review

A. Introduction

Several earlier plans and studies shed light on land use, transportation, and economic development issues and trends in Northwest Pennsylvania. Relevant conclusions and recommendations of these reports are discussed in two groups in this section: state-level studies and plans and various plans and studies focused specifically on Northwest Pennsylvania.

Reports reviewed in preparation of the Northwest Pennsylvania RAP include:

State-Level Reports Reviewed:

  • Action Plan Resulting from the 2003 Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development, by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, February 2004.
  • Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania, by the Brookings Institution, 2003.
  • State Planning Board Report on Improving Governance, Land Use, and Transportation to Support Economic Development, PennsylvaniaState Planning Board, May 2006.
  • Keystone Principles for Growth, Investment and Resource Conservation, by the Governor’s Economic Development Cabinet, October 2006.
  • Investing in Our Future: Addressing Pennsylvania’s Transportation Funding Crisis, by the Pennsylvania Transportation Funding and Reform Commission, August 2006.
  • Action Plan for Investing in a New Pennsylvania: Identifying Opportunities for Pennsylvania to Compete in the Global Economy, by IBM Business Consulting Services, October 2005.
  • Growth, Economic Development, and Local Government Structure in Pennsylvania, by Wendell Cox Consultancy for the PennsylvaniaState Association of Township Supervisors, June 2005.

Regional Reports Reviewed:

  • Report from the Regional Conference on Transportation and Land Use for Economic Development, by the Northwest Commission, June 2006.
  • Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Update for Northwest Pennsylvania, by the Northwest Commission, June 2004.
  • A Recreation Plan for the State Parks and State Forests in the Pennsylvania Wilds, Executive Summary, by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, May 2006.
  • Long-Range Transportation Plan for Clarion, Crawford, forest, Venango, and WarrenCounties, 2005-2025, by the Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission.
  • Building a New Competitive Advantage for Northwest Pennsylvania: A Strategic Action Plan for the Northwest Commission, by the Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission.
  • Target Industry Report Series, Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, by Carter-Burgess, June 2004.
  • Broadband Study and Action Plan for CONNECT NW PA, by Spots, Stevens, and McCoy, Inc., December 2003.
  • Intermodal Feasibility Study, Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, by Linare Consulting, June 2003.
  • Infrastructure Needs Inventory, Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, by Richard A. Deiss & Associates, February 2003.
  • Industrial Land Absorption Study: Keystone Opportunity Zones in Northwest Pennsylvania, Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, by S. Patz and Associates, Inc., March 2002.
  • Strategy and Action Plan for Economic Development (Bosworth Report), Northwest Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission, by FutureWorks, October 2002.

B. State-Level Reports

Several state-level reports are important in understanding the key issues shaping the overall competitiveness of the Commonwealth and its ability to innovate and prosper in the future. State business climate issues have long been seen as impediments to local and regional economic development across Pennsylvania. Unless the state’s economic development climate improves, development in all of the state’s sub-state regions will be constrained.

State Action Plan

The major conclusions of the State’s Action Plan on Land Use, Transportation and Economic Development provide the starting point for this review. Because of their importance, these were discussed at the very beginning of this report in Chapter 1.

Because of the controversial nature of the issues at hand, DTIA has added some guiding commentary on some of the major recommendations made by earlier study reports and plans.

Brookings’ Back to Prosperity Report

In 2003, the Brookings Institution prepared a stage-setting report for Pennsylvania officials called Back to Prosperity. The report was influential in encouraging state officials to explore ways to move to a more sustainable path to economic development; one that centers on reducing sprawl and using state and regional resources more productively to growth the state’s regional economies.

The report starts “Pennsylvania’s cities, towns, and older suburbs are declining as the state sprawls. Pennsylvania’s economy is drifting as it responds incoherently to continued industrial restructuring. The report concludes that state investment policies have a driving impact on the spatial pattern of development occurring within its various economic regions.

Five state policy responses were recommended in the Brookings report:

  • Plan for a more competitive, higher-quality future. Planning was seen as a major weakness at the state and local levels. (DTIA Comment: Public planning tends to be minimized in Pennsylvania and many other states because it is often seen as a threat to political control by public sector officials. Also, in many cases, the general public does not see the value of planning in representing its interests. Citizens often do not want planning to usurp their “perceived” freedom to act. As a general observation, DTIA believes the level and quality of public planning across Pennsylvania should be grown. As Brookings rightly points out: Pennsylvania and its regions do not currently have control of their own destinies and planning will help them achieve greater future control over their development.)
  • Focus the state’s investments. The state’s investments in infrastructure, education and other resources was viewed as uncoordinated and a source of inconsistency in how communities and regions develop across the state. (DTIA Comment: This is a worthwhile policy for the state to undertake. To be successful though, regions must be encouraged to set priorities and work collaboratively with the state in deciding which investments will be made.)
  • Invest in a high-road economy. Brookings encouraged state officials to invest in initiatives and resources that would foster better alignment of the state’s economy with national and global economic trends. A stronger emphasis on education and skills was recommended by Brookings researchers. (DTIA Comment: This is a very important recommendation
  • Promote large-scale reinvestment in older urban areas. Brookings encouraged Pennsylvania officials to accelerate and strengthen brownfield redevelopment and land recovery and reused. Greater attention to revitalization of existing developed areas was suggested.
  • Finally, Back to Prosperity said that state officials should renew and streamline state and local governance. In general, Pennsylvania’s tradition of more governmental units, the better was put into question. Brookings officials questioned whether the current state and local government system found in Pennsylvania could undertake the investments and planning need to put the state’s economy back on its feet.

PennsylvaniaTownship Supervisors Report