Valley Futures Forum: "A New Perspective on Ag Land in the San Joaquin Valley" on January 20

A New Perspective on Agricultural Land in the San Joaquin Valley with Ed Thompson, American Farmland Trust

American Farmland Trust has been working with the Information Center for the Environment at U.C. Davis to map physical characteristics of agricultural land in the San Joaquin Valley as they relate to its future economic viability and pressures from urban and rural development. This information can help guide planners and officials as they do a rural "greenprint" to complement the region's Blueprint for urban growth. This will be the first presentation of the maps and data from this project.

January 20, 2011
5:00 - 6:45 pm

Great Valley Center
Community Room
201 Needham St.
Modesto, CA

Fee for the Forum: $10 (payable at the door)

For more information, please visit our new website at www.valleyfuturesforum.org or email nuplanner@gmail.com

About Edward Thompson:
Since 2003, Edward Thompson, Jr., has been California Director of American Farmland Trust, a national conservation organization he has also served as general counsel, policy director and senior vice president. He is the author of several groundbreaking publications on California agriculture, including Alternatives for Future Urban Growth in California’s Central Valley: The Bottom Line for Agriculture and Taxpayers; Water Policy and Farmland Protection: A New Approach to Saving California’s Best Agricultural Lands (with Marc Reisner); and, most recently, California Agricultural Vision: Strategies for Sustainability. He earned his B.A. in government from Cornell and a J.D. from George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C.

About the Valley Futures Forum (VFF):
The VFF is a dynamic conversation on development issues in the San Joaquin Valley. The VFF is held on the third Thursday of each month at 5:00pm, from January through November.

The VFF is presented by:
American Planning Association, Central Section; Building Industry Association of Central California; Congress for the New Urbanism, NorCal Chapter; Great Valley Center; Local Government Commission; Modesto Chamber of Commerce.

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Valley has 6 of nation's 10 metro areas with worst rate for joblessness

Modesto Bee
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
By Marijke Rowland

The San Joaquin Valley continues to be at the heart of the nation's unemployment problem.

A report released this week by the U.S. Labor Department shows that the valley accounts for six of the 10 metropolitan areas with the worst unemployment rates in the country.

The valley cities stretch from Stockton to Visalia-Porterville and also include Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Hanford-Corcoran.

Two other California metro areas also made the bottom 10: No. 1 El Centro in Imperial County and No. 2 Yuba City in Sutter County.

"It's one of those perfect storm situations," said University of California at Merced economics Professor Shawn Kantor. "So it will take a very long time for this area to recover."

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2011/01/05/1499504/valley-at-the-heart-of-the-problem.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz1AHaBV2cA

(Photo Credit: DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com)

San Joaquin Valley utilities and firms work to meet green energy mandates

Modesto Bee
Monday, January 3, 2011
By John Holland

The sun performed as promised at Jim Jasper's business near Newman.

He installed about 4,000 panels that capture solar energy for use in processing almonds at Stewart & Jasper Orchards. 

Jasper said he expects to save as much as $250,000 on his Pacific Gas & Electric Co. bill each year. But he said something else that gets to the crux of the renewable energy debate: 

"It doesn't pencil out without the subsidies."

Solar, wind and other renewable sources may have finally come of age, after four decades of promise from their promoters. But the technologies still tend to cost more than conventional sources such as hydroelectric, natural gas and coal.

The extra cost is covered in part by utility rate increases, including the one that took effect Saturday in the Modesto Irrigation District.

And the federal government helps with up to 30 percent of the cost with income tax credits for homes and businesses. Those lost taxes add to the national debt.

Advocates say renewable sources are worth the cost because they reduce the need for fossil fuels, which pollute the planet and mire the nation in messy foreign affairs.

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2011/01/02/1495066/green-energy-gets-real.html#ixzz1A67BL3CC

Season's Greetings & Holiday Open House Dec. 23

Dear Friends, 

We invite you to attend a Holiday Open House and Coffee.

This will be a time to connect with neighbors and friends of the Center and celebrate the season. Coffee and seasonal refreshments will be served.

Join Us

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Thursday, December 23
from 9:00 AM to 11:AM
at the Great Valley Center
201 Needham Street
Modesto, CA

For more information or to RSVP, call 209-522-5103.

Hope to see you next Thursday morning!

Watch our latest health documentary online

Digital Doctors: The Future of Health Care, a collaboration between the Great Valley Center and KVIE Public Television, is now available to watch online.

This half-hour program explores how technology and medical experts are teaming up and saving lives outside the traditional hospital or doctor's office.

The program is part of the Great Valley Center's Health Initiative, which aims to engage public dialog on issues impacting community health in the Central Valley. For more information or to RSVP for this event, click here.

Watch the full episode. See more ViewFinder.

The Great Valley Center's Health Initiative is made possible with funding from the California HealthCare Foundation.

Tulare County grew fastest in Valley

Visalia Times-Delta
Saturday, December 11, 2010
By Valerie Gibbons

Tulare County's population grew 1.3 percent last year, making it the fastest-growing county in the Valley — and among the fastest-growing in the state, state data released this week show.

The county added 5,796 people from July 1, 2009 to July 1, 2010, according to the California Department of Finance data.

Almost all of that increase this year — 95 percent — is a result of births within the county. State figures say 1,412 people moved into the county, while another 1,168 people left.

Those figures include all legal and illegal foreign immigrants, residents who left the state to live abroad and the balance of hundreds of people moving within the United States both to and from the county.

Nearby counties had similar growth rates, with Fresno County's population rising 0.9 percent, Kings County expanding 0.95 percent and Kern County's population going up 1.25 percent. Counties along the Valley floor grew much faster than other regions of California by percentage.

It's one of many recent surveys to find that the Valley clout may be rising across the state.

Those new population figures will play an important role in redistributing federal dollars within the state and redrawing legislative districts. If the population of the Valley is found to be larger than expected — and it might after an aggressive campaign by the U.S. Census Bureau to count under-represented groups last year — that could mean more money for local programs and more clout in Sacramento and Washington, D.C.
But those numbers may also be a mixed blessing.

"When it comes to transportation and infrastructure, the Valley isn't prepared for an increase in population," said Amy Moffat, the director of research and communications for the Great Valley Center, the Modesto-based nonprofit group that studies the Central Valley economy and demographics.

"If the economy comes back, this is really going to become an issue," she added. "Truck traffic on the highways will increase, more people will move here, there will be more children in the schools."

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Great Valley News: Fall 2010

Get your Fall update on all things GVC. Learn about the California Connects, our new digital literacy initiative, the migrant farmworker housing bus tour for GVC staff, a solar thermal energy company started by three UC Merced graduate students, our newest board member, a recap of the Sacramento Valley Forum, and updates on our leadership programs. 

Download Great Valley News: Fall 2010 →