Regional Problem Solving in Action : Lessons from the Greater Bear Creek Valley RPS Process

Throughout North America, regional planning is hampered by policy disagreements, parochial jealousies, and personality clashes. These differences are especially pronounced and difficult in a system in which coordinated planning is required. The possibility that these differences may thwart regional planning and action require consideration of methods other than ipse dixit to encourage parties to set aside their differences and collaborate in achieving mutual goals. The Regional Problem Solving (“RPS”) Process provided for under Oregon statutory law and its application in the Jackson County area (around Medford) of Southern Oregon provides one example as to how such collaboration can work.Jackson County is politically, socially and economically diverse. Its urban areas include Medford, the economic hub of the region and Ashland, with its Shakespeare Festival and Southern Oregon University, and surrounding areas in which farm and forest uses predominate and which tend to be less affluent and more conservative. These differences are especially apparent in attitudes towards land use planning, with the cities more prone to long range planning and the countryside more libertarian.The paper will trace the origins of the RPS process from the political promise of a gubernatorial candidate to the passage of legislation which was used to bring forward a 50-year plan that had unanimous support of all eight jurisdictions and the promise this process has for planning elsewhere in North America