for its library, and reflect the findings in its continuing planning effort, and suggest future research needs. An additional but periodic responsibility might be disaster relief. Periodic catastrophes cause a marshaling of agencies to provide immediate relief and later reconstruction. No budgeting is possible for either this service or the one outlined above, with the possible exception of the library reference function which is covered by figures given in the overhead. Miscellaneous.-Doubtless many additional subjects will emerge periodically for agency response. Proposed State or municipal tax reforms, spot zoning issues other than those covered under other sections, preservation of historic or cultural amenities, special recreation or cultural proposals, and a host of other issues great and small will be directed toward the agency not necessarily because of their metropolitan significance, so much as to find a convenient arbiter for a controversial issue. The agency should be protected by its enabling legislation to field these outside issues at their discretion irrespective of the initiating petitioners, Federal, State, local, or private. It would be the responsibility of the director to orchestrate these extraneous issues in a manner intended to cement the planning body's position as a positive force guiding development. Cost and personnel requirements implied by these "brush fire" reviews must be carried out of overhead. NOTE. It should be apparent that these recommendations concerning agency responsibility leave a large discretionary area to the person or persons responsible for its conduct and institutional survival. Although the enabling legislation can include reasonable assurances of continuation regardless of the abilities of the agency's director and his appointed staff, the influence of the organization in metropolitan development must remain a function of the institution's ability as promoted by its staff. SUMMARY OF FUNCTIONAL ASPECTS The generous data requirements and ample training of a staff as herein proposed connote higher agency costs than are usual at the present time. However, the program outlined is intended for an agency serving a metropolitan area of about 1 or 2 million inhabitants and one entrusted with many responsibilities suggested in the several noted acts. As such, costs could be reduced by about 30 to 50 percent for smaller areas and increased proportionally for larger ones. Even in the formative years of a larger agency, the recommended program probably would constitute a minimum starting point. Before summarizing, collating, and emendating the duties outlined in earlier sections, a word should be expressed concerning the overhead of a metropolitan agency during its first year of operation. Either the first year's budget will have to be supplemented for initial establishing expenses or the agency's effective years will have to be postponed. Space redecoration, furniture, office supplies and equipment, special professional equipment, and staff acquisition expenses will all fall due during the first year. Grouped below are the functional aspects subject to the varying reviews and types of services a metropolitan agency might provide. It will be noted that particular attention is devoted to major transportation arteries, housing and urban renewal programs affecting the density distribution of the area's population, major employment centers, and parks and open spaces serving the entire area. ACTION REQUIRED Review, with required response Location of public and private air, sea, rail, and rapid transit lines, truck terminals, interstate highways, major arterials, commuter rail lines, and parking facilities. Design of all above mentioned facilities plus systems of minor arterials and feeders surface systems. Local controls over land use (zoning, subdivision regulations, housing codes). The workable programs and community renewal programs, urban renewal projects, public housing programs and projects, and comprehensive plans, relocation programs, and housing targets. Proposed location, size, and use of historic parks and major outdoor recreation facilities. Plans relating to trash disposal facilities (dumps and incinerators) and sewage disposal plants. Review, response requested Standards governing minor arterials, land access streets, commuter rail and mass transit operations, parking facilities. The plans for the factors listed above. Local sanitary and building codes and the programs governing their use. Major private recreation facilities such as marinas and amusement parks. Local schools need estimates and comprehensive plans including college expansion plans. Referral for the agency's information Local and regional operating agency capital expenditures for all major facilities. Major private construction plans as made known to local communities (semipublic institutions, commercial and industrial developments, major subdivisions). Changes in the operation of, or abandonment of, airport, bus, and rail terminals. Local housing quality surveys, market analyses, and code enforcement programs. Industrial, business, commercial location plans, development efforts, and performing indexes. Municipal and operating agency budget data. The project plans, research findings, and needs estimates of all regional functions agencies (transportation, water, sewer, parks, etc.). Specific metropolitan planning agency actions Prepare comprehensive plan, based on population and employment projections prepared for general use by all metropolitan area agencies, open spaces and transportation proposals.1 12 Oversee mass transit experiments or loans by preparing valid measures of effectiveness. Suggest adjustments in local comprehensive plans to accommodate accepted functional plans. 12 Special attention should be given to metropolitan land utilization and housing market studies, including detailed studies of minority group housing, as the basis for the plan. Collate functional development plans. Conduct, or supervise, special studies within its competence including the effectiveness of public controls. Act as a clearinghouse for research grants and information for such items as excavation and fill requirements for local construction projects. Metropolitan planning agency suggests standards and model codes and ordinances (derived through cooperation with interested operating agencies and interest groups) Limited access and major arterial highway design. Housing codes, enforcement programs, market and needs survey, and "fair housing" practices. Overall local and regional recreation standards as well as those for individual facilities. Water purification, pipe and reservoir location. Irrigation and drainage location and operating standards. Sewer standards governing needs estimates and location criteria for main trunks and collectors. Dump and incinerator management. Industrial and private air pollution controls. School location criteria, possible relation of school yards to local recreation programs, suggested consolidations. Municipal financial reporting so that the accounts are more uniform for meaningful economic analyses. Information provided by the metropolitan planning agency (specific level of detail listed in section on data requirements) Current population estimates and predictions, including relevant characteristics and physical distribution. Current economic activity and predictions of employment, unemployment, productivity, capital formation, etc., including possible physical distribution. Current and projected land use data in at least 12 categories and showing transportation facilities. (These projects should include categorical estimates of future land use demands.) Predicted housing requirements by broad analysis of area, unit size, and approximate shelter-rent equivalents. Recreation requirements and means of securing additional open space. NOTE.-Most of this information might be supplied through a monthly periodical and special reports in occasional papers. DATA REQUIRED FOR EFFECTIVE METROPOLITAN PLANNING AGENCY FUNCTIONING (1) General-Demographic statistics.-Trends in total population, age-sex composition age, specific birth, death and migration rates, family and household composition and size, income, educational attainments, and labor skills. Land use data.-Trends in land use and values in 12 or more categories showing day and nighttime densities. 13 13 Many more illustrative indices can be included in this category, including land value profiles, rent yields, building coverage, etc. Geographic data covering micro- and macroclimatology, soils, land cover, geology (including core borings where available). Trends in economic data covering: Employment and labor force by industry (Standard Industrial Classifications of the U.S. Department of Commerce) 3 digit or equivalent. Unemployment by labor skills and selected demographic characteristics. Floor space and land area required. Capital formation by industry and source. Productivity by industry. Origin and destination of labor, raw materials and finished products (by value, bulk, and weight) by industry. Disposable income and consumer expenditure patterns. Municipal and major functional agency operating and capital budgets, bond ratings, and outstanding debts. Parallel National and State economic trends. (2) By functional categories-Transportation.-Location, capacity, use, user costs of all major facilities. Origin and destination of all persons and goods trips for an average day. Trip generation by anticipated mode by class of land use. Consumer preferences by mode. New technology. Private and public investment plans by mode. Housing: Family and household formations by size, composition, race, income, tenure preference. Existing housing conditions and occupance by age, condition, shelter rent, size, ownership. Building permits for new construction, repairs and alterations, and demolition for size, value, and location. Estimates of illegal alterations by size, value, location. Current vacancy and turnover rates by size, value, tenure, ownership, location, condition, and length of vacancy. Mortgage recordings by terms and characteristics of mortgagee and structure. Recreation and open space Location, capacity, use, user charges, and governing standards of all public and private regional recreation facilities. Public programs and anticipated acquisitions of open space. Sewer, water, irrigation Microclimatology, soil conditions, water tables, land cover. Location, capacity, use condition, remaining service life, and unit construction and operating costs for all facilities listed in previous sections. Schools Demographic data covering potential demands for both public and private elementary and secondary schools. Enrollment trends for public schools. School district and jurisdictional boundaries for both public and private schools. State evaluations of all schools potentially eligible for consolidation. State and local school standards and plans for junior and senior high schools, special schools, and community colleges. Approximate unit construction and operating costs. Hospitals, museums, stadiums, welfare facilities Location, condition, capacity, remaining service life, use, user changes, unit construction, and operating standards and costs. Waste disposal facilities Location, etc., for all facilities serving more than one community. Other Additional data series, such as boundaries of fire districts or the need for police training schools may become necessary as the tasks allotted to the metropolitan planning agency proliferate. NOTE. The agency should try to develop means of collecting, collating, and storing its data so that it can be referred to readily and is similar over time. Card, tape, or microfilm storage would be useful. Staff requirements: Director (no extraordinary educational requirements, but rather an experienced person of professional analytic ability with a grasp of policy formulation, the capacity to communicate complex ideas, and political sensibility. He should be paid an amount equal to, or greater than, the director of the central city planning agency and should be an appointed official). Assistant director (same as above with less salary). Chief transportation specialist (Ph. D. in transportation planning or equivalent training and experience). Chief housing specialist (Ph. D. in housing economics or equivalent). Chief economist (Ph. D. in economics or regional science or equivalent). Chief demographer (Ph. D. in demography or equivalent). Chief land use planner (Ph. D. in planning or M.C.P. and substantial experience). One lawyer (LL.B. and M.C.P.). Six assistants for above with appropriate professional degrees and 4 or more years of experience. One educational specialist (M. Ed. and 4 years). One recreation specialist (M.C.P. or equivalent and 4). Three to five general planners to be assigned where needed (M.C.P. or M.R.P. or equivalent; at least two should be competent statisticians and one should serve as librarian). Two draftsmen. Five secretaries. Total budget for personnel, $190,000; 30 percent for overhead, $57,000; total, $247,000. NOTE.-Approximately $10,000 would be required for initial expenses in estab lishment. Once again, this discussion of responsibilities, data, and staff requirements is an ideal situation. It assumes that the staff will have the highest professional qualifications, be served by a sufficient budget, |