The Regional Plan Association recently released its blueprint for future growth of the New York metro area. Thoughtful and forwarding thinking, this 379 page study about what the New York metro area could become with proper investment, is both comprehensive and exciting.

New leadership is about to take over in Nassau County and the Town of Hempstead, and there are literally countless opportunities to transform our community.
Over the last few months, I’ve visited several cities throughout the United States and Canada.

Whenever I travel, I make a point to take at least half a day to rent a bicycle or take a long brisk walk to navigate the landscape, meet with locals, and find out what’s working and what’s not.

My recent travels have taken me to Greenville, S.C.; Winston-Salem and Charlotte N.C.; Pittsburgh, Penn.; Salt Lake City, Utah; San Diego and Los Angeles, Calif.; Portland, Ore., and Toronto.
In Los Angeles, I got stuck in suffocating traffic and had no viable alternative to get to any destination because of poor public transportation. Most of the people I spoke to complained about how long it takes to get anywhere, and about the brown hazy smog that blankets the city.

There were few cranes dotting the skyline. Sound familiar?
The communities that are thriving embrace creativity and development, and they leverage the infrastructure already in place. The Greenville, S.C., metro area has attracted corporate giants such as BMW and Michelin Tires.

Around these corporations, a small and vibrant city with an amazing art scene has literally risen from the ashes.

In Winston-Salem, a monstrous old Phillip Morris cigarette plant has been repurposed into Wake Forest University’s Medical School, and with it, a formerly moribund downtown has been resuscitated.

The day I was there, I witnessed 500 people doing group yoga in a small park next to the medical school. Nothing like this is currently happening in Nassau.
Portland, Ore., has become one of the largest destinations for millennials in the country, despite its high state income tax.

One reason for Portland’s incredible growth is the city government’s reputation for a speedy approval process, which usually grants building permits within one year of application.

Pittsburgh, once a wasteland of bankrupt steel plants, is now arguably the coolest city in America.

In Pittsburgh, Google has invested heavily in research for the self-driving automobile, and there is a bidding war for talent in this part of the auto industry.

As a result, affiliated startup tech companies are moving to Pittsburgh in droves. This is something unheard of on Long Island.
San Diego and Salt Lake City have an active life style that complements their city’s topography. Biking (with miles of bike lanes), hiking and watersports are all part of daily life.

In Toronto, a vibrant mid-size city with excellent public transportation, residents have a running joke: There are two seasons, winter and construction. Known as an affordable and dynamic place to go to college, American high school students are making Toronto’s universities an increasing part of their application process.
With all these examples of cities that thrive, why does Nassau County continue to flounder? For starters, it shouldn’t have taken decades for a third track on the LIRR to get approved. Nor should it take decades to develop Glen Cove’s waterfront, the village of Hempstead or the old Cerro Wire site in Syosset.

Nassau has plenty of its own assets to boast about, and our leaders need to do a better job of leveraging them.

Here are five suggestions for regional planning and economic growth:

1. Fast track the permit approval process for residential and commercial construction, especially around train stations across all municipalities.

A countywide database should be created where municipalities highlight which lots they want developed. Money is fungible, and developers go where they can deploy capital.

2. Allow zoning for regionally themed pop up stores to fill vacant strip malls and downtowns. Long Island’s 40-plus wineries can quickly create tasting rooms in Great Neck along Middle Neck Road.

A rotation of seasonal pop up food stalls throughout Mineola would attract millennials. In the village of Hempstead, weekend pop up art galleries would bring a cool vibe to a once thriving downtown.

3. Create annual Nassau County wide sports tourneys and invite all of New York State to participate.

Teams from all 62 counties could enter to create NCAA style tournaments in basketball, softball, tennis, beach volleyball, fishing, etc. How about an annual 100-mile bike race the length of the Long Island Expressway and back?

We are only limited by our imagination on how we leverage our natural assets.

4. Use the vacant land around the Nassau Coliseum to create a research hub for our county’s largest employer, healthcare. Bring in Hofstra to partner in the process.

Retrofit the Coliseum so the Islanders can play in their rightful home. Build a small convention center to attract conferences. Create a monorail link from the Nassau Coliseum to Hempstead and/or Mineola train stations to bypass the traffic.

5-Create a same day, four-hour, delivery service on behalf of Nassau County retail businesses. This will fight back against Amazon’s destruction of local retail businesses, and raise much needed sales tax revenue by keeping commerce local.

These are definitely exciting times for our community. If new political leadership forges a new path and plans for the future, just as the RPA is planning for the New York metro region, Nassau County’s best days will lay ahead. To read a summary of RPA’s vision, go to the following link: http://library.rpa.org/pdf/RPA-4RP-Executive-Summary.pdf