Abstract
This presentation describes the Rural Information Technology Demonstration Project, which markets rural industrial sites, developable residential land, and tourism/recreation facilities on the Web. The project's GIS-enhanced Web pages provide detailed site assessments for 107 industrial sites and 205 developable residential properties located throughout the Douglas County, OR. Industrial and residential sites are depicted with parcel orientation maps, development constraints and zoning maps, infrastructure maps, and orthophoto-based site maps. Pop-up windows contain descriptive text for each parcel. The project's tourism/recreation Web pages contain virtual tours of Douglas County featuring GPS-linked photos and hot links to individual attractions.
Introduction
Douglas County, in southwestern Oregon, is still economically dependent upon declining resource extraction industries. Historically, the economic engine of the county has been logging of the vast federal forest lands within the boundaries of Douglas County, and associated sawmill operations. Timber sales on federal lands declined sharply in the wake of the Spotted Owl controversy of the early 1990s, and the economic impacts of this decline reverberated throughout the region. To turn the tide, Douglas County is attempting to diversify its economy - primarily through the attraction of new manufacturing industries, promotion of tourism, and (to some extent) housing development.
In 1997, USDA Rural Development awarded a grant to Umpqua Regional Council of Governments to fund UR-COG's Rural Information Technology Demonstration Project. The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the use of Geographic Information Systems and the Internet to market rural communities to relocating or expanding companies, housing developers, and tourists nationwide. In the process, the project helped to build local information systems capacity; educate community leaders about cutting-edge information technologies; and boost local economic development strategies with a powerful new community marketing tool.
Project Overview
The project essentially leveraged telecommunication and geographic information system (GIS) technologies to assist participating communities in 1) identifying economic development opportunities, 2) characterizing and depicting the opportunities, and 3) publicizing the existence of these opportunities on the World Wide Web in a manner that stimulates inquiries and achieves results.
The Rural Information Technology Demonstration Project had two phases. The first phase showcased the power of GIS to the participating rural communities of Douglas County. It involved creating an extensive geographic database that includes many types of "mappable" information: roads, zoning, digital orthophotos, utilities, streams, elevation, soil types, parcel boundaries, steep slopes, floodplains, commercial & industrial properties, etc. An ArcView GIS system was established (from scratch) to house the geographic database, which was then used to develop high-quality maps and graphics that depict economic development opportunities located throughout Douglas County. The second phase involved designing World Wide Web pages which incorporate the maps and graphics - along with text and photos - into a complete, computer-accessible marketing package.
The Web pages are designed to stimulate local job creation by promoting land development, new business investment, and tourism. The Web sites orient users with locator maps, and allow them to access detailed information on the area based on their interests. For example, a local or regional housing developer can select a path that provides several regional maps of vacant or mostly vacant residential land in the county. This developer can then click on a property of interest and get a map showing zoning, development constraints, infrastructure, or an aerial photo of the site. The developer can then click on a button to pull up a new window containing a variety of detailed information on the properties. Although no ownership or value information is included, the information provided will help developers to evaluate different potential sites for new housing.
A company looking to relocate to the Pacific Northwest can find similar maps, aerial photos, and other information on Douglas County's industrial lands. On the other hand, a family planning a vacation to Oregon can point and click their way to information on Douglas County's visitor attractions, lodging, entertainment, historic places, campgrounds, and vast natural amenities. The project Web sites are being linked to other sites on the World Wide Web to increase their usefulness and reach.
Project Outcomes
The Rural Information Technology Demonstration Project's GIS-enhanced Web pages provide industrial users with a detailed preliminary site assessment of over 100 industrial sites located throughout Douglas County, Oregon. Each industrial site can be viewed through several different maps: A parcel orientation map, a development constraints and zoning map, an infrastructure map, and an orthophoto-based site map. Pop-up windows contain descriptive text for each industrial parcel. Similar site assessment information is provided for 200 developable residential properties in the Housing Development Opportunities Web pages. The tourism Web pages contain virtual tours of Douglas County, complete with GPS-linked photos and links to individual attractions. In all, over 1,000 Web pages make up the project Web sites.
Umpqua Regional Council of Governments is now entering the final stage of the project: Evaluation & Reporting. A project Evaluation Report will be completed in 2000 for distribution to Rural Development, the Forest Service, interested economic development agencies, key project participants, and other organizations. The report may also be published online at the Council of Governments' home page in .pdf format.
Umpqua Regional Council of Governments' Rural Information Technology Demonstration Project won a national award from the American Planning Association in April 2000 for "outstanding rural planning project". The project was recognized as a significant example of how rural communities across the country can creatively use information technology to help "level the playing field" with big cities when it comes to local economic development.
To learn more about this project, click the INFORMATION button on any of the project's Web pages and complete the Information Request Form - or call Eric Fladager at (541) 440-4231. Visit the industrial, housing, and tourism Web sites at the following addresses:
http://www.ur-cog.cog.or.us/industrial
http://www.ur-cog.cog.or.us/residential
http://www.ur-cog.cog.or.us/tourism
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the contributions of the participating agencies:
USDA Rural Business-Cooperative Service (Rural Development)
USDA Forest Service
Douglas County, OR
Coos Curry Douglas Business Development Corporation
Douglas County Industrial Development Board
City of Canyonville
City of Drain
City of Elkton
City of Glendale
City of Myrtle Creek
City of Oakland
City of Reedsport
City of Riddle
City of Roseburg
City of Sutherlin
City of Winston
City of Yoncalla
Port of Umpqua
And the Umpqua Regional Council of Governments staff that contributed to this project:
Stacey MacDonald
Chuck Perino
Jason Lien
Author Information
Eric Fladager
Senior Planner
Umpqua Regional Council of Governments
1036 SE Douglas Avenue, Suite 8
Roseburg, OR 97470 USA
Phone: (541) 440-4231
Fax: (541) 440-6252
Email: ejfladag@ur-cog.cog.or.us
Chris Wayne
Esri, Inc.
Olympia Regional Office
Olympia, WA 98501-1099 USA
Phone: (360) 754-4727
Fax: (360) 943-6910
Email: cwayne@Esri.com