Connect the dots for effective change ...

"A new study has identified a sea of parking lots and vacant space in Long Island’s downtowns, land whose development could bring about the downtown renaissance many locals and politicians have been asking for.

The Long Island Index 2010, a nearly 40-page report by the Regional Plan Association released Thursday, identified 8,300 acres within a half mile of downtown centers as ripe for redevelopment, including more than 4,000 acres of parking lots."

Another potentially useful study in a sea of potentially useful studies divorced from one another.

Until and unless Long Island commits to a dynamic, flexible uniform method of data collection and analysis (common language project) it will be very difficult to reach a consensus on anything of sustainable value.

No one group has all the answers. We handicap ourselves by not working collaboratively and by not reaching out effectively to all Long Island residents.

There is still too much of the "protecting my own turf" mentality from organizations and entities of all types.

There is a basic lack of trust in the populous which can only be overcome by approaching the problem differently. "One Long Island" is a suggested method of doing so.