Canada's Best Places to Invest

“Redevelopers, employers and real estate investors aren’t interested in what happened yesterday: the success of their investment will be determined by what happens tomorrow,” says Storm Cunningham, CEO of REVITALIZ LLC.

One way of predicting what will happen in any given community tomorrow is by measuring its renewal quotient (RQ). Much like knowing a person’s IQ (intelligence quotient) can provide some insight into how successful they might be, a community’s RQ gives some indication of how successful it will be.

RQ is really a measurement of a community’s renewal capacity. (See past StormWatch columns).The higher its RQ, the more likely it will turn investments that restore its natural and built assets into actual revitalization (defined as economic growth that boosts both environmental health and quality of life). Comparing the RQ of communities helps investors, redevelopers and public agencies determine which ones might yield the best return on investment.

Investing in assets alone won’t necessarily yield a high RQ. Many communities invest large sums in renewing their historic buildings, renovating their infrastructure, remediating their brownfields, and restoring their natural spaces, yet they still fail to revitalize.

Restorative efforts and investments need to be accompanied by a number of factors in order to add up to a healthy community in which to invest. The test we circulated to Canadian communities is based on a number of universal revitalization factors: principles and activities that always seem to be present in places that have experienced a sustained increase in their economy, their quality of life and their environmental health.

Below is an abbreviated version of the test we sent out to Canadian communities. More details about the jury’s selection process can be found here.

The test

Communities were asked a series of questions that measure RQ. The Renewal Quotient Quiz—upon which the Places To Invest reports are based—was developed by Storm Cunningham. It asks 13 questions, most of which are based on research Cunningham undertook for his 2008 book, reWealth (McGraw-Hill). That six-year study sought universal principles and practices that always seem to be a factor in revitalization successes. There are, of course, many other factors that can revitalize a place, but these were the ones that were applicable anywhere, at any time. To those seven universal factors, we added six more to form the 13 questions on this test.

The test is similar to Cunningham’s Renewal Quotient Quiz, which citizens can take online—the big difference is that this test requires documentation. Of course, a high RQ score isn’t expected to be a perfect forecast of a community’s future—but it will give employers and redevelopers some indication of a community’s likely future before hitching their own future to it.

The result of our call for applicants was a wealth of reports, newspaper articles, and lists of projects and activities from communities across Canada. Our jury weighed the submissions and gave each community a score. We then used those scores to find the top three, plus an honourable mention.

Here’s a highly abbreviated version of the test. For each question, applicants are required to indicate the degree to which each factor describes their community.

1. RENEWAL URGENCY Our citizens feel strongly motivated to boost our economy, enhance our quality of life, and improve our environmental health.
2. RENEWAL VISION Our community has a widely-shared, clearly-described vision of the characteristics we wish to add, delete, change, and preserve.
3. RENEWAL CULTURE Our community has revitalization-friendly policies, regulations, building codes, zoning, and incentives to attract and support desirable investors/ redevelopers.
4. RENEWAL PARTNERING We effectively partner with the private sector, and with other levels of government.
5. RENEWAL ENGINE We have a permanent public-private organization to initiate, accelerate, and/or perpetuate our revitalization.
6. ENGAGE vs. IGNORE We effectively engage all stakeholders in major public or private projects affecting our future.
7. INTEGRATION vs. ISOLATION We manage our natural, built, and socioeconomic environments in an integrated manner.
8. DEWEALTH vs. REWEALTH Our economic growth is based less on dewealth (developing raw land, demolishing historic buildings, depleting natural resources) and more on rewealth (redeveloping properties, renewing buildings, restoring natural resources).
9. RENEWAL LEADERSHIP Our leaders effectively and transparently promote rapid, resilient renewal and de-emphasize sprawl.
10. RENEWAL MOMENTUM Our community is already revitalizing. Our economy, quality of life, and environmental health have all been getting better in recent years.

Moving forward

“My overall observation is that [Canadian communities] have some work to do,” says David Rouse. Rouse found that many of the responses demonstrated a basic lack of understanding of the renewal rules and processes. “It’s not surprising that the cities with the largest populations had the most sophisticated responses,” he says.

But Rouse also sees a major opportunity for Canadian communities to rise to the challenge.

Canada is the first of a series of annual Best Places To Invest (PTI) reports that will be published worldwide. A publication partner is currently being recruited for the United States, which will be the next national PTI report. Canadian communities that didn’t learn about the Canada’s Best Places To Invest in time to submit an entry for this year’s competition should watch these pages. An invitation for the next Canada’s Best Places To Invest will appear in early 2011. Any local government agency or established non-profit institution is welcome to enter on behalf of its community.

Winners

For each question that was answered well—and backed up with supporting documentation—communities scored points. There were also some standouts. Ochs was impressed by certain applicants’ economic development programs, and even plans to use one city as a case study in a presentation he’ll be making to the Amherst Industrial Development Agency and town officials.

The top three communities are:

• Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Norfolk County, Ontario
• Waterloo Region, Ontario

An honourable mention goes to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, a community our judges also scored highly.

Winners will receive plaques at the public announcement ceremony held on November 3 at Toronto’s Prince Hotel. Look for coverage in our January/February issue.

Jury members

William H. Hudnut III
Former four-term Mayor of Indianapolis
Senior resident fellow emeritus, Urban Land Institute
Faculty member, Georgetown University
Managing partner, Bill Hudnut Consultants LLC

George Ochs
Managing Director of Real Asset 
Investment at JP Morgan

David Rouse
Principal, Wallace Roberts & Todd 
Planning and Design

Storm Cunningham
CEO, REVITALIZ LLC
Author, The Restoration Economy & reWealth

Todd Latham
President, Actual Media
Publisher, ReNew Canada and Water Canada

Glenn Miller
Vice President, Education and Research,
Canadian Urban Institute