On Monday January 18, 2016, Institute President Micah Weinberg appeared as a guest speaker on Inside Silicon Valley, a radio program presented by Joint Venture Silicon Valley hosted by Russell Hancock. During the program — which can be heard on the show’s iTunes Channel here — Micah discussed the pressing issues the Bay Area’s economy and infrastructure faces today and possible solutions outlined in the Economic Institute’s A Roadmap for Economic Resilience report published in November 2015.
Weinberg emphasizes that while the Bay Area has seen great economic success following the Great Recession, the region is not immune to a possible future economic downturn. The Bay Area currently faces relatively unique issues when compared to the rest of the nation; limited affordable housing, lack of a strong regional transportation infrastructure, and high living costs threaten the region’s continued success. Micah expresses his concern for the increasing levels of poverty, as prosperity is not equally shared among the region’s residents.
In order to solve these issues the Bay Area Council and the Bay Area Council Economic Institute propose that the governance of the Bay Area is treated as a locality rather than on a county-by-county and city-by-city basis, thus facilitating the implementation of solutions that benefit all residents as they navigate through the nine county Bay Area. By allowing decisions to be made on a broader platform while city and county agencies continue to oversee their implementation, the Bay Area will foreseeably be able to overcome future challenges. Additionally, education and workforce development are presented as key aspects in the improvement and stability of the economy, and as a consequence, people’s livelihoods.