Intelligent Life, Smart Communities and Government Funding

After watching a PBS documentary on KVIE Sacramento this afternoon on the search for intelligent life it got me thinking. Many scientists have attempted to develop a formula to predict the likelihood of intelligent life in our universe. This formula contains many variables which are not currently solvable and therefore the percentage of planets with the probability of containing intelligent life cannot be solved. For the most part we can pinpoint the conditions which will lead to intelligent life or at least the path which will lead close to it, but we are still uncertain of the research until we find at least one example.

This made me think about what factors combine to create smart communities. Now, I'm not talking about just brainpower here. I'm talking about what factors make a really great place to live, work, and play. After all that's what we all want isn't it?

So this leads me to my point. If the factors which create a really great community to live, work, and play could be defined and federal, state, and local funding were allocated based on this formula. Would the Sacramento region encourage more smart communities just like the factors which spawn intelligent life on other planets?

If funding at the federal, state, and local level were more rational and focused on encouraging the factors which help create smart communities like; increased clean energy output, jobs growth, increase in median income levels, quality of life, and education levels. Would we have more smart communities?

A simple formula:

Smart Community Score = Clean Energy Growth (5%) + Jobs Growth (4%) + Median Income Increase (2%) + Increase in Education Level (3%) X 100 = 14 + Quality of Life Index 25.4 = 39.4

1. Community C = 39.4 - 21% of the pie
2. Community F = 38.7 - 19%
3. Community A = 38.4 - 16%
4. Community D = 37.6 - 16%
5. Community B = 36.2 - 15%
6. Community E = 35.0 - 13%

The focus being on improvement. It's the same concept as pay for performance for executives, except politicians would compete for an increased share of the pie for fostering smart growth. Now there's a novel idea! Local politicians being held accountable between elections. Wouldn't this type of system foster goal based planning?

If the Sacramento region defined what an ideal community would look like and agreed to allocate regional funding based on a smart community score, would this encourage local governments to focus their time and energy on smart growth concepts, increasing quality of life, and providing better employment opportunities?

Some regional thinking like this has been fostered by Valley Vision, but is there more which can be done? What are your thoughts?