On the occasion of SRPEDD’s 50th anniversary, the agency reflected on its past efforts and recognized that if we had known in 1956 what we knew in 2006, we would have done things differently.  In reflecting on SRPEDD’s present efforts, the agency came to the realization that much of its current work is an effort to recapture what existed 50 years ago:  commuter rail, vibrant downtowns, a healthy manufacturing sector, active farms, transit systems and mixed use development.  The Island Foundation provided funding to host a speaker, James Howard Kunstler, at Bridgewater State College on April 4, 2007 and to hold a series of discussions with a group that was one half SRPEDD Commissioners and one half other interested parties.  The goal of the group was to answer the question, what should SRPEDD, its communities and other regional organizations be doing differently in 2008 to plan for the next 50 years.  The Report of the Futures Task Force is the result of those discussions.