Sustainable Communities Strategy: Initial Vision Scenario announced

The latest update on the Sustainable Communities Strategy here in the Bay Area has been announced:

Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) and Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) staff have unveiled an Initial Vision Scenario for the Sustainable Communities Strategy mandated by the 2008 passage of state Senate Bill 375. The scenario was launched at a joint meeting of the MTC Planning, ABAG Administrative and Joint Policy committees on Friday, March 11, 2011.

The Initial Vision Scenario provides a starting point for conversations with local governments and Bay Area residents about where new development should occur, and how new long-term transportation investments can serve this new growth. It focuses on the location of growth areas around the Bay Area and outlines a future development pattern. It assumes a strong economy in which the region will add some 1.2 million jobs by 2035 and will need 903,000 more housing units than currently are available.

This effort will culminate in 2013 with the adoption of a new long-range plan for the nine-county region. The plan, to be known as Plan Bay Area, will detail a 25-year transportation investment and land-use strategy for 2015-2040, and will be the region's first such plan to incorporate a Sustainable Communities Strategy.

Keep coming back to learn the latest at www.OneBayArea.org.

The SCS is an important process, especially to those of us who want to see a future in the Bay Area where smart development means cars are less of a necessity. SVBC has previously written a primer on the strategy and will continue to keep our readers informed.

More information on ways to keep involved can be found on the website of our friends, Greenbelt Alliance.