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The Regional Smart Growth Strategy is governed by a
Steering Committee comprised of the five
regional agencies (Association of Bay Area Governments, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Area Air Quality Management Board,
Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission), plus representatives of the three E’s
(Environment, Equity and Economy) from the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development.
The Regional Smart Growth Strategy has now distilled the results of the fall workshops into three alternative scenarios. ABAG
is now analyzing these scenarios for their likely effects on housing, transportation, environmental quality, social equity and market
feasibility.
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Together, the nine county workshops held in September and October 2001 produced 105
alternative growth scenarios. These 105 scenarios were analyzed for common themes and then distilled into three thematically distinct
regional alternatives. Consistent with the overwhelming preference of workshop participants, all three themes would provide enough new
housing to accommodate the one million new residents as well as the 265,000 incoming commuters the region expects in the next twenty
years.
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The three proposed alternatives are:
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Central Core and Existing Transit Network
Focus
Locates most new growth in each county's largest city or cities and emphasizes
development in the region's central cities (San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose). Also locates growth around existing public transit
stations.
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Transit
Oriented Neighborhoods and Corridors
Locates most growth in the same
locations as Alternative 1, but at lower densities. Spreads growth to additional transit-rich and walkable communities and corridors
along an expanded public transit network.
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Core to Edge
Development
Locates growth in same locations as Alternatives 1
and 2, but at still lower densities. Spreads job and housing growth to edge communities, but at higher densities than currently
exists or is planned. Locates new housing in employment centers and new employment in residential areas on the region's fringes.
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The final stage of the distillation process was a "reality check" meeting in
early December 2001. The purpose of this meeting, held with local planners from all Bay Area jurisdictions, was to ensure that the
three alternatives were consistent with any existing development, or with developments already well advanced in the planning stage.
Objections based on existing political or financial constraints were not entertained.
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The three alternatives (and ABAG's current trends projection, which is being treated as a
fourth, no-change alternative) were extensively analyzed for their impacts on housing, transportation, jobs-housing balance,
environmental quality and social equity.
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In addition, each scenario was analyzed for its development feasibility. Issues included
how the envisioned development patterns would fit within available land supply and consumer demand for the mix of housing types in each
alternative.
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Upon completion of the analyses, ABAG held a second round of
workshops in all nine Bay Area counties in April and May 2002, to present the three thematic alternatives and allow citizens to
select the one they prefer.
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Following the second round of workshops in
May 2002, the
preferred alternatives were forwarded to the ABAG Board for formal adoption.
Once adopted by ABAG, they will guide transportation
investments in MTC's 2004 Regional Transportation Plan.
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The regional Smart Growth Strategy offers a chance to achieve a broader public consensus
about the need for change in development patterns and to build support for new regulatory incentives and programs to encourage local
jurisdictions to improve their land use planning.
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TALC’s Role
TALC’s Board of
Directors and Smart Growth Workgroup prepared and mobilized our members and allies to participate in the public
workshops in 2002. Educational materials, including a Smart Growth slideshow and fact sheets,
were prepared, appropriate organizations were identified to conduct outreach to, allies
were recruited to assist these efforts, and we participated in the
Regional Strategy Steering Committee to plan and conduct the workshops and subsequent efforts.
Now we need
our coalition members and friends to communicate
their support
for the best Smart Growth alternative, and join our email
list.
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Update:
10/23/02
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