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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

October 2000

NEWS BRIEFS
Regional Groups Unite to Tackle Land Use Issues
Five regional Bay Area agencies and a consortium of diverse public, private and community organizations last month launched an effort to explore alternative land use strategies with local governments that might lead to shorter commutes and revitalized inner city neighborhoods.

The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Bay Conservation and Development Commission, MTC, and the Regional Water Quality Control Board joined with the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development to kick off the endeavor with a workshop to promote smart growth and livable communities for the region.

A crowd of more than 200 enthusiastic participants provided feedback on the project's challenging work program and the proposed process for engaging local governments and the public in the discussion.

The overall goal of the regional agencies and the Alliance is to develop consensus on a set of "best practices" and financial incentives to help shape how the Bay Area grows over the next 20 years. Through workshops and extensive outreach to local governments, the project also will develop maps to help guide discussion about which areas could be available for different types of development and which environmentally important areas could be preserved or enhanced.

The critical next steps for the project will include reconnaissance meetings to ensure that related local efforts already under way throughout the region are included. Following these initial sessions, nine countywide public workshops will be held beginning in January 2001, with a second round to follow in May 2001. Ultimately, the results of the workshops will be used by ABAG to prepare an alternative land use forecast for use in MTC's Regional Transportation Plan and other planning activities of the five agencies.
-- Kate Breen

For updates on the smart growth project, click here.

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