Planning 2011-10-27 Southcenter Plan - Attachment A.1 - Vision 2040

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Attachment 1 The Importance of the Regional Growth Strategy The central Puget Sound region is forecast to continue to Central Puget Sound grow in the coming decades up to 5 million people Regional Growth will live here by the year 2040. The Regional Growth Strategy Strategy provides guidance to cities and counties for accommodating that growth. The strategy is designed to preserve resource lands and protect rural lands from urban -type development. The strategy promotes infill and redevelopment within urban areas to create more compact, walkable, and transit friendly communities. What's in VISION 2040? VISION 2040's Regional Growth Strategy identifies the role that various cities, unincorporated areas, and rural lands categories play in accommodating the region's residen- tial and employment growth. The strategy is organized around categories of "regional geographies. "The major- ity of the region's employment and housing growth is allocated to Metropolitan Cities and Core Cities, which together contain the more than two dozen designated regional growth centers. Larger Cities also play an impor- tant role over time as places that accommodate growth. Small Cities provide jobs and housing that support vital and active communities at a less intensive scale. Growth in the unincorporated urban growth area is prioritized for areas that are identified for annexation into adjacent cities. Significantly less growth is allocated to the rural areas than has occurred in the past. °dN�4<PSHGL+d %Tl° Multicounty Planning Policies. The multicounty plan- ning policies provide guidance for implementing the Regional Growth Strategy. Growth is to occur first and foremost in the designated urban growth area; less development is to occur in rural areas. Centers are recognized for their ben- efits in creating compact, walkable communities that support transit and other services. Housing and jobs should be located in a manner that provides for easy mobility and accessibility. Investments in transportation and other infrastruc- ture should be prioritized to centers. Countywide target- setting processes for allocating population and employment growth are to be consistent with the regional vision. Actions. Many of the implementation actions in VISION 2040 contribute to achieving the Regional Growth Strategy. For example, the Regional Council already began working with its member jurisdictions in 2008 to develop a regional X VISION 2040's Regional Growth Strategy is a preferred pattern for accommodating residential and employment growth. It is designed to minimize environmental impacts, support economic prosperity, improve mobility, and make efficient use of existing infrastructure.