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ATTACHMENT 1 <br />Overview of the Initial Vision Scenario <br />In 2008, Senate Bill 375 (Sternberg) was enacted. The state law requires that our Regional <br />Transportation Plan contain a Sustainable Communities Strategy (together, Plan Bay Area) <br />that integrates land -use planning and transportation planning. For the 25 -year period <br />covered by Plan Bay Area, the Sustainable Communities Strategy mustlidenfy areas <br />within the nine - county Bay Area sufficient to house all of the region's population, <br />including all economic segments of the population. It must also attempt to coordinate the <br />resulting land -use pattern with the transportation network so as to reduce per capita <br />greenhouse -gas emissions from personal -use vehicles (automobiles and light trucks). <br />The Initial Vision Scenario for Plan Bay Area is a first -cut proposal that identifies the areas <br />where the growth in the region's population might be housed. This proposal builds upon a <br />rich legacy of integrative planning in the Bay Area. For over a decade, the region and its <br />local governments have been working together to locate new housing in compact forms <br />near jobs, close to services and amenities, and adjacent to transit so that the need to travel <br />long distances by personal vehicle is reduced. Compact development within the existing <br />urban footprint also takes development pressure off the region's open space and <br />agricultural lands. We have referred to this type of efficient development as "focused <br />growth," and the regional program that supports it is called FOCUS. (See Table 1.) <br />Planning for New Housing and Supporting Infrastructure <br />The Initial Vision Scenario is constructed by looking first at the Bay Area's regional <br />housing needs over the next 25 years. This analysis was performed using demographic <br />projections of household growth, It is not a forecast of the region, and does not take into <br />account many factors that constrain the region's supply of new housing units, such as <br />limitations in supporting infrastructure, affordable housing subsidies, and market factors. <br />The principal purpose of the Initial Vision Scenario is to articulate how the region could <br />potentially grow over time in a sustainable manner, and to orient policy and program <br />development to achieve the first phases of implementation. Under the assumptions of the <br />Initial Vision Scenario, the Bay Area is anticipated to grow by over 2 million people, from <br />about 7,350,000 today to about 9,430,000 by the year 2035. This population growth would <br />require around 902,000 new housing units. The Initial Vision Scenario proposes where <br />these new units might be accommodated. (See Tables N12 and maps.) <br />This Initial Vision Scenario is designed around places for growth identified by local <br />jurisdictions. These places are defined by their character, scale, density, and the expected <br />housing units to be built over the long term. Using "place types," areas with similar <br />characteristics and physical and social qualities, ABAG asked local :governments to <br />1 <br />