1. Establish a permanent framework for comprehensive, collaborative subregional and regional planning.

2. Increase cooperation with adjoining regions to address common problems, such as traffic congestion, urban sprawl, air pollution, and the mismatch in the location of housing and jobs.

3. Develop indicators of progress toward sustainable goals relating to environmental, economic, and equity issues. Regularly monitor and report on our headway.

4. Encourage cities and counties to incorporate a regional and subregional vision statement in their local plans.

5. Develop a region-wide consensus on which areas, beyond current urban service areas, should be opened to new growth.

6. Explore means of including disenfranchised people—homeless, disabled, and young people—on regional boards in decision-making capacities.

7. Advocate for statewide legislation that would replace the two-thirds majority voting requirement for taxes and bonds with a simple majority.

8. Advocate for statewide fiscal reform that offsets revenue-driven development policies and assures localities greater revenue stability.

9. Reward communities that pursue “smart” land-use policies, such as compact and transit-oriented developments, with state and federal grants as well as other financial incentives.

10. Offset the impetus to approve excess commercial projects by providing incentives that encourage localities to share sales tax growth regionally or subregionally.

11. Create fiscal and tax policies that support sustainability goals and regional initiatives, such as shifting priorities in funding from automobile-based to transit-based infrastructure.

12. Establish urban growth boundaries and other strategies that foster compact communities.

13. Recognize and support manifestations of ethnic diversity, including ethnic museums in identified neighborhoods and business corridors.

14. Make dense urban neighborhoods desirable through good design, e.g., integrate new development into established patterns, allow a mix of uses, preserve local history, create or preserve density at a scale that makes pedestrians comfortable, and invest in parks.

15. Offer businesses incentives to adopt practices that minimize negative impacts on the environment; encourage regulators to work together to increase their effectiveness in ensuring compliance with existing laws.

The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining.
John F. Kennedy, President of the United States