If we continue on our current course, by 2020:

• Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties will produce 840,000 new jobs.
• Those counties will build 130,000 fewer homes than needed to house their workers, compounding existing housing shortages. This will force approximately 200,000 Bay Area workers to find housing elsewhere.
• Bay Area demand will fuel housing construction in San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties, producing a supply far in excess of local job growth.
• The number of workers commuting daily over congested Altamont Pass will quadruple, jumping from approximately 30,000 to more than 120,000.
• The quality of life in the Bay Area and the Valley will deteriorate. Traffic congestion will increase, as will air and water pollution.

But, projections aren't destiny. We could alter the future, even improve it, if we decide to do things differently.

That’s why the Inter-Regional Partnership (IRP) was formed in 1998. The IRP is a partnership between fifteen elected officials representing five counties—Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, and Stanislaus. Through the IRP, local representatives can bridge jurisdictional boundaries to forge cooperative solutions to shared problems, such as: the geographic separation of housing and employment; mounting traffic and air pollution; and growth. Three councils of governments (COGs)—the Association of Bay Area Governments, the San Joaquin Council of Governments, and the Stanislaus Council of Governments—provide staffing, financial support and regional expertise.

-- IRP Membership

Our goals:

The IRP is pursuing a number of programs and actions to improve inter-regional cooperation on transportation, and growth-related issues. Our goals are to:

• Achieve a more equitable jobs/housing balance.
• Improve transportation and air quality.
• Enhance the quality of life throughout our inter-regional area.
• Pursue inter-regional economic development opportunities.
• Establish more sustainable methods of moving people between their homes and distant jobs.

Strategies to get us there:

• Collaboration
• Outreach
• Legislative advocacy
• Communication