• Five Regional Agencies begin to discuss the concepts of smart growth, how to spread the ideas, and the need to identify the regulatory changes and incentives necessary to implement smart growth.
  

• Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development (now Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities) embarks on an ambitious public participation exercise to reach consensus on, and generate support for, a "regional livability footprint" - a preferred land-use pattern to suggest how the Bay Area could grow in a smarter and more sustainable way.
  

Joining of two projects: Regional Agencies' Smart Growth Strategy and the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development's Regional Livability Footprint Project

Efforts on the part of key elected officials and staff members result in the merging of the two public participation and planning processes. Workshop goals are developed and project steering committee is established.

Regionwide Preview Workshop

Public officials and stakeholders are briefed about the project and process, and key issues to be considered.
The Project goals are announced:

• Create a smart growth land use vision for the Bay Area to minimize sprawl, provide adequate and affordable housing, improve mobility, protect environmental quality, and preserve open space.

• Identify and obtain regulatory changes and incentives needed to implement this vision.
  

• Develop 20-year land use and transportation projections based on the vision and the likely impact of the new incentives- projections that can help guide the infrastructure investments of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and other regional partners.
  

Nine Local Reconnaissance Meetings

Locally-elected officials and stakeholders in each county discuss:

• Information and insights into major land-use and growth related issues affecting their counties and the region
  

• Local smart growth-related initiatives
  

• Ways to collaborate
  

• Feedback on process, initial data sets, and maps to be used in public workshops

Two Meetings With Bay Area Planning Directors Association

Bay Area Planning Directors, along with key staff from Congestion Management Agencies and Transit Operators throughout the region, updated on the status of the Project. Meeting participants provide critical feedback on draft workshop mapping exercise.

Two Round One "Beta" test Workshops

Community members, including local government staff and neighborhood representatives, participate in workshop "Beta" test in Sonoma and Alameda counties and provide critical feedback.

Round One Public Workshops

Using the information obtained at the Reconnaissance Meetings and building upon local smart growth initiatives in progress, first-round workshop participants identify most appropriate locations for future growth, the character that growth should have, and the regulatory changes and fiscal incentives needed to implement smart growth.

Distillation and Analysis

Project staff distill countywide smart growth alternatives developed at Round One Workshops into three regionwide, thematic alternatives in consultation with local representatives from each county. They analyze alternatives and current trends base case.

Distillation Meeting

Over 100 participants, including planning directors, representatives of countywide business, environmental and equity organizations, from each county meet to review and critique the three alternatives distilled from the first round of workshops.

Second Round "Beta" test Workshop

Community members, including local government staff and neighborhood representatives, participate in workshop "Beta" test in Solano County and provide critical feedback.

Round Two Public Workshops

Workshop participants review results from Round One workshops and the subsequent analysis. They develop a Smart Growth Vision for their county and the region and further identify needed regulatory changes and incentives. Much of the work from the public workshops is outlined in the project Final Report.

Development of policy-based Projections

Based on the regionwide Vision that emerges from Round Two workshops, ABAG staff develop an alternative set of employment and housing projections. These projections will be policy-based in contrast to the traditional trends-based Projections.

ABAG Fall General Assembly

Smart Growth Vision that emerged from public workshops is unveiled and discussed by members of the General Assembly and the public.