VISION 2020 is the long-range growth management, economic and transportation strategy for the central Puget Sound region encompassing King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. It combines a public commitment to a growth management vision with the transportation investments and programs and economic strategy necessary to support that vision. VISION 2020 also identifies the policies and key actions necessary to implement the overall strategy.

The vision is for diverse, economically and environmentally healthy communities framed by open space and connected by a high-quality, multimodal transportation system that provides effective mobility for people and goods. VISION 2020 calls for locating development in urban growth areas so services can be provided efficiently, and farmlands, forests and other natural resources are conserved.

Within urban areas, it supports creation of compact communities with employment and housing growth focused in centers. The strategy is designed to ensure that development in our communities makes it easier to walk, bicycle and use transit. VISION 2020 also aims to preserve rural areas by supporting rural lands for farming and forestry, low-density housing, and other uses consistent with rural character.

In adopting VISION 2020, the elected officials that make up the Regional Council recognize that jurisdictions in the region are increasingly interdependent. The decisions we make regarding how we accommodate growth, the kind of transportation system we provide, and our economy, are inextricably linked. VISION 2020 is an integrated regional growth management, economic and transportation strategy which addresses issues that cannot be comprehensively addressed within a single jurisdiction.

Relationship of VISION 2020 to Federal and State Requirements

State laws, including the Growth Management Act, and federal laws, including the 1991 Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) and 1990 Clear Air Act Amendments, require the central Puget Sound region to have a regional growth management, economic and transportation strategy and a regional transportation plan. The VISION 2020 strategy for managing growth, the economy and transportation contains the following eight parts: urban growth areas; contiguous and orderly development; regional capital facilities; housing; rural areas; open space, resource protection and critical areas; economics; and transportation. Together, these eight parts constitute the Multicounty Policies for King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties and meet the multicounty planning requirements of the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.210).

The Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) provides the more explicit transportation component of VISION 2020 required by ISTEA. It defines long-term transportation strategies and investments for the Metropolitan Transportation System of King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties. For state planning purposes, the MTP is the region's Regional Transportation Plan and meets requirements governing Regional Transportation Plans in RCW 47.80.

VISION 2020 and Other Planning Efforts

The 13 goals of the Growth Management Act provide broad statewide direction for planning and implementation. VISION 2020 provides a regional framework for achieving these goals that builds upon and supports local, countywide, regional and state planning efforts. Countywide planning policies in each of the counties supply the local framework and provide additional detail for county and city comprehensive plans. The policies in VISION 2020 reflect broad directions agreed to by member jurisdictions and agencies, and are not meant to necessarily convey regional responsibility for implementation. Many of the policies reflect and will be implemented through local comprehensive plans, and transit agency and state transportation plans and programs, as well as regional efforts.

Summary of Growth Management Act Goals

• Encourage development in urban areas where public facilities and services exist or can be efficiently provided.
• Reduce urban sprawl.
• Encourage efficient, multimodal transportation systems.
• Provide affordable housing for citizens of all income levels, promote a variety of housing densities and types, and preserve the existing housing stock.
• Promote economic opportunity consistent with the capacities of the state's natural resources and public services and facilities.
• Respect private property rights.
• Provide timely, fair and predictable permit review processes.
• Conserve and enhance natural resources.
• Retain open space, conserve fish and wildlife habitat, increase access to natural resource lands and water, and provide recreational opportunities.
• Protect the environment and enhance the state's high quality of life.
• Encourage citizen participation in the planning process and ensure coordination among jurisdictions.
• Ensure that public facilities and services are adequate.
• Preserve historic and archaelogical resources.

The VISION 2020 Planning Process

VISION 2020 is the result of a planning process initiated in 1987. This initial process included detailed analysis of alternative growth and mobility scenarios which were documented in an environmental impact statement (EIS) and supplementary technical reports. The process also included broad participation by local government technical staff, the region's policymakers, and the public. In 1990, the Puget Sound Council of Governments adopted VISION 2020. The Council's successor, the Puget Sound Regional Council, reaffirmed this regional commitment by adopting VISION 2020 through its Interlocal Agreement in 1991, and amending VISION 2020 in 1993 to comply with requirements of the Growth Management Act.

Work on the 1995 update to VISION 2020 and Metropolitan Transportation Plan was initiated in the fall of 1993. At that time, the Regional Council's Executive Board and Growth Management and Transportation Policy Boards directed that the update should reinforce VISION 2020 as adopted public policy while incorporating appropriate work from local comprehensive plans, countywide planning policies, and regional and state transportation plans for the area. The Boards identified issues to be addressed in the update; these were discussed and refined through work by Regional Council staff committees, a questionnaire, meetings with jurisdictions, workshops on specific issues, and open houses in each county in July 1994.

The Regional Council also provided speakers for community meetings and produced newsletters, draft reports, and other materials, including two videos and public service announcements that were televised throughout the region, to encourage public comment. And, the Council conducted two major conferences to discuss specific issues related to the update of VISION 2020 and the Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

In December 1994, the Executive Board released the Draft VISION 2020 Update and Draft Metropolitan Transportation Plan for public review and comment. An Addendum and Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which covered both draft documents, was also released in December.

Public comment on the draft documents included letters from citizens, local jurisdictions and agencies; comments from open houses held in each county in January 1995; and testimony from a public hearing in February. In March 1995, the Addendum and Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was released and the Growth Management and Transportation Policy Boards recommended revisions to the Draft Update based on public comment.

In April, a public hearing was held in each county, a second Addendum to the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement was distributed, and the Executive Board recommended action on an update to VISION 2020 and Metropolitan Transportation Plan to the General Assembly. On May 25, 1995, the region's elected officials gathered at the Assembly meeting of the Puget Sound Regional Council and adopted the 1995 Update to VISION 2020 and the 1995 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.

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