The Growth Management Policy Board heard a presentation on 2040 employment projections, designed to help the board develop a preferred 2040 regional employment distribution.

The board is working to develop a preferred growth alternative for the VISION 2020 update, which will shape how the region accommodates future growth of 1.6 million more people and 1.1 million more jobs by 2040.

The preferred growth alternative will propose a distribution of employment and population growth to different regional geographies. These geographies are: Metropolitan Cities, Core Suburban Cities, Larger Suburban Cities, Smaller Suburban Cities, Unincorporated Areas, and Rural Areas.

As a first step, board members reviewed possible future distributions of regional employment in the year 2040. These distributions carried forward year 2000 shares of employment in regional geographies and applied them to year 2040 regional employment forecasts. The board then applied a "reasonableness" test to these numbers by comparing them to three other employment projections through 2040:

Discussion of the 2040 employment vision will continue at the next meeting. For more information, please contact Ben Bakkenta at 206-464-5372 or bbakkenta@psrc.org.

The Growth Management Policy Board heard a brief report on the VISION 2020 Update public event, held May 23, 2006.

The purpose of the event, attended by more than 140 people, was to introduce the draft environmental impact statement, to continue the conversation about the region's future, and to receive comments on the four alternatives analyzed in the document.

A full report on the event is available from the Information Center, 206-464-7532, infoctr@psrc.org

Board Coordination Meeting

The Growth Management Policy Board hosted a coordination meeting with the members of the Transportation, Economic Development District, and Executive boards. The purpose of the coordination meeting was to brief the other boards on the VISION 2020 update and to hear comments and questions.

Executive John Ladenburg, PSRC President, welcomed the board members to the meeting, and thanked the Growth Management Policy Board for all of its work so far on the VISION 2020 update. He noted that the VISION 2020 update is bringing transportation and economic planning together with land use to prepare for the tremendous growth expected by 2040.

Commissioner Patty Lent, chair of the Growth Management Policy Board, provided background on the VISION 2020 update and reviewed the schedule for upcoming work.

"Because the update affects all of our communities, we are doing all we can to involve local jurisdictions and their constituents in this work. We've been very gratified at the level of interest and enthusiasm from elected officials, business leaders, the planning community, and the general public that we have seen thus far," said Lent.

Councilmember Mike Lonergan, vice chair of the Growth Management Policy Board, described how the growth board is developing a preferred growth alternative and revising the multicounty planning policies.

Following the briefing, board members participated in a discussion of issues related to the VISION 2020 update. Some of the comments included:

The full summary of the discussion will be included in the minutes of the meeting, which will be available in early august.

For more information, contact Norman Abbott at 206-464-7134, nabbott@psrc.org.