http://www.aiacc.org
What will living in
California’s Great Central Valley be like in 2025? Will
the residents of the San Joaquin Valley come together to
craft a multiethnic New Eden with clean air, a diverse
economy, and a strong agricultural industry? Will the
six-county Sacramento Region mature into a world-class
center of jobs and innovation driven by collaborative
leadership and foresight? And further north, will the people
of the rural North Valley create The Good Life by making the
most of their fragile natural resources while meeting the
challenges of growth? The answer, quite frankly, is unclear.
To encourage thought and
discussion about the future, the Great Valley Center has
developed the Valley Futures Project. Working with a diverse
team of local citizens representing a broad range of
constituencies, the Global Business Network http://gbn.com/
(GBN) and the Great Valley Center http://www.greatvalley.org
facilitated the development of stories describing 4 possible
futures in each of the subregions of the Valley: the San
Joaquin Valley, the Sacramento Valley, and the North Valley.
The stories are not predictions -- rather, they are a
reminder that we have the ability to choose our future
instead of simply letting it happen to us.
The main objective of this
scenario exercise is to stimulate a similar thought process
among a much larger, wider circle of citizens. Over the next
18 months, scenarios will run in newspapers, be shown as
film in workshops, be heard on the radio, and explored
through high school curriculum. You can find out more about
the Valley Futures Project at www.valleyfutures.org
or (209) 522-5103.
Housing the Next 10
Million- Envisioning California's Great Valley
The Great Valley Center and
The American Institute of Architects, California Council (AIACC),
jointly presented an open ideas competition to explore ways
for California's Central Valley to absorb another 10-14
million residents by 2040. Called "Housing the Next 10
Million", the competition illustrated alternatives for
less land-intensive habitation models, supported urban
design implementation tools and helped local decision-makers
deal more effectively with the enormous potential growth of
California's Central Valley. Participants who best presented
viable housing solutions for the next 10 million were
awarded $10,000.
By all accounts,
"Housing the Next 10 Million" was the first
competition of its kind, and generated world-wide attention
since its kick-off in January of 1999. Inspired by the
competition's goals and objectives, professionals from all
over the world participated in the competition including
architects, urban designers, landscape architects, urban
planners engineers, educators and students. More then 250
entrants registered, representing five different continents,
17countries, and 26 U.S states. Winning architects provided
specific communities with design ideas and expertise.
For more information on
either the Valley Futures Project or Housing the Next 10
Million visit the Great Valley Center's website at www.greatvalley.org
. You can also call (209) 522-5103 or email info@greatvalley.org
.
The San Joaquin Valley
Growth Response Study
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist6/sjvgrs/sjvgrs2_DocumentedBriefings.pdf
Sponsored by California
Department of Transportation, RAND, University of Southern
California with Fehr & Peers and LDA Consulting, the San
Joaquin Valley Response Study was driven by concerns about
the effects of rapid growth in the San Joaquin Valley and
the difficulties of responding to that growth, as well as by
the existence of new ideas about smart growth, livable
cities and sustainability.
Phase I of this initiative
developed baseline information and resulted in the
publication at the beginning of Phase II of a “white paper”
that has been distributed to interested parties throughout
the San Joaquin Valley.
The primary purpose of
Phase II has been to consider the information developed in
Phase I and then to recommend a suite of land use and
transportation modeling and outreach tools that the
communities and planners could use in a “demonstration”
project. The purpose of the Phase II workshops was to
discuss barriers to and opportunities for conducting
integrated land use and transportation planning with
stakeholders in the San Joaquin Valley.
Beginning with these
workshops, Phase III is a demonstration project using
integrated
STPP
