April 21, 2010: Metro Vision Urban Centers Policy

This Planner Idea Exchange focused on Metro Vision policy updates related to the DRCOG Board’s draft sustainability goal of locating 50 percent of new housing and 75 percent of new employment within urban centers between 2005 and 2035.

DRCOG has initiated a major update of Metro Vision scheduled for adoption by the DRCOG Board in January, 2011. The main focus of the update is the incorporation of sustainability into the plan. April 21 was the first of several special PIEs that DRCOG will host to obtain input from local planning staff on potential policy updates.

The April 21 PIE included small group discussions of the following questions:

• What is working for and against regional and local efforts to develop successful urban centers?
• How should existing urban centers vision, goal and policy statements be modified to provide more effective framework for implementation?

The small groups shared their ideas regarding these questions with the larger group, and then each participant voted for what they thought were the four most important ideas related to each question.

Presentations and materials

• Background paper on sustainability and Metro Vision Urban Centers Policy 
• Overview presentation 
• Participant worksheet 
• Summary of small group discussion and voting outcomes