Met Council Plan:

Here are the members of the Met Council, chaired by Ted Mondale on the top. They are appointed by Governer Ventura, not elected!

The Met Council has conducted preliminary forecasts for seven-county region to 2030. They have found:
· Continued strong growth: 930,000 more people. 460,000 more households. 550,000 more jobs.
· Household growth in next two decades expected to surpass any previous decade.
· In-migration, typically one-third of region's growth, will increase its share by 2030.
· Aging baby boom will slow job growth, increase need for multifamily housing.
· More diverse population - racial and ethnic diversity increased from 9 to 17% in 1990s.


Source: Met Council Smart Growth Twin Cities Opportunity Sites

The project Smart Growth Twin Cities is designated to demonstrate how communities can develop walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods that preserve open space and community appeal, while minimizing costs by taking advantage of existing investments in transportation and servers. Planning at both the regional and local level started in the summer of 2000 and will continue to the end of 2002. At the regional level, comprehensive plans of local communities will be evaluated to determine how current and planned growth meets the region's goals (as outlined in Blueprint 2030). Factors such as alternative land use models and transportation strategies are to be developed through public workshops and presented to the public and the Council for consideration. At the community level, six "opportunity sites" will help develop detailed site plans, designs and implementation plans that each community can hand to a developer to begin work immediately. These sites include Brooklyn Center, Chaska, Hillcrest Village, Maplewood/St. Paul, Harriet Island District del Sol, St. Paul, Ramsey, and St. Anthony.
Planning at both the regional and local level will focus on smart growth principles:
· Plan for compact and mixed land use patterns that are sensitive to the environment and that offer greater transportation choices
· Design human scale communities with people's needs and preferences foremost in mind
· Create community-based plans and designs using innovative public involvement methods.

Smart Growth Twin Cities is a key component in developing Blueprint 2030, a vision and action plan for overall growth and investment strategy for the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The plan is called Blueprint 2030 and is divided into five key systems: highways, transit, parks, wastewater management, and airports. In a document I received from the Met Council, the goals for revision were stated as the following:

· More closely aligning environmental, transportation, and community development goals, objectives, and policies.
· Taking greater advantage of transportation investments as shapers of development.

Current transit with sprawl/no sprawl scenario:

Source: Report “Two Roads Diverge: Analyzing Growth Scenarios for the Twin Cities Region.” Center for Energy and Environment, Minnesotans for An Energy-Efficient Economy, 1000 Friends of Minnesota

· Better protecting significant natural systems, environmental features, and agricultural lands.
· Enhancing community livability, choices, and opportunities throughout the region.
· Setting priorities and aligning regional investments to maximize the benefits of limited public resources.
· Engaging citizens and stakeholder groups in shaping policy and implementation tools

The Met Council has tried to encourage public participation. Their online forum can be found here. Members of the board of the Met Council, and other experts answer questions posed about their upcoming projects and overall policy.