Don't stop thinking about tomorrow . . .

There seems to be some gathering critical mass around preserving and protecting our future quality of life and standard of living here in Ventura County. I blogged about the series of community workshops finishing up this week, co-sponsored by the Ventura County Civic Alliance and public planning agencies. Marie Lakin attended one and participated in a mapping exercise to chart future growth. Attendees start with a map of current communities and asked to devise a way to allow for expected population growth in the next twenty-five years:

"Our group decided to invest in more mass transit opportunities with town centers situated near transit stations. These areas would encompass living, shopping and high-wage centers in one spot. To do this we had to trade in most of our single-family home tokens, a decision that didn't sit well with everyone in the group. We didn't add major highways, but added connector roads instead to alleviate congestion on major thoroughfares and freeways." (More of her experiences on Marie's blog.)

Then last week, SOAR (the organization behind the County's boundaries that require public vote on conversion of agricultural land to other uses) co-sponsored a morning discussion of regional planning out at Cal State Channel Islands. Nearly 200 community leaders and activists turned up to hear why the time is now for Ventura County's ten cities should work together to plan the future.

Hasan Irkhata, the Executive Director of the Southern California Association of Governments, predicted that over the next twenty-five years, Ventura County's population is projected to grow by another 200,000 to nearly a million people. While many shudder at that estimate, Irkhata pointed out that SCAG's conservative numbers have always been generally exceeded by actual growth in Southern California. Irkhata, Marsha Brown from the State Attorney General's office and Karen Schmidt of SOAR outlined the converging State planning and environmental laws (and lawsuits) that mean that if we don't work together to plan Southern California's future, others may step in and do it for us. Even more ominously, they made the case for why simply going down the road we are currently on is unsustainable and unaffordable. As I noted in my remarks, the one thing Ventura County residents agree on is that they don't want to end up like the San Fernando Valley, a sprawling sea of faceless development. (For more on the SOAR forum, see Kathleen Wilson's story in the Ventura County Star and David Comden's Ventura County Reporter blog.)

A key question remains: who will lead such an ambitious effort to involve thousands of citizens in a genuine visioning of our future? The Ventura County Transportation Agency has always been focused on mobility -- and our future involves far more than roads and transit. The Ventura County Council of Governments is made up of elected officials from all 10 cities and the county, but hasn't demonstrated much clout in the past. The Ventura County Civic Alliance is comprised of thoughtful community, environmental and business leaders, but is essentially a volunteer effort.

The realistic answer seems to be: all of the above and more. This is an opportunity for fresh leadership to bring people together around things everyone can agree on: a prosperous local economy, protecting the environment and providing quality housing for a growing population. Others regions have done it -- now it's our turn. Participants at last week's forum and in the series of workshops are taking the first step.