What is the San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint?

The San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint Planning Process, www.valleyblueprint.org, is funded by the Business, Transportation & Housing Agency through the California Department of Transportation, and the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution District. The Blueprint is an opportunity for Valley residents, businesses, government agencies, and organizations to work together to plan for the future of transportation and land use in the San Joaquin Valley.

By engaging citizens and policymakers at the local and county level, the Valley will be able to create a regional vision to ensure that California's fastest growing region will thrive into the 21st century. The local councils of governments in the eight counties that make up the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin have joined together, with assistance from the Great Valley Center and the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District, to begin a most ambitious project that will develop a map, a Blueprint, that will create a better future for the residents of the valley.

The process began in early 2006 and will near completion at the end of 2008 with a Blueprint that will be adopted and followed by all the counties in the region. Regional approaches to address regional issues will become even more important as this region faces a projected doubling of the population in the next 40 years. The Valley Blueprint will call upon all residents of the valley from the diverse variety of backgrounds that make this valley their home, to create a plan for the future. Individuals from civic groups, business, industry, agriculture, environmental and government groups as well as individuals from all walks of life are invited to become involved in this Blueprint Planning Process.

Through a series of community meetings held throughout the San Joaquin Valley, residents will be able to provide their vision for the future, identifying the values that are most important to them. The San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint Planning Process will coordinate infrastructure plans in the San Joaquin Valley with local community goals. It will provide better decision-making tools to use to solve regional issues. On surveys, air quality is always listed as a high priority for the residents. The Valley Air District welcomes this regional approach and partnership to work toward clean, health air for the residents of our valley.

A new approach is essential if we hope to avoid the planning mistakes made by other fast growing regions. The San Joaquin Valley Regional Blueprint Planning Process provides the opportunity for every resident of this valley to become actively involved in creating a future of which we can be proud.