Puget Sound Regional Council and Vision 2020
The Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) is an agency which serves as a regional planning body to coordinate the planning efforts of county and municipal governments within King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties. Its work is governed by a variety of boards comprised of elected officials from throughout the region.

Vision 2020

The GMA specifically required the development of multi-county planning policies for Snohomish, Pierce and King Counties. Vision 2020 was adopted in October 1990 by the General Assembly of the Puget Sound Council of Governments. It was reaffirmed as the regional growth management strategy in the interlocal agreements signed when the Puget Sound Regional Council was formed in 1991. Vision 2020 was amended in 1993 by the Regional Council and adopted as the required Multi-County Policies under GMA.

VISION 2020 was developed cooperatively by the local governments in the central Puget Sound region. The vision is for diverse, economically healthy, and environmentally sensitive communities connected and served by a high-quality transportation system that emphasizes the efficient movement of people.

VISION 2020 supports the development of more compact, people-oriented living and working places, thereby reversing trends that have created increased numbers of low-density, auto-dependent communities. It limits the expansion of the urban area and focuses a significant amount of new employment and housing into approximately 15 mixed-use centers that are served by an efficient, transit-oriented, multi-modal transportation system.

VISION 2020 represents a public policy commitment to both the land use patterns that can achieve a compact-centers concept, and a reordering of transportation investment priorities to emphasize transit, ride-sharing, efficiency, demand management and the maintenance of current facilities. It results in accommodating growth in regional travel demand through greater commitment to, and investment in, public transit. It addresses the increases in congestion by offering to the public more efficient travel options that are of sufficient scale and availability to sustain the area’s livability.

For more information on the Puget Sound Regional Council and Vision 2020, visit http://www.psrc.org.