Contra Costa: Shaping Our Future
A fast-growing suburban county works to develop a comprehensive, cooperative vision for the future.

Contra Costa: Shaping Our Future was an ambitious and far-reaching project to develop a future vision and growth management strategy for Contra Costa County , a fast-growing suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area. The purpose of the plan was to establish a position from which Contra Costa County and its member cities could comprehensively approach growth and change. Targeting where and how growth should occur should provide cities with tools necessary to preserve healthy, stable neighborhoods, revitalize ailing areas, and create high-quality new neighborhoods and commercial areas.

An extensive public workshop process resulted in several possible future growth scenarios for the county. The study team measured the performance of each scenario on a wide range of indicators, from open space per capita, to acres of wetlands affected by development, to the percentage of households within walking distance of transit services. For the transportation analysis, the 4D spreadsheet analysis technique, in combination with refinements to the regional travel demand model, were used to estimate the effect of each scenario on household trip-making, vehicle-miles of travel, and levels of congestion and travel delay. The policy committee used these indicators as a foundation for discussing the trade-offs between the scenarios and the overarching goals of the county.

Conclusion: The outcome of the Shaping Our Future study was a set of Principles of Agreement addressing areas of common interest between the jurisdictions, and encouraging ongoing communication and coordination.