On Wednesday, November 18, attendees of the monthly Breakfast meeting were presented with a fascinating update from the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) on their Vision 2040 project. This project seeks to provide guidance to the governments of King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap Counties in attaining the goals of the Growth Management Act (GMA). The breakfast was sponsored by PCL Construction and ABC - we sincerely thank them for their continued support. Sharon Coleman gave the assembly an update on the new members. Tom Doig from PCL spoke briefly about his company.

Josh Brown, Executive Director of PSRC, presented the update. He started with some background on PSRC and where we are at now in the four-county area. Josh told us that there are currently 3.9 million people in the PSRC area and that it was forecast to increase to 5 million by 2040. Josh also gave us some pertinent background polling data. Most people (52%) in the greater Puget Sound area feel that our overall situation is improving and 50% responded that the quality of life was improving. Josh opined this is due to the robust job market in our area.

Josh outlined the growth strategy that drives the PSRC. The key points are:

• Grow a strong economy while maintaining a healthy environment
• Grassroots actions are key to achieving this vision
• Urban Growth Areas (UGA) are a key component to the Growth Management Act and are driving development
• Completing the regional transportation system
• Preserve water, farms, recreation and resource lands

Josh then drilled down into the Seattle market. Over the last five years, Seattle has grown by 53,000 people. He forecast that by 2040, that number would increase by 160,000. This has and will be driven by strong job growth in IT and aerospace.

For Bellevue, Josh talked about the Spring District and how it supports the overall strategy of the GMA and the PSRC. He also spoke about the groundbreaking Global Innovation Exchange that exists between the UW and a Chinese university.

Josh also gave a compare and contrast between the residential growth in Redmond that is being driven by the growing IT industry and the Bay Area.
Again, citing polling data, Josh talked about the #1 problem facing our area – transportation. He referred to the Move Seattle levy that just passed and outlined the $6.4B in significant current projects:

• Viaduct replacement
• 520 replacement
• Light rail expansion to Capitol Hill and the University District

Josh also talked about the upcoming projects. He spoke of the $6.8B in projects that are already approved and the $20B in projects that will come up to a vote of the people. The biggest of these are the Sound Transit 3 projects that target:

• Lynnwood to Everett
• Federal Way to Tacoma
• Ballard to West Seattle

There were several questions by the audience to Josh. Sharon Coleman closed the meeting with a preview of the December Breakfast meeting, another dynamic program dealing with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center campus land assemblage and its role as the catalyst to South Lake Union development.

Click here to download Josh Brown's slide presentation for the November breakfast. 

Click here to read Nat Levy's coverage of this meeting in Daily Journal of Commerce. 

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