Introduction and Background
The VISION. VISION 2020 serves as integrated long-range growth management, economic and transportation strategy for King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties (see Figure 3-4). VISION 2020 was first adopted in 1990, and last updated in 1995. VISION 2020 calls for locating development in defined urban growth areas, creating compact communities with employment and housing growth focused in centers. This strategy is designed to foster a greater mix of land uses, a more complete and efficient network of streets and other public rights-of-way, and, in general, support an urban environment which is amenable to walking, biking and using transit.
VISION 2020 also aims to conserve forests and other natural resources, and to preserve rural areas through low-density residential living maintained by rural levels of service and locating employment, housing and services in cities and towns in rural areas. It represents a major public policy commitment to both managed growth and the efficient provision of public services and facilities, particularly transportation investments that emphasize transit, ridesharing, demand management and the maintenance of current facilities.
A key element of the VISION's growth strategy is the development of "regional growth centers." Such centers are places that contain a mix of business, commercial, residential, and cultural activity within a compact area. Centers are places where walking and transit use, as well as automobile and bicycle access, are viable transportation options. VISION 2020 and the region’s growth management plans envision these centers in revitalized downtown districts, as well as in emerging suburban hubs. In the central Puget Sound region, 25 regional growth centers have been formally designated by the counties and cities as a result of growth management planning efforts. Fifteen centers are located in King County, two in Kitsap County, five in Pierce County, and three in Snohomish County.
In addition to regional growth centers, the regional vision also encourages the creation and support of areas between centers that currently function as, or offer the potential to be "compact communities." These compact communities should be located throughout the urban area, offer transportation, housing, and shopping choices, reduce the need for car travel, and support efficient development patterns.
VISION 2020 Map
Multicounty planning policies. VISION 2020 contains the multicounty
planning policies for the four-county region, as adopted according to the Growth
Management Act (RCW 36.70A.210(7)). The policies are essentially countywide
planning policies except that they have been adopted by two or more counties.
They have both a practical and a substantive effect on the comprehensive plans
of cities and counties. 
The multicounty policies are meant to guide countywide
and local planning efforts, as well as the region's Metropolitan Transportation Plan Destination 2030.
VISION 2020 contains eight policy categories, each of which is guided by a "framework" policy.
1. Urban growth areas: (13 policies)
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2. Contiguous and orderly development: (13 policies)
3. Regional capital facilities: (5 policies)
4. Housing: (6 policies)
5. Rural areas: (8 policies)
6. Open space, resource protection and critical areas: (10 policies)
7. Economics: (18 policies)
8. Transportation: (41 policies)
For more information of the multicounty planning policies, and efforts to update them as part of the VISION 2020 update, see Chapter 7 - Evaluation of the Multicounty Planning Policies in the "What are the Overall Impacts" section of the EIS Browser. The complete set of multicounty planning policies is contained in Appendix F.
