PROGRAMS & PROJECTS > SJ Valley Regional Blueprint

The Project

Developing the Blueprint
for San Joaquin County

By the year 2050, if current growth trends continue as “business as usual”, will the overall landscape in the San Joaquin County Region and the San Joaquin Valley support the values shared today?

Record population growth and development has reached historic proportions over the last decade. It is projected that 7.9 million people will be living in the San Joaquin Valley by the year 2050. As the fastest growing region in the valley, and one of the fastest in the state, it is expected that the population in San Joaquin County will reach 1.7 million by the year 2050.

The public continues to express frustration with issues directly related to the region's growth. Increased traffic congestion, loss of open space/agriculture, air quality, availability of quality jobs and affordable housing, and the ill-defined, but real belief that our quality of life is slipping away are examples of increasing sentiment.

The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) Blueprint Planning Process will develop a cohesive regional framework that defines and offers alternative solutions to growth related issues for San Joaquin County Region and the Valley. The planning process involves the strategic integration of transportation, housing, land use, economic development, and environmental protection in order to produce the preferred growth pattern scenario representing the year 2050.

SJV Blueprint Planning Process is funded by a $5 million dollar state grant over a 3-year period. Funding through June 2006 of $2 million dollars was announced by Secretary Sunne Wright McPeak of the California State Department of Business, Transportation, and Housing on January 20, 2006 at the SJV Council of Governments Director's meeting held at the Great Valley Center in Modesto. The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District provided $500 thousand dollars towards the first year’s effort to meet the 20% local matching funds requirement.

Administration of the SJV Blueprint Planning Process will be performed by the participating councils of governments that define the San Joaquin Valley: San Joaquin, Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, Stanislaus, and Tulare. The San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJOG) will be responsible for the administration of the  program for the San Joaquin County Region. To date, SJCOG has received over $400,000 to support the regional effort through May 2009. Funding through June 2008 will be allocated as part of the state budget for fiscal year 2007-2008.

The outcomes of the planning process will not supersede a local jurisdiction’s land use authority. Elected officials regionally and throughout the valley will determine how their jurisdiction will use the outcomes from of the SJV Blueprint Planning Process. In addition to the elected officials, representatives from various interest groups and the public at large will be fully engaged during all stages of the planning process.

Related Links:

California Partnership for the SJV

Blueprint Learning Network

Great Valley Center

QUICK LINKS
Business, Transportation, & Housing Agency

California Dept. of Transportation

San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

San Joaquin Valley Blueprint