It looks like a computer game, but the stakes are much higher. The Blueprint Project workshops throughout the six-county region will give local residents the opportunity to become planners through a thought-provoking new software program called PLACE3Ss. The software will speed up the calendar by 50 years to show almost immediately how decisions made today will affect the region tomorrow.

“Any planning decision will have ramifications that can be good or bad,” explained Martin Tuttle, Executive Director for SACOG. “Transportation affects housing, for example, and one city’s decision to expand or limit development can have a significant impact on surrounding communities. PLACE3Ss immediately shows those impacts so participants at the workshops will better understand how what they do locally will affect the entire area.”

PLACE3Ss enables users to apply a variety of zoning designations to potential development areas. Each tion carries with it characteristics such as the number of dwellings per acre, how many employees commercial areas can handle, and even the number of parking spaces the land will support.

As zoning designations expand or change, PLACE3Ss shows the effects. Will traffic congestion increase or will new work centers reduce the stress on roads? Will agricultural land or open space be lost, or can it be preserved while meeting housing needs? Will replacing commercial areas with new “mixed-use” development in which commercial and residential share space lead to a more vibrant and efficient community, or will it have negative economic impacts on other areas?

“The first step will be to determine how available land within areas currently designated for development should be used,” explained Mike Mc-Keever, Blueprint Project manager. “We’ll then look at land that is not currently designated in general plans for development, but is within the ‘urban services boundary’ or ‘spheres of influence’ which surround existing cities and urban areas. Ultimately, tough decisions will need to be made about growth in land that isn’t currently designated for development but that will be needed to accommodate the growth projected for the region.”

PLACE3Ss demonstrates how different growth scenarios affect quality of life issues such as traffic congestion, air pollution, recreational opportunities, open space and more. Members of the public who attend the workshops and participate in the PLACE3Ss modeling can decide whether the community they are building is what they would like to see the region become—not just for themselves, but for their children, grandchildren and the newcomers to the region.

“It is an eye-opening experience to almost immediately see the benefits and detriments of today’s planning decisions on the region in 2050,” McKeever said. “There’s a real sense that everyone who participates in the process will leave a legacy that, if we do it right, millions of people will appreciate. The actions we’re taking today will have a dramatic impact on the quality of life residents of the region will experience tomorrow.”

PLACE3Ss will make its debut at the Citrus Heights workshop set for March 18, and will be an integral part of subsequent workshops across the region over the coming months.