By Marianne Love
San Gabriel Valley civic leaders on Thursday got a jolt of reality about the predicted 6 million extra people expected to be living in Southern California over the next 25 years.
About 250 representatives from different areas of government, real estate, the financial world and more came together at the "Reality Check on Growth" conference on the campus of USC to map out their vision of the future in terms of housing, employment and transportation.
The event was presented by USC's Lusk Center for Real Estatecolor> and in collaboration with the Southern California Transportation and Land Use Coalition, the Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast, USC GIS Research Laboratory and Southern California Association of Governments.
"They are here to grapple with growth and to learn that local efforts have a ripple effect on the entire region in ways they didn't think of before," said Katherine Perez, executive director of Southern California Transportation and Land Use Coalition.
"We share a system - air travel, transportation, rivers - we hope to create a greater sense of awareness of the projected growth in people who are in decision-making positions who will have to grapple with the trade-off of where these 6.5 million people will live, what will be the cost of transportation, housing."
The "visioning map" included Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, where nearly two-thirds of the extra people are expected to be born. The remaining will be new immigrants and those moving in from other states.
Over the next two years, the Southern California Association of Government hopes to use the region's vision as a new standard for planning at the local and regional levels.
"I heard from people who are experts in dealing with the same issues Azusa is dealing with like dense housing and open space," Mayor Cristina Madrid said. "I'm bringing back powerful connections with developers and financial experts for current Azusa residents and anticipated ones. It's about balancing locals' needs with regional ones."
As distances between work and home become greater, Southern Californians spend more time on the road, affordable housing demands remain high and places to work are moving away from residential areas.
"We don't have a system of government that can implement a regional vision," said Dan Silver, coordinator of Los Angeles-based Endangered Habitats League. "Everything is done as a piecemeal exercise."
One way city planners see as solving trends is through a mixture of retail and housing development similar to Azusa, where three major proposed projects feature housing above retail space.
"I've learned of the importance of putting jobs near where people live I don't think as a council we've thought about it," said longtime San Dimas Councilman Denis Bertone. "A mixed-use project could solve transportation and density problems."
San Dimas is Nearly Built Out.
Bertone said there are places in the foothill city for mixed-use development in commercial sites along Arrow Highway that are failing.
"The city will be thinking about putting the properties together and bringing in medium density," Bertone said. "This would increase the tax base and help with transportation. People could shop where they live."
Pasadena Mayor Bill Boggard echoed the need to create jobs for Pasadena residents.
"It's a matter of balancing jobs and housing," Boggard said.
Pasadena has become a magnet for new housing with the arrival of the Los Angeles-to-Pasadena Gold Line and its stepped-up local transportation system.
Boggard said the city has job- initiative programs under way, and he plans on talking them up so they can become stronger and more effective.
Keith McCarthy, a former mayor and current councilman of the bedroom community of Downey, agreed that cities will be heavily challenged to provide single-family housing.
"An additional challenge will be encouraging people to get out of their cars," McCarthy said.