Regional Planning & Land Use

Shaping stronger communities and a better region requires collaboration across jurisdictions and disciplines. The Department of Community Planning and Services leads inter-departmental coordination within COG related to the Region Forward, the region's comprehensive vision plan, and provides support for the Region Forward Coalition, a multi-sector group focused on advancing the plan’s goals and targets. 

While there is no single land use plan for the region, local jurisdictions have widely adopted a similar approach to development, increasingly focused in mixed-use Activity Centers that can best accommodate future growth. In cooperation with its Planning Directors Technical Advisory Committee, COG supports local land use planning and Activity Centers by analyzing growth, providing technical assistance, and sharing best practices for placemaking and development. And since transportation and land use are closely linked, COG fosters better planning through efforts such as the Transportation and Land Use Coordination Program. COG has also partnered with ULI-Washington to fund three Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs) per year in Activity Centers.