How does Projections 2003 differ from ABAGs trends-based forecasts?
Historically, ABAG has issued every two years trends-based population, employment, and land-use projections, with Projections 2002 as the latest forecast. These forecasts take existing and forecasted economic conditions and land uses to project future population, housing and employment. They reflect ABAG’s best estimate of what is likely to occur based on existing local government policies and what has occurred in the past. Projections 2003 is based on smart growth policies consistent with the Vision. These policy-based forecasts will assume local governments will make land-use decisions in the future that are different from those they have made in the past, e.g. approving slightly higher housing densities and/or rezoning commercial land to mixed use. In other words, policy-based Projections 2003 reflects job and housing growth scenarios for the next 20 years that are based on the premise of implementing smart growth land-use policies with the support of incentives and smart growth reg
