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Metropolitan Agencies <br />4-L Regional Growth <br />The most recent regional population forecasts projects a population of 3,743,000 people <br />by 2040. <br />Metro Cities recognizes cities' responsibility to plan for sustainable growth patterns that <br />integrate transportation, housing, parks, open space and economic development that will <br />result in a region better equipped to manage population growth, to provide a high quality <br />of life for a growing and increasingly diverse metropolitan area population and improved <br />environmental health. <br />In developing local comprehensive plans to fit within a regional framework, adequate <br />state and regional financial resources and incentives, and maximum flexibility around <br />local planning decisions are imperative. The regional framework should assist cities in <br />managing growth while being responsive to the individual qualities, characteristics and <br />needs of metropolitan cities, and should encourage sub -regional cooperation and <br />coordination. <br />In order to accommodate this growth in a manner that preserves the region's high <br />quality of life: <br />Natural resource protection will have to be balanced with growth and <br />development/reinvestment; <br />• Significant new resources will have to be provided for transportation and transit; and <br />• New households will have to be incorporated into the core cities, first and second -ring <br />suburbs, and developing cities through both development and redevelopment. <br />In order for regional and local planning to result in the successful implementation of <br />regional policies: <br />The State of Minnesota must contribute additional financial resources, particularly in <br />the areas of transportation and transit, reinvestment, affordable housing development, <br />and the preservation of parks and open space. If funding for regional infrastructure is <br />not adequate, cities should not be responsible for meeting the growth forecast set <br />forth by the Metropolitan Council; <br />• The Metropolitan Council and Legislature must work to pursue levels of state and <br />federal transportation funding that are adequate to meet identified transportation and <br />transit needs in the metropolitan area; <br />• The Metropolitan Council must recognize the limitations of its authority and continue <br />to work with cities in a collaborative, incentives -based manner; <br />• The Metropolitan Council must recognize the various needs and capacities of its <br />many partners, including but not limited to cities, counties, economic development <br />2016 Legislative Policies 43 <br />