Plan Bay Area is a roadmap for the nine-county Bay Area focused on housing, the economy, transportation, and the environment. It identifies a path to make the Bay Area more equitable for all residents and more resilient in the face of unexpected challenges. Updated every four years by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), it is part of federal and state planning requirements.
In 2013 and again in 2018, MTC hired Civic Edge to develop and lead community engagement for Plan Bay Area on a regional scale. Outreach and supporting communications focused on explaining the planning process in a welcoming way, clearly identifying the opportunities for public input, and reaching communities historically marginalized and excluded. Project materials focused on creating a sense of unity across all nine Bay Area counties while honoring the unique characteristics of each one.
Initiatives included working closely with MTC’s Plan Bay Area team to plan and oversee a regional forum on housing affordability and displacement in February 2016. More than 400 attendees, from elected officials to community advocates came to participate and constructively engage conversation. In 2020, our team led all logistics behind hosting 14 digital and telephone town hall events around the Plan Bay Area 2050 Draft Blueprint. The series was held in four languages over three weeks and collected hundreds of comments from more than 300 participants.
In addition to our team’s work on Plan Bay Area, Civic Edge has supported MTC in a social media assessment and planning effort and supported updates to its Language Assistance Plan.