In January 1997, the Envision Utah Public/Private Partnership was formed to guide the development of a broadly and publicly supported Quality Growth Strategy - a vision to protect Utah's environment, economic strength, and quality of life for generations to come. Five years of scenarios analysis, research and public involvement have helped Envision Utah bring the topic of planning and preparing for growth to the forefront of the public mind. With the help of thousands of Utah residents, Envision Utah has developed a Quality Growth Strategy that will help preserve critical lands, promote water conservation and clean air, improve our region-wide transportation systems, and provide housing options for all residents.

Envision Utah's goal throughout the process has been to involve key decision-makers and the community to gain support at the ground level. Building grass roots support for the project will ensure successful implementation. The Envision Utah effort has included research concerning core values of Utah residents, workshops with key stakeholders to address where and how to grow, and extensive public awareness and education efforts asking Utah residents to express their preferences for their communities’ future. The Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget coordinates a technical committee, Quality Growth Efficiency Tools (QGET), that provided critical technical information to help analyze the impacts of growth on transportation, air quality, land use, water supply/demand, and infrastructure costs. Through the exhaustive involvement of the public, local and state elected officials, the business, civic, and religious communities, and other key stakeholders, Envision Utah has gathered information about what Greater Wasatch Area residents value and how they think growth should be accommodated. Based on this information, Envision Utah identified six primary goals that need to be addressed in the Greater Wasatch Area if we are to protect our environment and maintain our economic vitality and quality of life as we accommodate anticipated growth:

• enhance air quality;
• increase mobility and transportation choices;
• preserve critical lands, including agricultural, sensitive and strategic open lands;
• conserve and maintain availability of water resources;
• provide housing opportunities for a range of family and income types; and
• maximize efficiency in public and infrastructure investments to promote other goals.

These goals can be realized over time by the careful and deliberate pursuit of the thirty-two individual strategies identified by Envision Utah in the Quality Growth Strategy. These strategies rely on citizen involvement with local officials, local land-use decision making and more awareness of free market needs in housing choices. Cooperation at the regional level, state incentives to local governments and local government incentives to developers will also be necessary to address issues such as air quality, water conservation, housing opportunities, transportation, and critical lands.