Five regional growth concepts were developed to help answer that question.
This document outlines the process leading to the development of the Preferred Regional Growth Concept, including alternative concepts and details of public engagement.
Regional growth concepts illustrate different ways that our region might accommodate population and job growth that is expected over the next 30 years. Development of these concepts was guided by input gathered from East Tennessee residents during PlanET’s first two public input rounds and with the assistance of the PlanET Working Groups, which are composed of professionals and interested citizens from throughout the region.
The growth concepts serve four purposes:
No single regional growth concept is a likely outcome for how the area will actually grow over the next 30 years. Instead, these concepts were developed to help understand how different approaches to growth can affect the things that are important to East Tennessee residents.
Through Meeting in a Box Sessions and an online tool, community member's ratings of each priority have been collected. This input has been used to develop a preferred regional growth concept incorporating the best elements of all the concepts. It defines a preferred direction and identifies policy and investment choices that inform an action plan for our region.