Glossary

Living within walking distance or with transit access to services, employment opportunities, education, amenities, and other key determinants of social, economic, and physical well-being. 

Commonly defined in terms of housing costs as a percentage of household income. Housing is considered unaffordable when a household’s monthly housing costs exceed a certain threshold – most commonly 30% of gross income – thereby reducing the budget available for basic necessities and other household expenses. 

The area median income (AMI) is the midpoint of a community’s income distribution, which means that 50% of the households in that community have a total, pre-tax income higher than the AMI and 50% of the households in the community have a total, pre-tax income lower than the AMI.   

Promotion of physical activity, including walking and bicycling, to address health and personal well-being, focusing on how the built environment — including neighborhoods, transportation systems, buildings, parks and open space — can contribute to more daily movement and activity. 

An assessment of the amount of land needed for commercial, industrial, and housing development, as required by the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.215). Buildable lands programs are to determine whether a county and its cities are achieving urban densities within the urban growth area by comparing adopted plans with actual growth. 

Refers to the human-created surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from large-scale civic districts, commercial and industrial buildings, to neighborhoods and individual homes. 

A local plan required by the state Growth Management Act to address land use, housing, transportation, utilities, and capital facilities, and other elements, to guide growth and development for a 20-year period (RCW 36.70A). 

A state planning requirement to

ensure that needed services and facilities are in place by the time development is completed and to be occupied, or that funding has been committed to provide such services within six years. 

The management of resources – such as water and energy – in order to eliminate waste or maximize efficiency of use. 

An adopted provision developed collaboratively between the county government and the local cities and towns within that county. Countywide planning policies provide a common framework for individual comprehensive plans prepared by each local jurisdiction.  

The involuntary relocation of current residents or businesses from their current residence. 

All people can attain the resources and opportunities that improve their quality of life and enable them to reach full potential. Those affected by poverty, communities of color, and historically marginalized communities are engaged in decision-making processes, planning, and policy making.

Public and private investments, programs, and policies in neighborhoods to meet the needs of marginalized populations and to reduce disparities, providing access to quality education, living wage employment, healthy environment, affordable housing and transportation.

The Growth Management Act (GMA) is a series of state statutes, first adopted in 1990, that requires fast-growing cities and counties to develop a comprehensive plan to manage their population growth. It is primarily codified under Chapter 36.70A RCW, although it has been amended and added to in several other parts of the RCW.

Those habitats and species determined locally as

important for maintaining fish and wildlife populations

over the long term

Natural hazards are naturally occurring physical phenomena caused either by rapid or slow onset events which can be geophysical

(earthquakes, landslides, tsunamis and volcanic activity), hydrological (avalanches and floods), climatological (extreme temperatures, drought and wildfires), meteorological (cyclones and storms/wave surges) or biological (disease epidemics and insect/animal plagues)

A regional geography within VISION 2050 that refers to cities and unincorporated areas that are connected to the regional high-capacity transit system

Areas within ½ a mile of existing or planned light rail and streetcar stations, commuter rail stations, ferry terminals, and within ¼ mile of all bus rapid transit stations.

Include, but are not limited to, native and Indigenous

peoples, people of color, immigrants and refugees,

people with low incomes, those with disabilities and

health conditions, and people with limited English

proficiency.

Refers to the balance (or imbalance) between incomes and housing costs within a community or region. A common measurement compares the number of households in certain income categories to the number of units in the market that are affordable at 30% of gross income.

Facilities or activities on a site that have negative effects on adjacent properties.

Projects that use vacant or underutilized land in areas that were previously developed.

A planning concept which advocates that housing and employment be located closer together, with an emphasis on matching housing options with nearby jobs, so workers have shorter commutes or can eliminate vehicle trips altogether. 

Cooperative planning between two or more jurisdictions or agencies

Measures of the minimum amount of a public facility that must be provided to meet that community’s basic needs and expectations. The Growth Management Act requires jurisdictions to establish LOS for transportation-related facilities (RCW

36.70A.070(6)(a)).

Jobs that pay enough to meet the basic needs and costs of supporting a family or individual independently. Factors for determining livingwage jobs include housing, food, transportation, utilities, health care, child care, and recreation.

Site design techniques to maintain the natural, pre-developed ability of a site to manage stormwater. More broadly, it refers to a range of development techniques that have minimal environmental or energy-related impacts.

The federally-mandated forum for cooperative

transportation decision-making in a metropolitan area.

A range of housing types – from duplexes to townhomes to low-rise multifamily developments – that bridge a gap between single-family housing and more intense multifamily and commercial areas. The relatively small share of these housing types is sometimes called the “missing middle.”

Projects or districts that include residential, commercial, and business accommodations. Vertical mixed-use development refers to buildings that have multiple uses in a single structure, such as ground-floor retail, offices, and residences. Horizontal mixed-use development refers to districts where zoning allows for different uses to be in adjacent buildings and complexes.  

A particular form of travel. For example, walking, bicycling, driving alone, carpool or vanpool, bus, train, ferry, or airplane. 

Those issues or activities which involve or affect more than one form – or mode – of transportation, including transportation connections, choices, cooperation, and coordination of various modes 

An official statement adopted in VISION 2050 to provide guidance for regional decision-making, as well as a common framework for countywide planning policies and local comprehensive plans. Multicounty planning policies are required by the Growth Management Act (RCW 36.70A.210(7))  

Generally refers to bicycle, pedestrian, and other modes of transportation not involving a motor vehicle. 

A range of green places, including natural and resource areas (such as forests), recreational areas (such as parks and trails), and other areas set aside from development (such as plazas). 

The development and siting of housing, commercial space, services, and job opportunities in a manner that accommodates walking. Such development is intended to create more vibrant urban areas and to reduce dependency on automobile travel. 

To maintain intact or unchanged. In environmental planning, to set aside an environmental feature or natural resource to prevent its alteration 

Facilities and infrastructure, including sanitary and storm sewer systems, water supply, energy, telecommunications, public safety and emergency services, schools, libraries, and other facilities.  

A special purpose agency serving King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties and their respective cities and towns to ensure the residents of the region have clean air to breathe. Chartered by state law in 1967 (RCW 70.94), the agency works in partnership with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and PSRC.  

A broad multi-dimensional concept comprised of two domains—”individual health and wellbeing”, and “neighborhood livability”. The first domain includes physical health and social, emotional and mental well-being. The second relates to those rich opportunities in our neighborhoods affording one to fully enjoy life, such as access to living wage jobs, affordable housing, reliable transit, good schools, safe parks and protected natural areas, etc. (CDC)

The functional economic strategy for VISION 2050. It also serves as the federally required comprehensive economic development strategy for the four-county central Puget Sound region.  

The approach for distributing population and employment growth within the four-county central Puget Sound region. 

A district that provides a service to a multicounty area, countywide, or to an extensive subarea within a county.  

A detailed 20-year transportation plan that guides future regional investments and responds to legal mandates contained in federal transportation legislation, the Clean Air Act Amendments, the Washington Growth Management Act, and Regional Transportation Planning Organization legislation. 

Under state law, the body responsible for long-range, region-wide transportation planning. PSRC serves as the Regional Transportation Planning Organization for the four-county central Puget Sound region. 

The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation. 

The capacity of social, economic, and environmental systems to cope with a hazardous event or trend or disturbance, responding or reorganizing in ways that maintain their essential function, identity, and structure, while also maintaining the capacity for adaptation, learning, and transformation. 

A motor vehicle occupied by the driver only.

Housing arrangements for populations with special physical or other needs. These populations include: the elderly, disabled persons, people with medical conditions, homeless individuals and families, and displaced people 

An infrastructure system that collects runoff from precipitation and redirects it from streets and other surfaces into facilities that store and release it – usually back into natural waterways.  

The number of residents, housing, or jobs that a jurisdiction is expected to plan for in its comprehensive plan. Growth targets are set by countywide planning groups for counties and cities to meet the Growth Management Act requirement to allocate urban growth that is projected for the succeeding twenty-year period (RCW 36.70A.110).  

Individual(s) dependent on public transit to meet personal mobility needs (e.g., unable to drive, not a car owner, or not licensed to drive). 

The development of housing, commercial space, services, and job opportunities near public transportation. Such development is intended to reduce dependency on automobiles, as well as to improve mobility and access between residences, jobs, and services. 

A concentration of housing and jobs within a defined area of land sufficient to support the frequent use of a given mode of public transit. The specific density that is considered transit supportive will vary based on the transit mode, location within a transit system, and mix of uses. 

Transportation demand management (TDM) helps people use the transportation system more efficiently through education, incentives, products, and programs that remove barriers to non-drive-alone modes such as transit, carpool, vanpool, walking, biking, and teleworking 

The physical characteristics that make up built-up areas, including the shape, size, density and configuration of settlements 

People who are unable to avoid or have difficulty recovering from the impacts of hazardous conditions because of factors such as limited resources or impaired physical health. 

The Department of Commerce is the one agency in state government that touches every aspect of community and economic development: planning, infrastructure, energy, public facilities, housing, public safety and crime victims, international trade, business services and more. We work with local governments, tribes, businesses and civic leaders throughout the state to strengthen communities so all residents may thrive and prosper.

The Office of Financial Management is the State agency responsible for preparing population forecasts used by counties and their cities in development of local comprehensive plans. 

PSRC develops policies and coordinates decisions about regional growth, transportation and economic development planning within King, Pierce, Snohomish and Kitsap counties. PSRC is composed of nearly 100 members, including the four counties, cities and towns, ports, state and local transportation agencies and Tribal governments within the region. 

Sound Transit is the regional transit provider that is constructing high capacity transit throughout our region. They will construct and operate two light rail stations on our border with Kent, WA