Bringing together elected officials and planners in the SFV under one umbrella is sure to benefit the region as it plans for continued economic and demographic growth in the coming years. The SFV not only functions as its own region, but it is also part of the larger LA-metro region covering five counties and roughly 15 million people; this reality must be taken into consideration for any planning efforts to be successful. The formation of a SFV COG is a positive first step. Just look at how coordinated lobbying, planning and political pressure worked in the San Gabriel Valley - Metro broke ground just last month on a 12 mile "foothill extension" of the the Gold Line, scheduled to open for revenue service in 2014.
Numerous SFV-regional issues come to mind that deserve attention and coordinated planning: the headwaters of the LA River begin in the western SFV, the Orange Line (which many want converted to light rail) traverses the basin and is being extended north to the Chatsworth Metrolink Station and at least one California High Speed Rail station has been promised for the Valley. The SFV COG will prove its worth if it can manage to leverage these resources effectively to reorient growth and development away from the automobile and toward a more just and sustainable future. We need not reinvent the wheel to make this happen, for really good plans, like the LA River Master Plan, already exist; we just need the political and financial support to make it happen.
For additional ideas about how to reinvent suburbia, which is an apt characterization of much of the SFV, watch Ellen's 20 minute video (link above). Land in LA is at a premium and taking advantage of all the underutilized parcels and parking lots in the SFV represent an enormous untapped resource for capturing growth within the city's existing urban envelope. Some may fight any increase in density but few attractive alternatives remain in our increasingly resource constrained world.
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