FA was the lead consultant for development of a future vision and Growth Management Strategy for Contra Costa County, home to over a half-million residents of Northern California's East Bay Area. Shaping Our Future was funded jointly by all 19 cities and the County of Contra Costa. The project addressed Contra Costa as a large contiguous network of communities, functioning in many was as an entity with tremendous opportunity to develop an inclusive, unifying vision into a successful reality. The purpose of the project was to build a consensus from which Contra Costa County could develop this vision, encouraging its member cities to work toward comprehensive approaches to growth and change in the county.

A series of public workshops, attracting more than 650 participants lead the effort to design future scenarios against which the values of Contra Costans were measured. The team analyzed the land use and transportation patterns, physical constraints to development and natural resources and created a realistic growth alternative that will eventually become the regional or countywide vision.

The project employed several methods of public outreach, ranging from general circulation newsletters and an Internet website to 'hands on' map-exercise workshops. Following the combination of analysis and public communication, an implementation strategy was developed, targeting desirable and practicable solutions.