Vision Dixie is a planning exercise in collaboration with the Washington County Commission, the non-profit planning group Envision Utah, and the residents of Washington County.  In October 2006, a series of workshops were held in 13 cities in which 1200 residents participated and were asked to play a chip game where different chips were placed on a map to create areas showing housing, business development, new transportation routes and open space should be.  That data was complied into four different scenarios on different ways of growing to the same population of 400,000.  There was also a technical committee of local planners and experts to help give feedback into the process. The residents had a choice of scenarios from sprawl to compact communities. The scenarios help us understand the impact of choices we make today will have on our future. It will help determine which strategies work and which don’t.

In May and June, 515 residents attended the Dixie Dialogue meetings to give reedback on the four scenarios and what elements they liked.  The on-line survey was completed by 834 individuals and 400 residents were cold called by pollster Dan Janes.

The results show a majority of people wanted:

No BLM land Sales
Preserve Scenic beauty
Were 45-65 years old
Lived here 2 to 5 years
Cities should encourage inward growth
Mixed use centers
Transit with moderate Roadways
Maintain air and water quality
Conserve water
Maximum preservation of open space to create continuous systems 

This September the goals and strategies and a vision scenario that best serve the needs and desires of the community will be released. The vision scenario will show what the county could look like in 2035.  A list of implementation tools will also be developed and in October 2007 there will be a full-day Training Session on strategies to accomplish the goals.