Land Use

MRCOG operates a Land Use Allocation Model (LAM) designed specifically for the Middle Rio Grande Region by Planning Technologies in 1996. LAM serves as the engine for the socioeconomic forecast, and is essentially designed to forecast growth based on land use plans and site suitability measures.

The major advantage to basing population and employment forecasts on land use is that it ensures that projected densities are reasonable and appropriate. This avoids the potential for forecasting excessive development among small areas, and makes certain that forecast development is consistent with current and proposed zoning and land use plans for a given area. It should be understood however that the location of forecast land uses may be approximate in many cases, and the 2030 forecast should not be used as a forecasting tool for specific parcels of land.

The following map is an illustration of the Land Use Forecast for 2030.

Source:  MRCOG, see the PDF version of the  2030 Forecast Land Use 2.11 Mb

Contact:  Kendra Watkins ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it )