To kick off a two-year conversation about how and where the Bay Area should grow, two agencies have released a long-range vision plan, and also plan to take it on the road.

The Initial Vision Scenario for the Sustainable Communities Strategy, mandated by state law, requires the Bay Area and other state metro areas to develop plans on ways to grow without adding to pollution and traffic.

Solano County and downtown Vallejo are two Bay Area priority growth areas in the document.

The county is slated to take on a fair portion of the Bay Area's growth over the next 20 years, Association of Bay Area Government Planning Director Ken Kirkey said.

Vallejo, Benicia and other Solano cities are also shown as growth hot spots -- areas that can accommodate growth without adding to sprawl.

"These are areas that are served by transit and where people can walk and bike and get around and drive less," Kirkey said.

Finding areas to promote development in and around cities is a key component of the plan, Metropolitan Transportation Commission spokesman Steve Goodwin said.

Some 97 percent of the Bay Area's growth over the next 25 years is projected for areas that are already urbanized, Goodwin said.

Between 2010 and 2035, agencies project Solano County to gain 39,600 more households -- a nearly one-third increase over present numbers, Goodwin said.

The Bay Area overall is expected to add nearly 2 million more residents, bringing its population to 9.4

million by the year 2035, Kirkey said.Friday's release of the key document signals the start of workshops and other public events, planners said."This is the beginning of a two-year process. It doesn't put anything else into play other than a conversation," Goodwin said.A final document must be adopted by spring of 2013.

Contact staff writer Sarah Rohrs at srohrs@timesheraldonline.com or (707) 553-6832.