altitude of approximately . To the south, the Lautagne plateau, at an altitude of , determines a narrow groove between this advance from the terrace of la Léore and the Rhône, which has limited the development of the city in that direction. At the end of the 20th century, the city was again cut off from the Rhône by the construction of the A7 autoroute. Port areas are alone in the south towards Portes-lès-Valence. The Valence agglomeration stretches on the right bank of the Rhône, but is limited by the edge of the Vivarais plateau. However, it includes the communes of Guilherand-Granges, Saint-Péray, Cornas and Soyons. To facilitate the expansion of the town to the east, a large expressway was built (it is used by the RN7), where the Valence-Chabeuil Airport has been in operation since 1969. Quarters The city of Valence is made of twenty quarters (with an average of 3,500 people per quarter). They are all different from the other: The northern quarters are rather popular and residential (Polygone, Fontbarlettes, le Plan and la Chamberlière) and even rural (Thodure), while the southern quarters are generally inhabited by the middle class and pensioners (, Hugo-Provence, Laprat, les Baumes, Mannet, Valence Sud and Lautagne), although there is a popular district (Valensolles), the central quarters are commercial and animated (Centre-ville, Gare, Victor Hugo) and also for tourists during the summer (, Basse ville, l'Épervière) and the east quarters are areas with residential character (Baquet, Grand Charran, Petit Charran, Châteauvert, Danton and Briffaut), however the Martins quarter is rather rural. Some districts are represented by a , which makes for a very lively micro-local fabric. A Quarter Committee is an association of people who play a role with regard to public institutions, and who allow an exchange of information between people and municipal services. In this way, residents can participate in the direction of development projects of their quarters according to their aspirations. To avoid a trip to the city hall, the city of Valence has created five city hall branches in outlying quarters. The mayoral branches of Fontbarlettes, le Plan, Centre-Ville, Valence Sud and the Chamberlière are placed at the disposal of the inhabitants and are in charge of certain administrative services delegated by the Central Council. Housing In 2009, the total number of dwellings in the municipality was 34,661, while it was 32,376 in 1999. Among this housing, 88.4% were