Grow Smart Bay Area

By changing how the Bay Area grows, we can make our region more climate-friendly, affordable, and economically competitive—and protect the greenbelt.

The San Francisco Bay Area can grow sustainably—and we must. By 2035, 2 million more people will live here. If we change how the Bay Area grows, we can make our region more climate-friendly, affordable, and economically competitive, while protecting our farms, forests, and watersheds.

It’s Possible

Bay Area cities and towns have room for enough new homes and jobs for everyone. We can focus all of the region’s needed new development in existing urban areas, especially in downtowns and around transportation hubs. We can use land now wasted on vacant lots, parking lots, and other under-used properties to build the homes people need in thriving new neighborhoods.

A New Way to Grow

In the past, poorly planned growth has contributed to unaffordable homes, traffic, lost farmland, and climate change. It’s time to use land in a better way. Grow Smart Bay Area is Greenbelt Alliance’s challenge to the region.

Photo: Nimish Gogri via Flickr

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More Research

The Critical Role of Greenbelts in Wildfire Resilience

The Bay Area is at a tipping point in its relationship to wildfire. There is huge potential for the region, and other places across the Western US, to accelerate greenbelts as critical land-use tools to bolster wildfire resilience.

At Risk: The Bay Area Greenbelt 2017

Over six years, we cut the region’s land at risk of development by 20%. But in the hottest housing market in decades, are the Bay Area’s growth policies and plans still stopping sprawl? We have the answer.

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