Poll: Residents want housing near their jobs
|
Poll: Residents want housing near their jobs |
Locals still prefer to retain approval control over projects.
By Nat Friedland | Staff Writer
Published on Friday, January 14, 2005
A poll shows that a majority of Bay Area residents think new homes should be built near job centers, even if that produces more housing in or near where they live.
"When there's a 55 percent response recognizing the need to balance housing with job growth, it's a good start in dealing with the problem," said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council, which conducted the poll and represents 275 of the region's largest employers.
About 600 randomly selected residents in the nine Bay Area counties were asked how housing needs should be met with new jobs created in their city.
Fifty-five percent favored higher-density housing near job centers, while 37 percent preferred building in outlying areas.
Fifty-two percent also agreed that the Bay Area should have a regional growth plan backed with special incentives, such as giving participating cities and counties extra money for transportation.
However, the polled residents were not about to give up local control over what gets built within their hometowns. Sixty-two percent of San Franciscans said their city should retain rights to approve new housing developments, and 67 percent wanted to keep local control of proposed commercial developments.
San Mateo County residents were even more determined to hold onto local control. Seventy-four percent said individual cities should hold the power to approve new housing, while 80 percent favored hometown approval rights on commercial development proposals.
Much higher percentages of those polled thought a regional agency could do a better job than local governments in handling other Bay Area problems, such as highway expansion, public transit operations, airport management, waste disposal and boosting economic growth.
"The problem must be attacked, so we can have a healthier economy and
more vibrant neighborhoods," said Lisbet Sunshine, a spokeswoman for the
San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.