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Home June 2005 |
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Greenbelt Newswire
Volunteer of the Month—Karen Carver Last November, Karen Carver, a freelance graphic design artist based in Redwood City, contacted Greenbelt Alliance looking for a way to contribute her expertise to a great cause. Her skills were immediately put to use on updating and redesigning the Go Greenbelt! handbook, a resource and training guide for Greenbelt Alliance's annual Bay Area bike tour. Karen also created the leaf-outline design for this year's Go Greenbelt! jersey, which was very popular with the riders. Karen did a lot of work very quickly and very well. She made a real contribution to the success of this year's Go Greenbelt! ride. We're lucky to have such a talented volunteer, and we look forward to working with her on future projects. Thanks, Karen!
Announcement: Housing Victory in Sonoma! On June 7th, Greenbelt Alliance and local partners won a major victory when the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 for policies that will provide more affordable housing in this costly county. Two policies in particular—an inclusionary housing ordinance and a jobs-housing linkage fee—were our focus over the course of the campaign. These policies ensure that new residential and commercial developments do their fair share to support affordable housing, so as the county grows, local residents and workers are not forced out. This in turn will help take pressure off the greenbelt and reduce long, polluting commutes. The passage of these policies is the result of many long months of working with local groups, the public, and elected officials to show that these policies would be good for Sonoma. This is also a great step forward for our regional inclusionary housing campaign, which will now focus on Solano and Contra Costa Counties.
Action Alert: Solano Land Use Planning and Public Transit The Solano Transportation Improvement Authority (STIA) is moving forward with plans for a transportation sales tax proposal on this November's ballot, but the proposal is missing two critical pieces: growth management and significant funding for transit. We need Solano residents to come support good land use planning and public transit. Come to a public input meeting and let the transportation authority know:
For more information and to find out the date and location of meetings in your town click here.
Action Alert: Regional Transit Update The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) has delayed its June meeting on a Regional Transit Oriented Development Policy until July—this delay appears to be part of a larger move to weaken the policy and allow poor planning around transit. Don't let sprawl supporters weaken or kill this policy! By requiring cities to plan for more homes and jobs near future transit stations, a strong TOD policy would increase riders on new transit, ensure good use of our $8 billion regional transit investment, and reduce growth pressure on open space. Help ensure that MTC passes a strong policy in July: Tell MTC that you support the proposed TOD Policy—and
that it could be strengthened by increasing the minimum housing requirements
by 30%.
Contact kohara@greenbelt.org for more information.
Feature: Smart Growth in San Jose On June 21st, the San Jose City Council made two decisions that will move the city away from its sprawling past while providing much-needed housing. The City Council approved major redevelopment of North First Street and the rezoning of Hitachi's campus in the Edenvale area of the city. The North First Street development, north of San Jose's downtown, is a proposal to do a major overhaul of an area that is now a sprawling landscape of parking lots and low office buildings. The plan will increase density and building heights to accommodate 83,000 new workers and 56,000 new residents. The added shops, offices, and homes will enable the transformation of the area, which is near transit, into a vibrant, walkable urban neighborhood. The development on the Hitachi campus is a plan to condense the sprawling 330-acre office campus into half its current size and add 2,900 homes, a park, and space for shops and offices on the remaining land. Greenbelt Alliance's Compact Development Team endorsed the project, which is called the Cottle Transit Village. Located right next to a Caltrain station and a light rail station, the project is a great example of transit-oriented development. For more information on transit-oriented development, visit here, or read the piece we wrote recently for the Contra Costa Times.
Sun Jul 17: Coastal Trails and Berries Click here
for recent press coverage of Greenbelt Alliance's work Become a Member or Renew Your Membership Support our work to protect the Bay Area's open space and make our cities better places to live. Click here to join or renew, or click here to join our Greenbelt Guardian monthly donor club. Questions? Contact Melissa Wright at 415-543-6771 or mwright@greenbelt.org.
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