Smart Infill

Executive Summary

The Opportunity of Infill
Infill development is more than a way to avoid paving the Bay Area's spectacular greenbelt of farms and natural areas.

It is even more than a way to reduce driving and cut greenhouse gas emissions—although this is a clear benefit that is becoming ever more critical.

Infill is an opportunity to use the Bay Area's growth to make our communities better.

Past patterns of development have drained resources away to the region's edges. But infill invests in the places where people live now.

Done well, infill can rebuild abandoned areas, bring new life to old downtowns, and provide homes where people can meet their needs close by. It can create neighborhoods where it is safe and pleasant to walk or bike, where driving is not the only option. It can create more attractive, inviting communities.

This guidebook, Smart Infill, is a tool to help city leaders encourage infill development that is done well.

Strategies
Good infill takes a combination of strategies on several fronts:

Planning
Determine what land is available for infill and actively encourage development there.

Cities surrounded by open space should first adopt an urban growth boundary to define the limits of growth. The next step is to do an assessment of land available for infill, and make this public. Cities should update their general plans and zoning codes to remove barriers to infill and encourage dense development with a mix of uses, like homes above shops. Specific plans can then focus investment in a given neighborhood and speed development with a comprehensive environmental review.

Community
Involve the public to help development go forward smoothly, and share the benefits and costs fairly.

Cities should agree on a process for public involvement and use this to find out how new development can meet community needs. It is also critical that cities act early to include affordable homes in new development, avoid displacing residents, and take other actions to ensure current residents enjoy the benefits of development in their neighborhoods.

Design
Think carefully about how new development will fit in to the neighborhood and how people will use it.

Good infill uses land efficiently; to enable this, cities should allow significant density and height, allow a mix of uses and housing types, and reduce parking requirements as much as possible. Form-based codes provide a way to guide the general appearance of new development without restricting density, allowing more flexibility for developers. Design guidelines enable cities to go into more detail about the look of new development and preserve local history and character. The design process is also an opportunity to implement creative solutions to meeting parking needs and channeling stormwater. Considering a diversity of people with a wide range of needs will result in well-used, well-loved buildings and public spaces.

Development
Simplify the process for developers.

By streamlining permitting and construction processes, getting departments to work together to promote infill, and ensuring requirements are consistent, cities can smooth the way for good development. Redevelopment agencies can be powerful tools to make land available and finance neighborhood improvements. Cities can also help developers get financing, clean up brownfields, and provide funding for affordable homes.

Case Studies
Bay Area communities, large and small, are encouraging infill:

• San Rafael and Oakland are making concerted efforts to add significant amounts of housing to their downtowns.

• San Francisco, Santa Rosa, San Jose, and San Mateo are creating whole new neighborhoods around public transit.

• Petaluma, Morgan Hill, and Cloverdale have taken steps to improve their streetscapes and create more inviting places to walk.

• Berkeley, Redwood City, and San Francisco are taking creative approaches to parking.

• Emeryville, Oakland, Sunnyvale, and Morgan Hill have pulled funding together and smoothed the way for development.

Recommendations
Supporting infill development takes action at all levels. State and regional policies should support local efforts—and they are increasingly doing so, especially around climate change. Counties should direct development into cities. Cities should adopt policies to encourage infill, bring down barriers, and create
plans to make it happen. The active involvement of residents, business groups, neighborhood associations, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, and the media is also crucial.

Getting There
Already, the Bay Area's cities can learn a great deal from one another about how to do infill well. It is time to apply these lessons broadly, and act on them with vigor.

It will take leadership, creativity, and commitment to make the major shift in development patterns that the region needs—toward smart infill. The result will be a Bay Area that truly thrives as it grows.

Download the Executive Summary (147 KB pdf)

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