June 11, 2009

An editorial in the San Jose Mercury News urges everyone to make the land use-climate change connection: “…how we lay out the streets, how close together we place the homes — affects global warming.”

Contra Costa Times reports:
Titled “Grow Smart Bay Area,” Greenbelt Alliance’s new study makes the case that the Bay Area can say no to suburban sprawl and still accommodate new residents and jobs.

Elected officials from across the Bay Area, along with business, housing, development and transportation groups, called for a coordinated land use and transportation planning strategy.

“The Bay Area could create a model metropolis,” Jeremy Madsen said, speaking to about 220 people and a panel of experts at a downtown San Francisco high-rise with sweeping views of the Bay Area.

Growth in Marin over the next 25 years should be funneled into areas along the planned Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit corridor to curb sprawl and cut greenhouse gases, according a plan released Wednesday by the Greenbelt Alliance.

It’s easy to see how installing solar panels or driving a hybrid can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But it’s less intuitive that the way we build new neighborhoods — how we lay out the streets, how close together we place the homes — affects global warming.

The Bay Area can meet its need for new homes and workplaces over the next quarter-century without encroaching on its open spaces or sending residents on mega-commutes into outlying valleys, says a report released Wednesday by an environmental group.

The Bay Area can accommodate the next 25 years’ worth of growth—2 million additional people and 1.7 million new jobs—entirely through infill development, according to Greenbelt Alliance.

appears a consensus is forming among local governments that building more livable and sustainable communities is an immediate priority. At a conference in San Francisco yesterday, elected officials from across the Bay Area, along with business, housing, development and transportation groups, called for a coordinated land use and transportation planning strategy to account for the nearly two million more people projected to live in the Bay Area by 2035.

The Greenbelt Alliance, a Bay Area advocate of open spaces and vibrant communities, released a research report called “Grow Smart Bay Area” in which it outlines specific areas including Oakland and Concord that are ripe for infill development.