ClimatePlan

Critical Pieces of Bay Area Plan to be Voted on Thurs, 5/17

ClimatePlan — Thu, 17 May 2012 17:47:45 +0000

Attend the Hearing or Contact the Commissioners

The rubber meets the road this week in the Bay Area, as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the ABAG Executive Board will hold a critical hearing on key components of the region’s long-term growth and transportation plans.

The agencies will adopt the “preferred scenario” for Plan Bay Area – the region’s comprehensive land-use and transportation plan for the next 30 years. The agencies will also adopt the OneBayArea grant program that will provide funding for cities and counties that are planning for sustainable growth.

Advocates in the Bay Area have made some significant gains throughout the process so far, but there are still a number of concerns and recommendations on how to improve the plans (scroll down for more info), and the MTC and ABAG representatives need to hear from you.

If you are in the area, please attend this hearing (details below). Tea Party members have disrupted previous meetings in the Bay Area, and we expect they will produce a large turnout on Thursday. We need to be sure our voices are heard as well. Greenbelt Alliance is organizing a happy hour at 6:00pm to coordinate and prep. Click here for more info on that. Also, for those interested, the 6 Wins for Social Equity Network is planning a press conference at 6:30pm in front of the Oakland Marriott.

In addition, if you have relationships with any of the MTC Commissioners or the ABAG Executive Committee, please contact them today and let them know you support an ambitious, equitable, and sustainable plan. You can find MTC info here, and ABAG info here.
Meeting Details:

MTC Commission and ABAG Executive Board
Thursday, May 17, 7:00 p.m.
Oakland Marriott City Center — Junior Ballroom
1001 Broadway, Oakland
Download the meeting notice

Key Recommendations:

It’s estimated that the land use and transportation infrastructure components of the SCS/RTP would only reduce GHG emissions by 9-10% per capita, well short of the 15% target. Read a letter submitted by American Lung Association in California with some specific recommendations to improve public health and reduce emissions through greater walking, cycling and transit options.

The One Bay Area guidelines will exacerbate conditions of inequality for the Bay Area’s growing population of low-income communities of color. Read this blog post from Public Advocates’ Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, which outlines the concerns and recommendations from the 6 Wins Network. You can read their One Bay Area report card, including the steps it would take to get an “A”, here. You can also see their primary recommendations in p. 6-7 of this letter.

The Draft Transportation Investment Strategy is lacking in some key areas that need to change, such as supporting dramatic improvements to BART and Muni; increasing low-income communities’ access to jobs and services via public transportation; and investing in innovative ways to get more people walking, biking, and taking transit. Learn more on TransForm’s website.

Conservation grant funds need to be spent wisely. There are a number of positive aspects of the conservation grant funding program, but a few key pieces need attention. For instance, as currently written, the conservation grants could be spent on things like paving rural roads, and the program needs to focus on true conservation projects. Check out Greenbelt Alliance’s website for more details on their analysis of the plan.

Public meeting to discuss the investment of Cap and Trade Revenue

ClimatePlan — Thu, 10 May 2012 15:59:32 +0000

Hosted by California Air Resources Board.
Please save the date for a public consultation meeting on approaches for investing auction proceeds from California’s cap-and-trade program. Panelists will discuss how to most effectively invest these funds to support the goals of AB 32 (2006) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as encourage long-term transformation to improve public health and develop a clean energy economy. The public are invited to share ideas about what criteria and programs should be prioritized in the development of an investment plan.

May 24th, 1:30pm – 5pm
California Environmental Protection Agency Building
Byron Sher Auditorium, 2nd floor
1001 I Street
Sacramento, California 95814

A live webcast of the meeting will be available here.
The meeting information will soon be available here.

What do San Diegans value most?

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:54:01 +0000

San Diego Union Tribune – April 25th, 2012. By Roger Showley
More than 31,000 San Diegans expressed their views earlier this year on everything from land use to education. And now the San Diego Foundation, sponsor of the “Greater San Diego Vision” campaign, will reveal the results. The foundation plans to post all the results Thursday to dozens of questions that participants answered in an online poll conducted from November to December.
Link to article

Study: Low-Income Neighborhoods Much More Likely to Have Dangerous Roads

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:53:16 +0000

Streetsblog Capitol Hill – April 24th, 2012. By Angie Schmitt.
Who suffers most from bad road design? Not surprisingly, the answer is poor people, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health. Researchers examined injury rates for pedestrians, drivers and cyclists over a five-year period in Montreal. They found pedestrians living in low-income neighborhoods were more than six times more likely to be injured by a moving vehicle than those from high-income neighborhoods.
Link to blog

San Francisco: Reclaiming Streets With Innovative Solutions

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:52:38 +0000

Streetsblog San Francisco – April 24th, 2012. By Clarence Eckerson Jr..
Tom Radulovich, the executive director of the local non-profit Livable City, describes the recent livable streets achievements in San Francisco as “tactical urbanism” — using low-cost materials like paint and bollards to reclaim street space. That willingness to experiment was a big reason that the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) gave its 2012 Sustainable Transport Award to San Francisco (an honor shared with Medellín, Colombia). In this Streetfilm we profile the innovations that earned SF recognition from ITDP.
Link to blog

Fresno in top 5 most ozone-polluted cities in U.S.

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:51:49 +0000

Fresno Bee – April 24, 2012. By Mark Grossi.
The 13th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association has good and bad news for the San Joaquin Valley — but it’s still mostly bad. Visalia, Bakersfield, Fresno and Hanford are among the five most ozone-polluted cities in the country, the Lung Association will report today. Only the Los Angeles area is worse. The message has been consistent for years. But the report also says this: Unhealthy ozone days in the Fresno area have dropped more than 60% in the last decade, according to the association’s figures, which will be released today.
Link to article

Population growth in Valley sees big decline

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:51:17 +0000

Fresno Bee – April 24, 2012. By Russell Clemings.
Population growth in the San Joaquin Valley has slowed considerably, and the region is now expected to have almost one-third fewer people in 2050 than was predicted just five years ago, according to a new study done for area planning agencies. The findings are likely to affect everything from affordable housing and transportation planning to the control of greenhouse gas emissions over the coming decades, as lower population growth rates reduce demand for new homes and highways.
Link to article

Downtown Modesto: Upward and onward

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:50:29 +0000

The Modesto Bee – April 23rd, 2012. Opinion.
There are several reasons to be hopeful for improvements in Modesto’s downtown, already one of the liveliest in the San Joaquin Valley. As Bee columnist Jeff Jardine outlined in Sunday’s Bee, developer Peter Janopaul III has appealing plans for the El Viejo post office on I street, which his investment group brought for just more than $1 million in the fall.
Link to article

Infrastructure projects need public support, transportation experts say

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:49:49 +0000

The Washington Post – April 23rd, 2012. By Ashley Halsey III.
A coalition of leading transportation experts hope to marshal public pressure on Congress and the presidential contenders to address the nation’s infrastructure needs. With long-term transportation funding measures languishing on Capitol Hill and infrastructure getting little notice in the presidential campaign, “the tradition of broad bipartisan support for investments in surface transportation has largely broken down,” the group said.
Link to article

Questions still remain about local area sprawl

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:49:10 +0000

Fresno Bee – April 22, 2012. Editorial.
Fresno city planners, community members and politicians spent a lot of energy developing the General Plan update that was passed Thursday evening. This is supposed to be a roadmap to how the city is developed over the next two decades. As a government exercise, the alternative that the City Council passed on a 5-2 vote meets critical planning benchmarks. It wisely pushes development back toward the city center, putting the brakes on sprawl. Unfortunately, how the city develops has more to do with the economy and the limits that neighboring communities put on builders than what happened at City Hall on Thursday.
Link to article

Los Banos toll road critics give MCAG panel an earful

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:48:34 +0000

The Merced Sun-Star – April 21st, 2012. By Thaddeus Miller.
With cheering and applause from an audience topping 100, more than a dozen people voiced opposition to a toll road proposal last week in Los Banos. The State Route 152 Mobility Partnership panel took no action in relation to the plan, but held an extended public comment portion. Former Assemblyman Rusty Areias, who spoke during the public comment, said he encourages a continued partnership among counties, “but this toll road is one of the dumbest damn ideas you all have come up with.”
Link to article

Silicon Valley’s prosperity hinges on our ability to house our talent pool

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:46:57 +0000

San Jose Mercury News – April 21, 2012. Opinion – By Ryan Avent and David Bell.
The economic recovery appears to be well under way here in Silicon Valley. From 2009 to 2010, California’s economy grew by just 1.8 percent, and the U.S. as a whole saw growth of just 2.6 percent. For the San Jose metro area, the figure was an eye-popping 13.6 percent — easily the best among large U.S. regions. As bright as the future seems, however, there is a shadow hanging over Silicon Valley that, if unaddressed, could mean serious trouble. What could possibly drag down 13.6 percent growth? Soaring housing costs for the region’s employees. If it isn’t careful, Silicon Valley could price itself out of the innovation business.
Link to article

In Silicon Valley, an Emerging Bike Movement

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:44:47 +0000

Streetsblog San Francisco – April 20th, 2012. By Bryan Goebel.
Bicycle advocacy can be an especially daunting challenge in the South Bay and the Peninsula, where car-centric policies and culture rule the day. At this week’s Silicon Valley Bike Advocacy Summit the focus was on improving relations between advocates and government officials at a time when a growing number of cities in the Silicon Valley and big companies such as Facebook, Google and Apple are starting to embrace the bicycle.
Link to blog

SACOG sets high bar on transportation plan

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:44:03 +0000

Sacramento Bee – April 20, 2012. Editorial.
Quality of life in the Sacramento region is inexorably linked to how we build communities and link them with transportation. If we do it right, we can reduce pollution, protect farmland, create a vibrant urban fabric and give people alternatives to congested freeways and highways. This region has a long history in making bad choices in this realm, but that is starting to change. One big step forward came Thursday when the Sacramento Area Council of Governments approved a 2035 Sustainable Communities Strategy/Regional Transportation Plan.
Link to article

High-speed rail for a more sustainable state

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:43:15 +0000

Sacramento Bee – April 20, 2012. Opinion – By Ed Lee, Ashley Swearengin, Kevin Johnson, Chuck Reed and Antonio Villaraigosa.
We are all strong supporters of building the California High-Speed Rail system, and our state has arrived at a critical juncture. In the weeks ahead, state legislators will be asked to release $2.7 billion in previously approved state bond funds to begin construction of the first section of high-speed rail in the United States. Our long-term economic and environmental future requires an alternative to simply adding more highways and airport runways. We need a sustainable, modern way of moving people up and down the state that doesn’t rely on gasoline and concrete.
Link to article

Still L.A.’s ‘transportation mayor’

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:42:26 +0000

Los Angeles Times – April 20, 2012. Editorial.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa came into office seven years ago with a remarkably ambitious agenda, proposing to solve many of L.A.’s most intractable problems: He would be the mayor who fixed the schools, cleaned up the gang problem and beefed up the Police Department. And, most important, he branded himself as the city’s “transportation mayor.” Some of these promises have been fulfilled, yet progress in most areas has been incremental and not necessarily attributable to Villaraigosa. But all caveats aside, there is one area in which Villaraigosa shines: He really is L.A.’s transportation mayor.
Link to article

Build up downtown to boost tax revenue, expert says

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:41:50 +0000

The Modesto Bee – April 20^th, 2012. By Ken Carlson.
Over the years, leaders in Stanislaus County have heard plenty advice from urban planners. One of the concepts frequently repeated was to build homes in the foothills in order to preserve rich farmland on the valley floor. Real estate consultant Joe Minicozzi thinks housing and commercial projects should be built right in the center of San Joaquin Valley cities such as Modesto.
Link to article

Plan envisions Sacramento County growth without congestion

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:40:32 +0000

Sacramento Bee – April 20, 2012. By Tony Bizjak.
Traffic jams are not inevitable. As you get ready for your Friday commute, no doubt hoping other drivers take the day off, there is good news out there: A coalition of leaders from 28 local cities and counties says it has a plan to reduce congestion on Sacramento roads by 7 percent over the next 20 years, even as the region’s population grows.
Link to article

Onward, sprawl

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:38:34 +0000

Sacramento News and Review – April 19th, 2012. By Cosmo Garvin.
As bad omens go, the dead mall in Elk Grove is tough to beat. The hulking, half-built Elk Grove Promenade makes a too-fitting symbol of the real-estate collapse and the end of seemingly unlimited suburban sprawl. It’s like a ghostly shipwreck, warning Elk Grove’s civic leaders: “Turn back, before it’s too late.” Even the name of company that went bankrupt trying to build this mall, General Growth Properties, seems a little bit on the nose. Turn back.
Link to article

Fresno general plan vote focuses on housing infill

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:37:29 +0000

The Fresno Bee – April 19th, 2012. By George Hostetter.
It took two weeks and nearly 10 hours of debate, but the Fresno City Council finally decided sprawl is no longer to be a part of the community’s future. In a 5-2 vote in front of another packed house, the council on Thursday evening picked a theme for the 2035 general plan update that stresses infill development and higher-density living.
Link to article

Villaraigosa’s legacy rides on transit plan

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:36:01 +0000

Los Angeles Times – April 18th, 2012. By David Zahniser and Ari Bloomekatz and Kate Linthicum.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s bid to indefinitely extend a transportation sales tax marks perhaps a last chance to jump-start what he hopes will be the cornerstone of his legacy: dramatically expanding rail service in L.A. A year before he leaves office, the mayor is desperate to break a logjam that has stalled his vision of quickly building a sprawling, interconnected rail system, including a subway extension across the traffic-clogged Westside.
Link to article

Sacramento plan sets the standard for sustainable communities

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:34:55 +0000

NRDC Switchboard – April 18th, 2012. By Amanda Eaken.
This Thursday April 19th, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) is poised to adopt one of the most progressive and transformative smart growth plans in the nation. The board will vote to adopt their 2035 Sustainable Communities Strategy/Regional Transportation Plan (SCS/RTP) required by SB 375, California’s smart growth law adopted in 2008.
Link to blog

High-speed rail could free up valuable space at SFO

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:33:59 +0000

San Francisco Examiner – April 16th, 2012. By Will Reisman.
While the state’s high-speed rail project is expected to redefine how people travel on trains, local officials are banking on the plan having an equally important impact in the skies. Small, inefficient flights between The City and the Los Angeles area account for 15 percent of all domestic travel at the San Francisco International Airport.
Link to article

Is SoCal America’s Next Environmental Success Story?

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:26:06 +0000

The Atlantic Cities – April 2012. By Kaid Benfield.
We expect forward-looking sustainability planning from places like Portland, Vancouver and Copenhagen. Los Angeles? Not so much. Southern California is a region much better known for environmental problems than solutions, which is precisely why its new, 25-year Sustainable Communities Strategy, adopted unanimously last week by the Southern California Council of Governments (SCAG), is so significant.
Link to article

Is Cap and Trade for Pet Projects or for Transformation?

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:25:11 +0000

The Huffington Post – April 17th, 2012. By Mike Sandler.
On April 20 the UCLA Law School is hosting a symposium called “California’s Billion Dollar Question” to discuss the state’s priorities in allocating the billions of dollars expected to flow once the cap and trade program under AB32 commences around November of this year. The symposium will also address the legal constraints on allocating these revenues, especially “Sinclair Paint,” named after the landmark legal caseSinclair Paint Co. v. State Bd. of Equalization.
Link to article

Southern California hailed as model of sustainability

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:23:53 +0000

Los Angeles Times – April 17th, 2012. Opinion — By Rick Cole.
Southern California is no longer the Great Satan of suburban sprawl. Last month, the Census Bureau released a list of America’s densest urban areas, and Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim ranked first. New York-Newark was fifth. Nothing symbolizes the emerging shift, however, like the unanimous vote this month by the Southern California Assn. of Governments, or SCAG, to adopt the landmark 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy.
Link to article

Visionary Transpo Bureaucrats, Part 2: Keith Parker and Mike McKeever

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:22:50 +0000

Steetsblog Capitol Hill – April 17th, 2012. By Angie Schmitt.
Mike McKeever is a planner who believes in community involvement. When the Sacramento region was developing its land use plan just over 10 years ago, his agency invested in three complementary data and mapping tools that help make the wonky business of regional land use planning accessible to regular people.
Link to article

SANDAG Puts Off Rapid Bus Debate

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:21:57 +0000

KPBS – April 17th, 2012. By Tom Fudge.
A lot of downtown activists and business owners were expecting to attend this Friday’s transportation committee meeting of SANDAG, San Diego’s regional planning agency. But they won’t be there. That’s because the meeting’s been cancelled. Dave Schumacher, a senior planner of SANDAG, said the cancellation was a simple matter of not enough to talk about.
Link to article

Stanislaus County looks at revival strategy for pocket areas

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:21:01 +0000

The Modesto Bee – April 16th, 2012. By Garth Stapley.
A new strategy for reviving two unincorporated Modesto neighborhoods, home to more than 2,000 people, will come before Stanislaus County leaders this evening. County supervisors also will consider rules for parking big rigs on farmland. The airport and Parklawn neighborhoods, like many of Modesto’s 27 poor unincorporated pockets, have waited decades for decent sewer service. Many lack sidewalks and streetlights, as well.
Link to article

Car-sharing program takes off

ClimatePlan — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:20:09 +0000

The Stockton Record – April 16th, 2012. By Alex Breitler.
No parents, no rules – and yet, no wheels. Now University of the Pacific students can better enjoy their newfound independence. What has been described as the world’s largest car-share program has parked itself at Pacific, where a Ford Focus named “Fickle” and a Toyota Prius named “Portie” are available for hourly or daily use by students, faculty and staff.
Link to article