Sustainable Urbanism (5/25/11)
b'Sustainable Urbanism Stuart Cohen, Executive Director, TransForm Mike Ghielmetti, President, Signature Development Group Ezra Rapport, Executive Director, Association of Bay Area Governments Infill development is hard. Even in California, one of the few states to have given local officials guidance on how to plan for growth, building smart, sustainable projects close to transit is a challenge, says this panel of experts.\\u201cPeople say, \\u2018We can\\u2019t do enough infill.\\u2019 There are too many obstacles to doing it right,\\u201d says Stuart Cohen, Executive Director, TransForm. \\u201cBut those are obstacles we have control of. I am hopeful for the future, but we need to create a vision for the future that people can believe in. Infill development, if done right \\u2013 and it\\u2019s a big if \\u2013 can actually enhance our communities.\\u201d Mike Ghielmetti, President, Signature Properties, a Bay Area developer, describes a process riddled with uncertainty and risk. Will city council members be in office and planning officials their jobs over the five to 10 years it may take to build a project? Who will pay for schools and parks? Does the project site contain historic buildings? Is the site contaminated? Despite the challenges, \\u201cWe have to push this vision forward,\\u201d Ghielmetti says. \\u201cWe have to figure out a way to accommodate growth, so that we can provide housing for all levels of society. We can provide for new jobs and economic vitality.\\u201d Realizing that California could not meet its greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals under AB32 without tackling emissions from cars, lawmakers, in 2008, passed SB375. The law directly confronts emissions from transportation by forcing cities to plan for growth that reduces miles driven and clusters new development near existing transit and services. Ezra Rapport, Executive Director, Association of Bay Area Governments, says the process outlined in SB375 should help reduce uncertainty and insulate planning decisions from local political considerations. Under the law, 18 metropolitan planning organizations (MPO) will set regional 2020 and 2035 GHG reductions targets for cars. Each MPO will then prepare a Sustainable Communities Strategy that demonstrates how the region will meet its greenhouse gas reduction target. Rapport says those plans will remove some of the project-by-project uncertainty. \\u201cThe election cycle is obviously paramount in all politicians\\u2019 minds,\\u201d he says. \\u201cBut when they\\u2019re sitting on the city council, talking about the plan for growth that will take place over the next 10 to 20 years, they\\u2019re not really challenged in their election cycles by those decisions.\\u201d \\u201cIn my point of view, if a project is properly planned, and it has community buy-in, and it\\u2019s continually refreshed, you will get support,\\u201d he says. This program was recorded in front of a live audience at the Commonwealth Club of California, San Francisco on May 25th, 2011\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'