BCLI Issues and Advocates Speaker Series
Curbing Sprawl, Protecting Health: Building Housing for the Bay Area's Most Vulnerable Residents
August 31, 2011
Over the next 30 years, the Bay Area is projected to add two million people to its population-a 30% growth, or the equivalent of adding two-and-half cities the size of San Francisco or about four Oaklands.
Senate Bill 375, the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, requires regional planning agencies in the Bay Area to prepare for this growth in a strategic manner by prioritizing new housing development near public transportation in order to reduce the amount of automobile-generated pollution in the region, which is currently the single largest and fastest growing source of pollution in the Bay Area. But much of the planned development will take place in low-income communities and communities of color already exposed to high levels of pollution from sources such as highways, ports, and industrial manufacturing. This conflict presents a challenge for regional agencies and advocates who want to both curb urban sprawl and protect the health of those already impacted by environmental injustice.
Our panelists will identify the health and planning challenges associated with transit-oriented development projects in the Bay Area's most polluted communities. As a group, we'll share policies and strategies that decision makers and advocates can use to ensure that such projects are planned, designed, and built in a healthy and equitable manner.
Read the speakers' bios and hear the podcast of their presentation:
- Lindsay Imai, Transportation Justice Program Coordinator, Urban Habitat
- Eli Moore, Program Co-Director, Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice
- Dave Vintze, Air Quality Planning Manager, Bay Area Air Quality Management District
- Jeremy Liu, Executive Director, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation