Regional Smart Growth/Sustainable Communities Plan: A Critical Analysis

Join us to discuss what Plan Bay Area means for you.

In July, the Bay’s Regional governing body is schedule to approve a state-mandated plan aimed at reducing carbon-emissions that proposes to put 280,000 more people, 92,000 new housing units, 100,000 new jobs (and 73,000 more cars) into this tightly packed city over the next 30 years. The community forum poses these questions:

• Is that realistic, and will this “smart growth” plan have the hoped-for benefits?

• How will that level of growth impact existing communities, the local economy, and already stretched transportation and city infrastructure?

• What are the implications of the Bay Area Plan’s "CEQA streamlining" for local/municipal review of development projects?

By the proposed Plan’s own assessment: it will increase the risk of neighborhood disruption and displacement of existing residents and businesses, especially among the city's working class communities.

What more do we as a community need to know, and what can we do about it?

Presenters and Discussants will include:
• Tim Redmond, San Francisco Bay Guardian
• Mike Casey, Unite HERE Local 2
• Cindy Wu, San Francisco Planning Commissioner
• Maria Zamudio, Causa Justa: Just Cause
• Antonio Diaz, People Organizing to Defend our Economic Rights
• Bob Allen, Urban Habitat
• Gen Fujioka, Chinatown Community Development Center
• Peter Cohen, Council of Community Housing Organizations
• Rachel Brahinsky, University of San Francisco

For more information, contact: tr@sfbg.com; ccho@sfic-409.org