Bright Ideas
In an informal poll, regional leaders and agency staff were asked:
"Name two or three problems facing regional agencies, local
governments around the region, or regional organizations. particularly
any which don't seem to have successful approaches/processes in place
for addressing them."
and "What innovative approaches have you encountered which
may help address a local/regional problem (the problem doesn't have to
be one you listed -- someone else may have your answer, and you may
have someone else's!)"
Problems were plentiful, ranging from the broad (we need more
housing) to the specific (some BART stations expose waiting passengers
to freeway fumes). Many problems came with solutions already underway.
Not surprisingly, there is also a list of problems without any
suggested new approach, waiting for a creative or iconoclastic comment
to start everyone in a new direction.
What do we need to do better?
Among the suggestions were:
- Curtail sprawl
- Coordinate land-use among jurisdictions to address growth and
sprawl
- Allocate water in advance of development decisions; require
developers to identify long-term water source before permits are
issued
- Acknowledge local air pollution problems caused by through
traffic
- Reduce particulate pollution, particularly from diesel vehicles
- Adopt the freeway exit numbering system used by neighboring
states, based on miles from the state border
- Fill those potholes!
- Give more authority to regional agencies to work on solutions for
regional problems
- Find more financing for cities to reduce fiscalization of land
use planning
- Increase cooperation among local governments and businesses to
decide on priorities and develop solutions to problems based on
those priorities
- Shield waiting transit riders from air pollution created by
passing vehicles
- Protect agricultural land from development impacts
- Restore housing units and maintain roads as well as building new
ones
- Offset the effect of "gentrification" on the supply of
affordable housing
- Provide jobs closer to already affordable neighborhoods
- Develop a "master plan" for transit in the region
This issue of the Monitor contains a selection of problems.
The suggested solutions are not necessarily perfect, but worth
considering.