8/11/2022
Welcome to Monitor Notes, a weekly roundup of news items, event announcements, and updates on past Bay Area Monitor articles.
In Case You Missed It: From Vacant Storefronts to New Neighborhoods
Let’s face it: While commercial strips may provide convenience, they are frequently unattractive. With changing retail patterns, they are also increasingly under-utilized. Urban planners see a new future for them as locations for a mixture of housing and retail, served by multimodal transportation on the broad streets which are at their heart.
A recent webinar, “Housing and the Strip”, hosted by CivicWell, formerly the Local Government Commission, brought together well-known Berkeley planner Peter Calthorpe with Oakland economist Jason Moody and Meea Kang, an innovative housing developer. They discussed the potential as well as the challenges of transforming commercial strips into vibrant street spaces.
Read more from Leslie Stewart at the Bay Area Monitor.
Air District Grant Funds Solar-Powered Generators
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has awarded a grant to replace diesel generators that power mobile light and security fixtures across the Bay Area. The recipient of the grant, King Solarman, produces off-grid, solar power generators for fixtures typically seen at construction sites and parking lots where access to the power grid is typically unavailable. “Equipment that runs on renewable energy is a smart alternative to fossil fuel-powered generators that deteriorate air quality and emit greenhouse gases,” said Veronica Eady, senior deputy executive officer of policy and equity at the Air District.
Read the full press release here.
Climate Action on a Community Scale
Thursday August 25th, 2-3pm
Climate action is often approached in a top-down way, with residents of communities feeling reliant on larger regional and state government action to make a difference. To help empower residents, the Local Government Sustainable Energy Coalition and the California Climate and Energy Collaborative are joining forces to point people to resources to help them take action on the community level. This hour-long webinar will provide an overview of strategies for engaging community members on climate and resilience actions with case study examples from three community programs in California
Sign up for the event here.
Mobility for All
Monday August 22nd, 1-3pm
The upcoming Ideas + Action symposium from SPUR will dig into transit and its importance to a connected community. ” The Bay Area’s transportation system is a vital component of our daily lives. Its freeways and ferries, bike paths and buses, trains and trolleys move residents and visitors alike to homes, jobs and everywhere in between. But this system is also inefficient, underfunded and often fails to effectively serve the people it was designed for, creating an unsteady foundation as the region grows,” says SPUR. The symposium will feature a dialogue on the importance of equitable transportation and a panel discussion on how the Bay Area leverages state and federal transportation agendas.
Register for the event here.
Oakland League Voter’s Guide
The League of Women Voters of Oakland (LWVO) is available to help you with the Nov 8 ’22 election. LWVO can provide a neutral presentation of state propositions and local measures in 60-90 minutes. These Ballot Measures presentations (often called Pros and Cons) can be scheduled between Oct 1 and 31. The Oakland Easy Voter Guide has information about candidates for local offices and local ballot measures. You can order the Oakland guide for free. The deadline to order is August 25.
Order the guide here.
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