New land-use law's message: build near transit

California
Many California planning and environmental groups are heralding the passage of legislation designed to address global warming by curbing suburban sprawl as a watershed moment, perhaps the state's most important land-use law in more than 30 years.

"It's a sea change in the way we're planning and funding growth and development," said Stephanie Reyes, senior policy advocate with San Francisco's Greenbelt Alliance. "The winds are shifting, and this is the time to get on board."

Essentially the law, which will take years to implement, uses incentives and punishments to 'encourage' local governments and builders to 'concentrate' growth in urban areas close to public transportation hubs in an effort to reduce Californians' use of cars and lower their greenhouse gas emissions... [snip]

On the other hand, not all of the projected growth in California can be accommodated in multifamily urban properties, nor do all consumers want to live in such homes. There are clear downsides for those builders pursuing projects that don't reflect the model envisioned by the government...

[Ignore why Americans found the suburbs so appealing when compared to the high density life style it replaced (think: The Honeymooners), or that the automobile is one of the greatest single liberating inventions of our history - government knows best, and we've given them the means to veto our desires in the name of its new religion; Green. The sad joke is that the 'green' they're thinking of has nothing to do with environments...]

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