Berkeley's housing element or housing plan commits the famously liberal city to address its historic underinvestment in communities of color. Housing is the fulcrum of the economic health of society because you can live in high resource areas. Your house itself can become a source of wealth, and there are good schools and good jobs nearby. Berkeley was one of the first cities to implement single family zoning shortly after the Supreme Court struck down racial zoning as unconstitutional.
The lack of affordable housing in the U.S. has contributed to a homelessness crisis and has forced people to move farther away from urban centers. Inevitably, that increases car travel and emissions. One solution is to increase density in areas where jobs and infrastructure exist to accommodate more people. But some aren’t comfortable with the idea of their neighborhoods growing, and building multi-story apartments in urban cores usually costs more per square foot than one or two-story houses where land is cheaper. So how do we address both the need for affordable housing and the climate crisis?
Guests:
Scott Wiener, California State Senator
Jennifer Hernandez, Partner, Holland & Knight
Ben Bartlett, Berkeley Vice Mayor
For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org.
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