Berkeley Unveils Climate Action Plan Based Around TOD

“The draft by city climate action planner Timothy Burroughs won the praise of Livable Berkeley, the city’s leading “smart growth” advocacy group” and the scorn of the commission's resident policy analyst, an outspoken minority member of a commission dominated by a development-friendly majority. "Its motto is build, baby, build," said the retired academic.

Livable Berkeley had been less kind to the earlier draft, citing its failure “to challenge the status quo, leaving out any real discussion or education on the importance of increasing urban density on major corridors,” and neglecting to “unequivocally state that increased density near transit provides the most significant greenhouse gas reduction.”

“Commission Chair James Samuels congratulated Burroughs for creating a plan he said “is very well done.”

“The goal of increasing density along transit corridors has been around a long time without ever achieving this level of clarity,” he said.

Burroughs said density wasn’t the plan’s goal. “The goal is getting people to move around without a car,” he said.