Climate Crisis, Housing Crisis on a Collision Course

Sprawl might relieve the housing crisis, but it would also exacerbate the climate crisis. Tough choices will be necessary in regions like San Diego, where the question of where to accommodate growth is very much in question.

2 minute read

July 2, 2019, 12:00 PM PDT

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Gaslamp Quarter

Sean Pavone / Shutterstock

Joshua Emerson Smith locates the intersection of the competing dynamics of dual crises, of climate and housing, in the region of San Diego:

The San Diego region is on the front lines of a statewide push to abandon suburban development in favor of building denser urban communities — a vision many California leaders have called for to curb greenhouse gases from cars and trucks.

Forcing existing neighborhoods, however, to shoulder increasingly more development is proving expensive and slow at a time when San Diego and many other regions are suffering a severe lack of affordable housing.

Some policy makers in the San Diego region want to "[widen] highways and [build] large master-planned communities far from urban job centers," according to Smith, as a response to the ongoing housing crisis in San Diego. Some 10,000 units of greenfield development on the periphery of the region are currently under consideration for approval. Local politicians around the region are pushing for projects to state routes 78 and 56 to relieve congestion and accommodate growth.

Environmental grounds like the Sierra Club are pushing back on sprawl, according to Smith, while the regional planning agency that goes by the acronym SANDAG is having trouble convincing local officials to support an urban and transit oriented vision of growth for the region. An exception can be found with San Diego Mayor Kevin Falcouner, who has spearheaded and supported a series of pro-development reforms in the city, including a law approved in March 2019 that ends parking minimums for all future developments in the city.

The article includes soundbites and opinions on the development vision of the future for the region, and proposed solutions to the housing and climate crises, from politicians and advocacy organizations on all sides of the issues.

Monday, June 24, 2019 in The San Diego Union-Tribune

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1, 2025 - Honolulu Civil Beat

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

July 2, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1, 2025 - KQED

Google street view image of strip mall in suburban Duncanville, Texas.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

6 hours ago - Parking Reform Network

Blue tarps covering tents set up by unhoused people along chain link fence on concrete sidewalk.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work

Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

July 6 - Next City

Aerial tram moving along cable in hilly area in Medellin, Colombia.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle

Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.

July 6 - InTransition Magazine