A Berkeley, CA growth initiative revealed the stresses that smart growth play on grassroots environmental organizations like the Sierra Club where members determine positions.
Berkeley's downtown growth initiative, Measure R, "bankrolled by developers and backed by the Sierra Club" won big at the polls on Nov 2, receiving 64 per cent of the vote. It approved "a blueprint for reshaping downtown that includes five new high-rises."
"(Smart growth) is controversial in the club," said Kent Lewandowski, chairman of the organization's Northern Alameda County group. "We've got longtime club members who see efforts to promote density as colluding with developers. Others are against living in an urban environment."
"Mr. Lewandowski said that one member, who is upset about the organization's support of smart-growth development, threatened to remove the club from her will."
Thanks to David Tam
Read the full story: Smart-Growth Policy Splits Environmentalists
Another Berkeley 'First': Banning Natural Gas Lines in New Buildings
On Tuesday night, the City Council of Berkeley, Calif., unanimously voted to ban natural gas infrastructure from new buildings starting next year, the first city in the U.S. to pass such an ordinance. Fifty cities in the state could be next.
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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Judges permit Denver to divert 77,000 acre feet from the Colorado River for reservoir expansion
Overuse and climate change have caused the Colorado River’s water levels to plummet.
Massive tunnel-boring machine breaks ground on Gateway Project
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Airo trainsets begin service on Amtrak Cascades route
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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