☆ Kirsch: Plan Bay Area 2050+ could raise rents and damage the environment
As the Bay Area’s most vulnerable are pushed further to the brink by a fraying safety net this year, regional planners will flail about for unworkable fixes. So says Susan Kirsch of Catalysts for Local Control, who argues that, instead of supporting Plan Bay Area 2050+, which uses fantastical population predictions, local leaders should restore local control. An Opportunity Now exclusive 2026 prediction.
What I hope to see happen is that Wake Up California and Better Way CA will improve housing affordability throughout the Bay Area. These groups will invigorate the fight for local planning authority, carrying on the mission of Catalysts for Local Control.
I hope to see that legislators who support high-density housing, which transfers local wealth to outside investors and drives up rents, will be voted out of office and replaced with legislators who advocate for their constituents.
What I fear will happen is that Plan Bay Area 2050+ will be approved by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. Agencies like the Cupertino City Council submitted strong comment letters pointing out that MTC’s population assumptions are inflated by 1.4M, compared to the reliable data of the CA Department of Finance. I fear MTC will accept the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) even when evidence shows significant negative impacts to residents’ safety, water, and air quality, among other factors.
My prediction for the coming year is that economic burdens on the most vulnerable will worsen and the safety nets will fray. Legislators will wring their hands saying, “we have to do something,” but fail to turn to those with first-hand knowledge and workable solutions: locally elected officials and neighborhood leaders. While this is dire, the good news is that young and old, men and women of conscience will band together to fight for truth, transparency, equity, and the rights for communities to plan for their own land use and housing.
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