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Comment 14 for Comments in general on ARB Implementation of SB 375 (sb375-general-ws) - 1st Workshop.
First Name: Collin
Last Name: Rich
Email Address: crich@enterprisecommunity.org
Affiliation:
Subject: Adopt the comprehensive recommendations from the RTAC at your Nov 19th Meeting
Comment:
November 3, 2009 Mary Nichols Chair, Air Resources Board 1001 "I" Street P.O. Box 2815 Sacramento, CA 95812 Dear Chairwoman Nichols and members of the board: I urge you to adopt the comprehensive recommendations from the Regional Targets Advisory Committee (RTAC) at your November 19, 2009, meeting. Crafted by a representative group of stakeholders and your able staff, the RTAC report carefully balances greenhouse gas reduction goals with social equity considerations of the impacts on lower-income Californians. I work for an organization that helps develop affordable housing. My role is to ensure that the projects we support, both new construction and rehab, are ‘green’ (save energy and water, create a healthier living environment, and reduce environmental impact). Through my work, I have seen that affordable and green housing can be one in the same, and that affordable housing residents are most in need of these benefits. Although supportive of the report as a whole, I urge your particular consideration of the following recommendations: 1. Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) should update their data collection and modeling to quantify the greenhouse gas reduction impacts of housing affordability, gentrification, and jobs-housing fit. As defined in the report, "jobs-housing fit" is the extent to which the rents and mortgages in a community are affordable to people who work there. In theory, a stronger jobs-housing fit should allow Californians to reduce their commute times and distances. However, this link needs to be tested and quantified, as do the links between home affordability generally and gentrification. 2. Performance measures for the sustainable communities strategy should include the jobs-housing fit and 5 other housing-related measures. 3. MPOs' progress in meeting goals should be measured through modeling and other sound scientific approaches. 4. The co-benefits of greenhouse gas reductions should be measured and reported. We appreciate your consideration of our views. Sincerely, Collin Rich Green Program Office
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted: 2009-11-03 13:55:58
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