Transportation Justice Program
No More Excuses by Juliet Ellis
Dateline:
07/07/2008This Opinion piece appeared in The Independent, a weekly newspaper serving the Pleasanton area. Urban Habitat is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the city for it's failure to build the amount of affordable housing as required by law. In response to a City Attorney's comments, Executive Director Juliet Ellis wrote the following Letter to the Editor which appeared in the Independent's July 3, 2008 Edition.
Given his statements last week (Affordable Housing Lawsuit Back in Play, June 26, 2008) Pleasanton City Attorney Michael Roush apparently needs to study up on his basic arithmetic.
As stated in the article, the City has reneged on its promise in the last Housing Element to rezone enough land for some 800 units of lower-income housing by June 2004. An additional 3,277 new units were allocated this month for the next planning period. For Mr. Roush’s benefit, that’s more than 4,000 units now needed, significantly more than the 2,755 units remaining under the 29,000-unit Housing Cap according to the City’s own staff report.
Appeals Court Rules Affordable Housing Suit May Proceed Against Pleasanton
Dateline:
06/23/2008The decision by the three judge appeals panel will let plaintiffs Urban Habitat and low-income teacher and mother Sandra De Gregorio pursue their claims that the City has failed to meet its affordable housing obligations. In a 20-page opinion issued late Friday, the Court reinstated the October 2006 challenge to a range of exclusionary housing measures such as Pleasanton’s Housing Cap and Growth Management Ordinance. The Court also allowed the plaintiffs to go forward with a claim to require the City to zone land for affordable housing and two other claims alleging that the City’s land-use policies unlawfully discriminate against families with children.
Report: Lifeline Program Falls Short After 3 Years
Urban Habitat has released Filling the Gaps: Ensuring Lifeline Service in all of the Bay Area’s Low-Income Communities (PDF, 100 KB), an independent evaluation which has found the Lifeline Transportation Program- the only Bay Area wide program aimed at improving transit for low-income communities- has fallen far short of its original goals.
In 2001, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) staff identified gaps in the Lifeline Transportation Network (LTN), the system of buses and trains that low-income, transit-dependent communities use to get to jobs, school and other essential destinations. The MTC created the Lifeline Transportation Program to fund projects to close these gaps, but Urban Habitat’s analysis shows that only 5 of the 39 funded Lifeline projects have actually increased regular transit service to further connect the network.
Related items:
AC Transit Board Bows to Community Pressure: Fare Hike Delayed
AC Transit’s Board unanimously
voted to postpone a fare hike until after November’s elections on June 11, 2008.
They also unanimously approved a staff recommendation to place a parcel
tax on the November ballot (details below).
Your phone calls, rallies, and public comment worked!
AC TRANSIT HAS NOT GUARANTEED THAT IT WON’T RAISE FARES (even if the parcel tax passes in November).
We must secure a commitment from AC Transit to keeping youth and senior/disabled fares low if the parcel tax passes.
Related items:
Unprecedented Win in San Leandro
Dateline:
04/24/2008
Developers Required to Meet with Community and Labor First
For the first time, a City Council is requiring Developers to meet with both community members and labor allies before beginning the development process. Thanks to the hard work of Urban Habitat and coalition partners Congregations Organizing for Renewal and the Building Trades of Alameda County, San Leandro’s City Council unanimously voted in favor of adding an amendment to the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement between the City’s Redevelopment Agency, BART and developer/landowner Westlake Development Partners LLC.
The ENA establishes a clear public involvement process during the 18 month ENA timeframe and before an application is brought by Westlake (as the Master Developer) for this key opportunity site. This amendment to the ENA- the first of its kind- is a huge win after nearly 6 months of work by our coalition.
Related items:
The Community Says NO to Fare Hikes
AC Transit Board Can Be Persuaded –
Final Vote on June 11
On Wednesday May 21st, about 100 bus riders,
community and labor groups and elected officials gathered outside of an AC
Transit Board Hearing at
Related items:
A Small Yet Important Victory in San Leandro
Urban Habitat and its allies had a small yet important victory in the San Leandro Station Area Plan.
Members of Labor, Congregations Organizing for Renewal, other residents, Urban Habitat and representatives from many of our allies, including EBASE, TALC, EBHO, and UC-Berkeley's Center for Community Innovation packed San Leandro City Council chambers so full that there was standing room only by the time the meeting began.
Related items:
TJWG Equity Platform at the MTC
As part of the Regional Transportation Plan Campaign, members of the Transportation Justice Working Group (TJWG) distributed their alternative platform at the annual regional meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) on October 26th.
Related items:
Creating a Great Community along San Pablo Ave
Background
The City of El Cerrito and City of Richmond are currently developing a Specific Plan along the San Pablo Avenue (SPA) Corridor shared by both cities. The plan area serves as a major commercial corridor and transportation hub including the El Cerrito and Del Norte BART stations and its connecting bus lines, the San Pablo Rapid Bus line, and I-80. The SPA Planning process represents a major opportunity to create a more pedestrian and bike-friendly “grand boulevard” that:
Creating a Great Community in San Leandro
Background
San Leandro has the opportunity to create a model downtown - a more vibrant, walkable community with new jobs and housing affordable to the spectrum of Bay Area families. This opportunity is made possible by San Leandro’s growing transportation resources and a grant to do a Station Area Plan (SAP) by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
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