In the Media

Media Coverage of Urban Habitat Programs and Allies

admin — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 16:57:42 -0600

Urban Habitat works in coalition with Bay Area and national organizations on environmental and social justice campaigns. Here's a selection of recent media releases and press coverage featuring UH and our allies.

San Leandro development proposal draws mixed reaction

Editor2 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0500

By Martin Ricard

SAN LEANDRO — In its inaugural meeting with the public, the developer for the city's first transit-oriented development project was met with cheers and jeers as it laid out the proposed plans and tried to gain feedback from residents.

Many of the objectors were residents of the Pacific Plaza condominium complex near the BART station. They said they vehemently opposed the development proposal because they feared it would attract an influx of low-income residents and drag down property values.

Press Release: Alameda County Hosts National Initiative to Reduce Health Disparities

Editor2 — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:52:48 -0500

OAKLAND, Calif., July 23, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Alameda County Place Matters Team will host a three-day meeting July 24-26 at the Oakland Marriott to address the social conditions that lead to poor health outcomes in individuals from low-income and communities of color. Over 100 representatives from 24 U.S. cities and counties will attend. Place Matters is a national initiative of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies' Health Policy Institute and is funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.

Press Release: Chevron Offers Richmond $61 Million to Approve Refinery Expansion

Editor2 — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Richmond Residents and Bay Area Community say, “Our Health is Not for Sale.” In a last minute effort to lock-in City Council approval for Chevron’s refinery expansion, yesterday Chevron presented the City of Richmond with a $61 million dollar ‘Community Benefit Agreement’ (CBA). The Agreement, submitted to the city council in closed session immediately before the public council hearing, would reportedly include $6.75 million for jobs and education programs, $6 million for community health programs, and requires the City Council’s approval of the expansion project.

No More Excuses by Juliet Ellis

Editor2 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:21:41 -0500

This 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.

Court of Appeals reinstates affordable housing lawsuit against city of Pleasanton

Editor2 — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:20:04 -0500

By Meera Pal

The California Court of Appeal has reinstated a 2006 lawsuit claiming the city of Pleasanton has failed to meet its affordable housing obligations due to exclusionary policies and practices.

The ruling allows the group Urban Habitat and Pleasanton resident Sandra De Gregorio to pursue their challenge to the city's voter-approved housing cap and growth management program, as well as ask the court to require the city to rezone land for affordable housing.

AC Transit to pitch $48 property tax

Editor2 — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:50:47 -0500

Directors for the East Bay's largest bus agency will meet at 5 p.m. today to consider a new $48-a-year parcel tax increase aimed at staving off fare increases.

AC Transit's board of directors had been scheduled to consider a fare increase, including raising base fares from $1.75 to $2 and a highly controversial youth pass boost from $15 to $28 a month.

A recent poll commissioned by AC Transit showed that the required two-thirds majority of residents of the district it serves, in western Alameda and Contra Costa counties from Richmond to Fremont, would support a parcel tax increase of $4 a month. Agency officials estimate the tax would raise an estimated $14 million a year.

Transit crunch may spark new vision

Editor2 — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0500

by Marilyn Bechtel

OAKLAND, Calif. — Just when soaring gas prices, clogged highways and deepening worries about global warming are leading Americans to abandon their cars for public transit, a budget squeeze is wrapping itself like a boa constrictor around the nation’s public transit systems.

But those very factors could inspire a new national vision of transit’s vital role.

The New York Times recently reported that transit ridership has grown by at least 5 percent this year in New York and Boston, while other metropolitan areas in the South and West have seen ridership soar by as much as 10-15 percent.

KPFA reports on AC Transit Rally

Editor2 — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:38:14 -0500

Listen to Wendell Harper's report on KPFA by clicking here.

Bus rates spark rally

Editor2 — Thu, 22 May 2008 19:11:13 -0500

By Erik N. Nelson

OAKLAND — AC Transit riders protested outside City Hall and packed the Oakland City Council chamber Wednesday to oppose a package of bus fare increases, focusing their primary energy against a plan to nearly double the cost of monthly youth passes.