In the Media
Media Coverage of Urban Habitat Programs and Allies
A Healthy Richmond, California Endowment looks at REDI
Boom-and-bust cycles have shaped the city of Richmond’s history. Its
population quadrupled between 1940 and 1943; later, with the closing of
its World War II shipyards, the population shrank dramatically. From
1970 to 2000, it grew at only half the rate of the rest of the East
Bay. Today, Richmond remains an important industrial center for the Bay
Area, home to nearly a third of all jobs in the manufacturing,
wholesale and transportation sectors. Because of Richmond’s reliance on
industrial economies, much of the city’s land is zoned for industrial
and commercial use.
Beset by decades of economic, social and environmental challenges,
Richmond faced significant financial shortfalls. “Historically it was
unable to access its fair share of regional resources and was a city
dealing with disinvestment,” recalls Juliet Ellis, executive director
of the environmental justice organization Urban Habitat. “And for a
combination of reasons the relationship between the City Council and
community members was extremely tense, at an all-time low.”
City explores transit- centric options
SAN LEANDRO — The five acres of verdant land that sit next to the downtown BART station are vacant now.
But 10 to 15 years down the road, that land could become the linchpin that influences the rest of the city's revitalized downtown area, with 700 residential units and 200,000 square feet of commercial space as part of the city's transit-oriented development plan.
Who Gains from the Green Economy?
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