Great Communities Collaborative

The Great Communities Collaborative (GCC) is a collaboration amongst seven organizations working with local governments and base-building organizations to promote transit-oriented development (TOD) in future and existing transit hubs in the Bay Area.  Working in cities engaged in station-area planning processes, GCC members provide training and technical assistance to local partners to strengthen their advocacy for mixed-use, mixed-income developments that maximize housing within walking, biking and a short transit trip to major rail and bus rapid transit lines. 

GCC is also developing TOD tools and communications materials that can be appropriated and applied by interested advocates in their own communities. 

Urban Habitat, as a core partner within the GCC, works with local community groups in San Leandro, Richmond and El Cerrito on station area plans.

In Context

In the next 25 years, California's San Francisco Bay Area will become home to an additional 1.7 million people. Unless the region's current growth patterns change, new development will continue outward, paving our farmland and hillsides, families will continue to be pushed to the region's outskirts in search of affordable homes, and traffic and air quality will be worsened by lengthy commutes.

Today, we have an opportunity to fundamentally shift the way the region is growing. We can direct new development away from open space and the suburban edge and instead reinvest in existing cities, many of which have been ignored for too long. We can build great communities, with a variety of homes that all residents can afford, close to parks, transportation, shopping and other necessities. We can build vibrant places and protect open spaces.

Regional Strategy 

To shift growth patterns across the Bay Area, we need a regional strategy. That is why Urban Habitat has teamed up with other leading organizations as part of the Great Communities Collaborative.

The goal of the Great Communities Collaborative is to usher half of the Bay Area’s new homes into walkable neighborhoods near transit by 2030. These new neighborhoods will be centered around transit hubs, including train stations, ferry stations, and major bus lines/stops. They will have a mix of jobs, shops, community services, and homes we can all afford.  An essential part of this effort is ensuring that low-income residents already living in these neighborhoods share in the benefits of new investment and are not displaced by the new investment.  

The Collaborative members work together to:

• Shape plans for specific neighborhoods in Bay Area communities by working with local community groups to build the capacity of residents to participate in the planning process;
• Create tools that will help community leaders make better decisions about development across the Bay Area and help citizens better understand, participate in, and influence plans for development; and
  
• Increase funding to help create sustainable and equitable development in the Bay Area.

Partners

The Great Communities Collaborative website is the best place to keep up to date on all the GCC work throughout the Bay Area.  The website offers various tools and resources for anyone who is interested in becoming an advocate for good development around the Bay Area, an overview of the strategies and actions the Collaborative is involved in, and more.

Urban Habitat is one of seven members of the Great Communities Collaborative. This effort is a unique cooperative relationship between four Bay Area nonprofit organizations— Greenbelt Alliance, the Nonprofit Housing Association of Northern California, and the Transportation and Land Use Coalition —and the national nonprofit Reconnecting America. The East Bay Community Foundation and the San Francisco Foundation are also part of the Collaborative.

Our Work

Each GCC partner focuses their work in a community undergoing a Station Area Plan or Specific Plan process. 

Currently, Urban Habitat is working in San Leandro and the along the San Pablo Avenue corridor, focusing on the importance of mixed-income housing opportunities and developing the capacity of our community-based partners.

San Leandro Urban Habitat is working with Congregations Organizing for Renewal (COR) to ensure that the San Leandro Downtown Transit Oriented Development Strategy (Station Area Plan) results in mixed-income, mixed-use projects that enhance the city’s walkability, transit-use, and diversity.  Learn more about our work in San Leandro.

San Pablo Avenue Urban Habitat is partnering with the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program (GRIP) to ensure community residents in Richmond and El Cerrito are well-informed participants in the Specific Planning Process and that the resulting plan reflects the community’s priorities for affordable housing, transportation choices, pedestrian and bike access, as well as parks and green space.  Learn more about our work on San Pablo Avenue.