Policy priorities to advance wellbeing and climate solutions together through urbanism broadly
Working draft
1. Legalize abundant homes in walkable places
Decades of exclusionary zoning push homes far from jobs and services, lengthening car trips and worsening housing scarcity, costs, and emissions.
Solution: Allow more homes near transit and job centers—small apartments, duplexes, ADUs, mixed-use buildings—by-right and with fast approvals. Pair with inclusionary tools and tenant protections so added supply also supports affordability and equity.
2. End parking minimums and start or strengthen Transportation Demand Mangement (TDM) initiatives
Parking mandates inflate housing costs, consume valuable land, and induce more driving, congestion, and pollution.
Solution: Eliminate minimums citywide; price on-street parking by demand; convert excess lots to housing, trees, and storefronts. Manage for TDM and access. Use parking revenue for better sidewalks, transit passes, and neighborhood safety.
3. Prioritize Complete Streets + Safe Speeds (Vision Zero)
Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death, and unsafe, high-speed streets deter walking, rolling, and biking—locking in car dependence and emissions.
Solution: Design for human life: 20–30 mph limits on urban streets, narrower lanes, daylighting, raised crossings, protected intersections, and quick-build materials. Make safety the performance metric, not vehicle flow.
4. Build safe, connected bicycle networks
Most people won’t bicyle outside of a convenient, low-stress network; fragmented lanes leave big gaps in access, health benefits, and mode shift potential.
Solution: Build citywide, protected, all-ages-and-abilities bikeways every quarter mile; add secure bike parking and e-bike charging. Integrate bikeways with transit so longer trips become bike+bus or bike+rail.
5. Invest in frequent and rapid transit, electrified
Slow, unreliable buses and diesel fleets drive riders away and pollute the air, especially in low-income neighborhoods.
Solution: Frequent all-day service, dedicated lanes, signal priority, off-board fare payment, and legible networks—then electrify buses and trains. Invest early in high-ridership corridors and zero-emission depots to cut both CO2 and soot.
6. Move towards 15-minute neighborhoods (complete, mixed-use districts)
Zoning that separates homes, shops, schools, and parks forces long, car-only trips and erodes community health and time.
Solution: Allow and incentivize daily needs within a short walk or roll: mixed-use zoning, corner stores, schools and clinics embedded in neighborhoods, and safe routes that stitch these places together.
7. Enact congestion pricing and fair road use charges
Underpriced driving creates gridlock, unsafe streets, and high emissions while starving transit of funds.
Solution: Charge for scarce road space in peak periods and set delivery/ride-hail fees at the curb; rebate or discount for low-income travelers. Reinvest revenue in faster buses, safer streets, and cleaner air in impacted communities.
8. Build trees, shade, bioswales, and other natural infrastructure into streets
Heat waves and flooding hit cities hardest, raising mortality and damaging infrastructure, with disproportionate impacts on heat- and flood-vulnerable blocks.
Solution: Plant and maintain street trees, cool pavements, bioswales, and rain gardens—prioritizing low-canopy areas and bus stops. Pair with maintenance funding to lock in long-term cooling, cleaner air, and flood resilience.
9. Enable equitable transit-oriented development
Transit-rich land is underused or becomes unaffordable without safeguards, missing climate benefits and displacing the very riders who rely on transit.
Solution: Upzone around stations with minimal parking, mixed incomes, and strong tenant protections. Use value capture, land banking, and community land trusts to deliver permanently affordable homes and local businesses near transit.
10. Reuse and retrofit buildings with clean heat in compact areas
Buildings emit large shares of urban CO2 and air pollution; demolition wastes embodied carbon and money.
Solution: Make adaptive reuse easy; require energy upgrades at point of sale or major renovation; electrify space/water heating with heat pumps; and deploy district energy where density supports it—starting in walkable, transit-rich neighborhoods to maximize uptake and benefits
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