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STPP
California 2003 - 2004 Initiatives
Smart
Infrastructure Investments
California’s exponential growth, coupled with inefficient land-use patterns,
poses critical challenges to
the state’s quality of life. Its population has grown 200 percent
over the past 50 years,
totaling nearly 34 million residents, and expected to grow by
another 12 million by 2020. Housing
prices and rents in many regions are sky high because of inadequate
affordable housing production.
California
has nine of the nation’s 10 least-affordable housing markets.
Poorly planned residential and commercial developments have resulted
in increased traffic, exposing 80 percent of the population to
unhealthy levels of air pollution. Farmland and open
space are fast being developed at regions’ edges, while access to
parks and recreation facilities is dwindling for many urban
residents. Low-income communities and communities of color are
especially affected by underinvestment in these areas, since data
show they rely disproportionately on public investments.
With the proper investments, regions can preserve older areas as
appealing places to live and work and minimize the need for costly
new infrastructure investments.
Investing in affordable housing and recreational open space
helps employers recruit and retain both high-skilled and low-skilled
workers. Upgrading streets and other local infrastructure
facilitates new investment in communities that are already developed
and makes infill development more attractive and profitable for
developers. Investments
in public transit and compact growth can also alleviate the drain on
economic productivity and quality of life caused by highway
congestion.
Currently,
the STPP is working on several fronts to address the infrastructure
investment in the State of
California
, and do so in a more efficient, equitable, and environmentally
sound manner.
I.
Lower vote threshold for integrated infrastructure funding
(ACA 14 and SCA 11)
Driven by concerns that the state
budget crisis will only make it more difficult for cities and
counties to fund much-needed infrastructure improvements - and
encouraged by the passage three years ago of a statewide ballot
initiative that lowered the voter threshold for local school bonds -
Democratic lawmakers in Sacramento have introduced several bills
that would make it easier for voters to approve local taxes and
bonds to pay for transportation, affordable housing, community parks
and other infrastructure needs.
Most of these proposals would raise
money through new taxes or bonds for specific infrastructure
projects or for a single category of projects such as
transportation, education or law enforcement. Standing apart from
the crowd are two bills - Assembly Constitutional Amendment 14
(Steinberg) and Senate Constitutional Amendment 11 (Alarcón) - that
would authorize local or regional governments to pass local bonds
and sales taxes to simultaneously fund a broader package of
transportation, affordable housing, parks and green space projects.
To
learn more about these bills or easily share this information with
others, please download the following fact sheets or download the
2003 PolicyLink report analyzing the bills:
Please
show your support by signing the letters below and faxing a copy to
us at (916) 447-8881.
II. High speed rail
project
The California High-Speed Rail
Authority has been planning a bullet train through the
Central Valley
that will make it possible to travel from
Los Angeles
to
Sacramento
and the Bay Area in just over 2 hours.
American Farmland Trust and STPP believe that the proposed
rail project lends new urgency to the need for smart growth in the
Central Valley
. Though the longer-term
strategy remains to be seen, some actions we are considering include
assuring that the corridor ultimately chosen for the high-speed rail
link will do the least damage to agriculture and natural resources,
and that a Smart Growth Plan for the Valley – embracing economic,
social, and environmental goals – is adopted.
III.
The Association of Infill Builders (AIB)
STPP
CA
is participating on the advisory board of the newly founded AIB.
The AIB’s guiding principle is to encourage high quality
infill development and support infill projects that improve the
livability and sustainability of our existing cities and towns.
State level legislative objectives could include:
reducing costs of “qualifying” infill projects; increase
infill land supply; parking reform; and increase funding to
advantage infill projects. Non-legislative
objectives include networking and education (such as preparation of
joint education materials).
IV. School
Siting
STPP is working with a coalition to
help remove the regulatory and legal barriers that promote sprawl
development, prevent joint-use of school facilities, and provide
additional obstacles to building and renovating schools centered in
existing communities.
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