Protect the Planet, Build Homes Here

Two of the greatest threats to our planet are climate change and wildlands destruction (i.e. habitat loss). Here in California, a big cause of both of these threats is sprawl of low-density housing into the regional periphery. People living in sprawling, low-density areas drive farther than urban dwellers and use more energy and water per capita. Thus, sprawling development results in the emission of high levels of the greenhouse gas (GHGs) that drive climate change. Further, sprawl into wildlands and open space harms natural habitats, and places more people in the path of catastrophic wildfires and floods.

More Sprawl Means More Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Human-created greenhouse gasses are changing the world’s climate, which profoundly threatens people and the environment. Last year, the Palo Alto City Council adopted an ambitious plan: by 2030, we will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to 80% of our 1990 levels. In California, transportation accounts for 38% of GHG emissions and in Palo Alto it is 61%. So to meet our city’s environmental goals, we must drive less - a lot less.

A big part of the problem is long commutes for Palo Alto’s workers, many of whom cannot afford to live here. Palo Alto has the worst jobs-homes imbalance in Santa Clara County. More than 7% of our city’s workforce travels an hour or more to work, each way every day. An increasing number of Silicon Valley workers must drive in from the Central Valley. The Bay Area has more “super commuters” – people who commute three hours per day – than any other region in the country.

Without the opportunity to live locally, our workers are forced to the regional periphery in sprawling suburbs. One of the best ways for Palo Alto to protect our planet is to build new housing locally at densities and in locations that support transit and biking, our schools, and our local retail areas. 

Excessive commutes aren’t just a greenhouse gas problem: they also take a human toll. For example, some Palo Alto teachers have difficulty meeting after school with students and their families, because they face a long drive home. Likewise, some commuters find the long drive stressful, which can hinder productivity and health. Long commutes also make it harder for employers to recruit and retain employees.

Apart from commutes, sprawl also increases distances from homes to schools, restaurants, and other amenities. So people must spend more time driving for personal reasons, and burning greenhouse gas, as opposed to walking, biking, or taking a bus.

Infill housing can reduce GHG emissions in still other ways. Shared walls in multi-family buildings reduce a unit’s exposure to the elements, which can reduce energy consumed for heating and cooling. There also are energy savings if an infill home has fewer square feet per person than a detached single-family home. Likewise, infill homes consume less water for landscape irrigation, because yards are smaller, or even shared in the case of multi-family housing.

In sum, denser neighborhoods burn less greenhouse gas per person, compared to sprawled neighborhoods. Thus, a 2018 UC Berkeley study shows that new infill homes are the single most effective way for Palo Alto policy makers to reduce the emissions that cause climate change. 

More Sprawl Means More Wildlands Disruption

The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is the area where urban development occurs in close proximity to wildland vegetation. In California, some 4.5 million homes, sheltering about one quarter of our population, are located in the WUI. California’s ongoing sprawl development is pushing the WUI ever-deeper into wildlands. A significant contributing factor is restrictive urban zoning; this is shown, for example, by a recent case study in San Diego.

WUI sprawl has greatly increased the number of California homes near wildfires. This is a large part of why a single conflagration – the 2018 Camp Fire – killed 85 people and destroyed 14,000 homes. Fifteen of our state’s 20 most deadly and home-destructive wildfires have occurred in the last eight years. As a result, residents in vulnerable areas are facing non-renewal or higher premiums for their home insurance. Many WUI residents are being displaced by California wildfires, becoming “climate migrants.” Sadly, many are now homeless.

Sprawl into California’s wildlands is also increasing the severity of floods. For example, storm runoff increases with the removal of vegetation and soil, changes to stream channels, and construction in flood plains. Likewise, pavement amplifies storms, by creating an impervious surface that rapidly collects an unmanageable volume of floodwater. On the other hand, higher-density development generates less storm water per home, according to the EPA. Today, millions of Californians live in areas at risk of floods. 

Of course, WUI sprawl is not just dangerous for people: it is also harmful to natural ecosystems. In the past two decades, California has lost more than a million acres of natural lands. This fragments habitats, which in turn disrupts animal migration and reduces biodiversity. 

To steward the fauna and flora living in our wildlands, we should give them breathing space, away from WUI sprawl. Doing so will also help preserve open lands for recreational enjoyment by future generations.

Moving FORWARD Together

Saving the earth and our children’s futures from climate change and wildlands destruction is one of the defining challenges of our era. Fortunately, we know how urban and suburban communities can do our part: support higher-density infill housing by reforming our local zoning laws. This means raising limits on building height and floor-area ratio; eliminating density limits and parking requirements; reducing impact fees and making them more equitable; and speeding up permit timelines and simplifying the approval process. It also means building new units for people at all income levels.

Palo Alto Forward offers a blueprint to build new infill homes, in our comments to state and local officials about our city’s Housing Element. 

Of course, our society has social justice problems, as well as environmental problems. So when we build higher-density infill homes, in order to stop climate change and preserve wildlands, we must do so in an equitable way. For example, new market-rate buildings in Palo Alto must include below-market units. 

It is exciting to see a growing number of environmental organizations working together with housing advocates to build more higher-density infill homes. Palo Alto must do its part.