California YIMBY, one in every of the biggest housing groups within the state of California, announced its support for California Forever's East Solano Plan on Wednesday morning.
While the group has some concerns concerning the plan, it supports the vision overall. With this decision, it’s one in every of the primary statewide groups to support the Solano County initiative.
“Because the East Solano Plan represents a welcome change from this status quo approach to construction, we believe it deserves a chance,” the statement said. “As proposed, this project corrects many of the mistakes made in previous large-scale new construction projects.”
California's YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard) is lobbying the state legislature to pass more housing-friendly laws across the state. Founded in 2017, the group is promoting 18 bills it has helped introduce.
200,000 Californians are currently homeless and reports suggest that as much as 441,176 latest housing units must be inbuilt the Bay Area by 2031. According to the statement, California YIMBY has concluded that the necessity for housing outweighs environmental uncertainties.
“The Golden State is in a tough spot,” the statement said. “But we believe our best days are ahead of us. When our leaders faced housing shortages in the past, they took bold action to increase the supply of new housing. That's why California YIMBY is proud to support the East Solano Plan, a project that – at full capacity – will house up to 400,000 Californians and provide a template for sustainable growth.”
The statement says that California Forever's unique location between Sacramento and San Francisco will allow it to connect with existing rail and highway infrastructure, and praises the world's mixed-use design and greater walkability than previous latest construction projects. The organization claims that not only could this project be revolutionary in its own right, but when successful, it could set the tone for the long run of California housing.
“This project was designed by some of the brightest minds in the California planning world, and it shows,” the press release said. “If successful, this project could set the tone for a much more sustainable pattern of urban growth over the next century.”
Regardless of the statewide impact, nonetheless, California YIMBY points out that the ball is currently in Solano County's court.
“The future of this project is in the hands of the residents of Solano County,” the statement said. “They rightly expect strong guarantees and generous community benefits. We welcome the team's commitment to provide $500 million in community benefits – including $400 million in down payment assistance and $70 million in scholarships and small business grants for current Solano County residents – and to invest $200 million in Solano County's seven existing downtowns.”
“This is disappointing and shortsighted,” Breach wrote of supporting California YIMBY. “Before I left in April, I spent five years helping to build and lead California YIMBY – building YIMBY power, advocating for vacant lot construction, and making it faster and cheaper to build homes near jobs, public transit, and community resources. This is not the case.”
Breach further referred to the project within the thread as “simple sprawl” and “utopian” and called on California Forever to take a position in existing Solano communities. Breach also claims that this support is not going to sway voters in Solano County but may lead to disputes inside your entire YIMBY movement.
“Why would we drive a political wedge into the YIMBY movement at a time when our power is growing? New cities may be inevitable as California grows, but where and how we build them matters,” she wrote. “This particular project is laughably ill-advised.”
image credit : www.mercurynews.com