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Let’s encourage small water saving projects like rain gardens, greywater systems, rainwater harvesting, and climate appropriate planting through rebates and easier permitting. These simple techniques can help save significant amounts of water if applied at scale throughout our community.

Check out some examples:

https://pacinst.org/publication/california-urban-water-supply-potential-2022/

https://www.watertoolkit.org/

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Overview

Persistent challenges and severe drought have shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of California's water systems. They also offer an opportunity to rethink the state's water supplies and strategies for the 21 st century and beyond.

While California has made strides in implementing water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture strategies, this study quantifies the opportunity to greatly expand these efforts. It finds that California could reduce urban water use by 30%-48% through investments in water efficiency measures. It also highlights the potential to boost local water supplies across sectors and regions by more than doubling municipal water reuse and significantly increasing stormwater capture across the state. While the findings are specific to California, they can inform water resilience strategies across the United States and beyond.

Key Findings

Key findings include:

Water-efficiency potential: Further implementation of water-efficiency measures, including replacing inefficient clothes washers and other appliances with high-efficiency models, replacing lawns with climate-appropriate plants, and reducing losses in water distribution systems, could reduce California's urban water use by a dramatic 2.0 million to 3.1 million acre-feet per year, representing a 30% to 48% statewide urban water-use savings.

Water-reuse potential: Municipal water reuse could be more than tripled in California, significantly adding to local water supplies. Today, an estimated 728,000 acre-feet of municipal wastewater is reused each year for groundwater recharge, landscape irrigation, and other beneficial use across the state. This new assessment identifies the potential to increase water reuse in California by an additional 1.8 million to 2.1 million acre-feet per year. This would bring total statewide reuse to 2.5 million to 2.8 million acre-feet per year, more than tripling current water-reuse levels.

Stormwater capture potential: A growing number of California communities are integrating stormwater into their local water supply portfolios. Urban stormwater capture potential in the state ranges from 580,000 acre-feet in a dry year to 3 million acre-feet in a wet year in urban areas overlying public supply aquifers. There is no statewide estimate of the amount currently captured and reused.

Resources

Infographic Report Appendix A: Methods
Presentation: The Untapped Potential of California's Urban Water Supply (April 12, 2022)

Publication | April 18, 2022

In this presentation, Pacific Institute experts provided a deep dive into the untapped potential of California's alternative water supplies: urban water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture...

Posted on Blog | March 22, 2022

Around the world, people and nature rely on groundwater for survival. The newly released United Nations World Water Development Report 2022 underscores humanity's reliance on this resource, noting groundwater currently provides about half the volume of domestic water and a quarter the volume of irrigation water withdrawn globally.

Posted on Blog | December 21, 2021

In November, amid the deepening drought, the DWR and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued joint recommendations to the California State Legislature for new indoor residential water use standards, along with a study supporting the recommendations (hereafter the Indoor Residential Water Use Study, or IRWUS).

Publication | October 29, 2021

It seems as though the two things the Bay Area has the least of are housing and water. The region has a shortfall of 699,000 housing units, which has driven housing costs to astronomical heights, and pushed 35,000 of our neighbors into temporary housing or onto the streets. Our colleagues at San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR),a public policy think tank, have found that the region needs to build an astonishing 2.2 million homes by 2070 to meet future demand and make up for the present shortfall.

Publication | October 21, 2021

The San Francisco Bay Area is projected to add two million jobs by 2070, attracting millions more people. To prevent housing from becoming even more unaffordable, the region needs to build 2.2 million new housing units.

Posted on Blog | December 21, 2021

In November, amid the deepening drought, the DWR and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) issued joint recommendations to the California State Legislature for new indoor residential water use standards, along with a study supporting the recommendations (hereafter the Indoor Residential Water Use Study, or IRWUS).

Publication | October 29, 2021

It seems as though the two things the Bay Area has the least of are housing and water. The region has a shortfall of 699,000 housing units, which has driven housing costs to astronomical heights, and pushed 35,000 of our neighbors into temporary housing or onto the streets. Our colleagues at San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR),a public policy think tank, have found that the region needs to build an astonishing 2.2 million homes by 2070 to meet future demand and make up for the present shortfall.

Publication | October 21, 2021

The San Francisco Bay Area is projected to add two million jobs by 2070, attracting millions more people. To prevent housing from becoming even more unaffordable, the region needs to build 2.2 million new housing units.

Publication | October 29, 2021

It seems as though the two things the Bay Area has the least of are housing and water. The region has a shortfall of 699,000 housing units, which has driven housing costs to astronomical heights, and pushed 35,000 of our neighbors into temporary housing or onto the streets. Our colleagues at San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR),a public policy think tank, have found that the region needs to build an astonishing 2.2 million homes by 2070 to meet future demand and make up for the present shortfall.

Publication | October 21, 2021

The San Francisco Bay Area is projected to add two million jobs by 2070, attracting millions more people. To prevent housing from becoming even more unaffordable, the region needs to build 2.2 million new housing units.

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The Untapped Potential of California's Urban Water Supply: Water Efficiency, Water Reuse, and Stormwater Capture - Pacific Institute

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Persistent challenges and severe drought have shone a spotlight on the vulnerability of California's water systems. They also offer an opportunity to rethink the state's water supplies and strategies for the 21st century and beyond. While California has made strides in implementing water efficiency, water reuse, and stormwater capture strategies, this study quantifies the opportunity ...

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Local Gas Tax or Car Tax for Affordable Housing 

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Local Gas Tax or Car Tax for Affordable Housing 

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Let’s disincentivize driving and pollution and use the funds to pay for affordable housing in our community!

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Save all heritage trees downtown. Large trees absorb more carbon dioxide than smaller trees and they cool and purify the air. With more affordable apartment buildings downtown saving large trees is an equity issue. A built environment absorbs heat keeping both day and night temperatures higher than the greener surrounding areas.

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Save all heritage trees downtown. Large trees absorb more carbon dioxide than smaller trees and they cool and purify the air. With more affordable apartment buildings downtown saving large trees is an equity issue. A built environment absorbs heat keeping both day and night temperatures higher than the greener surrounding areas.

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Make vegetable broth with collected  scraps. The scraps can be stored frozen, if necessary, until sufficient quantity is collected. Here is a sample recipe: https://www.littlebroken.com/how-to-make-vegetable-broth-with-kitchen-scraps/

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Make vegetable broth with collected  scraps. The scraps can be stored frozen, if necessary, until sufficient quantity is collected. Here is a sample recipe: https://www.littlebroken.com/how-to-make-vegetable-broth-with-kitchen-scraps/

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There's little waste and you always have fresh broth on hand for Lentil and Butternut Squash Chili or Summer Vegetable Chili.
Vegetable Broth from Scraps

Making homemade vegetable broth just got so much easier! I started making my own vegetable broth beginning of this year using kitchen scraps. It was actually my husband's idea and it totally took off in our house.

Now I don't throw away my kitchen scraps but instead, I save them for the broth. I love that I can reduce waste and have homemade broth in my freezer for soups.

What Vegetables Are Good for Broth

Before you make the vegetable broth you want to collect a bagful of kitchen scraps. Wash all the vegetables before you peel, slice, chop, etc. You can save the peelings, stalks, and leaves.

Onions, carrots, celery, and garlic are the key ingredients. But there are so many other vegetables that can add flavors such as bell peppers, leeks, green onions, and mushrooms.

The list goes on. The best way to make a vegetable broth from scraps is to simply experiment to see what tastes good to you.

Also, fresh herbs, such as thyme, parsley, cilantro and rosemary are all great additions to a veggie broth.

What Not to Put in Vegetable Broth

Stay away from cruciferous veggies, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts as they can leave bitter flavor in the broth.

Zucchini and green beans tend to become bitter as well when simmered for a long period of time.

Also, some starchy vegetables like potatoes and turnips will make for a cloudy vegetable stock. Beets are too overpowering with their color and taste.

Wash your vegetables before using the scraps and stay away from anything with mold.

HOW TO SAVE SCRAPS FOR VEGGIE BROTH: Store your scraps in a gallon size zip-loc bag in the freezer. Simple as that. Keep adding to the bag until it is completely full. Make sure to get all the air out of the bag to avoid freezer burn.

Veggie Broth Recipe

When ready to make the broth, you will need: gallon-size bagful of frozen veggie scraps. I pack mine up pretty good. Coriander seeds, whole peppercorns, bay leaves, rosemary, and thyme. That's usually the base I use.

Depending on the veggie scraps I already have, I might add garlic, onions, parsley, and any other aromatics. Maybe if I don't have celery and carrot scraps, I will add fresh ones.

How to Make Veggie Broth

Put your frozen scraps into a stock pot. You'll need at least a 6-quart pot. Add water and the rest of the ingredients. You want enough water in the pot where you can easily stir the vegetables.

Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a bare simmer, and cook for 1 hour, uncovered.

After one hour, remove the pot from the stove. Cool slightly if needed. Using a skimmer or a slotted spoon, remove all the vegetables. You only want the liquid remaining.

Then set your strainer over a large bowl and pour the vegetable broth through. You should be left with nothing but clear and clean broth. I also like to put a cheesecloth over my strainer and run the broth one more time to ensure it is completely clean.

How to Store Homemade Veggie Broth

Let the broth cool completely before transferring into containers or freezer bags. I personally favor freezer bags over containers.

I will measure out 4 cups of broth for each bag and lay flat in the freezer. It thaws out much faster than when frozen in containers.

4 Recipes with Vegetable Broth:

How to Make Vegetable Broth with Kitchen Scraps
Refrigerate fresh broth for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months. If you try Vegetable Broth with scraps recipe, don't forget to leave feedback and a rating. Keywords: stock, soup, homemade This post may contain affiliate links. Recipe updated February 2020 with rewritten post and additional information. No change to the recipe.

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How to Make Vegetable Broth with Kitchen Scraps - Little Broken

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There's little waste and you always have fresh broth on hand for Lentil and Butternut Squash Chili or Summer Vegetable Chili . Making homemade vegetable broth just got so much easier! I started making my own vegetable broth beginning of this year using kitchen scraps.

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Did you know that about 25% of the land area in most American cities is devoted to pavement for roads?  Only a fraction of this area is for transit, bikes, or pedestrians.

There is a movement in NYC and LA that I hope Santa Cruz and the CAP preparers takes note of.  The 25 X 25 concept endeavors for local government to convert 25% of  public rights of way to traffic calming, active transportation, and greenspace.

How does this relate to the CAP?  Imagine taking 25% of the parking lane real estate in SCZ , depaving it, and converting it to tree wells to vastly expand our urban forest.  This will help to calm traffic (creating 'friction' for motorists), sequester carbon, and reduce solar heat gain (heat island effect).

Best of all, it meets numerous objectives related not only to climate, but to urban storm water runoff, safe streets, and livable neighborhoods.

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Streets should serve the needs of all New Yorkers. If we convert one-quarter of current car space into space for people, every New Yorker could live within a quarter-mile of a protected bus lane, protected bike lane, and public green space - and that's just the start. ( New York City's streets and sidewalks make up our largest public space. But more than 75 percent of that space is devoted to driving and free storage for cars - even though a minority of New Yorkers own a car, fewer than one in four drive to work, and the vast majority of us walk, bike, and take transit to get where we need to go.

Is this the best use of our streets? We say no.

Read more.)

Our challenge to New York City's next leaders is this: How will you give the streets back to people?

NYC 25x25: A CHALLENGE TO NEW YORK CITY'S NEXT LEADERS TO GIVE STREETS BACK TO PEOPLE

Taken together, streets and sidewalks are New York City's largest publicly owned space. Cars dominate that space. Despite the spatial abundance of 6,300 miles of asphalt and three million free parking spaces, New Yorkers' everyday lives are relegated to narrow sidewalks and the margins of streets, where we are left to fight over the precious remaining scraps of our public space.

In the past two decades, elected officials have made little citywide progress in upending this wholesale car dominance - opting for disconnected and piecemeal improvements that fail to effectively manage our streets as a system of public spaces. For New Yorkers, the negative effects of a car-filled city remain. Asthma, heart disease, and preterm births rise with car pollution. Carbon emissions remain high and climate change threatens our future. New Yorkers risk life-altering injury and death crossing the street. Bus riders waste time on gridlocked streets. Burdensome commutes and a lack of transportation choices isolate communities from opportunity.

With a coalition of more than 150 unions, and economic, educational, environmental, disability rights, and public health organizations, Transportation Alternatives challenges New York City's next leaders to end this vicious cycle by making a specific and substantial promise: to convert 25 percent of car space into space for people by 2025.

Today, New York City faces a budget shortfall, a crisis of racial injustice, rising inequality and traffic violence, the loss of millions of jobs and small businesses, and the ongoing threat of climate change. Our recovery can begin, in part, by reimagining our largest public asset - New York City's 6,300 miles of streets and three million free parking spaces - in support of the needs of all New Yorkers.

Source: Scott Heins / TA

AN INEQUITABLE ALLOCATION
Streets are the single largest public asset in the City of New York - more than 6,300 miles of roadway crisscrossing at more than 39,000 intersections covering more than 120,000 city blocks. The lives of 8.6 million New Yorkers largely play out on the slim sidewalks that edge this massive network - the vast majority of everyday human activity relegated to the margins.

Today, though a minority of residents drive a car to work and a supermajority walks, takes public transit, or rides a bike, most of New York City's streets are designed for a car-driving minority. An overwhelming 96 percent of New Yorkers walk to and from public transit, but public space devoted to the movement and storage of cars includes some 19,000 lane miles for driving and three million free on-street parking spaces - more than 1.5 spaces for every registered vehicle in the city - accounts for more than 75 percent of our shared streetscape. The remaining scraps of space are devoted to car-free bus lanes (0.02 percent), bike lanes (0.93 percent), and sidewalks (24 percent).

People who live outside New York City A better future will require a new management approach from city officials - one that sees streets as a drive 4.4 million cars and trucks through city neighborhoods every day. Traffic-clogged and dangerous streets cost the City of New York and its residents more than $6 billion a year in traffic crashes and lost time. Low-income communities and communities of color bear the burden - system of public spaces designed to serve people and breaks from traditional thinking centered on moving and storing cars. longer commutes, hotter neighborhoods, worse air pollution, higher asthma rates, more health conditions related to car pollution, and more premature deaths.

By converting a sizable and significant portion of car space into space for people, New York City's next leaders could be the first generation to address to inequitable distribution of space that has harmed New Yorkers for generations.

Now is the time to take bold steps to correct a fundamental imbalance in our public space and who it serves - and give New Yorkers back our public space.

THE PROMISE OF FEWER CARS AND MORE SPACE

Changing our streets starts with setting our priorities. If our streets are public space, then what is the best use of that space? Is it storing a few cars for free, or making space outside a local school for storytime? Is it prioritizing one commuter in a private car or 50 commuters on a public bus? Is it widening streets for oversized SUVs, or widening sidewalks so people with disabilities, older New Yorkers, and children can move about without fear? Is it double and triple parking, or planting trees to reduce pollution-induced asthma?

City streets are rich with the potential to serve the public good and improve the lives of all New Yorkers - if only that space were not devoted to the movement and storage of cars owned by a minority of New Yorkers.

By repurposing 25 percent of current driving and parking space, the future leaders of New York City could create more than 13 Central Parks - or 12 Flushing Meadows-Corona Parks or 21 Prospect Parks or six Staten Island Greenbelts or 11 Van Cortlandt Parks - worth of new space by 2025. With that space, the next leaders of New York City could:

Expand Transportation Options and Park Access. Ensure that every New Yorker lives within a five-minute walk of a car-free protected bus lane, and within a quarter-mile of a protected bike lane, and within a five-minute walk of public green space, and within a block of a bike parking space, and within the access area of a newly citywide Citi Bike bike share system.

Give Power Over Public Space Back to Communities. Allow communities across New York City to decide the best possible alternatives for streets in their neighborhoods.

Spur Economic Recovery. Ensure that New York City remains a global hub of creativity, inclusion, innovation, and employment by creating public spaces proven to stimulate spending, attract and retain residents and jobs, and encourage tourism.

Reduce the Public Health Burden on Communities of Color. Lower rates of asthma, heart disease, depression, preterm birth, autism, and other public health challenges that increase with vehicular pollution, decrease with access to open space, and disproportionately affect Black and Latino communities.

Fight Climate Change. Meet our city's climate goals by targeting cars and trucks, the city's second-largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

Save Lives. Prevent pain and suffering for the hundreds of New Yorkers killed in traffic crashes every year, the tens of thousands injured, and their families.

Increase Quality of Life and Life Expectancy. Improve lives by raising air and water quality, reducing noise pollution, encouraging social and physical activity, increasing accessibility, and creating new public space to plant trees, add benches, and make space for children to play.

Source: Kohn Pedersen Fox / Urban Design Forum

Improve Fiscal Health. Solve the double parking problem by adding space for clean and electric freight and for-hire vehicles, and derive new, sustainable revenue for New York City by fairly pricing the curb and dramatically expanding metered parking.

Create Space for People. Transform crowded sidewalks hemmed in by curbside trash mounds into broad boulevards for walking and shopping, making every street passable for strollers and wheelchairs, with space for benches, street vendors, bus shelters, bike parking, and public restrooms.

Lower Costs. Drastically reduce the $6 billion dollar burden that traffic crashes and congestion leave on New York City's economy every year.

Make Streets Accessible. Make our streets safer and more inclusive for New Yorkers with vision, mobility, and hearing impairments by improving safety and visibility at intersections with curb extensions, curb cuts, accessible pedestrian signals, widened sidewalks and a network of Open Streets, and by rebuilding impassable and often hazardous existing sidewalks.

Reduce Gridlock. Improve road conditions and reduce congestion for those who need to drive by providing alternative transportation choices, and pricing congestion, commuting, and the curb appropriately.

Once we make the decision that public space should be prioritized by its best possible public use, the only logical next step is to reduce space for cars and increase space for people. A protected car-free bus lane can move more people with greater efficiency than a hundred cars ever could. A protected bike lane can provide more value to the economy, our health, and the environment than multiple lanes of traffic. Even a tiny bit of greenspace or a pair of benches is enough to clean the air or start a conversation, each a step to a higher quality of life for all New Yorkers.

Source: Etienne Frossard

These changes are also good politics. New York City voters overwhelmingly support all of these ideas - bus lanes, bike lanes, bike share, safer crosswalks, benches, parklets, playgrounds, and Open Streets - even when building them requires the loss of parking.

These were not new ideas for New York City. From the pedestrianization of Times Square to the launch of the city's first car-free busway on 14th Street, New York City knows how to reimagine streets. Each of these ideas was an individual success in terms of transportation efficiency, public safety, public health, and the local economy - proof that converting car space into space for people works. The City of New York faces a daunting budgetary crisis. Recovery will require a new look at assets that have been historically misused and underutilized - like 6,300 miles of streets and three million free parking spaces - as potential tools to support our city. There is no question that our public space is inequitably distributed. BUILDING ON RECENT SUCCESSES
When the Covid-19 pandemic overtook New York, the City closed many streets to cars to make space for safe physical distancing and the reopening of small businesses. The lesson learned was that the status quo - public space long dominated by car traffic - was not the only way that streets could be. The rapid creation of Open Streets and outdoor dining showed that converting car-filled streets to better use can be done quickly and inexpensively and can deliver huge benefits to essential workers, small businesses, children, older adults, people with disabilities, low-income communities, communities of color, and central business districts.

Now, future leaders of New York City must scale these successes, and use our streets as a pathway for New York City's recovery.

Addressing this inequity will produce economic gains and cost reductions in public health, public safety, and the environment that will easily outweigh the initial investment. With the potential for revenue generation, job creation, and dramatic long-term cost reductions in health and infrastructure spending, converting car space into space for people is an opportunity that we cannot afford to miss.

Faced with the monumental challenges of economic recovery, mounting inequality, increasing traffic violence, climate change, and the potential for more pandemics on the horizon, it is time to make a fundamental shift in what purposes our public space serves, and ensure that the New York City of the future is built for people, not cars.

Sources
WHAT WE CAN BUILD: THE SPATIAL POTENTIAL OF CITY STREETS

One hundred years ago, New York City streets underwent a paradigm shift. At the time, and for decades prior, city streets were open-air marketplaces and social spaces, and avenues were built for strolling and later, a place to catch an above-ground public transit line. But that all changed as the automobile became affordable to more Americans. Cars and people briefly competed for streets.

Cars won, and our city has suffered every day since. Countless small businesses were closed or relegated indoors, children were taught to stay out of the street, above-ground transit lines were dismantled, sidewalks were narrowed so streets could be widened, highways destroyed neighborhoods, car owners were saddled with crippling debt, traffic injuries and fatalities became everyday tragedies, and poor, immigrant, and Black communities bore the brunt of these changes. Car traffic took over the majority of New York City's public space.

Today, we reap the consequences of these decisions: a struggling economy, a warming climate, a public transit system in peril, a growing car dependence causing an epidemic of traffic violence, and racial and economic inequity exacerbated by planning and transportation decisions that lock low income communities and communities of color into health crises and generational poverty.

But just as our planning and transportation decisions led us to this point, so, too, can they lead us to a better future. Solutions can be found in New York City's largest public asset. It is time to transform our streets to a higher purpose. It's time to give New York City back to people.

Source: Street Plans / Lyft

A BETTER USE OF 25 PERCENT OF CAR SPACE
What could we build in place of free car parking and unending gridlock? What could we do in a city with 25 percent less space for cars and twice as much space for people? To start to imagine the answers, we need to understand just how much of our public space is given over to cars.

The best way to understand the significant amount of space New York City allocates to drivers is to hypothesize what could be built instead. Looking at converting 25 percent of the space currently devoted for cars into space for people, here is one vision of what New Yorkers could have instead:

500 lane miles of new protected bus-only lanes, so every New Yorker lives within a quarter mile of a protected bus lane;

and 500 lane miles of new protected class one bike lanes, so every New Yorker lives within a quarter mile of a protected bike lane that connects to a citywide network;

and 40 lane miles of busways - car-free bus-only routes - on New York City's most congested streets and most used bus routes;

and 38 million square feet of open space returned to communities, so people across New York City get to decide, for the first time, the best possible use for their streets, adding pedestrian plazas, curbside parklets, and community gardens, so every New Yorker lives within a quarter-mile of open space;

and "universal daylighting" - removing car parking to increase visibility and decrease the likelihood of a crash - at every one of New York City's 39,000 intersections, and using this space for traffic-calming neckdowns, bike parking and micromobility docks, bus bulbs, and green space like tree pits and rain gardens;

and 1,000 lane miles of permanent Open Streets, including pedestrian-only zones in the central business districts of each borough, and a signature car-free public space built on a major thoroughfare in every borough;

and 5.4 million square feet of space for arts and cultural venues, restaurant seating, street vendors, retail, and other uses to bolster economic recovery;

and 2.9 million square feet of expanded pedestrian space, including widening sidewalks and adding traffic-calming infrastructure like bulbouts and curb extensions, so that every intersection is safe to cross and every street is passable for strollers and wheelchairs, and has space for benches, street vendors, bus shelters, bike parking, and public restrooms;

and a one-block-long car-free multi-use space for play, student drop-off and pick-up, and outdoor learning outside each of New York City's 1,700 public schools;

and 19.4 million square feet of bike parking spaces, including racks, corrals, and secure bike parking, bike share, e-bike, and e-scooter docks, and other micromobility uses, so that Citi Bike access will finally stretch citywide and nearly every New York City block will host a bike parking spot;

and at least one 80-foot-long zone on every block for public utilities, package deliveries, electric freight loading and unloading, microdelivery cargo hubs, e-cargo bikes, for-hire-vehicle and taxi passenger pick-up and drop-off, and trash collection, so commercial deliveries and trash bags are off the sidewalk;

and 18,000 square feet outside of every subway station for local multimodal travel hubs, with expanded bus shelters, benches, food vendors, public restrooms, and bike parking;

and 780,000 spaces for car-share parking and paid parking spaces (converted from free parking) with the potential to generate, by the most conservative estimate, at least $1 billion annually.

These improvements could be located where they have the greatest possible benefit to communities and tailored to the needs of places. For example, although Lower Manhattan and Borough Park, Brooklyn, would both benefit from less car-dominated streets, the type, scale, and siting of streetscape improvements would need to match the need, opportunities, and neighborhood context of each place. Repurposing car space for better use is not just beneficial for New Yorkers - it's broadly popular among New York City voters in every borough, and of every age, race, and income demographic. In a

recent Siena College Research Institute poll of registered New York City voters commissioned by Transportation Alternatives, every one of these amenities remained extremely popular, even if they would mean less street parking space.

85 percent wanted safer crosswalks

84 percent wanted more space for children to play

83 percent wanted more trees and greenery

75 percent wanted more benches and other seating on the street

68 percent supported adding more protected bike lanes to their neighborhoods

64 percent supported outdoor restaurant seating

63 percent supported expanding Open Streets

58 percent wanted wider sidewalks

56 percent supported bike share stations

56 percent supported more citywide dedicated bus lanes.

A separate New York City Department of Transportation poll revealed similarly overwhelming support for street space improvements: 64 percent of residents - not just registered voters - supported reclaiming space for protected bike lanes, and only 13 percent were opposed; 66 percent supported bus lanes, and only 11 percent were opposed; 52 percent supported bike parking and 64 percent supported outdoor dining space, with only 17 percent opposed in either case.

Source: "Public Square" / FXCollaborative

Like in a tiny New York City kitchen, in a finite city, an efficient use of space must be a priority. As New York City's next leaders take up the challenge of a more equitable distribution of streets as public space, efficiency must be goal number one. And if an efficient use of space is the goal, THE QUESTION OF CONGESTION
the car is the worst possible choice. A single car lane on an urban street can move, at most, 1,600 people in cars an hour. Mix that car traffic with traffic from trucks and buses, and you can move, at most, 2,800 an hour. A two-way protected bike lane can move 7,500 people an hour and a sidewalk 9,000. A car-free bus lane can move 8,000 people an hour. A busway on a car-free street can move 25,000 people an hour in each direction.

Source: NACTO

Despite these known facts, little progress has been made toward spatial efficiency and congestion reduction. The per capita number of cars in New York City has barely budged since 1970. In Manhattan's central business district, 80 percent of those who park on the street park for free and two in five drivers on the street pass through without stopping or parking. The City of New York has declared congestion levels, which are at their highest rate in decades and rising, as "unsustainable."

Sources
All this is the result of elected officials' failure to reduce space for cars. This is known as "induced demand" - a phenomenon where increasing the supply of something further increases the desire for it. Research beginning in the 1960s demonstrated that New York City's population is projected to Congestion pricing - a plan to toll the Manhattan central business district, which New York City's next leaders must implement immediately - will start to change this arrangement. There will be short building roads and parking increases driving, and a recent wave of similar research has found that this effect is substantial - a one-to-one relationship where an X increase in car capacity increases driving X percent. The inverse is also true; reductions in space for cars reduces car ownership and swell to nine million by 2040. We cannot move buildings to make roads wider, so our only option is to rethink our spatial equation. To accommodate more New Yorkers, we need to make more efficient use of our finite public space and ensure that our planning and transportation decisions put people, not cars, first. driving. Even in transit-friendly areas of New York City, researchers found that parking creates traffic, while improvements to infrastructure for transit, walking, and biking and long term reductions in demand from drivers for roadspace and lower volumes of cars on the road network. This is a political leg-up for New York City's next leaders looking to change the spatial arrangement of streets because it will be easier to change the function of these public spaces once fewer cars are in the way. all decrease driving.

Clearing the way of car traffic, so New York City's buses are a viable form of transportation, and expanding the Fair Fares program, so every New Yorker can afford the bus, should be first steps in any reimagining of New York City's streets. Safe access for bikes, which can be an affordable lifeline for so many New Yorkers, should be a second priority, along with the citywide, City-subsidized expansion of the bike share program. These steps will clear the way of gridlock for those New Yorkers who need to drive.

Source: Street Plans

EVIDENCE: A BETTER USE OF STREETS CAN BOOST THE ECONOMY, CLEAN THE AIR, IMPROVE PUBLIC HEALTH, AND INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY

By converting car space to better use, the City of New York can boost the economy, make progress toward our climate goals, protect the safety of New Yorkers as they move about their neighborhoods, and make strides toward creating a healthier and more equitable city. Transportation Alternatives envisions a city where streets are elevated to serve as many New Yorkers as possible, with a car-free bus lane, protected bike lane, and green space within a quarter mile of every New Yorker's home, and a wealth of new multi-use space that replaces car storage with community benefit. For the next leaders of New York City, converting car space into space for people is an opportunity backed by a wealth of evidence that converting space for cars into space for people is popular and will provide immediate economic, environmental, public health, and public safety benefits.

Source: Carly Clark / Street Plans

ECONOMIC BENEFITS
The danger and congestion caused by giving over the vast majority of public space to car traffic comes with significant public and private costs: emergency services, property damage, medical care, insurance, travel time, and time lost. At the same time, converting this car space into space for people produces significant economic gains on the citywide, community, and individual levels - and this is true for every possible non-car use of that space. Bike infrastructure benefits small businesses. Bus lanes boost transit budgets. Parks and pedestrian spaces mean more jobs, more tourism, and more money spent where it is needed most.

Transportation access enables upward mobility. Deprioritizing car traffic will allow more space for buses and better access to existing transit hubs, making public transit commutes shorter. Researchers have found that efficient transportation access plays a significant role in upward mobility, with shorter commutes helping to move people out of poverty. Today, one million New Yorkers travel more than 60 minutes each way to work. Two out of three of these commuters earn less than $35,000 per year. Non-white New Yorkers are more likely to have longer commute times, while white New Yorkers have below-average commute times.

Source: Carly Clark / Street Plans

Saving time saves money. Congested streets cost New Yorkers $1.7 billion in travel time and 87 million hours of lost time every year. Converting car driving and parking lanes in Mexico City, Mexico into a connected network of car-restricted bus lanes saved individual commuters a collective of $142 million in travel time. And similar initiatives in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Istanbul, Turkey, saved individual commuters 13 minutes per trip and 52 minutes per day, respectively.

Car space converted to bike space raises revenue. Converting car space to bike space also benefits local economies. On Ninth Avenue in Manhattan, protected bike lanes led to a 49 percent increase in sales for local businesses. In Melbourne, Australia, converting one car parking spot into multiple bike parking spaces led to a three-and-a-half-fold increase in spending at local businesses. Researchers examining six cities that converted car parking or car travel lanes into bike lanes found that local business always saw an increase in sales. One car parking space can comfortably fit 20 bicycle parking spaces, and space used by bicycles generally generates 3.6 times more expenditure than space used by cars. In New York City, people on bicycles are much more likely to shop where there is secure bicycle parking. People on bicycles are better customers, spending significantly more money than those who drive.

Sources
Bus lanes boost transit budgets. Deprioritizing car traffic could also help save a struggling public transit system. Researchers have found that a network of car-restricted bus lanes not only increases the potential per-person capacity of traffic lanes and reduces the citywide cost of congestion and crashes, but also causes a significant number of people to shift from car travel to public transit, creating an additional pool of transit revenue. Converting car driving and storage lanes on 14th Street, Manhattan into car-restricted bus lanes brought a 17 percent increase in ridership in just two months, so much so that the City needed to purchase additional buses. In general, more walkable streets increase transit use, while guaranteed on-street parking increases the likelihood of car ownership and driving, regardless of transit access. In the last decade, Seattle spent the most per capita of large metro areas on new transit projects and accordingly saw the largest decline in the share of people driving alone to work and the largest drop in car ownership.

Sources
Safety has an economic value. Nationally, the status quo of unsafe car traffic is borne by individuals uninvolved in crashes, who pay nearly three-quarters of all crash costs through insurance premiums, taxes, and travel delays. In 2010 alone, dangerous streets cost New York City $4.29 billion in the cost of traffic crashes. In Bogotá, Colombia, the transformation of car lanes into a network of connected bus lanes saved the city $288 million in avoided traffic injuries and fatalities.

Source: Carly Clark / Street Plans

Converting 25 percent of car space to better use could be the singular factor that helps New York City reach its climate goals because ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

cars are a major source of air pollution in New York City, with one car emitting 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide annually. Less space for cars will mean less air pollution, a smaller carbon footprint, and more space for alternatives that are significantly less toxic to the environment. Increasing access to protected bike lanes and dedicated bus lanes will reduce the number of people who choose to drive, reducing carbon emissions, heat island effects, and cleaning the air.

Source: Street Plans

More public transit leads to less carbon emissions. A reduction in car dependence must be met with an increase in transit options. Public transit consumes half the energy of private transportation and emits only five percent of the carbon dioxide per passenger-mile, and these lower consumption levels apply to operation as well as manufacturing, maintenance, infrastructure construction, and fuel production. In New York City, 96 percent of transportation air pollution comes from cars and trucks, responsible for 29 percent of all air pollution produced in the city.

Bike infrastructure leads to greener neighborhoods. Researchers have found that promoting cycling by converting car driving and storage lanes to bicycle lanes can reduce transportation-related carbon emissions by 11 percent. Converting car parking spaces in Pittsburgh into space for bike share stations reduced demand for parking by two percent, even when controlling for lost parking space, a monthly reduction of 0.82 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per square mile.

A city that is less dominated by cars will also have positive impacts on New Yorkers' physical and mental health. On a systemic level, less space for cars will reduce the PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS
heat island effect and particulate matter in the air, which contribute to hospitalizations for problems like asthma. On an individual level, deprioritizing car space can save lives, especially in New York City's poorest neighborhoods. Making sure that every New Yorker lives within a five minute walk of open space will lower rates of asthma, preterm birth, heart disease, depression, and other public health challenges, and increase the quality of life and life expectancy for every New Yorker by improving air and water quality and encouraging physical activity. Access to a citywide network of protected bike lanes within a quarter-mile of every New Yorker could make low-impact exercise more accessible and converting on-street car storage into space for on-street trash containers could reduce the stress of navigating sidewalks hemmed in by towering curbside trash piles and interactions with vermin.

Source: Transportation Alternatives

Source: Caroline Slick / Center for Zero Waste Design

Converting car space to space for people reduces pollution. Converting just one major street from car use into space for biking and walking caused nearby ultrafine particulate matter rates to fall 58 percent when New York City closed Park Avenue to car traffic for Summer Streets. (Ultrafine particulate matter is especially dangerous because it is so tiny that it can enter the bloodstream via the lungs and reach the brain and heart.) The most conservative estimates count air pollution as the cause of death for at least six percent of people who die in New York City every year. Converting car space to space for people could even make New Yorkers more resilient to the next pandemic, because higher rates of air pollution positively correlate with higher mortality risk from Covid-19.

Fewer cars means better sleep. Sleep is a critical determinant of physical and mental health, and because car traffic is a significant contributor to noise pollution in New York City, converting car space into space for people can give New Yorkers a better night's sleep. More than three in five New Yorkers reported that noise pollution was affecting their sleep, and more than one in three has their sleep disturbed three or more nights a week. Traffic was the most common cause of disturbances. Sleep disturbances were more common for Black and Latino New Yorkers.
Car-free space makes people happy. More public open space could engender feelings of optimism in more than nine out of 10 people who use it. Researchers in St. Louis found that 94 percent of residents who visited a car-free street felt that the change made the city more welcoming, strengthened the community, and made them feel more safe and more positive about the city.

Source: Taller KEN / Urban Design Forum

There are stark disparities in the impact of this violence, with traffic crashes more likely on streets in Changes to the streetscape that incorporate PUBLIC SAFETY BENEFITS

neighborhoods with lower household incomes. Childrens' safety is especially imperiled by streets that prioritize cars, such as the wide streets that abut New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments. A pedestrian or bicycle crash victim in the low-income predominantly Black neighborhood of East Harlem is more than three times more likely to be a child than in the neighboring wealthy predominately white Upper East Side. In the low-income areas of the Lower East Side and Chinatown, a person struck by a car is nearly two times more likely to be a child than a crash victim on the wealthy Upper East Side.
principles of universal design to prioritize use by people over cars, such as Americans with Disability Act (ADA) accessibility, universal daylighting to increase intersection visibility, and building car-free bike and bus lanes, can prevent the pain and suffering of hundreds of New Yorkers killed and the tens of thousands injured in traffic crashes every year.

Converting car space to Open Streets means fewer injuries. While there are many different types of traffic-calmed streets and Open Streets, the gold standard is an active and maintained street restricted to all but necessary local car-use, like on 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens. After New York City created the 34th Avenue Open Street and banned thru traffic by cars, injuries fell by 85 percent on this stretch of road, compared to an overall 22 percent citywide decrease in injuries during the same period of time.
Restricting car access prevents crashes. Researchers have found that fatalities and injuries are more likely to occur on streets with parking directly adjacent to crosswalks, those where drivers can make turns without restrictions, and those that have 60 feet or more devoted to car lanes. Researchers have also found that deprioritizing car movement with interventions such as daylighting, protected bike lanes, and turn restrictions have resulted in dramatic injury reductions. Fully or partially restricting car access at high-crash locations in New York City reduced injuries in people walking and biking by 41 percent and 33 percent, respectively. On residential streets, those that prioritize walking, biking, and accessibility for people with disabilities have been shown to have a 50 percent lower rate of injurious crashes than streets that prioritize driving.

Bike, bus, and pedestrian infrastructure reduces death and injury for all road users. Researchers have found that converting car storage and driving lanes into a network of connected and adjacent bike lanes increases the number of bicycle commuters, and increasing the amount of people riding bicycles in a city decreases the number of fatal and injurious crashes for people walking and biking. In New York City, converting car storage and driving lanes to car-free protected bike lanes caused bicycling ridership to skyrocket while reducing injurious crashes by 17 percent, pedestrian injuries by 22 percent, and all injuries by 20 percent. Between 2001 and 2013, when hundreds of miles of car parking was converted into bike lanes, the average risk of serious injury for cyclists fell 74 percent. Converting a car driving lane into pedestrian and bus infrastructure on First and Second avenues in Manhattan caused traffic injuries to drop 21 percent even though cycling rates rose up to 177 percent on some segments, bus ridership was up nine percent, and traffic speed and volume remained constant.

HOW TO GIVE STREETS BACK TO PEOPLE: IMPLEMENTATION CONSIDERATIONS FOR NEW YORK CITY'S NEXT LEADERS

Source: Marvel / Union Square Partnership

A wholesale transformation of New York City's public space from car-dominance to a variety of better uses will require a deliberate strategy around management and governance. To date, the work that New York City has done to convert car space into space for people has been largely project based, and most transformations were localized, one-off successes. The challenge for New York City's next leaders will be how to scale recent successes citywide and holistically manage our public space. This is an admittedly large challenge and one that is necessary for New York's next leaders to address head-on. But the overwhelming public support across demographics for all kinds of street improvements, and the urgency of our economic, health, traffic violence, equity and climate crises all add up to a broad mandate for change.

Because these kinds of interventions need to work on multiple scales - systemic improvements to our transportation network and targeted, community-specific improvements at the block level - New York City's next leaders will need an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to management, community engagement, phasing, enforcement, and revenue. Transportation Alternatives challenges mayoral and City Council candidates to return a significant and sizable portion of car space to people, to do so with meaningful community engagement, and to implement, maintain and fund these projects with concrete and sustainable plans.
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

How will you broaden community engagement beyond the status quo of Community Boards, whose members are often not representative of the demographics of the neighborhoods they serve?

How will you engage the disability community to ensure that street changes meet the needs of, and are clearly communicated to, New Yorkers with disabilities?

In less resourced communities, how will you compensate community organizations for the labor of the engagement process?

Will you abide by open government data principles to promote transparency, accountability and value creation? If so, how?

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
New safe streets and transportation infrastructure is only as good as the City's willingness to ensure it is usable. This means enforcement - making sure bike lanes and bus lanes remain open and that dedicated freight zones are not used for unauthorized parking. But this must be done in a responsible, equitable, and safe way. In New York City, seven out of 10 likely voters support the idea of ending armed police traffic enforcement. The current enforcement of traffic laws by armed police puts New Yorkers, especially Black and Latino New Yorkers, at risk of police violence and is also a relatively ineffective method for making streets safe. Much of the budget once dedicated to police traffic enforcement could instead create ENFORCEMENT
self-enforcing streets. Fair and equitably placed automated enforcement, such as red light cameras and speed safety cameras, can fill in the gaps as self-enforcing streets are built citywide and as New York City drivers adjust to this new normal.

THREE KEY QUESTIONS
ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

Source: Scott Heins / TA

STREETS FOR PEOPLE: THE ONLY POSSIBLE FUTURE FOR NEW YORK CITY

In a moment of overlapping crises - health, social, economic, environmental - the question that New York City's future leaders must ask themselves is not whether we can be bold enough to shift course but whether we can afford not to.

For over a century, New Yorkers have been forced to accept a "normal" on our streets that is anything but. It should not be normal for people to fear death and serious injury when crossing the street, for sidewalks to be covered in mountains of garbage, for so many to breath air poisoned by pollution, for children to lack space to play, for jobs and opportunity to be rendered inaccessible, especially for low-income communities and communities of color, or for a whole city to be crippled by congestion. It should not be normal for a city to give away its most valuable asset - open public space - to a minority of residents, largely for free.

New York City's next generation of leaders must take up the challenge of delivering to New Yorkers a new, better normal by giving our city back to people. This is the only possible future for New York City. If our next leaders take up this challenge, they will accomplish so much: boost the economy, meet our climate goals, increase quality of life and life expectancy for all New Yorkers.

Transportation Alternatives envisions a city where the bus is never stuck in traffic and never far away, where bike share, bike parking, and protected bike lanes are easily accessible to all New Yorkers, and where greenspace dots every corner of the city. We see potential in our streets to do less harm to New Yorkers' health and safety, and to do more good for New York City's economy and environment. We see a future where the basic amenities we all need - like green space, public restrooms, food vendors, benches, and trees - are not rare but everywhere. In our streets, we have the space to meet the needs of 8.6 million New Yorkers. Now, we need leaders with the will and courage to elevate the potential of our largest public space, and create a better city for generations to come.

Today, New York City's streets are unquestionably unfair, giving the majority of space to vehicles that cause daily harm to our city and its residents. The challenge to candidates - converting 25 percent of car space in New York City into space for people by 2025 - is intended to be a bold first step to correct a historic inequality. We need leaders willing to give New York City back to people and ensure that our finite public spaces benefit the many, not the few. The future of New York City depends on it.

Storage for One Car

By signing up to join our coalition, you are co-signing this letter to the future leaders of New York City.

WHAT IS NYC 25x25?

Taking back space from cars for a variety of other uses is broadly popular with New Yorkers in every borough and across all ages, racial identities, and income levels. New York City What are you asking for?
NYC 25x25 is a challenge to New York City's next leaders to address the inequitable distribution of public space and the ongoing harm of car traffic to New Yorkers' health and safety, our climate, and the New York City economy. We are asking our next leaders to be bold and address this problem head-on by repurposing 25 percent of our street space to better use by 2025.

Why 25 percent specifically? Why 2025?
The transformation of 25 percent of our streetscape by the year 2025 would be a wholesale and substantial change that would improve our city in countless ways. As we face the overlapping crises of Covid-19, economic downturn, racial inequity, climate change and traffic violence, now is not the time for partial solutions. We need a real commitment to equity on our streets for the large majority of New Yorkers who do not drive. Reallocating 25 percent of space is just the first step toward reaching this goal - but it's a meaningful and achievable goal for our next leaders during the next mayoral administration.

How popular is this idea?
voters support more space for children to play (84 percent), more greenery (83 percent), places to sit (75 percent), wider sidewalks (58 percent), and improved crosswalks (85 percent), even if it means less space for cars. More than 60 percent of voters support expanding the Open Streets program, 56 percent support dedicated bus lanes, and 68 percent support protected bike lanes. A separate poll by the Department of Transportation of all New Yorkers, not just voters, found even higher support for these issues.

HOW INEQUITABLE ARE OUR STREETS RIGHT NOW?

Of our Even though over three-quarters of our streetscape is dedicated to moving or storing cars, New Yorkers Today, New Yorkers who need to drive are Why should we take space from cars?

How is our public space currently being used?
total streetscape, 75 percent is dedicated to moving or storing vehicles, with over 54 percent for travel lanes and 21 percent dedicated for free on-street parking. Less than 21 percent is dedicated as sidewalk space and less than one percent is dedicated for bike and bus lanes combined.

How do New Yorkers currently get around?
overwhelmingly use public transit, walk, or bike to get where they're going. Three out of four trips are made by one of these sustainable modes of transportation. About one in four trips are made by car, over half are made by public transportation, and about one in five are made on foot or by bike. Over 97 percent walk or bike to or from public transportation.
Would reducing space for cars unfairly punish drivers? Who actually owns a car in New York City?

What about New Yorkers who need to drive for their jobs, or because of a disability?
wasting huge amounts of time in traffic because there are so many elective drivers on the road - nearly half of whom are completing short trips of two miles or less. Converting driving and parking lanes into protected bus and bike lanes will invite those who have a choice whether or not to drive to opt for more efficient, cheap, and pleasant modes of travel. In turn, this will make more space on the road and at the curb for those who need to drive.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF WE RECLAIM ALL THIS SPACE?

In short, all New Yorkers will benefit, including drivers. Those who need to drive will benefit from fewer drivers on the road. Parking will be easier to find when more of it is metered, Demand-based pricing of parking spaces For sources and a more detailed explanation of the benefits of less car-dominant streets, please see: Evidence.

Who will benefit from taking space from cars?
encouraging turnover and bringing more customers to small businesses. And all street users benefit from improved safety, significant cost savings from fewer crashes, How will taking space from cars help the economy? lost time, more jobs created per million on infrastructure, and the environmental, Local businesses are really struggling. Will this help? physical, and mental health benefits that come with reducing car-use.
increases shoppers, diners, and those seeking entertainment activities by 30 percent - three of the hardest hit industries in New York City due to Covid-19.
Will taking space from cars really make us healthier?

What about mental health?

What are the main environmental benefits of taking more space from cars?

Will our streets really be safer with less space for cars?

HOW WILL TAKING SPACE FROM CARS IMPACT DRIVERS?

For decades, study after study Pre-pandemic, Won't traffic get worse?
has proven that taking away travel lanes does not cause congestion. It's a phenomenon called "induced demand." Once people see that there is less space, they rationally adjust their driving behavior. Recently, when car traffic lanes were removed to create the 14th Street Busway, the adjacent streets saw Wouldn't this punish people who need to drive for work, like delivery drivers and taxi drivers? no increase in car traffic, despite the fears of many who objected to the plan. When bike, pedestrian, and bus infrastructure was added on First and Second Avenues in Manhattan, traffic levels improved or remained steady. Most importantly, a street should be scored not by the number of cars that it moves per hour but by the number of Won't this slow response times for emergency services? people. And travel lanes for cars are by far the least efficient ways of moving people.
What about out-of-town commuters and tourists?
three out of four commuters traveled into New York City by a sustainable transportation mode during rush hour. Because cars are the least efficient transportation mode, even a small reduction in drivers would have a significant impact on traffic levels. The vast majority of tourists arrive in New York City without a car, too. And yet, both commuters and tourists have to contend with the overwhelming majority of space dedicated to cars with no benefit to them. The Trust for Public Land has also found that a well-maintained and integrated network of citywide open spaces can increase tourism by 20 percent.

HOW CAN WE MAKE ALL THIS HAPPEN?

The mayor controls New York City's streets. Although the main responsibilities of the street fall under the Department of Transportation, there are many agencies with a stake - for example, trash and snow is handled by the Department of Sanitation, and trees are maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation. Yes. In the last decade, Seattle spent the For sources and more detail on the implementation considerations of NYC25x25, please see: Implementation.

New York is in a budget crisis. How will we pay for all of this?

Who will be in charge of making these decisions?
Part of our challenge to New York's next leaders is to establish a centralized way to manage our streets as a system of public space, and to quickly implement and budget for these changes across agencies in a coordinated fashion.
Who will decide what goes in my neighborhood?
NYC 25x25 includes a challenge to New York's next leaders to create meaningful opportunities for community engagement both within and outside of the typical community board approval process. Local community groups and residents should get to decide how space is repurposed on their block, whether it's a single parking space being converted to a parklet, or the closing of the entire street to cars to create an Open Street. Community engagement will need to fit each individual community, with an eye toward equity and including voices who are usually left out.

Has this worked in other places?
most per capita of large metro areas on new transit projects and accordingly saw the largest decline in the share of people driving alone to work and the largest drop in car ownership. San Francisco's pilot of demand-based pricing was such a success that it was made permanent. And Paris' reclamation of space from cars to people has resulted in a huge increase in cycling over the last year. Six in ten Parisian cyclists today report having never cycled before. When London added over 62 miles of protected bike lanes in less than 12 months, cycling skyrocketed over 200 percent citywide and in some areas over 300 percent.

Thank you for joining the NYC25x25 Coalition! We will never spam you, but will be in touch with news and opportunities to take action for safer streets and better transportation for all New Yorkers!

NYC 25x25 ILLUSTRATED
Five Case Studies of Converting Car Space Into Space for People to Transform New York City

Converting space for cars into space for people can transform New York City.

Our city faces a budget shortfall, a crisis of racial injustice, rising inequality and traffic violence, the loss of millions of jobs and small businesses, and the ongoing threat of climate change. Our recovery can begin, in part, by reimagining our largest public asset - New York City's 6,300 miles of streets and three million free parking spaces - in support of the needs of all New Yorkers.

Transportation Alternatives and a coalition of more than 190 labor, economic, educational, environmental, disability rights, and public health organizations challenge New York City's next leaders to convert 25 percent of car space into space for people by 2025.

In doing so, a dangerous and congested street can become a safe and efficient street. A street that divides a neighborhood can become a place to connect. A street used for storing cars can instead become a place for communities to sit, meet, and gather. Transportation Alternatives presents a new vision for our streets - where people, not cars are prioritized. Here we present five types of streets, which together represent the vast majority of streets across New York City, as candidates for immediate transformation, These include:

Arterial Streets
Commerce Streets
Residential Streets
School Streets
For each location, we share a vision of what the conversion of car space could look like and what other kinds of uses - from community building to public transit - that street could offer. The renderings share treatments, approaches, and possibilities that are immediately applicable to thousands of similar streets across the city. Transit Streets

FIVE TYPES OF STREETS

Converting space for cars into space for people will look differently depending on the street, neighborhood, and needs of the community. The five streets illustrated here are locations where the allocation of street space is especially inequitable. For each location, we took space currently used for moving and storing cars and replaced it with more efficient and effective uses based on local needs.
ARTERIAL STREETS
Arterial streets are long and wide roads that carry large amounts of vehicular traffic through neighborhoods. These are the most dangerous and congested types of streets. While only 15 percent of New York City streets are arterials, they are the site of 60 percent of pedestrian fatalities; per mile, arterial streets are The Problem

8.5 times more deadly for pedestrians than non-arterial streets. And arterials are growing more dangerous: traffic fatalities have been rising nationwide, and even though only four percent of America's roads are arterials, they are the site of most of the rise in traffic fatalities. Arterial streets prioritize the movement of car traffic over the safety or efficiency of people walking, biking, or riding the bus.
On Staten Island, Richmond Avenue at Arthur Kill Road is a massive crossroad of a five-lane arterial street intersecting a six-lane arterial street. Adjacent to a bus station hosting seven local and 12 express bus routes, a large public park, and a shopping mall, there is no shortage of multimodal traffic here. Approximately 30,000 daily bus riders pass through this intersection, and they often experience delays: buses are late as often as 43 percent of the time. Staten Island residents who rely on public transportation have the longest commutes of anyone in New York City, spending an average 69 minutes each way in transit. Moreover, 48% of Staten Island voters have been injured in a car crash and 88% know someone injured or killed in a car crash.

Fixing arterial streets requires prioritizing the most efficient modes of transportation and deprioritizing the most harmful. Wide sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and protected bus lanes can The Solution

move far more people per hour than car lanes while reducing pollution. Daylighting, high visibility crosswalks, and curb extensions will help to further improve public safety and ensure that cars take turns at a pedestrian-safe pace. Adding bike parking will make multimodal transportation possible.

Arterial Streets Ripe for Transformation in Other Boroughs

Boston Road at Eastchester Road, Bronx
Flatbush Avenue at Fulton Street, Brooklyn
Rockaway Boulevard at Atlantic Avenue, Queens
Canal Street at Broadway, Manhattan

COMMERCE STREET
Commerce streets are the central retail corridors in a neighborhood. These streets are often plagued by double parking and delivery chaos, endangering potential customers, employees, and residents. While a concentration of local businesses should encourage local commerce, customers are often driven away by a lack of multimodal access to the street and unsafe crossing, while deliveries are made difficult by lack of dedicated loading zones. As pedestrians have been The Problem

found to spend up to 65 percent more than drivers, prioritizing foot traffic in commercial corridors should be a clear and obvious goal. New Yorkers are significantly more likely to walk when the purpose of their trip is shopping, eating, socializing, or recreation.
In Manhattan, Broadway at East 17th Street is a high-density central shopping and transit corridor with heavy traffic of every mode. Some 35,000 people pass through on foot every hour, with foot traffic up 17 percent in the past two years and Citi Bike ridership up 94 percent over the same period. Within a half-mile, there are 80 bus and subway routes. More than 34,000 people live within a quarter-mile of this intersection, and those residents are significantly more likely than other New Yorkers to walk or bike to work and less likely to own a car. Local residents also have smaller apartments than the average New Yorker and are less likely to have access to private outdoor space, putting public space and bike parking at a premium for the neighborhood. Another 141,000 people work in the area, and those jobs are majority-independent and locally-owned retail, accommodation, and food service, and thus reliant on local commerce. Broadway is designated as a Vision Zero Priority Corridor by the City, meaning it is one of the most dangerous streets in New York City, with a high rate of deadly and injurious traffic crashes. Children who live nearby are more likely than other New York children to visit the emergency room due to asthma, and outdoor air quality due to cars and trucks is worse there than the rest of Manhattan or New York City as a whole.

Improving commerce streets means creating spaces that facilitate spending. Converting car driving and parking lanes into uses like secure bike parking, protected bike lanes, and car-free public plazas will increase local spending and decrease retail vacancies. Fully car-free streets with adjacent loading and unloading zones for deliveries, pick-up and drop-off zones for people arriving by car, and demand-based paid parking will discourage unnecessary driving, making driving easier for people who need to, and ensure that pedestrians and cyclists are safe. Public restrooms, trees, benches, street vendors, flexible space for public programming, and on-street retail and dining There is ample evidence that these solutions would have a positive effect on commerce, public health, and safety on this street. Reducing car access to Union Square North in Manhattan reduced speeding The Solution

will encourage potential customers to stay.

by 16 percent, injurious crashes by more than a quarter, and commercial vacancies by nearly half. Converting car space into car-free pedestrian plazas in Times Square reduced nitrogen oxide pollution, which can cause asthma and other respiratory issues, Commerce Streets Ripe for Transformation in Other Boroughs by 63 percent and nitrogen dioxide pollution by 41 percent. Converting car parking into public seating to Pearl Street in Manhattan added 100 customers a day per parking spot and produced a Third Avenue at Westchester Avenue, Bronx 14 percent increase in sales. In fact, replacing one car parking spot with bike parking brings Austin Street at Continental Avenue, Queens 3.6 times more spending at nearby businesses. In a poll of New York City voters, even when confronted with the fact that each would remove parking or driving lanes, 63 percent supported expanding open streets in their neighborhoods; 75 percent the addition of places to sit, like benches; 88 percent the addition of trees and greenery; and 58 percent support wider sidewalks. Willoughby Street at Jay St, Brooklyn
New Dorp Lane at 9th Street, Staten Island

RESIDENTIAL STREET
The Problem

In Queens, 58th Avenue at Junction Boulevard is a wide residential street adjacent to one of New York City's most dangerous arterials. The neighborhood is majority Asian, Black, and Latino, and is significantly more diverse than New York City as a whole. Residents there are less likely to speak English at home and have longer commutes than most New Yorkers. Despite the amount of space on the street devoted to parking, residents within a quarter-mile of this street are less likely to drive or own a car and more likely to commute via a sustainable mode of transportation (biking, walking, or public transit) than the city as a whole. More children live here, there are more single parent homes, and residences that may be considered "overcrowded" are 146 percent more common here than elsewhere in New York. There are significantly fewer residences with outdoor space and significantly fewer playgrounds per 10,000 children than in Manhattan. More pedestrians are hospitalized in this neighborhood than in the rest of Queens, and more than 440 people have been injured within a quarter-mile of the intersection in the last five years.

The Solution

Fixing residential streets means giving people space outside their front door. Converting space currently used for car storage into dynamic space that serves the community can create new public space where it is needed most. Building on-street trash bins can free up sidewalks and reduce the presence of vermin. On-street short term and long term secure bike parking can free up space in overcrowded homes in a neighborhood where many rely on bicycles. Narrowing the street will reduce speeding and indicate to drivers coming off nearby arterials that this is a residential street. This will also free up space for wider sidewalks, allowing for more trees, biowales, benches, and parklets.

Residential Streets Ripe for Transformation in Other Boroughs

Commonwealth Avenue at Soundview Avenue, Bronx
97th Street at 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, Brooklyn
West 148th Street at Broadway, Manhattan
Laurel Avenue at Targee Street, Staten Island
SCHOOL STREET
School streets are streets adjacent to schools that host the arrival and departure of large numbers of children, parents, teachers and school staff every weekday. School streets may have a lot of through-traffic or very little, but in either case, are also used for parking and car-based drop-off and pick-up. Citywide, The Problem

more than 75 percent of students walk, bike, or take the bus or subway to school. Most New York City schools lack playspace and have no control over the public space outside their school doors. And school streets can be dangerous: in New York City, neighborhoods with a greater number of schools have a higher likelihood of traffic crashes.
In Brooklyn, East 17th Street at Beverly Road is a school street, home to P.S. 245, which hosts one of the largest student bodies in New York State. This school is located between two arterial streets with a high volume of car traffic and lacks outdoor space for children to play. Students at P.S. 245 are 97 percent Black or Latino, 94 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, 27 percent have disabilities, and 10 percent of the student population is unhoused. The neighborhood surrounding the school ranks 50th out of 54 neighborhoods in terms of open space accessibility, has less than half the number of playgrounds as the borough on average, the fourth fewest playgrounds of any neighborhood in the city, and is ranked 14th highest in the City of New York's Climate Risk calculator. There are significantly fewer homes in the neighborhood with outdoor space compared to the citywide average. Traffic injuries are common within a quarter-mile of the school, which is in a Vision Zero Priority Area, meaning streets in the neighborhood are some of the most dangerous in New York City, with a high rate of deadly and injurious traffic crashes. In recent years, traffic injuries in the neighborhood grew at twice the citywide rate.

The Solution

Fixing school streets requires prioritizing the health, safety, wellbeing, and happiness of children, parents, teachers and school staff on the block where they go to school. Shutting the majority of the streets outside schools to car traffic with permanent retractable bollards will calm local traffic, reduce traffic noise filtering into classrooms, make walking and biking to school safer, and allow for a safe and controlled drop-off and pick-up zones and the installation of bike parking. A full street closure to cars will also make room for a multipurpose educational and recreational space with active play spaces, teaching gardens, outdoor lunchrooms, and outdoor classrooms, as well as greening elements like bioswales, trees, and benches for waiting parents. It will also significantly reduce childrens' exposure to air pollution and asthma incidence. Where before, this was space that posed a risk to children, converting car space into space for people creates a place where children can expand their minds and stretch their legs.

School Streets Ripe for Transformation in Other Boroughs

Reservoir Avenue & West 195th Street, Bronx
35th Avenue at 35th Street, Queens
Tompkins Avenue at Vanderbilt Avenue, Staten Island
East 100th Street at First Avenue, Manhattan
TRANSIT STREET
The Problem

Transit streets host underground or elevated subway stations or other public transportation hubs and typically intersect with one or more bus routes. Along with foot traffic related to public transit, transit streets also carry a high amount of through-traffic and parking. These are often chaotic streets full of conflicting demands where curb access is at a premium. Transit streets often create a dangerous and unpleasant environment for people on foot or bike, a high rate of congestion, and an inequitable situation for bus riders, who are often stuck en-masse in traffic behind cars moving only a few people.

In the Bronx, Westchester Avenue at Prospect Avenue is a complex six-way intersection and the location of an elevated 2 train and 5 train station and bus stops for the Bx4, Bx4A, Bx17, and Bx46. There are more than 4 million annual subway trips from this station, and more than 97 percent of transit riders walk to this station. Despite all that foot traffic, sidewalks here are as narrow as 2.3 feet. Residents of this neighborhood have a 10 percent longer commute than the average New Yorker and are less likely to drive to work, significantly less likely to own a car, and significantly more likely to take public transportation.

Transit riders in the Bronx rely on multiple routes or subway lines to where they need to go, more so than any other borough. New York City's buses are the Bus routes at this intersection carry 24,638 riders a day. If all these people drove, it would take up to The Solution

Fixing a transit street requires minimizing conflict on the street by prioritizing the forms of transportation that move the most people. Reducing the space devoted to cars will expedite travel for bus riders and make room for wider sidewalks and bike parking for people walking or biking to the bus, subway, or ferry. This will also discourage driving, reducing crashes and improving air quality and helping people with asthma breathe easier. By converting car space into space for benches, public restrooms, trees, bike parking, and food vendors, the trip to the bus, subway, or ferry can become a functional and social destination, allowing commutes to become multimodal and commuters to run errands or see their neighbors as part of their everyday routines.

Only 26 percent of customers use a single bus route for their journey. Meanwhile, 39 percent of customers transfer to another bus route and 35 percent transfer to the subway, meaning that Transit Streets that focus on transfers and multi-modal options are especially important. So are amenities while transferring or after a long-day of work, such as inviting and plentiful bus shelters and benches, trees to cool and clean the air, slowest in the nation, and the New Yorkers who could most benefit from time savings, lower cost commutes, and access to more jobs are often relegated to buses trapped in car traffic. The median income of bus riders is substantially lower than those of subway riders or New Yorkers overall, and bus riders are less likely to have a bachelor's degree, more likely to be single parents, more likely to be foreign-born, more likely to be people of color, and more likely to have children at home. Converting car lanes into protected bus lanes on 41 hours to move by car, but only 3 hours to move them by a dedicated bus lane. A recent poll shows that New York City voters support more dedicated bus lanes even if it means less space for cars by a 58 to 39 margin, with even higher support in the Bronx. Fordham Road in the Bronx improved bus speeds by 20 percent, and the same changes to the Transit Streets Ripe for Transformation in Other Boroughs M60 bus line in Manhattan reduced travel times by 36 percent, with no increase in congestion for private car drivers. And, installing a similar center-lane bus lane on East 161 Street in the Bronx improved bus speeds by 40 percent. Roosevelt Avenue at Woodside Avenue, Queens bike share and Flatbush Avenue at Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn bike parking, 42nd Street at Times Square, Manhattan space for veggie and food carts to avoid an extra trip and save time, and Richmond Terrace at Bay Street, Staten Island publicly available bathrooms.

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Streets should serve the needs of all New Yorkers. If we convert one-quarter of current car space into space for people, every New Yorker could live within a quarter-mile of a protected bus lane, protected bike lane, and public green space - and that's just the start.

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This is possibly the most important single document you will read about climate change.  Water is a significant factor that drives climate but it is so hard to model given its dynamic nature so the focus is on carbon dioxide.  However, water is the best near term lever we have to address climate issues given carbon dioxide will stay in the atmosphere and oceans for a long time.

Could it be that desertification and exposure of the earth's surface through our built environments and agricultural practices, among other water related factors, are a major contributor to climate change?

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Expand Santa Cruz past 41st Ave to Soquel Dr & Park Ave (Basically acquire Live Oak & Soquel). To increase Revenue for the City.

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Making helping reverse climate change completely equitable - financial support.

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Making helping reverse climate change completely equitable - financial support.

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Providing financial support and incentives for those that struggling financially, so that they too can participate in programs that provide opportunities to choose sustainable over non-sustainable products, services and other options. (i.e. giving families a "reuse" budget to allow for the purchasing a reusable water bottles, reusable shopping bags and other reusable products.)

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Institute a Vacancy Tax + Subdivide Houses

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Institute a Vacancy Tax + Subdivide Houses

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Stop letting hoarders hoard. Small footprint housing and a penalty for leaving this precious resource empty (and use that tax to build truly affordable <1000ft homes)

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I am taking less than 5-minute showers. At what point do we add more water capacity? How much more can we lower our shower time, and still enjoy life. Water does not go away it transforms.

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Review recruitment & retention costs with the City, County & UCSC (manage yearly). To see where savings could be garnered and used for workforce housing.

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Seattle has it's Space Needle & Pikes Market. San Francisco has the Coit Tower & North Beach. Santa Cruz has its Clock Tower & Farmers Market. How about something tall with a view. To garner more revenue from tourists.

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Santa Cruz County is in need of a Convention Center. How about a Convention Center on top of the Boardwalk parking lot between Cliff and Riverside Ave. This might be a place for a Arena too.

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Every development project should be subject to thorough review by the Climate Action office, prior to approval by City Council.

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Could the trail only plan include protected electric bike & electric wheelchair charging stations every 1/2 mile.

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Ensure we keep green space on all properties.  Maximizing building for ADUs is good but not at the expense of protecting green space within all neighborhoods. 

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Ensure we keep green space on all properties.  Maximizing building for ADUs is good but not at the expense of protecting green space within all neighborhoods. 

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Review UCSC hiring practices to ensure that they connect to Town-Gown goals to hire local 

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Review UCSC hiring practices to ensure that they connect to Town-Gown goals to hire local 

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Make Westcliff one way or limit traffic on Sundays every week.  

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Make Westcliff one way or limit traffic on Sundays every week.  

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Ban "compostable" plastics that require an industrial composter for degradation.  Clarify for local consumers which plastics are recyclable in Santa Cruz at this time. Wishcycling is making the recycling effort ineffective, and preventing real solutions to the plastic emergency facing the planet. Well-meaning citizens think they are recycling and behaving in a green manner, but much of it is "green-washing" by the plastics industry. We need to lessen our use of plastics for single use items, and ensure effective recycling for those plastics that can be recycled economically and logistically, and avoid purchasing non-recyclable plastics. Thank you.

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Increase direct bus lines between east side (midtown) and westside. Also direct and frequent routes to Scotts Valley and Bonnie Doon to minimize the amount of road traffic to highways. 

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Increase direct bus lines between east side (midtown) and westside. Also direct and frequent routes to Scotts Valley and Bonnie Doon to minimize the amount of road traffic to highways. 

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Institute bike shuttles through out key points in Santa Cruz.  

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Institute bike shuttles through out key points in Santa Cruz.  

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Reduce large building scopes to minimize the impacts on current water resources

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Reduce large building scopes to minimize the impacts on current water resources

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Utilize spirit of place when housing permits are issued - how does a house design reflect the area is crucial for Santa Cruz and surrounding areas keep our spirit, historical design.  We are not Manhattan Beach

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Utilize spirit of place when housing permits are issued - how does a house design reflect the area is crucial for Santa Cruz and surrounding areas keep our spirit, historical design.  We are not Manhattan Beach

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Develop strong historical conditions when houses are being bought up and torn down

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Develop strong historical conditions when houses are being bought up and torn down

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Reduce housing to minimize water shortages.  We have too much building going on for excessive housing that utilize more water 

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Reduce housing to minimize water shortages.  We have too much building going on for excessive housing that utilize more water 

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electric trains between Watsonville to UCSC

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electric trains between Watsonville to UCSC

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Small is beautiful. Small water retention throughout the landscape

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We can improve water retention in our landscape, reduce flood damage, retain soil fertility and much more.

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Free parking at work encourages solo travel in cars and contributes to congestion, ghg emissions, and inequity. Require employers who provide free parking (and get a tax break for doing so) to provide an equal benefit to employees who choose a low carbon commute.

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Prepare for long term Sea Level Rise and Flooding

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Prepare for long term Sea Level Rise and Flooding

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We know substantial sea level rise is inevitable. Let's begin planning for it along with other goals. Let's support greater housing density in the 60+ foot elevation area in midtown (Seabright/Soquel). Let's begin thinking about where low lying neighborhoods like Beach Flats and downtown can eventually move, ideally retaining their character. Let's evaluate the safety of building residential housing on the river levees, which are subject to sea level rise, storm surge, king tides, and river flooding from heavier rains we know will come as a result of climate change. Let's build water welcoming parks in low lying areas. The farmer's market could double as a water storage park during floods. A skate park could help accommodate short term flooding.

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Many current sidewalks in the City are narrow and blocked by sign posts and utility poles. Let's begin widening sidewalks to allow more room for pedestrians and those using assistance such as walkers and wheelchairs or people walking dogs. Importantly, on many streets, curb cuts for driveways cross the entire sidewalk every few feet. These curb cuts are designed to ease access of automobiles to garages a few times a day. But meanwhile, these sideways slanting sidewalks make traffic difficult or impossible for those pushing strollers, walking with disabilities, or traveling in wheelchairs.

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Make Laurel, Broadway and Brommer one-way only for cars and use the other half of the street for two way bicycle traffic across town, from Mission to 41st avenue.

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Golf courses use public land for the subsidized use of a tiny fraction of the population. The water bill alone at DeLaveaga Golf course was over half a million dollars in 2019. Let's replace water-hungry DeLaveaga Golf Course with natural stands of redwoods and other native trees. Coast redwoods store massive amounts of carbon and pull water from coastal fog. Keep disc golf, restaurants, and provide paths for everyone to enjoy, as originally envisioned by José Vincente DeLaveaga, who donated the land.

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vegetable and herb gardens, fruit trees, chickens, urban farming, garden sharing

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By quality of life, not by how much money there is to be made or lost. Money won't mean anything if we're not able to survive to enjoy it.

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And actually implement what they recommend.

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City-wide composting needs to be a thing!

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Encourage and Support Staff & Faculty housing on the UCSC campus.

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Though it is largely outside the City, continue to support the development of passenger rail as a fair and just mode of transportation for commuting into the City.

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Promote development of zero or low emission microgrids for all types of facilities, residential, commercial, institutional, government, to provide energy independence and resilience to future power outages

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Approving large numbers of new housing units and hotel rooms in the City while we are rationing water is obviously unsustainable currently. A sustainable and equitable Santa Cruz in 2030 must further reduce water use and conserve more water to become more resilient to the impact of climate change. Droughts will be more severe in the future.

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At the Santa Cruz Harbor: Add a pedestrian foot bridge, over the harbor, from Atlantic Avenue to 5th Ave (Near the Crows Nest). To encourage safe walking & biking.

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Transportation and housing are equity and climate issues

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Transportation and housing are equity and climate issues

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The lack of housing construction over the past many decades has created unaffordable housing for many in our community. This pushes non-wealthy folks farther and farther south in pursuit of affordable housing, forcing them to contend with long commute times on Hwy 1. Dramatic increases in housing construction and public transportation alternatives on Hwy 1 are both vital equity and climate issues.

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Virtual Visioning Collage Extended through July 31, 2021!!

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Virtual Visioning Collage Extended through July 31, 2021!!

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Juan hops on a free e-bike share down to catch the free electric train or bus to commute to his job reforesting a nearby City.  On his return commute, he stops by the monthly community Resiliency celebration where food, music and dance combine with neighbors networking and sharing climate resiliency and equity action successes, resources and tips.

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I just learned about this - community feedback and gameification on sustainability: https://environmentaldashboard.org/
Real time feedback via digital signage around the city.

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“Keeping Quiet”
by Pablo Neruda

Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let’s not speak in any language;
let’s stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness.

Fishermen in the cold sea
would not harm whales
and the man gathering salt
would not look at his hurt hands.

Those who prepare green wars,
wars with gas, wars with fire,
victories with no survivors,
would put on clean clothes
and walk about with their brothers
in the shade, doing nothing.

What I want should not be confused
with total inactivity.

Life is what it is about…

If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with
death.

Now I’ll count up to twelve
and you keep quiet and I will go.

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ADUs and tiny homes are an inefficient use of energy and space, with more outside surface compared to a duplex or apartment. Current zoning has resulted in single level homes in most of the City. If the goal is for more housing with less GHG for improvements in climate, change zoning to allow duplex or triplex in most of the City. When I see a house being renovated, it is almost always on the same footprint, staying as a single level home. A renovation has potential for adding more living space, and a change in zoning would give more people some reason to do so.

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If we would have had a gradual tax increase several decades ago on natural gas and transportation fuels, the climate crisis would be much less at this stage. Organize groups to lobby at the state and national level for a Congress to pass a carbon tax into law, as recommended by economists. For homes, efficiency of the  passive house design will quickly become more essential. Higher state home energy standards should not be delayed. The choice is to have some extra costs in the near term to avoid much higher cost (with disastrous effect) in the longer term. We have made only modest progress with things like EV purchase incentives. But by far, most car buys are gas SUVs, and they will last for decades. People respond much more when cost of energy becomes directly obvious. I hear that the next decade is crucial in avoiding climate disaster. Even in our supposedly progressive region, I don't have a sense of urgency in most of the population.

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The City should support a carbon fee and dividend - it is one of the most effective ways to curb emissions and helps low income residents transition into a low carbon energy system.  Here is info on the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act: https://energyinnovationact.org/

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The City should support a carbon fee and dividend - it is one of the most effective ways to curb emissions and helps low income residents transition into a low carbon energy system.  Here is info on the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act: https://energyinnovationact.org/

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Our targets need to be aggressive. Santa Cruz needs to lead the way - carbon neutrality by 2030. We can do it!!!

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Impliment a non-admittance of guilt Restorative Justice program.         Here is a Link to a Santa Cruz Restorative Justice Forum held by previous Santa Cruz County Supervisor John Leopold:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjJJ1SYayic.

Here is a Link to UCSF Law Professor - Lara Bazelon Forum on c-span on Restorative Justice:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?453927-2/rectify

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A hydrogen fueled electric Tig/m double decker trolley from the Clock Tower to the Boardwalk on Pacific Avenue.

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TIG/m streetcars are custom designed to meet the individual vision of our clients and their project requirements. Craftsmanship is of the utmost importance to us and every care is taken in all aspects of the manufacturing process. Whether it is the structural welding, electronic controls, propulsion system fabrication, or quality coachwork, only the finest technicians and skilled craftsman are involved.

TIG/m Streetcars operate on standard gauge track and do not require any form of wayside power system. All electrical power required for a full day of passenger service is carried on-board the vehicle. Once per day the batteries are charged and balanced and the on-board generator, if any, is refueled. Battery charging equipment is carried on-board the vehicle and each night the vehicle is simply plugged in using the supplied high-voltage charge cord.

All TIG/m trams and streetcars are designed, manufactured, and tested to comply with international Light Rail Standards. Passengers, owners, and operators are protected by compliance with EN-50126, 8, and 9 as well as all other applicable railway safety standards.

Convertible streetcars can operate

as open cars during temperate

seasons but are equipped to close

for heating or cooling during more

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TIG/m streetcars are custom designed to meet the individual vision of our clients and their project requirements. Craftsmanship is of the utmost importance to us and every care is taken in all aspects of the manufacturing process. Whether it is the structural welding, electronic controls, propulsion system fabrication, or quality coachwork, only the finest technicians and skilled craftsman are involved.

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More storytelling that is widely accessible to the public about initiatives like this one, to show what the city is doing for/with the people who live here

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More storytelling that is widely accessible to the public about initiatives like this one, to show what the city is doing for/with the people who live here

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More visual cohesion that ties the city together, so it doesn't feel so disparate-- signs like "we believe in a greener Santa Cruz" etc to show what type of city we are, both for residents and tourists.

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More visual cohesion that ties the city together, so it doesn't feel so disparate-- signs like "we believe in a greener Santa Cruz" etc to show what type of city we are, both for residents and tourists.

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More queer-oriented spaces and gatherings 

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More queer-oriented spaces and gatherings 

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Impose annual fines on inefficient buildings. Offer incentives for heat pumps, insulation, double-paned windows (acrylic is superior to glass), and replacing natural gas with all-electric heating, cooling, and appliances.

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Impose annual fines on inefficient buildings. Offer incentives for heat pumps, insulation, double-paned windows (acrylic is superior to glass), and replacing natural gas with all-electric heating, cooling, and appliances.

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Work with other cities and CalGeologicEnergyManagement to ban carbon-intensive and water-intensive oil extraction technologies, e.g., fracking.

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Work with other cities and CalGeologicEnergyManagement to ban carbon-intensive and water-intensive oil extraction technologies, e.g., fracking.

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Countywide, increase sales tax for gasoline, diesel, ICE vehicle purchase, lease, subscriptions, annual registration, and rental.

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Countywide, increase sales tax for gasoline, diesel, ICE vehicle purchase, lease, subscriptions, annual registration, and rental.

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In multi-family residence neighborhoods, install pay-for-use electric vehicle charging stations on curbs.

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In multi-family residence neighborhoods, install pay-for-use electric vehicle charging stations on curbs.

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Install PV solar panels on rooftops of government buildings and canopies over government-owned parking lots.

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Install PV solar panels on rooftops of government buildings and canopies over government-owned parking lots.

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Enforce the idling ordinance. Convert the metro bus system and school buses to hydrogen or electric-powered.

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Enforce the idling ordinance. Convert the metro bus system and school buses to hydrogen or electric-powered.

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Install gray water systems in government buildings surrounded by landscaping. Also offer incentives for businesses and residences to install such.

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Install gray water systems in government buildings surrounded by landscaping. Also offer incentives for businesses and residences to install such.

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Decrease water use by upgrading the lose the lawn incentive program from Water Dept. Phase out golf courses. Start by increasing their water rates and decreasing their size, e.g., from 18 hole to 9 hole.

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Decrease water use by upgrading the lose the lawn incentive program from Water Dept. Phase out golf courses. Start by increasing their water rates and decreasing their size, e.g., from 18 hole to 9 hole.

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Use the 25 cents charged for shopping bags for Sustainable items - like for restaurant to-go boxes, or re-usable pizza boxes.

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Pesticide Notification from Ag to Residential/ Schools and Recreational spaces.

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Pesticide Notification from Ag to Residential/ Schools and Recreational spaces.

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Having our Santa Cruz County Ag Commissioner Juan Hidalgo be held account. In doing so knowing that all communities have the right to be healthy.  This means clean air, clean water, and an environment free from toxic chemicals. In having these notices of pesticides that are being used at your HOA, children’s school, athletic fields or public recreational areas that have harmful effects on children/humans, pets, wildlife and our ecosystems.

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Inspiration from San Francisco Climate plan 

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Inspiration from San Francisco Climate plan 

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• Reduce solid waste generation by at least 15% below 2015 levels and reduce the amount of waste incinerated or dumped in a landfill by at least 50% below 2015 levels by 2030

• Make at least 80% of all trips low-carbon and at least 25% of all private cars electric by 2030 - and increase electric cars to 100% by 2040

• Supply 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and 100% renewable energy by 2040

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Michael Short/Special to The Chronicle

San Francisco set new, more ambitious climate change goals Tuesday, including getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions produced in the city by 2040, as wildfires, drought and heat waves worsened by climate change plague California and floods in Europe grab headlines.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an update to the environment code that pledges the city will cut its greenhouse gas emissions to at least 61% below 1990 levels by 2030. The city wants to reduce emissions generated outside city borders for products consumed in San Francisco - such as the carbon footprint of SFO air travel - by 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050.

"These new, bold targets put us on track to reduce our emissions more quickly - with the urgency that climate change demands and with social and racial equity at the forefront of our work," Mayor London Breed, who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement Tuesday.

Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who co-sponsored the legislation, said in a statement that the goals commit the city to "achieving a zero-carbon future as soon as possible" as "the climate crisis is upon us."

But some say change is still not fast enough to address a climate emergency that the Board declared two years ago, leading Supervisor Dean Preston to propose Monday to slightly increase the city's goals and reduce the timeline to get to net zero. Advocates who called into the meeting pointed to the smoke that shrouded San Francisco in eerie orange last year and drought and blazes this year foreshadowing another harrowing wildfire season as evidence of a climate crisis and the need for more radical action.

Cyndy Comerford, the Department of the Environment's climate policy manager, told supervisors during committee Monday that the targets are "an aggressive, accelerated timeline, but achievable." She agreed with the urgency of the situation, but pushing even more ambitious goals posed some legal and logistical challenges and would require financial investment, political will and public support. The Department of the Environment said increasing goals as proposed by Preston was infeasible, but agreed to move up the city's timeline to get to net zero emissions by five years.

Curbing climate change is complicated and costly. For example, a recent city report estimated that banning natural gas appliances in San Francisco and converting them to electric could cost up to $6 billion. The environment code approved Tuesday doesn't dictate exactly how the city will reach its goals and will require more legislative policies down the line.

The approved code painted a vision of a San Francisco with cleaner air, fewer vehicles on the road and more reliable transit systems, bike lanes, pedestrian-friendly roads and efficient homes. It also envisioned more businesses powered by clean electricity and robust green spaces. The goals to get there focus on six areas:

* Reduce solid waste generation by at least 15% below 2015 levels and reduce the amount of waste incinerated or dumped in a landfill by at least 50% below 2015 levels by 2030

* Make at least 80% of all trips low-carbon and at least 25% of all private cars electric by 2030 - and increase electric cars to 100% by 2040

* Supply 100% renewable electricity by 2025 and 100% renewable energy by 2040

* Build 5,000 new housing units per year, including at least 30% affordable units

* Require zero onsite fossil fuel emissions from all buildings by 2021 and zero onsite fossil fuel emissions from all large existing commercial buildings by 2035

* Capture carbon through trees, natural infrastructure and compost to get to net zero emissions

San Francisco's previous goals aimed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1990 levels by 2025, a target the city already reached in 2019.

"While this is really exciting news, it's not time for us to be complacent," Comerford said. "It's time to be pushing for policies and investments that we need."

Supervisors in committee Monday pushed for more ambitious goals and a greater emphasis on supporting a changing workforce and building affordable housing, not just all housing near transit. Supervisor Aaron Peskin pointed out the environmental impact of San Francisco workers commuting by car from the Central Valley because they can't afford to live in the city.

Half a dozen advocates criticized in public comment Monday that the city isn't doing enough in response to the climate crisis. One caller labeled the goals "pathetic and unacceptable for a city with the wealth and expertise of San Francisco."

A letter from the San Francisco Climate Emergency Coalition to Mayor London Breed and the Board of Supervisors urged a reduction of at least 90% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

"We are in the climate emergency now, and even among privileged San Franciscans, our ability to meet our basic life needs is becoming more precarious with every extra ton of greenhouse gas that goes into the atmosphere," the letter read. "Now the City needs to prioritize this action as if our lives depended on it. Because they do."

Mallory Moench is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mallory.moench@sfchronicle.com Twitter:@mallorymoench

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S.F. embraces aggressive new climate change goals as drought, heat and wildfires engulf California

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San Francisco set new, more ambitious climate change goals Tuesday, including getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions produced in the city by 2040, as wildfires, drought and heat waves worsened by climate change plague California and floods in Europe grab headlines.

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slow growth  until santa cruz population begins to lower. build no new housing. restore all existing vacant housing. work toward a public water system that recycles gray water into potable. i repeat: stop selling us out to real estate/chamber of commerce right wing growth cancers.

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slow growth  until santa cruz population begins to lower. build no new housing. restore all existing vacant housing. work toward a public water system that recycles gray water into potable. i repeat: stop selling us out to real estate/chamber of commerce right wing growth cancers.

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incentivise and encourage quite safe roof top wind energy generation for homes. Unlike solar electric generation that does not generate electricity at night or cloudy days; wind electric generation will continue electric energy generation during the night or cloudy days. To have wind & solar work together. Like Halcium- https://www.halcium.com/

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FInd a permanent location for the SC Warriors. Focus on rehabilitation for the homeless

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FInd a permanent location for the SC Warriors. Focus on rehabilitation for the homeless

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Incentives for tiny homes/adus, no deed restrictions for non-owner occupied ADUs- encourage Jr ADUs when possible. Ordinance changes for more efficient use of transit coridors building more units.

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Incentives for tiny homes/adus, no deed restrictions for non-owner occupied ADUs- encourage Jr ADUs when possible. Ordinance changes for more efficient use of transit coridors building more units.

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Method of collecting distributing restaurant/grocery food that will be wasted... and used for feeding people. If not used for food, composting.

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Method of collecting distributing restaurant/grocery food that will be wasted... and used for feeding people. If not used for food, composting.

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Look closely at building ordinances and policies, and focus on efficient thoughtful housing in transit coridors. Several planners I know will send projects back if more units housing can be added- this should be norm moving forward.

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Needs to be more ped/bike friendly. Install flashing beacons for crosswalks. Remove a parking lane and create protected bike lanes. Plant more trees to remove concrete jungle feel.

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Make Pacific Avenue a pedestrian mall (no cars allowed). 

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Make Pacific Avenue a pedestrian mall (no cars allowed). 

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Complete network of sidewalks throughout town. Build sidewalks away from street so there can be green space between moving vehicles and pedestrians. Plant more trees along sidewalks.

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To lower traveling outside of our area to see pro sports teams; adding a local WNBA team, USPL, Arena Football, Pro Golf & Pro Lacrosse to Santa Cruz. We have a semi-pro baseball team now, Disc Golf, D-League NBA, and Roller Derby. What other pro sports can we bring to Santa Cruz to use our fields & arenas?

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Setting more AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION EASEMENT

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Setting more AGRICULTURAL CONSERVATION EASEMENT

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helps to protect these vital lands by enabling private landowners, land trusts, and other entities to preserve working farms and ranches and restore, protect, and enhance wetlands and grasslands through long-term easements. By having more Agricultural Land Easement Components added in Santa Cruz whether on the outskirts of the city or within the city limits by preserving Urban Ag.

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I'd love to see how the County of Santa Cruz could create a food hub for new and veteran small growers to continue to grow in a rich agricultural region. That would follow suit to a similar model to the Sunol AgPark that was created in 2006 that provides land for sustainable farming, support to beginning farmers thru farmer to farmer experiences, and educational opportunities for students and members of the community. Which would ultimately helped dozens of small farming enterprises flourish, host thousands of students within the county to learn and reconnect thru field trips, and successfully created a place that will endure as a model for integrating sustainable farming with environmental and community benefits throughout the whole county.

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i truly believe it is insane to continue to promote growth along monterey bay. we don't need more growth. we need to protect the environment. we've got to many people in Santa Cruz already. Growth is cancer in the climate crisis. Capitalism doesn't need to be a rampant rush to ruin as the Chamber of Commerce republicans believe

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i truly believe it is insane to continue to promote growth along monterey bay. we don't need more growth. we need to protect the environment. we've got to many people in Santa Cruz already. Growth is cancer in the climate crisis. Capitalism doesn't need to be a rampant rush to ruin as the Chamber of Commerce republicans believe

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Have a local industrial compost facility/system and require residents, hotels and restaurants to compost. Currently, there are no good compost options for homes. 

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Have a local industrial compost facility/system and require residents, hotels and restaurants to compost. Currently, there are no good compost options for homes. 

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Improved ocean conservation efforts, no sewage or trash in the ocean, and help the otters.

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Improved ocean conservation efforts, no sewage or trash in the ocean, and help the otters.

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Improved regulations and support services for homes and businesses to use grey water.

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Improved regulations and support services for homes and businesses to use grey water.

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Put water restrictions on hotels and other tourist-serving businesses and enforce them.  

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Put water restrictions on hotels and other tourist-serving businesses and enforce them.  

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Open space would support the city's "Health in All Policies" - open space contributes to mental health, physical health, and economic health.

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Create programs that desegregate youth will benefit all.

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Green infrastructure distributed throughout our city will put water back in the ground where it belongs and cool our city. Green instead of grey is the way to educate, resilientate and create new jobs. We treat the rain that falls in our city as a waste product. Simple solution turn Grey to green and create landscaping jobs to maintain community assets. Encourage the City to invest in green streets!

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Connection to nature starts with urban stewardship. We need to educate our community so we all better her stand the connection between our actions and the health of our local landscape

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Outdoor dining should expand and be protected. It is safe healthy and connects us to nature which reinforces the value of clean lands water and air

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Walking is the most basic form of transportation, yet entire neighborhoods in our town have no sidewalks. Prioritize building sidewalks, so that more people will feel safe to walk.

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More affordable housing near major transit: " These municipalities have fewer transit and housing options, fewer staffers, and limited financial resources with which to achieve an effective system of community connectivity; they must instead expand capacity by developing useful partnerships with other private and public entities."

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Connected Communities: Linking Affordable Housing and Transportation

Connected communities are places with affordable housing options, pedestrian-friendly street designs, public spaces, and transportation options to access major employment centers, key goods and services, and amenities. Small and mid-sized cities with populations at or below 250,000 face distinct challenges when it comes to providing residents with good connections and choices among housing, transportation, and community amenities such as schools, retail, recreation and health care facilities, and libraries. These municipalities have fewer transit and housing options, fewer staffers, and limited financial resources with which to achieve an effective system of community connectivity; they must instead expand capacity by developing useful partnerships with other private and public entities.

For most households, transportation is the second-largest annual expenditure after housing. Many small and mid-sized cities offer only limited public transportation options such as local bus service, shuttles, or paratransit rather than rail or bus rapid transit systems that can support a broad ridership. Limited transportation options mean reduced access to jobs, public spaces (such as parks, plazas, and campuses), and key goods and services. Decentralized employment, higher gas prices, and the continued relocation of low-income households to suburban areas further isolate these communities. Moreover, because land located closer to employment centers, bus or rail transit, and amenities is often expensive, affordable housing developers often select sites located on the city's periphery, where residents are forced to rely on car transportation - a challenge for the 18 percent of households earning less than $35,000 that do not own a car. These geographic choices can hinder the purpose of housing assistance by increasing a household's expenditures on transportation, even as they save money on housing. The average cost of owning a car ranges from about $6,000 to $12,000 a year, an expense that is particularly acute for low-income households.

A recent report released by HUD, " Creating Connected Communities: A Guidebook for Improving Transportation Connections for Low- and Moderate-Income Households in Small and Mid-Sized Cities," features in-depth case studies of five cities that have attempted to improve the connectivity of their communities: Gonzales, California; Traverse City, Michigan; Lake Worth, Florida; Portland, Maine; and Lakewood, Colorado. The report identifies the key challenges that these cities have experienced and their responses to these hurdles.
Key Findings
The case studies reveal several guiding lessons for local leaders.

Coordination among different departments that play a role in housing and transportation can aid in the creation of connected communities. Such partnerships are especially beneficial to small and mid-sized cities with limited resources and staff. In Portland, this involved synchronization among multiple transit agencies. Traverse City officials consulted affordable housing developers as they made decisions about the location of new developments. Collaboration can even occur between cities as was the case with Lakewood and Denver, which along with their housing authorities and regional transit agency, created a multijurisdictional working group.

The types of transportation options that residents need can vary depending on the city's location within the region. Low-income residents of Traverse City who reside at the city's periphery struggle to get downtown and to other areas of the city. By contrast, low-income residents of Gonzales needed transportation options to access employment - much of it on farms - as well as health care facilities and shopping centers located 15 miles away in the region's main city of Salinas. The establishment of subsidized and regulated vanpooling programs helped meet this need.

Land use plays an important role in determining the ease with which residents can make use of alternate transportation options. Bayside, a neighborhood near downtown Portland, was the focus of a plan to create a walkable urban gateway featuring a mix of uses, compact and intensive development as an extension of downtown. The vision was to create a transit-oriented district focused around shuttle and local bus service. Because of the neighborhood's location, land-use characteristics, trails, and sidewalks, new residents who move into the affordable neighborhood can access work, grocery stores, and green spaces.

Considering location and transportation accessibility in selecting sites for new affordable housing can help create connected communities. The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a centrally located affordable housing community in Traverse City, offers access to employment, healthy food, schools, and the city's downtown through public transportation, bike paths, and sidewalks. The developers of Orchard View Terrace, another affordable housing community in Traverse City, did not consider connectivity in their plans; residents there continue to face difficulties accessing jobs and other essential destinations.

Several cities have demonstrated the benefits of partnering with local, state, and regional agencies and foundations to fund these projects. Gonzales, partnering with the California Department of Transportation, obtained grant funding for a Community to School Pedestrian Plan; they also partnered with Monterey County and the city of Del Ray Oaks to receive funds from the Community Development Block Grant program. Lake Worth, partnering with Palm Beach County School District, was awarded a $750,000 grant from the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization to create a greenway that will allow students to travel to school safely.

From Research to Practice
The report presents five overarching goals for local leaders and strategies they can use to build connected communities.

Leaders of small and mid-sized cities can begin by assembling decisionmakers and stakeholders drawn from county governments, transit agencies, state departments of transportation, public housing agencies, and nonprofit and private affordable housing developers. Leaders can foster successful outcomes by organizing city departments around the goal of linking housing affordability and transportation and by keeping housing and transportation integration on the agenda at planning meetings.

Second, providing multiple transportation options to meet local needs helps more residents access important destinations. Leaders should assess the degree to which existing transportation networks meet the needs of low-income commuters. Developing routes and schedules that work best for these residents, working with transit providers to make transit use easy for all riders, and working with community organizers and other agencies to fill gaps left by traditional transportation services can all help shore up connectivity. Leaders can also make incremental improvements, such as painting new bike lanes or crosswalks, to facilitate alternate transportation, prioritizing projects that improve mobility for residents of affordable housing.

Third, the report proposes that municipal leaders promote accessible affordable housing in connected communities. Because many cities already have neighborhoods with connections to jobs and services, leaders can build on these assets, prioritizing the preservation of existing affordable housing and encouraging the development of affordable housing in these neighborhoods.

Fourth, municipal leaders should support established neighborhoods. In some cities, existing neighborhoods may not yet offer a full range of services and amenities. Leaders who focus on improving established neighborhoods can build on their cities' current resources, provide additional opportunities for existing residents, and advance the efficiency of municipal services. Strategies include reforming parking requirements, ensuring that zoning ordinances support the development pattern the city envisions, creating parks and plazas, and linking the city's economic development strategy with its transportation planning.

Finally, the report encourages city leadership to seek out additional funding from federal programs and other partnerships. Focusing public dollars, coordinating investments, and using existing resources more efficiently can all help fund the creation of connected communities.

The report also contains additional technical resources and online tools - design checklists, links to primers for planning, development toolkits, lists of key federal housing and transportation programs, links to design guides, website information for pertinent organizations, and an annotated bibliography of resources - that community leaders can use in their efforts to link affordable housing with transportation.

Given the wide range of actors and disciplines that need to be engaged in the planning process and the variety of places and conditions where development can occur, this guide will be a primary tool for understanding and articulating the range of benefits that can be realized by optimizing the mutually beneficial relationship between public transportation and comprehensive community development, particularly for low- and moderate-income (LMI) individuals.

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Connected Communities: Linking Affordable Housing and Transportation | HUD USER

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Connected Communities: Linking Affordable Housing and Transportation Connected communities are places with affordable housing options, pedestrian-friendly street designs, public spaces, and transportation options to access major employment centers, key goods and services, and amenities.

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The frequency of bike theft in the City could be disincentivizing biking to work. More lockers downtown near major employers would be great!

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If anything was underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that housing is healthcare and a human right. Creating and maintaining equitable housing conditions not only benefits the members of our workforce, but the businesses that employ them AND our environment. Bringing workers closer to jobs and creating more walkable urban centers is a win-win for everyone and is a total issue of equity.

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What is YOUR vision for a sustainable + equitable Santa Cruz in 2030? City Councilmembers share....

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Host a community screening of The Wisdom of Trauma to promote a constructive dialogue about how to help people with addiction(s) while making our community a healthier more compassionate place. 

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Host a community screening of The Wisdom of Trauma to promote a constructive dialogue about how to help people with addiction(s) while making our community a healthier more compassionate place. 

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The next digital screening of the movie will be July 28 – August 1, 2021.
Sign up for updates at: https://thewisdomoftrauma.com/

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Encourage/give out washing machine filters that trap microfibers from synthetic clothing.

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Encourage/give out washing machine filters that trap microfibers from synthetic clothing.

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https://www.oceancleanwash.org/