The Cupertino Courier

News

Smart growth policies win kudos

By HUGH BIGGAR

For those grading on the curve, Cupertino scored above average in a new report on smart growth policies in San Francisco Bay Area communities.

In the report by the nonprofit Greenbelt Alliance, Cupertino scored 41 percent out of 100 percent for its policies on smart growth--growth that encourages housing and retail density and pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.

The Greenbelt Alliance graded seven areas it believes encourage smart growth. The areas include proximity to parks, affordable housing policies and mixed-use (residential and commercial) development policies. Cupertino scored high in number of parks residents could walk to and earned low scores for development standards and density. The Greenbelt Alliance emphasized the report grades reflected policies and not "on-the-ground realities" of smart growth.

The average score for the 101 cities measured for their smart growth policies was 34 percent, with just 17 percent scoring above a 51 percent benchmark set by the Greenbelt Alliance. The Greenbelt Alliance advocates smart growth as a means of accommodating a rapidly growing nine-county Bay Area and reducing sprawl by redirecting growth into corridors close to downtowns and public transportation. The sprawl already extends beyond the Bay Area, with overflow population spilling into the Central Valley and south of Gilroy. The group says the Bay Area can expect about a million more people in the region by 2020.

"If it's done right, new growth can make the Bay Area a better place to live," Tom Steinbach, executive director of the Greenbelt Alliance, said in a statement. "But right now, the region doesn't have the policies in place to make sure that happens."

"The community has to decide what it wants," said Dave Knapp, Cupertino's city manager. "As it stands now, the city is moving against smart growth policies. Residents have said they don't want buildings near the street, or narrow [pedestrian-friendly] streets. Instead it seems people want less density and development along transportation corridors. I don't see [Cupertino's score] as a plus or minus but as a reflection of what the community says it wants."

To view the report, visit www.greenbelt.org.