Willow Glen Resident

Letters & Opinions

On Earth Day, we can take a lesson from New York

By Moryt Milo

With Earth Day just a day away, April 22, I discovered that New York City has the unfortunate distinction of producing almost 1 percent of our country's greenhouse gas emissions. The study, ordered by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, puts our nation's most populous city on par with two countries--Portugal and Ireland--a distinction I'm sure my native state is not jumping for joy over.

Bloomberg ordered the study because he was looking for a baseline figure so he could work toward a long-term solution. Although New York City is home to 8.2 million people, or 2.7 percent of the nation's population of 300 million, its residents are not the primary culprit. These 8.2 million people actually contribute less than a third of the emissions to most Americans. New Yorkers can thank their mass transit system for that--fewer cars on the road. The problem is the city's concrete jungle, which consumes endless quantities of electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and steam. It adds up to 79 percent of the city's emissions.

New York officials have been working toward a greener environment with eco-friendly initiatives, yet emissions still rose 8 percent between 1995 and 2005, according to the city's study.

It's what's already there that is causing the problem.

Maybe we should be looking at our East Coast brethren a bit closer, as a lesson in what not to do when it comes to development. We could find ourselves with a similar problem in the future. Throughout the South Bay, development is on the rise. Look around: We are in a building renaissance. The new urban village approach to living and working is significantly changing the way residential communities and business districts are being planned. This approach touches every community from historic downtown Campbell and the streets of Willow Glen to the open expanse of the Coyote Valley and the city of San Jose.

The push is toward more housing closer together, with less green and more concrete. The problem is, if we don't consider how much energy will be required to sustain the increase in population, we will find ourselves confronting the same problems that plague New York. Of course, it will not be on that grand a scale, at least I certainly hope not. But we already have one strike against us going in--no mass transit to support the high-density population that this build-out will attract.

There are many who argue this is precisely why we need BART and an extensive light rail and train system. I agree, but until we have mass transit that goes somewhere viable in the South Bay, people will continue to get into their cars for work, errands and recreational needs.

As an individual who relied on trains and subways in New York, I am not overly optimistic about mass transit in the South Bay. We are simply not configured the same way. We have sprawl, making it difficult to construct a transit system after the fact.

Before we even have mass transit, we need to consider how much energy will be expended from all the proposed developments already in the planning stages. We have a real opportunity to get it right, to take our time and plot out the future. Let's not rush the gate and get it wrong. Getting it right will require city officials, residents, developers, architects and urban planners to work as a team, with an eye on the impact today's decisions will have on tomorrow's quality of life.

Somehow we have to create a baseline--a theoretical study that has realistic figures, not canned calculations--so we have something to work with, just as officials did in New York. I know that's a tall order, and that theory is subject to interpretation. But, we can graph out the numbers and use those calculations to plot a course that results in smart growth that is environmentally healthy for all of us.

Without that point of reference, our long-term urban planning could go from baseline to flatline, which would make resuscitation at the planning stage a painful experience.

Moryt Milo is the editor of the Willow Glen Resident. She can be reached at 408. 200.1051 or via email at mmilo@community- newspapers.com.