Greenbelt Alliance
Encyclopedia
Greenbelt Alliance is a non-profit land conservation and urban planning organization that has worked in California's nine-county San Francisco Bay Area
since 1958.
Greenbelt Alliance promotes the creation of walkable neighborhoods with a mix
of shops, homes, and jobs near public transit. The organization encourages cities to adopt smart growth
policies, to accommodate the Bay Area
's increasing population while protecting open space
and making the region's cities better places to live. It has been involved in the adoption of urban growth boundaries
in more than 20 cities and 5 counties in the Bay Area
. These boundaries draw a line to define where growth should and should not go, and are generally either adopted by voters through the initiative
process, or by city councils or county boards of supervisors
.
Greenbelt Alliance works to get Bay Area residents involved in their local urban planning processes and development decisions. To help people learn more about the region's open space and its cities, the organization leads hikes, farm tours, and urban walks throughout the Bay Area
that are open to the public. It also endorses development proposals that meet smart growth
guidelines and include homes people can afford
.
Greenbelt Alliance publishes reports on land use policy, affordable housing
, smart growth
, sprawl development
, open space protection, and farming.
Recent publications include:
Greenbelt Alliance is involved in statewide efforts in California to fight climate change
through better land use. This is based on the idea that transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas
es, and transportation is dictated by land use. Put another way, if homes and jobs are built far apart, people will drive more, and that will have a negative impact on the Earth's climate. Greenbelt Alliance advocates for changing how cities are built—focusing new development in downtowns and around transit stations—to reduce driving and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
for development. In 1969, the organization was renamed People for Open Space to reflect the organization's additional interest in preserving ranch
lands, agricultural lands, and wildlife
preserves. In the 1970s, People for Open Space helped to establish a public park district called the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (1972), as well as Suisun Marsh
(1974). It was also involved in campaigning for a regional government for the Bay Area, but was defeated in Sacramento by one vote. In 1976, People for Open Space added the goal of establishing a permanent regional greenbelt
to its agenda, and in 1984 created a group called Greenbelt Congress to work on open space protection through activism and grassroots
organizing.
In 1987, Greenbelt Congress and People for Open Space merged to become Greenbelt Alliance, and established a dual focus of grassroots
activism and policy research. Greenbelt Alliance expanded outside San Francisco
with a field office in the South Bay in 1988. In 1995, East Bay
and Sonoma
-Marin
field offices opened their doors, and in 2001, a Solano
-Napa
office opened in response to growth along the Interstate 80
corridor between San Francisco
and Sacramento
.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Greenbelt Alliance was involved in stopping sprawl development
proposals and protecting Pleasanton Ridge
(1993), Bear Creek Redwoods(1999), and Cowell Ranch/John Marsh SHP (2002) as state parks or open space preserves. It helped to create the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority
in 1994, and was part of defeating a freeway proposal called the Mid-State Toll Road in 1995.
Greenbelt Alliance has acted as the fiscal sponsor for several organizations, including: the Transportation and Land Use Coalition
(now an independent organization); the Bay Area Open Space Council
; the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition; and the Bay Area Environmental Education Resource Fair.
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
since 1958.
Greenbelt Alliance promotes the creation of walkable neighborhoods with a mix
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
of shops, homes, and jobs near public transit. The organization encourages cities to adopt smart growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
policies, to accommodate the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
's increasing population while protecting open space
Open space reserve
Open space reserve, open space preserve, and open space reservation, are planning and conservation ethics terms used to describe areas of protected or conserved land or water on which development is indefinitely set aside...
and making the region's cities better places to live. It has been involved in the adoption of urban growth boundaries
Urban growth boundary
An urban growth boundary, or UGB, is a regional boundary, set in an attempt to control urban sprawl by mandating that the area inside the boundary be used for higher density urban development and the area outside be used for lower density development.An urban growth boundary circumscribes an...
in more than 20 cities and 5 counties in the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
. These boundaries draw a line to define where growth should and should not go, and are generally either adopted by voters through the initiative
Initiative
In political science, an initiative is a means by which a petition signed by a certain minimum number of registered voters can force a public vote...
process, or by city councils or county boards of supervisors
County board of supervisors
The Board of Supervisors is the body that supervises the operation of county government in all counties in Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Sussex County, New Jersey as well as a handful of counties in New York...
.
Greenbelt Alliance works to get Bay Area residents involved in their local urban planning processes and development decisions. To help people learn more about the region's open space and its cities, the organization leads hikes, farm tours, and urban walks throughout the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
that are open to the public. It also endorses development proposals that meet smart growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
guidelines and include homes people can afford
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
.
Greenbelt Alliance publishes reports on land use policy, affordable housing
Affordable housing
Affordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
, smart growth
Smart growth
Smart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
, sprawl development
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
, open space protection, and farming.
Recent publications include:
- At Risk: The Bay Area Greenbelt -- A regular survey of the region's land at risk of sprawl development. The 2006 report found that 401500 acres (1,624.8 km²), or 1 out of every 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) of land in the Bay Area, is at risk.
- Bay Area Smart Growth Scorecard -- An evaluation of the policies of all 109 cities and counties in the Bay Area to assess how well each is doing at preparing for regional growth. On average, cities scored 34%; counties scored 51%. The report won a statewide award from the American Planning Association.
- Smart Infill -- A guidebook for planners, decisionmakers, and interested residents on how to encourage good infill development—growth within existing cities to create walkable neighborhoods.
Greenbelt Alliance is involved in statewide efforts in California to fight climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
through better land use. This is based on the idea that transportation is the largest contributor of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
es, and transportation is dictated by land use. Put another way, if homes and jobs are built far apart, people will drive more, and that will have a negative impact on the Earth's climate. Greenbelt Alliance advocates for changing how cities are built—focusing new development in downtowns and around transit stations—to reduce driving and so reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
History
Greenbelt Alliance was founded in 1958 as an organization called Citizens for Regional Recreation and Parks. One of its first campaigns was helping to halt the filling of San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
for development. In 1969, the organization was renamed People for Open Space to reflect the organization's additional interest in preserving ranch
Ranch
A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...
lands, agricultural lands, and wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....
preserves. In the 1970s, People for Open Space helped to establish a public park district called the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (1972), as well as Suisun Marsh
Suisun Marsh
Located in northern California the Suisun Marsh is the largest brackish marsh on west coast of the United States of America. The marsh land is part of the San Francisco Bay tidal estuary, and subject to tidal ebb and flood...
(1974). It was also involved in campaigning for a regional government for the Bay Area, but was defeated in Sacramento by one vote. In 1976, People for Open Space added the goal of establishing a permanent regional greenbelt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
to its agenda, and in 1984 created a group called Greenbelt Congress to work on open space protection through activism and grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
organizing.
In 1987, Greenbelt Congress and People for Open Space merged to become Greenbelt Alliance, and established a dual focus of grassroots
Grassroots
A grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it are natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
activism and policy research. Greenbelt Alliance expanded outside San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
with a field office in the South Bay in 1988. In 1995, East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
and Sonoma
Sonoma County, California
Sonoma County, located on the northern coast of the U.S. state of California, is the largest and northernmost of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. Its population at the 2010 census was 483,878. Its largest city and county seat is Santa Rosa....
-Marin
Marin County, California
Marin County is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2010, the population was 252,409. The county seat is San Rafael and the largest employer is the county government. Marin County is well...
field offices opened their doors, and in 2001, a Solano
Solano County, California
Solano County is a county located in Bay-Delta region of the U.S. state of California, about halfway between San Francisco and Sacramento and is one of the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties. The county's population was reported by the U.S. Census to be 413,344 in 2010...
-Napa
Napa County, California
Napa County is a county located north of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is coterminous with the Napa, California, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010 the population is 136,484. The county seat is Napa....
office opened in response to growth along the Interstate 80
Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
corridor between San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
and Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
.
In the 1990s and 2000s, Greenbelt Alliance was involved in stopping sprawl development
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
proposals and protecting Pleasanton Ridge
Pleasanton Ridge
Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park is a park in the East Bay Regional Park District overlooking Pleasanton, California and the Livermore Valley to the east. The park is scheduled to grow by almost with the acquisition of the Tyler Ranch....
(1993), Bear Creek Redwoods(1999), and Cowell Ranch/John Marsh SHP (2002) as state parks or open space preserves. It helped to create the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority
Santa Clara County Open Space Authority
The Santa Clara County Open Space Authority is a special district in Santa Clara County, California.-External links:*...
in 1994, and was part of defeating a freeway proposal called the Mid-State Toll Road in 1995.
Greenbelt Alliance has acted as the fiscal sponsor for several organizations, including: the Transportation and Land Use Coalition
Transportation and Land Use Coalition
TALC redirects here: For The American Lutheran Church see: American Lutheran ChurchThe Transportation and Land Use Coalition is a non-profit organization which serves as a partnership of over 100 organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area focused on smart growth, public transportation,...
(now an independent organization); the Bay Area Open Space Council
Bay Area Open Space Council
The is a collaborative of member organizations actively involved in permanently protecting and stewarding important parks, trails and agricultural lands in the ten-county San Francisco Bay Area...
; the San Francisco Housing Action Coalition; and the Bay Area Environmental Education Resource Fair.
See also
- GreenbeltGreen beltA green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
- Smart growthSmart growthSmart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
- Urban sprawlUrban sprawlUrban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
- Urban planningUrban planningUrban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
- Climate changeClimate changeClimate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
- Affordable housingAffordable housingAffordable housing is a term used to describe dwelling units whose total housing costs are deemed "affordable" to those that have a median income. Although the term is often applied to rental housing that is within the financial means of those in the lower income ranges of a geographical area, the...
- New UrbanismNew urbanismNew Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
- WalkabilityWalkabilityWalkability is a measure of how friendly an area is to walking. Walkability has many health, environmental, and economic benefits. Factors influencing walkability include the presence or absence and quality of footpaths, sidewalks or other pedestrian right-of-ways, traffic and road conditions,...
- Land useLand useLand use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...
- Transit-oriented developmentTransit-oriented developmentA transit-oriented development is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership...
- Mixed-use developmentMixed-use developmentMixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...