The Draft Compact for A Sustainable Bay Area
Note: This is a summary version of the Draft Compact. The full text of the Draft Compact is available on-line and in English at http://www.bayareaalliance.org
(6/27/01 Version)
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What Does "Sustainable" Mean?
What a Sustainable Bay Area Will Mean for You?
What is The Draft Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area?
How will the Draft Compact Be Carried Out?
How you can Get Involved?
1. What Does "Sustainable" Mean?
A place that is "sustainable" is a place that manages its resources wisely, so that people today – as well as the generations to come – can live well. The United Nations defines "sustainable" development as the ability "…to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." In thinking about the future of the Bay Area, we have translated this United Nations definition into an "e-vision," which we define as follows:
e-vision: A vision of the future that provides for the three Es of sustainable development: a prosperous economy, a high-quality environment, and social equity. The e-vision provides for all Bay Area residents and businesses, and celebrates the region’s diverse social, environmental, and economic strengths.
People often talk about "smart growth" as a way to make a place sustainable and to achieve the "three Es." Smart growth usually refers to places where housing, businesses, and services are close together, and where people can use transit rather than depending on their cars. Smart growth often means efficiently reusing buildings and other spaces in central cities and older suburbs, and preserving open space and farmland. Smart growth offers a way to make the Bay Area an easier and better place to live. It can help create a strong economy, make living conditions equitable (fair) for all, and preserve open space, farmland, wetlands, and other environmental assets.
2. What a Sustainable Bay Area Will Mean for You
In 2020, 1.3 million more people are expected to live in the Bay Area. If the region is to be home to so many more people, we must become smarter about the way we grow and the places we build.
By developing in a sustainable way, we will make the Bay Area a better place for the people here now and for the people we expect in the future. A sustainable Bay Area will mean:
A sustainable Bay Area will be a better place for you and your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. It will be a better place for children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and future generations.
3. The Draft Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area
The Draft Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area is a draft report that suggests actions that political representatives, government agencies, businesses, and citizens can take to use resources wisely and make the region more sustainable.
The Draft Compact was prepared by the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Development, a group of leaders from the business community, environmental organizations, social equity groups, and local and regional government agencies. The Bay Area Alliance has been working since 1997 to draft a plan for a sustainable Bay Area.
The Draft Compact recommends these ten Commitments to Action for decision-makers and the public to consider and agree upon:
Actions to carry out this commitment might include encouraging environmentally-sensitive businesses and businesses that employ the disadvantaged, locating businesses near housing and transit, and encouraging employers to coordinate job training programs with schools.
Actions might include working with banks, local community groups, and local, state, and federal government agencies; helping to preserve existing housing and repair abandoned housing; and encouraging construction of new housing near transit and services.
Actions might include improving, expanding, and coordinating existing transit systems such as buses, trains, and ferries; and improving biking and walking paths.
Actions might include buying and restoring open space, supporting open space initiatives and bond measures, working with farmers on environmentally-responsible farming practices, and improving air and water regulations.
Actions might include using water- and energy-saving devices and recycled materials in new buildings, and encouraging households, businesses, government, and farms to reduce their use of harmful pesticides, fertilizers, and other pollutants.
Actions might include training residents for self-help neighborhood projects, and supporting employers who recruit, hire, and train the unemployed, underemployed, and working poor for jobs with career and income potential;
Actions might include supporting school reform programs and bond measures, increasing school funding in the poorest neighborhoods, and offering education on the environment and sustainable living throughout the region.
Actions might include ensuring adequate health care and community facilities, encouraging community policing, and supporting toxic clean-up projects.
9. Help local governments to share revenues and change the way they make decisions that affect their budgets.
Actions might include encouraging local governments to work together to plan land uses and share tax revenues, and supporting changes in state tax laws that affect city and county agencies.
Actions might include supporting child care, youth programs, and elder care so that people have time to participate in community meetings and events; and encouraging discussion of sustainable development and the "three Es" in schools.
The above is just a brief summary. For each of these 10 Commitments, the Draft Compact recommends very specific actions that government, businesses, civic organizations, and individuals can take to help create a more sustainable region.
4. How the Draft Compact Will Be Carried Out
The Bay Area Alliance will prepare a final Compact based on public comment on the Draft Compact. Bay Area Alliance members will then review and approve the final Compact. The final Compact will guide these member organizations in their actions over the next 25 years.
Two new Bay Area Alliance projects will help carry out the commitments described in the Compact:
The Bay Area Alliance will regularly measure the success of these projects in carrying out the vision and commitments of the Compact for a Sustainable Bay Area.
5. How You Can Get Involved
The Bay Area Alliance encourages all Bay Area residents to comment on the Draft Compact. We especially welcome comments from people from low-income communities of color who may feel left out of the community and regional planning process.
You can participate in the following ways:
Thank you for your participation. Your involvement will make a difference in the future of the region.
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