OPINION: Walkable Oriented Development for Piedmont Housing Element
Bridget Harris, candidate for the Piedmont City Council, voices, “The City Council should carefully consider applying the “Walkable Oriented Development” (“WOD”) approach to all possible locations and present the results to the community for approval before submitting any proposal for the 6th Cycle Housing Element.”
As the City of Piedmont addresses potential locations for additional housing to meet the 6th Cycle Housing Element, the following criteria should be considered:
1. Maintain the culture and character of the City;
2. Maintain traffic safety and security in the City;
3. Minimize the loss of park land and open space;
4. Offer locations that maximize the efficiency of construction and living.A study by the American Enterprise Institute suggests that these criteria can best be met by “Walkable Oriented Development” (“WOD”). This approach focuses development in areas within a ten minute walk of services and infrastructure. WOD focuses on the placement of multi-unit housing close to existing supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants and public transportation. It allows an increase in density while minimizing the need for the construction of additional infrastructure. WOD also makes it easier and less expensive for low income owners/renters to access necessary services thereby reducing traffic impact .
Piedmont doesn’t have a WOD location in the center of the City nor does it have a WOD area along Moraga Avenue. It doesn’t make sense to force expensive and inefficient high density development in these locations. However, Grand Avenue and Park Boulevard could become WOD areas with significantly less expense and disruption to the existing community. The City Council should carefully consider applying the WOD approach to all possible locations and present the results to the community for approval before submitting any proposal for the 6th Cycle Housing Element.
https://www.aei.org/wod/Bridget Harris, Seaview Avenue, Candidate for City Council
Good suggestion! Allowing higher multi-family units within a 10 minute walk of existing services, possibly on Grand Ave and Park Blvd, would be much more logical than forcing them into Piedmont’s existing single-family areas. Possibly this proposal can be developed by internal staff without costly outside consultants prior to the submission deadline.