THE GREAT COMMUNITIES COLLABORATIVE (GCC)

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The San Francisco Bay Area population is projected to increase by thirty percent in the next three decades. That means by 2035 there will be nine million people living in this nine county area. The good news is that both market demand and public will are in agreement to search for a new growth model for our region that is more sustainable and equitable. The Great Communities Collaborative will harness this force by involving communities near future transit stations in planning for the kinds of neighborhoods that will be created, with a vision towards livable, walkable, diverse communities.

Four regional non-profits – NPH, the Transportation and Land Use Coalition (TALC), Greenbelt Alliance, and Urban Habitat, the national non-profit Reconnecting America, and two community foundations – the East Bay Community Foundation, and The San Francisco Foundation, came together to form the Great Communities Collaborative (GCC), taking advantage of this opportunity to advance the goal of well-planned communities near transit.

The GCC’s objective is for half of the new homes built in the Bay Area over the next 30 years to be located in walkable neighborhoods near transit. The vision is that these neighborhoods will have a mix of jobs, shops, community services, and that the homes will be affordable to families of all income levels. To accomplish this goal, the GCC will engage in two work areas: 1) site-specific engagement at 25 of the 75 Bay Area station areas; 2) support in creating tools that citizens, elected officials, local government staffers, and other stakeholders can use to facilitate community involvement.

To date, NPH has worked in specific communities in the Bay Area including San Leandro, Santa Rosa and Pittsburg. We have also worked in partnership with Center for Community Innovation and Reconnecting America in creating the report “Transit-Oriented for All: The Case for Mixed-Income Transit Oriented Communities in the Bay Area). The report can be found at http://www-iurd.ced.berkeley.edu/cci/04A!publications.html.

To learn more about the GCC, link to: www.greatcommunities.org.

For more information, please contact Evelyn Stivers at evelyn at nonprofithousing.org, or at (415) 989-8160 x35.