On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB2923 into law, which will make it easier to build homes near BART stations throughout the Bay Area.
If you’ve ever noticed the vast, often empty parking lots surrounding the Bay Area’s BART stations, you likely already understand the potential these lands hold. That potential is why Greenbelt Alliance endorsed AB2923, and why we mobilized our community to contact their representatives and senators in support of the bill. AB2923 will make it easier to create thriving, walkable neighborhoods with homes, shops, and jobs right at the doorstep of the region’s best transit resources. We’re excited to see it move forward and proud of our efforts to help it along.
The legislation, co-authored by Assemblymember David Chiu and Assemblymember Tim Grayson will not only help address the lack of homes people can afford in the Bay Area. It will also foster greater transit ridership, cut greenhouse gas emissions, and ease development pressure on our natural and agricultural lands. AB2923 gives us the chance to tap the immense latent potential of these lands. Its passage reflects the strong regional consensus that we must focus new growth near transit.
By catalyzing transit-oriented development on lands owned by BART, AB2923 will help to create neighborhoods that meet the needs of people across the income spectrum and improve the quality of life for all our region’s residents. Fostering equitable, sustainable neighborhoods on underutilized lands around BART stations is a huge step towards truly addressing the Bay Area’s housing affordability crisis. We’re thrilled that the legislature came together to pass this bill and grateful Gov. Brown recognized its importance by signing it into law.
Photo: Jim Maurer via Flickr
