Good turnout in Larkspur

SMART station plan meeting in Larkspur

According to the story in the Marin Independent Journal, the meeting I posted about the other day had a good turnout of opponents of the plan to overdevelop Larkspur landing.

Richard Hall's comment to the article:

And to your other question "what are people afraid of":
- droughts and water rationing
- disruption to schools
- higher taxes (a new high school in CA is $100m+)
- adding traffic to already congested area that's a nexus
- causing traffic to backup further onto 101's most acute bottleneck disrupting hundreds of thousands of car occupants
- putting new housing in places potentially subject to liquefaction during an earthquake
- putting new housing in a known area likely to flood
- increasing emissions of greenhouse gases

(need I continue...?)

All of the above trump your idyllic utopia where "even different incomes will greet and get to know one another and ride their bicycles to the market together." 24 people cycle over the bridge to the ferry terminal during peak commute. Let's keep perspective of reality.

The city of Larkspur entered into a station area grant to improve traffic circulation and parking. Somehow the entire thing was turned upside down by special interests---holding the same utopian dreams as yourself---and what came back was a massive housing plan with traffic and circulation presented as an afterthought. The fact that the new housing compounded the already acute traffic issues seemed like a needless detail.

Finally I don't think Larkspur residents are bought in like you to adopting "urban living." Perhaps that is an irrelevance to you. But for those seeking that style of living there are many alternatives rather than imposing your dreams on a town where the residents sought to avoid such over-development...

Richard Hall's blog: Planning for Reality

See also Mill Valley's Bob Silvestri on Plan Bay Area and related issues.

Naturally the True Believers in smart growth at Streetsblog sneer at these people: "If There’s One Thing Marinites Know How to Do, It’s Oppose Transit-Oriented Development."