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Name not shown inside San Mateo September 1, 2016, 10:19 AM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? Keeping the population growth concentrated in the areas where transportation exists already, move people from private vehicles to public transportation and improve air quality
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? Maintaining healthy open space, protect the natural resources of the area. Without this we will destroy the very thing that makes this area desirable to live in. Water?? We already don't have enough water, how are we going to accommodate more people??
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? It depends upon what you mean by long time residents... home owners should not have to worry or be taxed out of their own homes ever! Landlords have a right to make ends meet and make a reasonable profit from their rental properties, the key word being reasonable. Landlords who just continue to increase rent because they can, are not being good community members, rent control like San Francisco has will discourage people from investing in rental property or raising the rent every time possible so as not to miss the opportunity to do so. I know people who live in or have lived in rent controlled buildings or apartments in San Francisco, the rent is low enough that when they actually move out they retain possession of the property to move back to just in case or to use as an airbnb or just to use when they happen to be in San Francisco, this prevents the space from being fully utilized by someone who needs housing.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? BART, Freeways, bridges, trains etc. Get people out of cars and into shared transportation when ever possible, or live where you work and work where you live.. don't commute!

Jack Lucero Fleck inside Alameda August 28, 2016, 3:05 PM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? oppose growth outside of current development
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? convert from fossil fuel vehicles to zero emission vehicles--cars, buses, trucks
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? build affordable housing near transit, in all communities, not just big cities
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? rebates for low income people to install electric vehicle charging equipment in their apartments and homes, plus purchase EVs

Tina G McMillan inside Marin August 28, 2016, 1:42 PM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? There is a missing component to analyzing the benefits of each scenario - we don't have a sense of how well developed the commercial areas are in each community such that jobs creation and access to water can support increased growth. Without the necessary details we are assuming that expanding population can be supported by existing resources.

The Main Streets Scenario assumes that growth will be concentrated in local cities where infill will be turned into mixed use. In Novato there isn't sufficient land zoned to add housing to infill because the remaining area to be developed require retail/service and commercial development to provide sufficient sales tax revenue to supplement the budget.

What Novato could provide are commercial rentals and new office developments that would support satellite offices of large employers who want to bring jobs to where employees live, lessening the road burden of commuters. Novato's commercial vacancy rate is 22% and its residential vacancy rate is under 4%.

In a city like Novato adding more housing without generating a strong tax base will force the city to add more property taxes and bond measures to pay for infrastructure maintenance and improvement. This increasing burden along with the high cost of home ownership will reach a breaking point. Currently 37% of Novato's budget revenue comes from property taxes and 32% from sales tax.

There has also been discussion by MTC board members of forcing smaller cities, like Novato, to declare PDA's in areas where there is already access to buses and trains, even if the cities don't want PDA's. Now that MTC controls land use planning as well as transit planning it means people living in suburban areas without the ability to predict impacts of housing to costs and local resources, such as water, are much better off supporting the Big Cities Scenario.

Novato cannot afford to be the victim of poor planning on MTC's part. Their current prediction model is showing jobs and homes development that is impossible to achieve even if every square mile of usable land was developed. The city council had the community development director write a letter to MTC containing that information. Novato has before and continues to be a city that does develop affordable housing. This isn't NIMBYism, its common sense in planning.

In the Big Cities Scenario most of the money and the development occur in the existing large cities that have the jobs and the transit already built in. That appears to be the best solution given the limitations of the model created by MTC. The Connected Neighborhoods Scenarios is too unpredictable because the issues specific to each community that are not part of the plans data in put.

MTC uses a sledgehammer as a means of implementing change which makes for disaster. All three plans need advance community input to see what effects can be predicted, how expanded population will affect the city's ability to pay for services, infrastructure and expansion and what transit can reasonably be expected to be used by commuters that must travel distances ranging from 15 to 50 miles to reach their jobs.

If MTC were to be shifted to a Council of Governments format, like ABAG, then the representatives from each city could weigh on and develop a hybrid plan with incremental change including investments in transit in every community whether its multiuse paths, ADA upgrades or actual buses and trains.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? The toughest challenge is balancing costs of housing and transit with jobs that can provide a living wage. Government must work with the private sector to provide tax incentives that motivate employers to change their current business model requiring all employees to show up at a central location in a major city where it is too expensive to live and the commute has become increasingly congested due to economic prosperity.

If we want to take cars off the roads to lessen pollution, increase productivity and value time as a factor in quality of life, then our model for business must change. One example of the failed model is the hundreds of millions of dollars (current estimate is $258 Million) spent by MTC to move its headquarters to SF and rehabilitate the Old Post Office Building.

MTC purposefully located in an already overpriced and congested city rather than continuing to lease space in Oakland where workers would have better access to jobs near homes. The money used on the building was intended for transit improvements. If we want to work on the problems we need to change the agency leadership by turning MTC into a Council of Governments and firing Steve Heminger.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? We can't. When people stop working and their incomes drops precipitously because they do not have sufficient resources then moving to less expensive regions becomes a priority.

Businesses will have to offer both transit and housing if they are unwilling to pay workers sufficient money to live closer to jobs. There is a point where government must step back and see what the private sector is willing to do.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? Less polluting buses, shuttles that bridge homes to downtown areas for suburban residents, autonomous cars, dedicated bus lanes for commuters, added ferry service that ties into express bus service during commute hours, tax breaks for businesses willing to open satellite offices in the suburbs where workers already live.

J Ivy inside Contra Costa August 7, 2016, 10:57 AM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? The diverse Bay Area represent various concerns and interests. Local cities should have increasing control over what gets built, how funds are allocated and the overall direction a municipality chooses to take.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? The challenge is that the Bay Area is increasingly homogenized, with a top down vision that does not represent the various concerns and variations in lifestyle that the Bay Area has historically exhibited. Efforts towards "regionalization" are disingenuous, and present an distinct challenge that should be approached with caution. More direct voter involvement is needed to represent the citizenship, which is the root level beneficiary.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? Our area will always have supply vs demand concerns, as it is a reflection of the uniqueness of our area. This isn't really a problem that government should take on, and government efforts should serve the needs of the current residents, even though that group will change over time.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? Traffic management controls on roads, more utilization of ferries and water based transportation. Maintaining parking supply in the face of development pressures. New hybrid rail transit that is separate from the BART system.

Name not shown inside Alameda August 2, 2016, 8:01 PM

What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? Water supply. We need to promote the planned interties of the CCWD, EBMUD, and SFPUC. Implement a 70MGD desalination plant in Concord to provide for water reliability in the case of massive earthquake that will disrupt aqueducts that cross faults in the Delta.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? Build more housing. Eliminate EIR's for housing that meets planning and zoning guidelines.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? A second crossing of BART that will link the Millbrae and Coliseum stations by primarily a bridge. Cheaper than a tube. This crossing will eliminate out of the way trips, reduce trip length and create more capacity at the Oakland/SF tube.

Name not shown inside Alameda August 1, 2016, 10:50 AM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? Densification of Silicon Valley under the Big Cities scenario is very important to alleviate transit stress from SF and the East Bay from Silicon Valley commuters. Ideally this should be combined withe Transit Oriented Development and additional support for Caltrain. Bike/Ped infrastructure in neighborhoods should also be prioritized. Transit capacity should be the focus for service between the three main city hubs (SF, Oakland and San Jose). I vote for the Major Cities scenario.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? Focus on transit investments while also investing in low-income housing and other measures to alleviate gentrification. Transit investments should not be viewed as contributing to gentrification, as this creates a false dichotomy between transit and low-income housing.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? Ensure that transit is accessible and free to low-income residents, youth and seniors. Support low-income housing.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? Expansion of BART; connecting BART to Diridon station in San Jose; building a second transbay tube; more frequency on Caltrain; local bike/ped and traffic calming investments.

Al Scotch inside Alameda July 27, 2016, 3:36 PM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? few
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? There will be no Population Increase if there is no Jobs Increase. PLAN BAY AREA attempts to predict growth based on estimated Population Increase but omits to address ways to direct and control Jobs that cause this increase. The root of the challenge is finding ways to encourage job growth where there is regional housing to take these jobs and discourage job growth where there isn't.

But instead the PLAN ignores this obvious approach and dollops Housing & Transit around already congested areas expecting an inordinate amount of commuters to abandon their cars as if we were all in a dense European city. They need to waken up to the fact that Americans have already chosen life in the suburbs as their preferred goal and will keep their cars, especially when they will all be driven with free energy, charged overnight from solar panels + battery.

This is the future that will give us ZERO GHG Emission ( fulfilling the SB375 goal tenfold if the PLAN did nothing).
There are studies that predict that Suburbs will power cities in the future from excess generation.
Autonomous electric vehicles, commuting us door to door, might render many Minor Transit Systems useless, if the PLAN would provide the necessary roadways for this to happen.

Bottom Line -- focus on the root cause of disparity in Housing, Transportation and Jobs -- incentives for JOB location and relocation to where there is Housing for it -- and penalties where there isn't.
http://marininfo.org/Bay/MapofPlanBayArea.htm
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? focus on the root cause of disparity in Housing and Jobs -- incentives for JOB location to where there is Housing for it -- and penalties where there isn't.
http://marininfo.org/Bay/jobs_overrun_bay.htm
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? extra lanes & roadways for Autonomous Electric vehicles, commuting us door to door.

Sherman Lewis inside Alameda July 27, 2016, 1:45 PM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? Main St.: makes things worse
Connected and Big Cities need stronger green mobility policy; expanding freeways to cities is unaccepable and uneconomic.
Connected is not clear if new devleopment is within .5 miles of high level transit; it should be required, with support for low parking and unbundling. No option provides for "growth without growth"-- a stable population like the advanced countries and growing sustainablity, not just money, to get real growth for an economy that includes the environment.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? The retrograde culture of the Commissioners and the Executive Director make any real short term progress probalby impossilble. RTP just means the area gets worse more slowly. Their car culture reflects the voters, so change seems to depend on an electorate that understands how to meld green mobility, improving the status of women, and sustainable growth. That would help overcome the dishoest tweaking of HSR ridership beween Altamont and Pacheco and restore Dumbarton Rail, both needed for mode shift. There is no real commitment to reducing VMT, and too much transit $$ is not cost-effective. Stonger linage to land use is needed to get ridership. Parking policy, especially unbundling and market pricing, needs to be pushed much harder. Not to mention gas tax restoration and mileage fees on electrics.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? Displacement and gentrification are necessary and healthy parts of urban growth unless they take place too rapidly (skyrocketing prices) or too slowly (blight and abandonment). The biggest problem is the naivite of cities with housing surpluses trying to compete in a quest for jobs which Silicon Valley and San Francisco have already won. The market place will eventually compensate for the ignorance of elected officials in not understanding how costs are being externalized to thier cities. A half-competent regional govenrment would prohibit new basic jobs in severe surplus areas until commute times and housing prices are more reasonable. A self-defeating ideology of local control means local losses.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? This question reflects the mind-set of MTC as a lobby for more money for anything. Without pricing and land use policies in support, more spending goes nowhere and VMT keeps going up. Hayward, for example, is planning two big projects near BART with large amounts of bundled parking. Without the carrots and sticks of green mobility policy, MTC keeps making things worse.

Bill Mania inside Alameda July 27, 2016, 8:51 AM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? Investing in alternatives to automobile-based transportation. Optimizing the development of existing houses and residential areas, without continuing to develop more currently undeveloped land.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? Getting commuters off the road, out of their cars and switched to alternative, lower impact, cleaner transportation systems.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? Encourage and subsidize education and re-training to keep residents competitive in the job market. Encourage everyone to invest in their neighborhood and personal lifestyle.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? Expand BART coverage, expand bike trails, encourage residents to live within walking or biking distance of their employment.

Name not shown inside Contra Costa July 27, 2016, 8:40 AM

Which aspects of each scenario that do you feel will help meet today’s challenges while laying the groundwork for future success? I want to keep development to the urban footprint. Do not include developing open spaces in the plan. We need green space for healthy living. I would like to see mass transit and other transportation options improved and developed rather than improving roads, increasing tolls to handle more cars. We need less cars on the road for healthy living. I prefer the Connected Neighborhoods Scenario and then the Big City plan. I do not think the Main Street plan will be good for climate change. More people will end up driving to work because there job is on a different Main Street then where they live.
What is the toughest challenge the region will need to address for the next generation? What ideas do you have for helping to address this challenge? Car traffic and affordable housing are big issues. There are two many cars on the road! The highway that runs from Oakland to Vallejo has constant traffic. We need better mass transit options for these folks to get to work. For transportation options, the BART system needs to expand to more areas, including north of Richmond and maybe all the way into Vallejo. We need more bike paths so more people feel safe to ride and buses need to run more frequently, at least during rush hour (example, AC Transit).

I don't know how to address affordable housing but I do know it is a problem and will continue to be unless a plan is put in place to address it.
How can we prevent displacement of long-time residents and best address the lack of affordable housing in the region? The minimum wage needs to increase so that people can afford housing. A living wage in the Bay Area will need to be higher than most other parts of the country. This is complicated but the current minimum wage is not enough. Job training for those who need it should also be widely available. Perhaps free public college education should be considered in this state, even if we can't get it done nationally.
Which present-day transportation investments do you think would provide the most benefits for current and future Bay Area residents? Upgrading and expanding BART, more frequent bus service during prime hours, more bike/walking paths, and higher tolls to decrease cars on the road.