The average American spends 170% more time stuck in traffic today than in 1980, and a new report argues that this is because uncoordinated state and local zoning decisions have made car dependence the default, pushing people toward longer drives…
California’s Climate Progress – Snarled in Traffic?
Since it first passed landmark climate legislation in 2006, California has been focusing on squeezing climate pollution out of every sector of its economy – and much of this has been successful. But California’s relative success in areas like electricity…
The Housing Blind Spot That Undermines Climate Strategy
Housing policies influence 53 percent of climate pollution from the average American household by determining whether people can choose to live near jobs and shops in smaller homes or are limited to driving everywhere from bigger, energy-hungry houses. Yet federal…
America’s Highway to Hell (And Poverty)– How We All Lose from Road Spending
Cities across America spend billions expanding highways and building parking lots, believing more driving equals more prosperity. However, new research suggests the opposite: regions with the highest car dependency tend to exhibit lower economic productivity, while walkable areas with good…
Location, Location, Low-Carbon: The Surprising Climate Math of Where We Live
While urban planners have long considered the impacts of density, new research reveals additional housing and neighborhood design factors that significantly impact our carbon footprint in residential developments. In “Beyond density: Examining overlooked drivers of housing and neighborhood greenhouse gas…
How California makes it harder to build homes where people drive less
California lets homebuilders fast-track housing in certain “low-VMT neighborhoods”—areas where new residents are expected to drive less than average (low vehicle miles traveled). The idea: support climate goals and housing access at the same time. But a new report shows…
The Impact of Land Use Planning on Wildfire Risk: A Study in Southern California
Over the past three decades, most new homes in California have been built in or near the wildland-urban interface (WUI). As catastrophic fires in the WUI grow worse with climate change, effective fire-risk reduction strategies are essential. In Land Use…
Did Someone Say … Housing Policy is (Still) Climate Policy?
Can infill housing reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help California achieve its climate goals? In US urban land-use reform: a strategy for energy sufficiency, Terner Center associate research director Zack Subin and his coauthors argue that it can: by concentrating…
Housing Policy Is (Still) Climate Policy
An abundance of climate and urban planning research has shown that urban sprawl is responsible for a significant share of global climate pollution. Sprawl requires longer trips in private vehicles, measured in “vehicle miles traveled,” or VMT. It also increases…
Housing Policy is Climate Policy: How Local Zoning Regulations Hurt the Environment
A new study by UC Berkeley and UC Irvine scholars, commissioned by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) examines the impact of local zoning, permitting, and environmental review on housing development and sprawl —…