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Climate One

Housing Density as a Climate Lever with Scott Wiener

Climate One

Climate One

Earth Sciences, News, Social Sciences, News Commentary, Science

4.7585 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2023

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The lack of affordable housing in the U.S. has contributed to a homelessness crisis and has forced people to move farther away from urban centers. Inevitably, that increases car travel and emissions. One solution is to increase density in areas where jobs and infrastructure exist to accommodate more people. But some aren’t comfortable with the idea of their neighborhoods growing, and building multi-story apartments in urban cores usually costs more per square foot than one or two-story houses where land is cheaper. So how do we address both the need for affordable housing and the climate crisis?  Guests:  Scott Wiener, California State Senator Jennifer Hernandez, Partner, Holland & Knight Ben Bartlett, Berkeley Vice Mayor For show notes and related links, visit ClimateOne.org. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, just leave and work now. Sorry, it's a bit loud. Um, basically, so I was thinking we could get Macies tonight. Had a big Mac on my mind all day and delivery fee on the app is now from 99P. So you win? Of course you are. Love you. Bye. Exclusively on the McDonald's app. 18 plus service fee and small order fee may apply, but it's a pacing restaurants. Serving times and teas and seas apply. This is climate one.

0:21.5

The lack of affordable housing in the U.S. has contributed to a homelessness crisis and force people

0:26.9

to move farther away from urban centers.

0:29.7

The easiest place to put housing is where there are no neighbors or very few, which means sprawl.

0:35.6

On the other hand, increasing density where there's already

0:38.4

infrastructure and jobs could be good for both housing prices and the climate. Having housing

0:43.8

that's located in a place where people don't have to drive everywhere, commute long hours,

0:50.1

that's how we really, really reduce our carbon footprint. But building multi-story apartments in urban cores usually costs more per square foot than one or two-story houses where land is cheaper.

1:01.3

So how do we address the need for affordable housing and the climate crisis at the same time?

1:06.5

We need to build policies around what we can afford, not what each special interest decides they

1:13.5

want. Housing density as a climate lever up next on Climate One. I'm Greg Dalton. And I'm

1:21.0

Arianna Brocious. Stand up for your property rights before they get taken away. They want to take

1:26.4

away your decision of where you're going to live and how you're going to live.

1:29.3

We live here in this community just like they do.

1:33.3

We always respect our position. We'd like them to hear our side of it.

1:37.3

We're really clear about the demands that we're making.

1:39.3

We want 100% affordable housing.

1:41.3

In those 40 bedrooms, there could be as many as 80 people.

1:45.0

And if even 20 of them have cars, it will be a nightmare for this neighborhood.

1:50.0

You want to be a city that includes Latinos, includes African Americans, that includes seniors,

1:56.0

that includes people who have limited income.

1:59.0

We do not want to be a city that is just overtaken by the highest bidder,

...

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