Circulate San Diego submitted a letter to Coastal Commission in support of the City of San Diego's parking reforms for multifamily housing in Transit Priority Areas. Coastal access is imperative for all Californians, and this policy will provide more coastal access by allowing more homes near the coast, and more opportunities to access the coast by those who do not drive or own cars. 

Read the full letter here [PDF].

On Tuesday October 8^th, Circulate San Diego staff joined Congressman Scott Peters to announce the introduction of his Build More Housing Near Transit Act. The bill will require that federal transit investments consider how local governments are prepared to allow new market-rate and affordable homes near transit.

Circulate advised the Congressman’s office on the bill language. We were given a “shout-out” during the press conference for our contributions, which was included in the San Diego Union Tribune. The press conference was also covered by the Times of San Diego and KUSI, among other outlets.

Editor’s Note: Below is a guest blog post from James F. Sallis, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, UC San Diego Department of Family Medicine and Public Health

***

Active Healthy Cities Are a Key to Success

I have spent the last 20 years doing research about what makes for an active healthy city. Our teams have done this research based at both UC San Diego and San Diego State University. We have learned a great deal that is relevant as leaders plan the future of San Diego County.

Research results

My main research interest is improving health through physical activity, which accounts for about 10% of deaths and 10% of health care costs in the US. As almost everyone knows, being active is one of the most important ways to reduce risk of many chronic diseases and improve mental health. Our work on active cities started with the city planning concept of neighborhood walkability, which allows residents to easily walk to shops, services, jobs, and schools. We identified neighborhoods in several parts of the country that were high and low in walkability, then recruited residents from those neighborhoods and measured their physical activity, height, and weight. We conducted separate studies with children, adolescents, adults, and older adults.