Comparing a suburban communities housing plans to an urban one isn’t really the appropriate comparison, and it appears the plan approved, though both were acceptable, more highly meets the desires of local residents who prefer less density and a design more compatible with how they move around.
Editorial: Life on the vine?
Placer supervisors can still fix Vineyards
Published 12:00 am PDT Friday, August 31, 2007
Placer County supervisors missed a historic opportunity in July when they approved an uninspired, low-density development on some crucial land: the 5,230-acre Placer Vineyards area west of Roseville.
As approved by Placer supervisors, the Vineyards project will contain less than three housing units per acre. By contrast, Sacramento recently approved an agreement for the Township 9 project on Richards Boulevard that will contain 36 units per acre.
While no one expects Placer's rural landowners to build Sacramento-style urban projects, the council's approval of the land-gobbling Vineyards is extremely troubling, especially if other counties and cities follow Placer's lead.
By 2040, the Sacramento region is expected to double to more than 3.8 million people. If the vast majority of that new population is housed in the same old spread-out development patterns, the end-point will be a blanket of subdivisions stretching from the Sutter Buttes to the Sierra foothills. Air pollution will be stifling. Chance for mass transit will be nil.
