What View of Density?

A co-worker sent around a link to the The San Francisco League of Conservation Voters’ density calculator. The SFLCV is an organization whose mission is to “promote environmental protection participation” through education and legislation in San Francisco’s political system (although many issues on their accomplishments page are state and federal). The online tool they created allows the user to enter a specific density value and see how it changes a variety of local variables. It also gives some examples of what density looks like. A simple, yet interesting tool.

However, I am not certain how useful this tool is in San Francisco, which has fewer problems battling low density sprawl developments as a community like Sacramento. Perhaps something that looks at transit ridership as an alternative means of commuting would be more suited to San Francisco. Plus, it would make Central Valley residents jump for joy as they get most of their poor air quality from Bay Area drivers.

If this is truly about sprawl, they should include some examples of medium density developments and target other Bay Area suburbs that are more vulnerable to sprawl. These outlying areas need far more help, and would benefit more from a realistic medium density of 20 dwelling units per acre (something that might actually get built) than a 90 dwelling unit per acre high-rise that will drive most NIMBYs back to their 1 acre McMansions.