Green Open Spaces a Valuable Asset to the Bay Area

The Bay Area is a truly attractive region and most of its charm is owed to the scattered green open spaces that are still not developed. These are small paradises of nature-some just a few miles away from home-where deer, mountain lions, bobcats, and a rich variety of rodents, birds and fish continue to live cage free. Now and then we wonder why these strips of land are still green and effervescent with wildlife. With the prices for housing being ranked among the highest in the country, it is hard to imagine that nobody sought to buy and build in those open spaces. So, what stopped them?

Brian Schmidt, an environmental lawyer, believes that, "Those areas are green, open and protected because people did something about it." Brian works now as a spokesperson and a lobbyist for the Committee for Green Foothills (CGF). CGF is a grassroots organization that, through its tireless determination, has been winning battles to preserve open areas and natural resources in this region for more than forty years. "The initial motivation for the founders of CGF," says Brian, "was to preserve Stanford's foothills from development." The group expanded their drive to conserve natural habitats of San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, including the coastal line and the bay.

CGF has a team of professionals and volunteers working closely with other environmental groups to help identify priorities for open space protection. "We talk to developers too," says Brian, "to work out the problems before they happen. We work with city and county governments to manage urban growth. We think that if growth occurs it should happen vertically, not horizontally. That is smart growth, when you concentrate in some areas. It is a myth to think that development cannot expand vertically in a seismic area. One of the safest places to be during an earthquake is in a modern high rise building in San Francisco. They are built and designed to resist earthquakes. Side hills are, however, one of the worst areas to build in a region concerned with earthquakes, and that it is what usually happens when growth is sprawled."

The sense of natural open spaces where one can breathe freely in an area inhabited by millions is the main incentive for this never ending struggle "The problem environmentalists face is that our victories are temporary and our defeats are permanent," says Brian; "Let's say we win a proposal and we stop development from happening in an area. That does not prevent that some years later someone else comes with a different proposal, so we need to start the battle again. Unfortunately, when we lose, it is permanent. The only guarantee to permanent protection of an open space is if the land is sold to an environmental organization or government agency and is converted into a park or sanctuary. Such is the case of the Baylands Preserve, established as a Palo Alto city park."

Preservation of open spaces sounds like the right choice for the Bay Area. Creating protective land use and growth control policies and opposing environmentally destructive projects is not only beneficial for the environment, but also makes the Bay Area more attractive and valuable.