E-Perspective: Social Equity
"Social equity is a central component in achieving sustainable development. The Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities provides one of the few forums where equity organizations can dialogue with business, environmental, and government organizations around how to best advance regional sustainability strategies."
Juliet Ellis, Executive Director, Urban Habitat
Rise of Social Inequity from 1994 to Today
Social tolerance, multicultural richness, urban and natural beauty and a resilient job market make the nine-county Bay Area an extremely desirable place to live. The region's vibrancy and vast ethnic and cultural diversity have long attracted people from around the world. Between 1994 and 2001, the region experienced sudden and rapid population growth. Although the growth was the result of economic, environmental, and social success, it was not without negative consequences, one of which is the high disparity in the quality of life between the poorest Bay Area inhabitants and the rest of the population. The effects of gentrification, the surge in median housing prices, and the economic recession have created significant social challenges. Among the challenges are:
- A paucity of affordable housing.
- Intense gentrification of neighborhoods and displacement of low-income residents and small businesses.
- Lack of living-wage jobs for lowest-income populations.
- Disparity in educational opportunities between disadvantaged and other populations.
- Underutilization of resources and land in older urban areas.
- Serious deterioration of neighborhoods in the urban core.
Sustainability: How Does it Foster Social Equity?
Today, economic, environmental, and social equity interests frequently spend time, energy, and significant cost opposing each other. The results are delayed decisions, legal settlements or legislation that doesn't adequately serve social justice, environmental, or economic goals. The Bay Area Alliance is committed, through a broad-based membership, to reducing conflicts and confrontation among these traditional adversaries. Our strategy is to identify shared goals and facilitating collaboration on actions to achieve them.
Specifically, we address the region's social equity challenges in two ways: first, by integrating social equity goals with the goals of business and environmental stakeholders: and second, by working with community leaders to identify community needs, and to help develop and implement plans to address them. Consider the following proposals advanced by the Bay Area Alliance that promote social equity and also benefit environmental and economic interests:
- Investing in mixed-income/mixed-density residential development near transit services: Provides affordable housing to lower income populations, links populations of all income levels to jobs, and reduces urban sprawl.
- Preserving existing affordable housing: Addresses gentrification of urban neighborhoods, and provides opportunities for more community and economic development.
- Supporting programs that train and employ disadvantaged people: Provides increased job and career development opportunities to low income populations, and provides business with an underutilized workforce.
- Promoting employer-based living-wage workforce development opportunities to schools, especially those that are low income, technical and vocational: Increases educational and career opportunities for disadvantaged populations, and provides underutilized resources to business.
- Revitalizing underused areas near employment centers: Creates wealth to be shared equitably with the community, provides affordable housing, increases job opportunities for low income populations, addresses environmental degradation in urban neighborhoods, and provides business with an underutilized workforce.
- Assuring that new industrial development is compatible with neighborhood, community, and environmental needs: Protects disadvantaged populations from unhealthy environmental conditions, and provides job opportunities for low income neighborhoods.
- Investing in a well planned public transit system: Links populations at all income levels to the larger community, including connecting low income neighborhoods to employment centers, recreation areas and retail services, and reduces traffic congestion and air pollution.