Editor,
Regarding John Horgan’s snark in his May 11 column about a new single-family home development in San Bruno: This development is quite far from downtown. Some have recommended fire safety modifications like clustering structures (so firefighters can hose down many roofs from a single spot). There was also conversation around a slightly denser design, to preserve more open space.
But Mr. Horgan misapprehends what YIMBYs like state Sen. Scott Wiener are after. The broad-scale goal is www.strongtowns.org/journal/2019/7/3/making-normal-neighborhoods-legal-again, an incremental increase in density, where homeowners are free to use their land to meet the needs of their family. Maybe you duplex your home to create a starter property for a 25-year-old child.
Personally I’m in the process of working on an ADU for my aging parents. I’ll be saving time and money thanks to state streamlining. The push for significantly greater density is centered on corridors like El Camino. People moving into apartments along El Camino already own less than one car per bedroom. They use carshare services when they need it, and have bikes or e-bikes. If we’re going to meet climate goals, we must build apartments and rowhouses for the many thousands of people who want that kind of lifestyle, but currently can’t have it because we banned building what they want for 50 years. There will still be plenty of suburban single-family homes a little farther away from downtown, mixed with the odd small-plex that lets some lower-income family share the local schools and amenities, or keeps a family like mine together.
Auros Harman
San Bruno
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