The City of Stockton, California, goes for infill

The City of Stockton, California, has agreed to reduce sprawl and allow construction of 18,000 new housing units within the current city limits in an effort to address global warming, according to the Local Government Commission based in Sacramento, California. Those units include 4,400 to be built in downtown. The commitment is in response to California Attorney General Jerry Brown’s challenge to cities to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Stockton will create a Climate Action Plan that inventories current emissions and sets reduction targets. “They will consider measures such as less restrictive building height requirements and reduced permit fees to spur the development of the downtown commercial and residential units,” says the commission in the September Livable Places Update. “The city will also initiate a subsidy to spark infill growth.” New development must be transit-friendly, with commercial and residential units near transit stops, the commission reports.