There is a battle going on in my town. There are those who want density and others mostly against it. I think everyone who's been paying attention would agree that things around here, at the very least, have been "dramatic".

The folks who run the city are pushing higher density and have adopted a "transit first" approach. There has been a series of battles, such as the downtown "Megaplex" and the oncoming Target. The top of the bill is Alameda Point, a now decommissioned Naval flight base with prime acreage in the middle of San Francisco Bay.

The problem that everyone agrees on is that Alameda's main island only has 3 drawbridges and a tube connecting cars to the arteries, so public transit is a necessity (ie precursor) for "dense growth".

The transit commission, eager to enforce their bus-stop-every-1000-feet plan, sought to put one in a rather silly place. I'm still not sure what set me off more... the audacity of the location or the manner in which is was stealthily steamrolled our way... but fight, we did. We had exactly one month to research the issue, set up an online group, make an alliance with the school neighbors, navigate the school rules and PTA workings, design and print 100's of flyers, and convince folks to show up at City Hall.

So, off we go to City Hall. Public Works made their presentation and then introduced a police captain to concur that this location was now deemed safe, although it had been decommissioned 2 years ago by the very same police due to the danger quotient. Amazingly, the policeman stated that the distance between a stop and the crosswalk was 120 feet. (The actual distances are 68 feet and 26 feet.) To make a long story short, quite a few folks went up and made sound arguments about safety that convinced even our City Council.

As the night progressed and AC Transit officials and the Public Works were asked to answer to concerns, and started to seem that none of them had ever actually been to that actual location. (but... then... who took all of those laughably distorted photos?) Is this is just a mark on the map in someone's grand scheme with no consideration whatsoever about the people who actually use that particular space? "Progress" like this brings out my inner libertarian.

The Council told us that the proposed stops would go back to the transit commission follow up on to some key questions regarding routing, ridership, and "runtime". This particular night, common sense prevailed and it almost feels like a wonder. We'll keep an eye on the transit commission's re-config project.

The anti-density folks just witnessed a victory, tiny as it is. The neighbors and families of Lum Crossing were confronting a micro-issue as opposed to an idealistic battle and the future of our island -- it doesn't get more LOCAL than this. At the risk of being called a nimby, racist, a now... stalker! in this town, sometimes you have to take a stand.

Personally, I'm not really against density, but I'm generally against development that leads to more cars. I fought the Megaplex because I was against the parking garage. I would probably get along swimmingly with this transit commission and their plans for "Manhattanization" if they weren't proceeding in such a belligerent and idiotic manner. My beef with them is that the school and its families were completely left out of the loop.

I was updating my friend Paul about this and we discussed Alameda Point. Paul is an environmental lawyer and said that it is possible to develop density WITHOUT PARKING. Hard to believe... you'd think it would be impossible to pry Californians from their cars. The parents at my kid's pre-school can't get more than 10 feet from their cars without dread. But Paul says it can be done and is being done. (aside... check out Car Free Cities)

Hmmm. Suspend Measure A for housing that literally has no parking availability? I suppose it's possible. Given Alameda Point's location, it could be served by ferries to and from San Francisco, Oakland, and elsewhere very easily. Alameda Point could be a very decent place for employers to set up with workers arriving by ferry. Ferry boats just makes a lot more sense than light rail leading to the nearest Oakland BART station.

Like the City Council kept saying, the number one issue on this ISLAND is traffic. Alameda Point is going to be developed sooner or later by somebody. Would people give up their cars to have the incredible views that will be available out there? Our family probably would.... but then again, maybe we'd rather give up our cars to live on Nob or Russian Hill in a city that is naturally dense (San Francisco). It seems to me that these people pushing for Manhattanization would have a more satisfying time of it by moving into San Francisco... or back to Manhattan.