A group of students just boarded the BART train I’m on and they’re so excited to be riding!
Their joyousness reminds me how important it is to pass @connectbayarea.bsky.social measure to fund transit. We need to ensure these kids and future students can continue to experience the joy of transit!
Me at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site, smiling wearing BART and El Cerrito pins
El Cerrito Council and staff breaking ground with shovels at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Construction equipment at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Related shovels in dirt at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Today’s groundbreaking ceremony for El Cerrito Plaza BART TOD was exciting!
It will be transformative for our small city, with 743 homes, major bike/ped improvements, and hopefully a new library.
I’ve worked on this project for a decade and couldn’t be happier that it’s now under construction.
I didn’t realize that. So frustrating when Contra Costa has such an effective program that neighboring Alameda County could copy.
Shameful!
BART tried for years to get Alameda County to partner on homeless outreach and offered funding for it. It never happened.
I’ve heard from several folks who have experienced that.
Here’s a thread I wrote last year about the program: bsky.app/profile/rebe...
It’s mind blowing that Contra Costa is so much better organized and equipped than Alameda County to offer services and housing to the unhoused.
The County runs an effective program and cities/agencies can pay into the program for additional services.
Would love to see Alameda do something similar.
It surprised many folks at the groundbreaking event that El Cerrito has just 26,000 residents. Adding another 1500-2000 at a singe site is MASSIVE for us.
And we're starting planning on another big TOD project at El Cerrito del Norte BART. I love living in and representing such a pro-housing city!
Me at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site, smiling wearing BART and El Cerrito pins
El Cerrito Council and staff breaking ground with shovels at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Construction equipment at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Related shovels in dirt at El Cerrito Plaza TOD construction site
Today’s groundbreaking ceremony for El Cerrito Plaza BART TOD was exciting!
It will be transformative for our small city, with 743 homes, major bike/ped improvements, and hopefully a new library.
I’ve worked on this project for a decade and couldn’t be happier that it’s now under construction.
This country can afford anything it wants. Single payer healthcare. Affordable housing. Modern transit systems. High speed rail. Everything is a choice.
Love it!
It was cool to bring my daughter on the night that the Planning Commission interviewed and appointed their first youth commissioner, an El Cerrito High student.
It’s great for kids to see youth getting actively involved in our city.
A drawing tablet in a kid’s lap with a drawing of the El Cerrito Planning Commission
Tonight I took my 6 year old to her first Planning Commission meeting. She was excited when I explained they approve many of the buildings in El Cerrito.
She spent most of the meeting drawing the Planning Commission, and she was a great assistant, passing out my business cards to commissioners.
freedom to move, the impact of immigration enforcement on walkability over a photo of people crossing a street
TOMORROW: Join us for #FreedomToMove: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Walkability.
Our speakers will discuss their experiences with immigration enforcement + its effects on their communities, and the connection between transportation + civil rights advocacy.
Register: buff.ly/UARvYCP
It shouldn't surprise anyone that Councilmember Unger led the charge on upzoning, he's long been a YIMBY.
I met him in 2008 at a ~150 person meeting on the redesign and expansion of the College Avenue Safeway. We were the only two people to speak in support of the project (we were heavily booed).
Thanks so much to El Cerrito staff and El Cerrito/Richmond Walk & Roll for working with the shopping plaza over the past two years to convince them they need these racks.
The final need was funding, and I was able to help with that through WCCTC.
Excited that last week @wcctc.bsky.social approved $12k for 21 bike racks in El Cerrito Plaza shopping center, as part of a grant program for small projects I asked staff to initiate.
Current racks in the plaza are hidden away in corridors. New racks will be visible and safer in front of stores.
To the Tesla driver who saw me in the crosswalk and still barreled through, forcing me to stop so I wouldn’t get run over, your wave to me as you drove by does not make it ok.
Why do some drivers think a wave absolves them from illegal and potentially life threatening behavior?
Thanks, and yes please.
Thanks, very useful!
Thanks, that’s helpful.
Wow, I wonder if that’s still the case. Street sweeping is important and arguably more so in a bike lane, protected or not.
Wow. Good to know as I explore this in West County.
Wow, that’s pretty bad. Manual sweeping or sharing would have made much more sense.
And few small cities would need it more than once a week so 5 cities could easily share one.
Frustrating! Though clearly there are other options for cleaning as many small cities have protected bike lanes and no mini sweeper.
Yeah, that’s why I think small cities should work together. El Cerrito doesn’t need its own mini sweeper, but we’d benefit from access to one.
No, that's why I asked it to be brought back on a future agenda. Seems like several cities could go on it together though and it wouldn't be prohibitively expensive though.
At last week's WCCTC meeting we learned that a bike lane on a high speed street would have flex posts instead of concrete protection because San Pablo doesn't have a mini sweeper.
I asked for a future discussion on how West Contra Costa cities could pool funds to get a mini sweeper to share.
Another reason to get off of fossil fuels and get behind public transit, cycling, walkable communities and more.
