How Single-Family Zoning Is Driving Wildfire Vulnerabilities in Northern California

01/05/20

“Why is extremely single-family zoning in Northern California a resilience threat?”

 

When the city of San Francisco becomes a topic of conversation, images of the Golden Gate Bridge, sourdough bread, and brightly-colored Victorians often pop into people’s heads. However, the policies that allow for the last part is also strangling Northern California itself.  Strict single-family zoning in urban areas forces municipalities to become much less dense. If these towns or cities become economic hotspots such as in the Bay Area, then prices near job centers will rise and people have to build outwards and further away to find a place to live. This phenomenon has pushed people into the wildland-urban interface, making it more likely for fires to start and more difficult for people to cope with the effects of climate change. This is How Single-Family Zoning Is Driving Wildfire Vulnerabilities in Northern California.