Backyard Solutions To Urban Planning Issues

My guess is that as we continue to experience economic downsizing in this country, we, as a practical people (as opposed to our "leaders") will turn to a number of ways to get back on our feet.

This small, orange-colored home was built in the backyard of Karen Chapple, a University of California, Berkeley, associate professor of city and regional planning and faculty director of the Center for Community Innovation. She is heading a study funded by the UC Transportation Center to determine how many of these accessory homes could be built around five Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in the East Bay, and how they might affect the local economy.

Imagine if urban areas around the country adopted ideas like this, not only placing small, affordable housing near mass transportation, but also work. Think of all the energy, gasoline, money we'd save. Think of the communities we could build.

Berkeley Institute of Ubran and Regional Development