Publication Date

Summer 1999

Degree Type

Master's Project

Degree Name

Master of Urban Planning (MUP)

Department

Urban and Regional Planning

Abstract

Urban sprawl has become a national Issue as communities begin to realize the costs of expanding development into the countryside; traffic congestion loss of community identity, and loss of open space are but a few of those costs. Al Gore (1999), Vice President of the United States, is seizing the moment to articulate his so-called Livability Agenda for the Century. Included in his proposal are funds to “build more livable communities” and suggestions for “new steps to ease traffic congestion.. .and new steps to promote cooperation and sound planning among neighboring communities” (Gore 1999).

The program aims to help people like the residents of Fairfax. Located in growth-conscious Marin County, Fairfax is a picturesque community just 15 miles from San Francisco. It is just one of thousands of small American towns facing the challenges of growth and change. During the 1990s, the high price of real estate has driven people further away from the city-centers in search of more affordable housing (Urban Ecology 1996). As of 1998, Fairfax was affordable in comparison to other Marin cities within tolerable commuting distance from employment hubs (pers. obs.). Its setting in upper Ross Valley, which is largely protected by Marin Municipal Water District (MMWD) and Marin Open Space District (MOSD), and its proximity to West Marin, protected by a series of land use policies, Marin Farmland Trust, MMWD, MOSD, and Golden Gate National Recreation Area only add to Fairfax’s desirability. With such substantial open space protection in place, there is a reasonable amount of certainty that the rural qualities and beautiful scenery wilt endure.

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