Description

New housing and development in California are often planned in communities that already face economic hardship, environmental burdens, and limited access to reliable transportation. Recent research finds specifically that in the San Francisco (S.F.) Bay Area and Southern California (SoCal) metropolitan regions, there is a high propensity to plan new urban development in socially, economically, and environmentally disadvantaged communities (DACs) with poor transit accessibility and limited personal mobility. This project first reviews the literature to identify potential unintended negative impacts of high concentrations of new urban growth in DACs across social, economic, educational, environmental, and transportation dimensions. It then identifies the tools to mitigate these impacts. Next, it selects four DACs—North Richmond (primarily in unincorporated Contra Costa County) and West Oakland (City of Oakland) in the S.F. Bay Area, and Bloomington (unincorporated San Bernardino County) and Florence-Firestone (unincorporated Los Angeles County) in Southern California—that are targeted for new growth in their regional plans. Using document analysis and semistructured stakeholder interviews, this study next examines the kinds of disadvantages these communities face and the tools used to mitigate them. It finally qualitatively assesses how well the disadvantages are being mitigated. The study finds that DACs located in unincorporated county areas lack political champions and do not receive close, focused attention from county government departments. Regional policies are often vague and ineffective, and while several tools exist to mitigate disadvantages, their implementation or efficacy at the DAC level is sparse. Without stronger policies, new development risks reinforcing existing inequities—placing more housing in areas where residents already face long commutes, fewer services, and greater environmental risks. The study recommends focused state and federal aid to DACs. The regional agencies should develop a policy framework to proactively mitigate disadvantages in DACs. The state and regional agencies should develop regulations and incentives for local governments to meet the needs of DACs, including by engaging local community-based organizations. Finally, local government should facilitate fair and effective community benefit agreements with the developers and local employers.

Publication Date

7-2026

Publication Type

Report

Topic

Planning and Policy, Transit and Passenger Rail

Digital Object Identifier

10.31979/mti.2026.2456

MTI Project

2456

Mineta Transportation Institute URL

https://transweb.sjsu.edu/research/2456-Mitigating-Consequences-Urban-Growth-Disadvantaged-Communities

Keywords

Low-income groups, Urban development, Transit oriented development

Disciplines

Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Transportation | Urban Studies and Planning

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