Urban Environmentalists

Our LA chapter is calling for infill housing! Awoenam Mauna-Woanya, Christopher Rhie, and Chris Tokita, PhD explain why urban infill is the best climate policy available to cities, and urge LA officials to get behind building dense housing for a more affordable and sustainable future.

How We Keep Families in Cities: Courtyard Buildings! Urban Environmentalists member Alicia Pederson makes the case for European-style courtyard buildings to be legal in Chicago. These buildings allow for larger units and create a safe, quiet green space for urban families to enjoy.

Urban Environmentalists Illinois and YIMBY Action will host a pro-housing happy hour to kick off the DNC! Join us at Ranalli's West Loop on Monday, Aug 19 @ 6pm. The YIMBY caucus will talk housing, urbanism, elections, and more. We're just down the street from the convention itself. RSVP below!👇

Check out our member Emily Hugan's Letter to the Editor in the Chicago Tribune! A Chicagoan who gets around by bike, she is a strong advocate for better cycling infrastructure in our city. Chicago still has a ways to go, but the mode shift is in progress!

This is how we achieve sustainable, abundant housing in our communities! Sweeping changes can be made by a handful of citizens showing up to advocate for better policies. Thanks for all of your hard work, Steven Vance!

Exciting News: Our next Illinois Happy Hour is with the Metropolitan Planning Council! Come join us on July 23rd, 6pm @ The Wrigley Building - Chicago. This happy hour *will sell out*, so RSVP soon!👇

As a board member for Abundant Housing LA, I was fortunate to help spearhead this collaborative white paper written by a coalition of urbanist and climate groups in Los Angeles: "Infill Housing & Land Use as a Tool To Fight Climate Change"! 🌎🏬🌳 Our white paper underscores how allowing more density in our cities can not only address our housing shortage and affordability crisis but also significantly reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality, and allow more people to live in areas with lower climate risk. I even got to briefly wear my ecologist hat when we discussed how infill housing protects native biodiversity by stopping the urban sprawl that destroys untouched habitats. We’ve included a set of straightforward policy suggestions that local governments can easily adopt to create the sustainable, walkable, and affordable cities we desperately need. Many thanks to our partners at Urban Environmentalists, YIMBY Action, Sunrise Movement LA, Livable Communities Initiative, and The Climate Reality Project LA—and a special shoutout to my co-organizing authors Christopher Rhie and Awoenam Mauna-Woanya, EIT! 📜 Read the white paper here: https://lnkd.in/gVSqp3CT

Urban Environmentalists member Aaron Feldman got published in the Chicago Tribune for his piece on fixing Western Ave! He argues that upzoning for more housing, along with adding frequent, reliable transit links will fix this crucial but broken corridor. Read below👇

Urban Environmentalists just released a new white paper titled "Infill Housing & Land Use as a Tool to Fight Climate Change." This collaboration with Los Angeles climate and housing advocates highlights the importance of urban density and multifamily housing in reducing carbon emissions, protecting biodiversity, enhancing air quality, and fostering sustainable, equitable communities. These critical insights underscore the need for a significant "signal boost" in Los Angeles policymaking discussions. This document aims to drive change and raise awareness among a broader audience, regardless of their expertise level in the subject matter. If you're in Los Angeles this Saturday, 6/22, don't miss our launch event in Silver Lake. Find more details in the linked blog post below. Let's come together to make a difference in addressing climate change and building a better future for our communities. +++ *Co-Authors* Abundant Housing LA (Chris Tokita, PhD, Brianna Egan, Thomas Irwin, Grace Peng, Benjamin Lempert) The Climate Reality Project (Charles Miller) Livable Communities Initiative (Eduardo Mendoza) Sunrise Movement (Awoenam Mauna-Woanya, EIT) Urban Environmentalists (Daniel Howard) *Art by* Benjamin Tomimatsu #UrbanEnvironmentalists #ClimateChange #Sustainability #LosAngeles #HousingAdvocates #CommunityDevelopment #EnvironmentalImpact #InfillHousing

Single-family zoning is problematic for the environment, but that's not my main motivation for agreeing with the Los Angeles Times editorial board. Families like mine were targeted through racial covenants and blocked from living in "desirable" single-family neighborhoods, leaving ethnic enclaves as their only option. My mother's family packed five people into a one-bedroom apartment - an overcrowding condition that is far too prevalent today. Los Angeles has a moral obligation to introduce more housing in high-opportunity neighborhoods, period. We need to create more affordable housing across the region *and* actively dismantle segregation. It's well past time to move beyond 20th-century protectionism. I'm proud to have signed the advocates' letter on the Los Angeles Housing Element Rezoning Program on behalf of Urban Environmentalists, and thank Inner City Law Center, Abundant Housing LA, and Southern California Association of NonProfit Housing (SCANPH) for their leadership on this important issue.