To find a model for good compact development , we need look no farther than some of the Bay Area's older cities and suburbs such as Mountain View, Palo Alto, Albany, or downtown Walnut Creek. Peninsula cities along the CalTrain line and East Bay cities along the old Key Route streetcar lines are among the region's most appealing towns to this day, because they were built around public transit. Imagine a traditional small town, with a charming main street with houses nearby, and you'll see what we mean by compact, transit-oriented development. There are apartments over the stores, and many people can run their daily errands on foot rather than by car. Children walk to school .
Adults can commute to work by train or bus.
Neighbors know each other, and small, locally-owned stores anchor the community not only economically but in their contributions to civic life. In many cases it's illegal. Zoning restrictions often require huge amounts of parking, turning stores into islands surrounded by moats of parking. Local regulations also often require housing to be widely separated from shopping, and sometimes prohibit putting stores or homes near office buildings. We're all familiar with lunch-hour traffic jams caused by working people forced to use their cars to get a sandwich or run errands at the post office or drug store.