This is an attack on choice. SHAW of the Greenbelt Alliance, which has either spearheaded or supported every UGB measure in Northern California, says that developers have resorted to scare tactics in their rhetoric against growth boundaries. We're talking the difference between three to four units per acre and five to six. That's still single-family detached. It's hard to convince neighborhood groups.
People freak out because they think density means ghetto.
There aren't many good examples of fabulous high-density housing. But that problem could be solved with a little creativity, she adds. Developers buy agricultural land at the fringe of the city. It's cheap, there are no neighbors, and they sit on it for 5 to 10 years. When the city gets close enough, they ask for annexation and make millions of dollars.