Steve Raney Palo Alto Oct 25, 2005 6:19 am

Hello FSB,

I've been researching a community-based social change scheme based the formation of a special residential community to "force a tipping point." All members of the residential community will be required to undertake sustainable behavior in exchange for access to very desirable, scarce housing. The concept is based on self-supporting on-line communities such as EBay's. I am looking for feedback, ideas, insight, references, discussion, and brainstorms. I've previously bounced the idea off the "CUTR transp-tdm listserv" - http://cutrlist.eng.usf.edu/read/all_forums/. This is an exemplary 870 member support and idea-sharing listserv for the "commute trip reduction" profession. Many in this profession have a long-held interest in bringing about large scale behavioral change. Title: Low Mileage, Green Community Proposal for "Live Near Work" Residents Using Personal Traffic Reduction Pledges In cities where housing demand is strong, a local regulation may be adopted whereby incoming residents MUST sign a "Personal Traffic Reduction Pledge" as a pre-condition for occupying new, desirable housing. People will NOT be allowed to move in without first making a "low mileage" commitment. For new housing developments where all residents have signed such pledges, a reinforcing community psychology will develop to increase mileage reduction. For your review, here is the lengthy concept web page: http://www.cities21.org/lowVMTcommunity.htm

- Steve

Steve Raney,
Transportation Consultant,
Cities21.org, Palo Alto, CA