253 / Saturdays

Saturdays, I write and then record my "Land Use Report," which airs each weekday morning on KUSP-FM, a nonprofit radio station serving the Central Coast of California. Both written transcripts and podcasts are available on the KUSP website.

Getting KUSP listeners personally involved in the planning process is the “unhidden agenda" of the Land Use Report. I am personally in favor of active, community level planning, since I think that our best chance to build a world that responds to our deepest desires is directly related to our active and collective efforts, through dialogue and discussion, to develop a set of policy decisions relating to land use.

Land use policies need clearly and accurately to outline what it is we want to achieve, since land use decisions will largely determine the future health of our economy and environment, and will also have a profound impact on whether or not we achieve our social equity goals.

In essence, the key land use policy decisions that will affect our future are made as “political” decisions by locally elected officials at the City and County level. If you are not personally engaged in the process, you are missing a chance to help shape the future for yourself and your kids!

This Saturday, I recorded a Land Use Report segment specifically highlighting an opportunity for residents of the City of Gonzales to get involved in the drafting of a new General Plan for that community. Gonzales is located in the Salinas Valley, in Monterey County, and you can get an idea of what's at stake from the photo illustration.

The "political" decisions coming up, as the Gonzales City Council amends the current General Plan, will determine whether the farmland around Gonzales is still going to be there in twenty years .... or not!