Ten­sions over a pro­posed hous­ing devel­op­ment in the Bayview neigh­bor­hood of San Fran­cis­co high­lights the Bay Area’s con­flict­ing hous­ing and con­ser­va­tion pri­or­i­ties, writes Jes­si­ca Wol­from in the San Fran­cis­co Exam­in­er.

With an out­sized home­less cri­sis and dire hous­ing short­age, The City must rapid­ly increase its afford­able hous­ing stock. But as a place that prides itself on its green val­ues and ambi­tious cli­mate goals, pro­tect­ing and enhanc­ing the last remain­ing open spaces is crit­i­cal for stor­ing car­bon, fos­ter­ing bio­di­ver­si­ty and improv­ing the health out­comes of its res­i­dents.

An appli­ca­tion for a five-sto­ry res­i­den­tial build­ing on a now-vacant hill­side, which will like­ly be approved through the state’s SB9 bill, is meet­ing with resis­tance from local res­i­dents, who say the project would destroy local green space and con­tribute no afford­able hous­ing. Los­ing one of the only green spaces with­in miles could con­tribute to pol­lu­tion and wors­ened pub­lic health in a neigh­bor­hood already plagued by high­er air pol­lu­tion rates than oth­er parts of the city. “Because of its indus­tri­al set­ting, Bayview’s res­i­dents can, on aver­age, expect to live 14 years less than their coun­ter­parts in Russ­ian Hill, accord­ing to The City’s health depart­ment, and res­i­dents suf­fer from chron­ic dis­eases, includ­ing dia­betes, asth­ma and heart fail­ure, at much high­er rates than the rest of San Fran­cis­co.”