The climate solution we’re overlooking starts at home

Written by: Ethan Pham

What if we can fight climate change not by waiting for new inventions, but by building affordable homes near public transit? Up until this summer, I hadn’t considered how the locations of our communities are crucial to protecting our environment.

My name is Ethan Pham, and I am a high school student studying at Milpitas High School. Similar to other students of my age, I was not aware of how intertwined climate change is in every aspect of our society.  I had initially felt excluded from policy conversations and advanced logistics regarding climate change. However, this summer completely altered my view on the matter.

I distinctly remember the temperature exceeded 105 degrees on my recent trip to France, thus making walking around the town a tiring and unappealing affair. The most frightening thing about the heat, though, was seeing how my grandparents were struggling with their health due to the intense weather changes in their home for several decades. This was the first time that climate change was not just another headline, but a tangible reality.

Having experienced all of this, I have realized that taking actions against climate change is not only the way to deal with natural disasters, but also to stop making them worse. Although it is obvious how important technologies like electric cars and renewable energy are when it comes to reducing our carbon footprint, there are some other ways.

At first glance, it may be hard to link affordable housing to climate change. However, the two topics have a strong correlation; the construction of housing in areas where one can easily access schools, places of work, BART stations, and public transport means that there is an option other than driving daily. With less traffic, there would be fewer emissions and cleaner air. And emissions, frankly, contribute more than 39 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in California.

In Santa Clara County overall, increasing housing prices continue to force many households further away from where they work and learn. Longer commutes mean more time in your car, more congestion on our roads, and more carbon in our atmosphere. We cannot solve the problem of the climate crisis without examining the issue of how people are able to afford to live.

Fortunately, Milpitas is already showing that there is an alternative to this scenario. The city of Milpitas has been working toward planning for 6,713 additional housing units by 2031, which will include a number of them close to educational institutions, job opportunities, and public transportation facilities. Such initiatives as Mosaic Court indicate that providing affordable homes can be conducive to community development while decreasing dependence on automobiles.

But these goals are fragile without proper accountability regarding the implementation process. To me, Milpitas should further invest in affordable housing adjacent to public transport, add more bike lanes, create better footpath networks, and make more room for public transport on major roads like Main Street. Overall, these changes would make Milpitas more walkable, and accessible to older and younger members of our community who don’t have access or ability to drive a car. Milpitas should also fix old roads whose lane markings have become too worn out, to ensure that our roads are safe for pedestrians and drivers. Furthermore, I believe that youth should have more involvement in city planning, as we are the ones who are going to face the consequences of the decisions made today the longest.

So far, Milpitas has done a good job at tree preservation and planting trees, but creating walkable neighborhoods with local commerce, meeting spaces, and public transit will help create a sustainable environment.

Some argue that building more homes in Milpitas would create more congestion or create a cultural diversion from the aesthetics and culture of our community. However, when planning mobility hubs (housing that is near transit)  to mitigate long commutes and excessive land dedicated to parking spaces, we become less dependent on our cars than before. Thus, smart growth and inevitable growth in our community will not be the problem, but rather an opportunity for necessary change.

Everyone says that young people  are the leaders of the future. I disagree; it is our duty to be the leaders of today.The decisions that are made today will dictate our future; we should have a say in what that future looks like. During my stay in France, I learned that climate change is not something that we face in the future but something that affects all families right now. Milpitas should continue making efforts toward developing affordable transit-oriented communities and learn that sometimes some of the most powerful climate solutions do not begin with a scientific discovery. Sometimes, they begin with the places we call home.