Almaden Resident

Community

Volunteers ride through Almaden as part of annual 'sprawl' survey

By Lydia Sarraille

Forty-five green and yellow jerseys whiz by as the riders in this year's Go! Greenbelt Bay Area Bike Tour approach the hills surrounding Almaden Valley. Over the ridge, the roofs of a newly constructed housing development can be seen. The hills were blank a year ago, but now they bear witness to the slow spread of neighborhoods over the wild grasses and rolling hills of Bay Area open space.

Named for the open space it seeks to protect, the San Francisco-based Greenbelt Alliance is a land conservation and urban planning organization that has made a mission of preserving the Bay Area's open spaces since 1958. Each year, members lead a group of bicyclists through the Bay Area to survey the effect growth is having in specific neighborhoods and to rank cities on their smart growth efforts.

Jacquette Ward, a nurse at Stanford Hospital, has been riding off and on with Go! Greenbelt since 2000. This year was her fifth ride, and Ward said she has seen changes to the landscapes throughout the South Bay but has been happy to see Almaden stay relatively the same.

"I've noticed a bit more traffic on some of the back roads and little glimpses of developments on the edges of the hills," Ward said, "but for the most part, Almaden Valley is still one of the places that's been preserved. It's so beautiful there, it's nice to see it somewhat preserved."

Overall, however, San Jose--and other Bay Area cities--have grown exponentially over the years. Greenbelt has fought back and won the preservation of more than 1.1 million acres of open space since its inception.

For the past 18 years, Greenbelt has used the bike tour as a way to educate the public about problems with urban sprawl and the alternative of "responsible development."

Elizabeth Stampe, Greenbelt Alliance communications director, said the ride has been an invaluable tool in the fight for preservation.

"Biking through the greenbelt gives riders a firsthand impression of the state of the Bay Area's landscapes," Stampe said. "The ride also educates the public. It's a highly visible way to get our message out there."

Stampe said approximately 90 percent of the rural farmland that once existed in the South Bay has been developed, a statistic she says should concern the public.

"San Jose has sprawled so far, so fast," Stampe said. "If this region continues to be developed as it has been since World War II, there won't be any open spaces left soon."

According to Stampe, one mission of the Greenbelt Alliance is to encourage city planners to develop areas inside city limits rather than expanding the borders.

"San Jose is a great example," Stampe said. "The city is now saying, 'Whoa, that was too much too fast.' "

The Go! Greenbelt ride begins in San Francisco and heads south along Skyline ridge toward Los Gatos, then through the hills around Almaden and other parts of the South Bay before heading north towards Napa and back to San Francisco.

The ride is limited each year to 70 cyclists. This year around 45 riders participated, biking an average of 68 miles a day along remote back roads.

The ride's route changes each year, reflecting the change in landscape.

"We have to reroute sometimes due to development," Stampe said. "Roads that were very remote and quiet one year will be too busy to be safe for our riders the next year. It really drives home the point of what we're doing out there."

For more information on the Greenbelt Alliance, visit www.greenbelt.org.