Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition, COAST, & the City of Santa Barbara Present:
Saving Paradise on the Central Coast, An Evening with Rick Cole
Wednesday, November 9th, 7:00 p.m.
David Gephard Room, in City of Santa Barbara Public Works Department
630 Garden Street, Santa Barbara CA

The talk will be followed by questions and discussion.

In a time when gas and housing prices are going through the roof, Ventura City Manager talks about the pressing issues that will determine the future of communities like Santa Barbara and Ventura. Called "one of Southern California's most visionary planning thinkers" by the Los Angeles Times, Cole puts the local issues facing Central Coast communities in the context of global forces reshaping cities around the world.

"'All politics is local - even global politics,” Cole says. "Here in Southern California, we have one car for every driver.  And our zoning codes mean we now have seven parking spaces for every car. If China copies our model, that's seven billion more parking spaces in China alone. That's not just a problem for pandas -- that's a global environmental catastrophe. Right now we are 6% of the planet's population, but consume 22% of its fossil fuels.  By 2015, though, China will surpass us as the globe's largest gas guzzler. The choices we make in our communities today will determine our standard of living and quality of life when gas hits seven bucks a gallon."

Cole is the former Mayor of Pasadena and Southern California Director of the Local Government Commission.  Along with architect Frank Gehry, LA Mayor Antonio Villagraigosa and the National Resources Defense Council, he was recently honored by the Congress for New Urbanism with their "Civic Arts" award for lifetime achievement.