Bryce Goldstein
Bio: Bryce Goldstein is a transportation planner, city commissioner, musician, and renter. She served on the city of Chico Planning Commission for four years and now serves on the Climate Action Commission. She served on the local nonprofit Butte Environmental Council Board of Directors for five years. She holds a bachelor’s in environmental science from Humboldt State University. Learn more at www.brycegoldstein.com.
1.) How can the city of Chico mitigate existing homelessness in a way that is humane, preserves private and public property, and makes lasting change?
We need to be proactive and realistic. The city knows by now that pushing unhoused people around from park to park doesn’t work, is cruel, and got us into a lawsuit. The city needs to work together with our partner organizations to support increasing the number of pallet shelters and tiny homes, developing more transitional and affordable housing, operating low-barrier shelters, and establishing safe managed campgrounds.
The most immediate step should be to establish a secure and clean managed camping area, or areas, so that homeless folks have somewhere to camp safely away from parks and sidewalks. This site or sites should have security, bathrooms, showers, dumpsters, cooking facilities, and opportunities to connect with behavioral health services and shelter providers. A managed campground can work especially well for people living in vehicles, who have pets, or otherwise don’t fit into congregate shelters well.
2.) Chico widely lacks starter homes targeted toward the young families who make up a large part of the local workforce. Do you think the city should subsidize construction by lowering permitting fees for small dwellings, or do you have other ideas to make such housing economically viable for local developers?
Subsidies should be a last resort. Our first priority needs to be legalizing missing middle housing and starter homes. We used to let individuals buy a lot and incrementally build backyard cottages, four-plexes, row houses, cottage courts, and other small homes that fit a variety of incomes and needs. However, in the 20th century our government incentivized mass development of single-family homes, meanwhile downzoning existing neighborhoods to prevent apartments from being built. The dominance of sprawling automobile-dependent suburban housing died with the decline of cheap power and gas, as evident in the overturning of Valley’s Edge. We need walkable, transit-oriented housing that people can afford. To accomplish this, we need to allow more uses and housing types on low-density residential lots, paired with good design standards. We need to ensure our vacant industrial and commercial sites are zoned to allow for reinvestment as mixed-use developments. We also need to reduce parking mandates that currently require too much lot area for development to be successful.
The city has already lowered fees for ADUs, but we can continue looking into ways to reduce fees for other small units. Small units in walkable infill neighborhoods will have minimal impacts on our infrastructure and therefore should have significantly lower development impact fees than greenfield growth.
3.) The majority of Chico’s roadways are objectively in extremely poor condition. Being able to fix them was one of the main selling points of the voter-approved sales tax increase. The question is, has enough revenue been allocated toward that cause and is the city’s timeline of roadway repairs adequate? If not, how do you propose the city finance an accelerated effort?
Measure H sales tax funds are an essential piece of improving our roadways. However, they aren’t enough to fix the roads in a timely fashion, nor enough to redesign streets for safer walking and biking facilities. My main issue with the current Capital Improvement Plan for Measure H is that it will take five more years to fix some of the worst streets in town, like Third Street in South Campus, and I don’t even see others such as Humboldt Avenue on the list. We need to prioritize our core neighborhoods first, as more residents live, shop, travel, and pay taxes on these streets. We also need to use our budget responsibly to improve more streets in a faster timeframe. We need to stop expanding the budget for policing, and instead invest in public works to create safer streets and roads. Long-term, by focusing on infill development as opposed to sprawl, we can avoid the costs of maintaining excess roadway infrastructure.
4.) The council has been chided by voters across the political spectrum for taking steps that reduce transparency in governance. Our question: Are you committed to running the city transparently, and, if so, what steps would you take to ensure the council keeps the public informed and engaged?
Yes. The current council majority has declined to hold a public discussion on their plan for solving homelessness, while also gutting the power of its advisory boards and commissions. This has coincided with the decline of print journalism, which we relied on to watchdog our local government. I will work to ensure information about city decisions and meetings is shared publicly and accessibly. One idea that has been brought up before is for council members to provide reports on issues affecting their districts. I also will work to restore power to our boards and commissions, so that they can play a proactive role in advising City Council and hearing public input.
5.) Downtown appears to be suffering from an identity crisis of sorts. Some council members want to enhance and promote its historic significance. Meanwhile, the city installed modern parking kiosks and there’s talk of major changes to transportation and parking in the region. What is your vision for downtown in terms of identity and infrastructure?
My vision for downtown is a place where businesses are thriving in historic buildings, where venues have live music and art shows most nights of the week, where coffee shops are open late for lively discussion, and where everybody feels safe walking, biking, and taking the bus. To accomplish this vision, we need to bring more people downtown.
The city should allow more outdoor dining and plan for curbside parklets and complete streets. I support the concept of wider sidewalks and bicycle lanes downtown, as complete streets infrastructure improves safety and increases sales at small businesses. We can design it in a way that works for everybody regardless of mobility.
The city also needs to make it easier to build housing downtown, such as above businesses or on adjacent streets and repurposed parking lots. We need to disincentivize property owners from leaving buildings vacant, or from charging unsustainably high rents to businesses.
6.) The climate crisis is an existential threat to life as we know it, and perhaps Chicoans—living in the wildfire epicenter of the West—are more intimately familiar with this concept than any other community in the nation. Question is: Should the city prioritize investing further in sustainable infrastructure that also makes fiscal sense? Why or why not?
Yes. The city of Chico needs to plan for sustainable and climate-resilient housing, community choice energy, and safety and access for walking, biking, and public transit. Most sustainable infrastructure and planning investments also make fiscal sense, especially in the long-term, and have the potential to help alleviate other societal inequalities like transportation and energy costs. Our Climate Action Plan policies require us to reduce greenhouse gasses through investing in sustainable transportation, energy efficiency, waste diversion, and more. The General Plan calls for infill growth and walkable communities, and recommends Chico set an example as the “Green City of the North State.”
7.) We’ve focused on some of the big issues, but we’d like you to tell us about some lesser-known problems facing your district, as well as how you would address them?
Growth and transportation are significant issues facing my district. Cars are moving at dangerous speeds and putting lives in danger along 8th and 9th streets, Park Avenue, and 20th Street. The proposed Valley’s Edge development would have brought a huge increase in vehicle traffic to arterials like 20th Street, which already connects major growth areas in Chico. We need to plan responsibly and sustainably for the new growth in progress or projected at Meriam Park, Stonegate, and Diamond Match by ensuring safe and efficient transportation options are available regardless of ability or vehicle ownership. I intend to work with Butte County Association of Governments (BCAG) to ensure we have the best possible transit service connecting downtown, Park Avenue, and neighborhoods like Meriam Park. I also see an opportunity for a protected bikeway on Park Avenue and 20th Street, especially as 20th Street is on the list to be repaved in the next few years. Meanwhile, the city needs to remove barriers to building housing and businesses along these central corridors.
8.) We hear a lot about how life here has degraded over the past 50 years, but the fact is that Chico is no longer the small town it was in 1974. Back then, the population was under 20,000—today it clocks in at an estimated 107,000, making it the 73rd largest municipality in the state. As such, today, Chico faces “big city” issues. Our question: What is your response to the negativity? Is it founded, unfounded, or somewhere in between? And since there’s always room for improvement, what would you do to make life here better?
Chico is an awesome small city. What’s the point of negativity? I honestly cannot fathom what life was like in 1974, having been born 20 years later. The Great Recession started when I was 13. My community has always been struggling, no matter where I have lived. I cannot tell you whether the “good old days” are a rose-tinted mirage, but I can admire our beautiful community and look toward the future with both realism and hope.
Chico has grown significantly. We will likely continue growing as regions of Butte County, California, and the rest of the world become less habitable due to climate change. We are not a small town, but we can grow in a way that retains the “small town” things we love like low cost of living, limited traffic, bikeability, farm-to-table foods, and a tight knit community. There are benefits of growing, too, like more jobs, restaurants, activities, and diversity. Let’s plan to grow sustainably with affordable, walkable neighborhoods.
Deepika Tandon
Bio: Deepika Tandon has served on the City Council for District 7 since 2020. “She is a small-business owner of an Indian food store and catering company, and can be found weekly at her farmers’ market booth. She immigrated to Chico in 2007 from Delhi, India, and faced much adversity to become the successful community leader she is currently.” Learn more at www.deeforcouncil.com.
1.) How can the city of Chico mitigate existing homelessness in a way that is humane, preserves private and public property, and makes lasting change?
The city of Chico must focus on compassionate solutions by providing shelter services with our partners in the Continuum of Care for those experiencing homelessness while ensuring public spaces remain clean and safe. Our approach should balance humanity with strict policies that prevent encampments from returning to our parks and waterways.
2.) Chico widely lacks starter homes targeted toward the young families who make up a large part of the local workforce. Do you think the city should subsidize construction by lowering permitting fees for small dwellings, or do you have other ideas to make such housing economically viable for local developers?
We need to make housing more affordable for young families by considering lower permitting fees for smaller homes and prioritizing policies that encourage developers to build starter homes. Chico needs all types of housing for our growing community.
3.) The majority of Chico’s roadways are objectively in extremely poor condition. Being able to fix them was one of the main selling points of the voter-approved sales tax increase. The question is, has enough revenue been allocated toward that cause and is the city’s timeline of roadway repairs adequate? If not, how do you propose the city finance an accelerated effort?
Measure H funds gave us funds for a 10-year plan to help our roads starting with what can be salvaged and then repairing the roads in most need. Allocating additional funds and potentially seeking state or federal grants could help accelerate the timeline and ensure more comprehensive repairs across the city.
4.) The council has been chided by voters across the political spectrum for taking steps that reduce transparency in governance. Our question: Are you committed to running the city transparently, and, if so, what steps would you take to ensure the council keeps the public informed and engaged?
Transparency is essential and I am fully committed to keeping the public informed. I would push for clear communication of decisions and greater opportunities for public input in policy-making processes.
5.) Downtown appears to be suffering from an identity crisis of sorts. Some council members want to enhance and promote its historic significance. Meanwhile, the city installed modern parking kiosks and there’s talk of major changes to transportation and parking in the region. What is your vision for downtown in terms of identity and infrastructure?
I spend most Saturdays downtown working at the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market and our downtown is the heart of our community connecting visitors to nearby Bidwell Park. We should preserve its cultural significance while introducing sustainable transportation options and making parking more convenient to draw more people to enjoy the area.
6.) The climate crisis is an existential threat to life as we know it, and perhaps Chicoans—living in the wildfire epicenter of the West—are more intimately familiar with this concept than any other community in the nation. Question is: Should the city prioritize investing further in sustainable infrastructure that also makes fiscal sense? Why or why not?
The city of Chico is already replacing a bridge on Bruce Road that will improve flows for Little Chico Creek and add bike lanes with ADA access. We must continue to invest in managing the fire risk in our channels and throughout Bidwell Park to keep our community safe and increase the health of natural areas the city manages.
7.) We’ve focused on some of the big issues, but we’d like you to tell us about some lesser-known problems facing your district, as well as how you would address them?
One lesser-known issue is the need for better neighborhood parks and public spaces in District 7. We recently had upgrades to Chapman Park and there is room for more improvements in areas that were previously in the county that we have annexed.
8.) We hear a lot about how life here has degraded over the past 50 years, but the fact is that Chico is no longer the small town it was in 1974. Back then, the population was under 20,000—today it clocks in at an estimated 107,000, making it the 73rd largest municipality in the state. As such, today, Chico faces “big city” issues. Our question: What is your response to the negativity? Is it founded, unfounded, or somewhere in between? And since there’s always room for improvement, what would you do to make life here better?
While it’s true that Chico has grown, and with that comes challenges, I believe the negativity is partly unfounded. We must focus on maintaining our community values while embracing responsible growth by improving infrastructure, housing, and public safety to enhance the quality of life for everyone.
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