We must confront the reality of climate change. As a city, land-use is arguably the most pervasive force driving the degradation of our ecosystems. Factors like emissions and increased exposure to flood hazards are permitted by our city’s current land use and transportation patterns which are fundamentally unsustainable. Electric cars and other technological solutions can help, but we can achieve a much greater reduction in carbon emissions by updating our land development code to minimize sprawl and to create a more compact, connected city with walkable, transit-accessible communities.