April 26, 2005
Article: High Rents Drive Away CA Mobile Homeowners
Mobile homeowners being forced out by rising rents -- these days, even mobile home communities show signs of gentrification.
The Housing Authority has been studying the possibility of seeking an eminent domain court order on the property, purchasing Monte del Lago from Equity Lifestyle Properties, then selling it back to a collective of the park's tenants.
High Rents Drive Away California Mobile Home Park Residents
CV studio, land use, planning articles
April 20, 2005
Lecture: CV plan proposal by WRT
WRT does consulting for public entities/municipalities nationally and is developing a short term (~five years) plan for springboarding Castro Valley's redevelopment. What are the first primary catalyst projects that should be targeted?
Continue reading "Lecture: CV plan proposal by WRT"
April 12, 2005
Photos: Castro Valley
These are photos of basic housing types, the elementary school, several pre-schools, churches, and civic buildings. Castro Valley's parcel lines reflect the agricultural history of the locale -- early residents had thriving poultry farms. Today the deep lots provide opportunities for infill housing, and many already include in-law units or townhouses. Although the populace voted twice not to incorporate, Castro Valley was recently designated a redevelopment area in Alameda County and has hired an urban design consulting firm to develop a general plan.
April 04, 2005
Photos: Mountain View Streetscape
In the 1980's, Mountain View began a push to create a pedestrian friendly downtown with an energetic retail/restaurant district. In the 1988 specific plan and in two updates since 2000, the city set forth guidelines and policies towards this end, including installing medians, trees, and wider sidewalks for traffic calming, instituting a strict facade design review for the "Historic Preservation Core" of the city, and creating a flexible parking system that can function as outdoor cafe space or diagonal slots.
Mountain View Streetscape Photo Album