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Shopping, transit complex envisioned near Eastridge
PLANNERS OFFER MORE LIVABLE DESIGN FOR AREA'S FUTURE
By Frank Sweeney
Mercury News
For five days, a team of urban planners looked and listened, analyzed
and debated the possibilities for two centerpieces of San Jose's Evergreen
area -- the declining Eastridge mall and the undeveloped Arcadia
properties just to the south.
On Monday night, the planners unveiled their vision of the future: a
pedestrian-friendly shopping complex with light-rail transit running into
it and open-air corridors leading to a small neighborhood square in the
center.
Mixed-use buildings would provide housing and retail around Eastridge's
anchoring department stores. Garages would replace the vast asphalt
parking lots, and green parkways for pedestrians and bicycles would ring
the entire complex.
The 86-acre Arcadia property to the south along Capitol Expressway
would be developed into a grid of three- to five-story apartment
buildings, with some units for sale, some for rent, adding nearly 3,000
housing units to the area.
Many would be live-work buildings, with housing above retail stores
along the development's tree-lined main street, on which the light-rail
trains would travel to serve a station in the central square. The
architecture would reflect the ethnic diversity of Evergreen's residents.
It's just an idea, not something that could be done in the short haul,
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, dean of the University of Miami School of
Architecture, told several hundred people Monday night at Overfelt High
School.
Plater-Zyberk, a founder of the New Urbanist movement, which encourages
great public spaces such as squares and main streets, and neighborhoods
where people can walk to stores, schools, parks and offices, headed a
public planning process called a ``charrette.'' The French word translates
into ``little cart,'' a term used by architecture and art students for the
intense work effort expended to meet a project deadline.
Architects, developers, planners, community leaders and residents got
together to design the future -- how a sprawling urban area that includes
Eastridge mall can be a more livable place.
During a series of public meetings, most of them at Eastridge, they
looked at transportation, land use, parks and trails, schools, churches,
neighborhood streets and housing, among other issues.
The reality today: 31-year-old Eastridge is declining and frayed at the
edges; the businesses along Tully Road comprise one long, de facto strip
mall; traffic is terrible along Capitol Expressway; and the 85-acre
Arcadia property south of the mall is the last major chunk of vacant land
left in the area.
In its final report, the team tried to join the ideal and the reality,
Plater-Zyberk said.
The Evergreen-Eastridge charrette was conducted by the Knight Program
in Community Building at the University of Miami after San Jose won a
competition for the event. It is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation, which promotes excellence in journalism and invests in
programs in 26 U.S. communities. Sponsors include the Silicon Valley
Manufacturing Group and the Mercury News.
But there's no obligation for the city to follow the charrette's plans,
no matter how creative or practical they may be.
The city has targeted the area for expansion of the county's light-rail
line, development of vacant land, traffic calming efforts, affordable
housing and a new community center and sports complex. Planning is all the
more difficult because Reid-Hillview Airport is just to the north of the
study area, limiting what can be built in noise and safety zones off the
ends of the runways.
``We're trying to look far ahead,'' said City Councilman Dave Cortese,
whose council district includes the charrette area. What the team came up
with is, he added, is ``far-reaching, futuristic.''
Contact Frank Sweeney at fsweeney@sjmercury.com or (408) 920-5675. |
