Key jobs that don't pay enough to live in San Francisco (or some other major cities)

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by llamaorama

Why aren't there more good TOD's around east bay and contra Costa BART stations.

Yes there are newish apartment complexes adjacent to many, but that's weak. Im talking about something on the scale of large satellite urban cores around DC metro stops in Virginia and Maryland?

Fremont, Walnut creek and Concord all oughta have some serious height and density.

The low hanging fruit is in the suburbs.

Fremont has plans for thousands of new homes, but residents are having second thoughts
May 25, 2017, 2:13pm PDT

Roland Li
Reporter, San Francisco Business Times

In a region where many communities struggle to build housing, Fremont has long been a leader.

The Bay Area’s fourth-largest city has over 1,200 homes under construction and another 4,000 units approved. The city has plans to add taller apartments as part of an effort to create a more vibrant downtown and a second new neighborhood around the newly opened Warm Springs BART station. Introducing density to the largely suburban municipality is critical for the city’s future, generating badly needed housing supply near existing transit and expanding its tax base, say city officials.

But a backlash against development rising across the Bay Area in recent years is now sweeping into Fremont. Some residents believe additional housing will result in more traffic and crowding in schools. They blame housing construction that has already taken place for today’s congestion, something city officials dispute.

Opposition has gone beyond negative comments at public hearings. In the past year, two separate lawsuits have sought to block or downsize new projects, evidence of a growing backlash.

“The vision … is to be more urban,” said Kristie Wheeler, Fremont’s planning manager. “What we’ve been seeing is maybe the community isn’t quite ready for the higher-density residential development.”

One legal challenge against developer Carmel Partners alleges that an approved 632-unit project will worsen traffic congestion and is “not compatible with the neighborhood.”

Originally proposed at 882 units, the project was downsized twice in the approvals process. Stand Up 4 Fremont, the neighborhood group that filed the suit, seeks a third reduction in size to 390 units and more parking spaces relative to residential units. (The group and its attorney did not respond to several calls and emails seeking comment).

Carmel Partners has refused to further downsize its project, saying in court filings that doing so would be incompatible under new zoning for the site, which encourages higher density. Carmel declined to comment.

Opponents of another housing project with 98 units in the Niles district won their lawsuit, and a judge ordered the project to undergo environmental review . . . .

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/...bdA37c%2FluRxObP&t=1495821344&j=78257351