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corridors
east 14th/international
• case studies el camino real
san pablo avenue
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Case Studies - East 14th Street and International Boulevard
The East 14th and International Boulevard Corridor spans from West Oakland to areas in unincorporated Alameda County past San Leandro. The East 14th and International Boulevard Corridor study includes three nodes of particular interest:
•The Fruitvale BART Station area •The San Leandro BRT Station area •The Bay Fair BART Station area
Fruitvale BART Station Area The Fruitvale neighborhood is located in East Oakland between Interstates 580 and 880. It is a diverse community with higher-than-average proportions of African-American, Latino, and Asian residents. Many residents view this diversity as one of the community's strengths.
The cohesiveness of the Fruitvale neighborhood is diminished by the elevated BART tracks, railroad tracks, and Interstate 880 that divide the area into several sections. These transportation corridors all run parallel to International Boulevard, which is the primary location of stores, restaurants, and commercial activity in the neighborhood.
The area immediately around the Fruitvale BART station has a unique identity due to the recently-built Fruitvale Transit Village. The design and aesthetics of the Village reflect the ethnic diversity of the surrounding neighborhood. Located on East 12th Street between 33rd and 35th Avenues, the Village is a four-story mixed used development with housing, office space, and community services. It also includes a plaza that is lined with stores and restaurants and provides a pedestrian connection between the BART station and International Boulevard.
The City of Oakland's plans for the Fruitvale area envision a vibrant district that includes a mix of retail, housing, and office uses. In recognition of the area's key location near BART, the plans focus on moving away from industrial uses and replacing them with housing - particularly higher density housing.
Transportation plans for the area focus on providing better transit service along International Boulevard and on increasing pedestrian and bicycle connections throughout the station area, especially between BART and International. They also emphasize developing paths that would connect residential neighborhoods north of Interstate 880 to the waterfront.
Development of Fruitvale Village, with its mix of uses immediately adjacent to the BART station, is a first step toward implementing the plans' vision for the area. Several other mixed use projects are proposed or under construction, and more housing will be added in Phase II of Fruitvale Village. There is, however, uncertainty about future developments in the area because the City is still working to update its zoning to match its General Plan.
San Leandro BRT Station Area AC Transit plans to introduce Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along the East 14th Street/International Boulevard corridor, with service to San Leandro, Oakland, and Berkeley. BRT will provide faster and higher quality bus service through dedicated bus lanes, pre-paid fares for easier boarding, and priority at traffic signals. Therefore, this analysis of downtown San Leandro focuses on the proposed BRT station at the intersection of Davis and East 14th Streets.
East 14th is the primary commercial corridor through downtown San Leandro. The BRT stop is near the northern edge of downtown. San Leandro Creek runs roughly perpendicular to East 14th and forms the boundary between downtown and the predominantly single-family neighborhoods to the north.
In general, this neighborhood is missing some key elements of a complete community. The range of housing choices is somewhat narrow, with an emphasis on owner-occupied units and single-family homes. Considering its location encompassing the heart of San Leandro's downtown, the area does not exhibit an efficient use of available land. Several features, including San Leandro Creek and the BART and train tracks, present barriers to travel within the neighborhood. In addition, although both BART and AC Transit serve the area, most bus routes are oriented to the BART station and do not extend into the surrounding residential neighborhoods. The area is built predominantly in a grid pattern and there are the beginnings of a bike network, but the area remains difficult to walk or bike in. The neighborhood benefits from the natural beauty of the creek and from the recreational opportunities offered by the three parks within the BRT station area, although the parks are small and located at the edges of the station area.
The transportation plans for the area focus on providing better transit service along East 14th Street with implementation of BRT. There is also an emphasis on streetscape improvements to increase walkability in the area and, in particular, on establishing better pedestrian connections between BART and the retail core along East 14th. Many of the priority streetscape improvements identified for the area are under construction or being planned.
There have only been a few development projects, however, that have taken place in the area. This is, in part, because the City is currently working on its Downtown Transit-Oriented Development Strategy, and has implemented a moratorium on developing any key opportunity sites until the planning process is complete. As a result, there has been only minimal progress in moving closer to the transit-oriented district envisioned in the plans.
Bay Fair BART Station Area
Bayfair Center and the areas immediately around it make up the centers of commercial activity around the Bay Fair BART station. Bayfair Center, which was built in 1958, provides most of the annual sales tax revenue for the City of San Leandro. The Center has been struggling since the early 1990s, however, and had a vacancy rate of around 50 percent at that time. Since then, the shopping center has been tranformed to include a range of big-box chain stores, including Target; Kohl's; Bed, Bath, & Beyond; as well as a Macy's department store and 16-screen movie theater.
Both the City of San Leandro's and unincorporated Alameda County's land use plans for the Bay Fair station area recognize the shopping center as a target area for future development because of its primary location near public transit. The plans express support for transit-oriented development around the BART station. They offer few specifics, however, for how to transform the auto-oriented Bayfair shopping center, and the low-density residential neighborhoods around it, into a pedestrian and transit-friendly district.
There are several transportation improvements planned for the Bay Fair area, including implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along the corridor. There currently are no plans, however, to improve the limited bus service in the Ashland area of unincorporated Alameda County.
Very few development projects have occurred recently in the Bay Fair area. Most activity has focused on renovation of Bayfair Center, which generally has maintained its auto-oriented development pattern. BART is currently leading a planning effort to create strategies for promoting transit-oriented development in the area. This process will likely help spur development that is more supportive of transit and pedestrian activity. The area is already becoming more walkable, since many of the planned streetscape projects are already completed or underway.
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South
of the creek, the downtown commercial area is mostly surrounded by residential
areas. There are some community uses immediately west of downtown, including
St. Leander's Church and School. There is a greater mix of uses along
San Leandro Boulevard, which is also west of downtown. This includes
single-family homes, Creekside Office Plaza, small industrial sites,
and the San Leandro BART station. The BART station is surrounded by
surface parking lots and several vacant parcels to the west.
The
City of San Leandro has created several land use plans that address
the downtown station area, particularly near the BART station and along
East 14th Street. Although each plan has a different focus, they all
attempt to create a more vibrant downtown by promoting higher densities
in key areas and encouraging a better mix of uses.
The
Bay Fair BART station is located on the border between the City of San
Leandro and unincorporated Alameda County. The half-mile station area
is almost evenly divided between the jurisdictions. The station is adjacent
to Bayfair Center, a regional shopping mall. The shopping center and
BART station take up nearly one quarter of the station area. There is
a small pocket of industrial uses near Highway 238 as well as small
commercial properties on East 14th Street, which forms the eastern boundary
of the mall. The rest of the station area consists of residential neighborhoods
that primarily are made up of single-family homes.
The
two major streets in the neighborhood - East 14th Street and Hesperian
Boulevard - are both wide, auto-oriented roads that offer a mix of multi-family
housing and strip malls with surface parking lots. The stores and services
along these streets include storage facilities, beauty salons, boutiques,
restaurants, and small offices. There are also numerous auto-serving
uses, such as car washes, gas stations, and repair shops. Near Bayfair
Center, many of the commercial sites on these streets are national chains,
but for the rest of their length the stores are mostly independent businesses.
The
plans also promote streetscape improvements along East 14th, and a more
appealing and direct connection between the street and BART. The few
bicycle improvements planned for the area focus on closing gaps in the
north-south bikeway that extends along Bancroft Avenue to Oakland, and
there are no proposals for a direct link to the BART station.