The Alameda Point Vision

The Alameda Point Vision supports planning that ensures a high quality of life for current and future residents of our community. We envision Alameda Point becoming a socially and economically diverse, environmentally friendly part of our city complete with increased park land, jobs, housing choices, community centers, libraries and schools.Well-planned development at Alameda Point must promote a variety of transportation choices, a balance of jobs and housing, and neighborhood design that combines historic preservation with long-term livability. It will build upon the qualities which make Alameda a desirable place to live, including recreational, cultural, educational, residential and employment opportunities for the enhancement of the entire City of Alameda and its citizens. To achieve these goals, the City and developers must:

• Provide a Wide-Range of Community Open Space – Alameda Point should maintain the bay and estuary shoreline for maximum public use. Include high quality walking and biking paths, waterfront access, play grounds and parks accessible by all, urban public squares and parks designed to include passive uses that feature native landscaping to creating local wildlife habitat.A variety of open spaces will encourage and enhance livability and create a strong community identity.
• Minimize the Impact of Traffic on Alameda’s Current and Future Residents
• Public transit planning must be integral to the design to ensure that housing, retail and jobs are located and designed in a manner that supports transit and reduces the negative effects of automobiles.
• Safe streets to encourage walking and biking as a part of daily life for accessibility by persons with disabilities and the youngest and oldest members of our community. Include a balance of accommodations for pedestrians, cyclists and cars by creating landscaped buffers between sidewalks and roadways, including landscaped medians to allow for safer street crossings and a clear and consistent street design.
• Invest in Effective and Cost-Efficient Transportation– Island-wide transportation solutions that benefit the entire city of Alameda should take priority over Alameda-Point-only projects. We support a variety of transportation choices to reduce traffic generated by new development at the Point.Buses with adequate shelter at stops, streetcars, ferries, and bicycle and pedestrian routes are all key components of reducing traffic and should be the highest priorities.
• Create a Variety of Commercial Services - Shops should appeal to Alamedans all over the city and strive to compliment commercial services that are needed in Alameda. Commercial entities should prioritize locally owned mom and pop shops where feasible and the majority of jobs created at Alameda Point should be either white collar office or research and development jobs.
• Provide Diverse Housing - Create an even mix of housing types within Alameda Point and on each block. Include condominiums, apartments (mostly 3-5 stories and possibly a few 5-7 stories in keeping with the existing scale of the NAS), townhouses, senior and disabled accommodations, and dispersed single-family homes, in order to build a community that is attractive to Alamedans of all family sizes and stages of life. Quality housing design is key to reflect Alameda’s unique character. Include income as a factor in accommodating housing suitable to a variety of household types.
• Create a Model of Sustainability In addition to promoting low-emission, energy-efficient transportation, Alameda Point mush require green buildings, low-water landscaping, the use of alternative energy, and other means to create a positive to neutral environmental impact.
• Create Walkable Neighborhoods
• Like Alameda’s existing “stations,” clusters of neighborhood-serving businesses (coffee shops, convenience stores, barbers) should be integrated into the development. Well-thought-out design will make walking (including mobility for the disabled) the first choice as a part of daily routine.Design to create safe routes to school for our youth and maximizing opportunities for creating healthy habits.
• Require a mix uses such as ground floor retail with residential or offices above rather than separating uses which causes people to drive.
• Parking should be a combination of structures tucked behind or on top of buildings and street but not in a large seas of parking lots that become pedestrian hazards and destroy walkability of neighborhoods.
• Emulate the Layout of Alameda’s Traditional Neighborhoods – Alameda’s historic core includes a variety of housing configurations, including housing over retail on Park Street, concentrated housing in the immediate surrounding area, and low-density, single family homes further from the core. Alameda Point should follow a similar pattern, with a mix of building types and uses spread throughout the development.
• Center Neighborhoods on Small Transit Stations – In addition to the main ferry terminal transit hub, a number of small stations should be designed to serve as the center of each neighborhood, with neighborhood retail (convenience stores, coffee shops), public amenities (libraries, community centers, parks) and higher-density housing clustered around each station.
• Preserve Our History The reuse of historic buildings adds to the unique character of Alameda Point development. Adaptive reuse best practices, which keep historic buildings from being destroyed, should be used whenever economically feasible. The Al Dewitt Club (formerly the Officers’ Club), the Flight Control Tower and the Bachelors Officers’ Quarters (BOQ) all may be saved by reconfiguring them to meet the needs of the Alameda Point Master Plan.