The Broadway / Valdez District Specific Plan is another way of saying that the city wants to build, or have built, a large shopping area on Broadway located near where the Broadway Auto Row is now going out of business. This is a project and presentation brought to you by CEDA, the Community and Economic Development Agency. Those are the folks who control most of the half billion dollars we cannot reallocate in the City budget. The Redevelopment Committee is our City Council. Each week they meet on Tuesday as representatives of both groups. Sound weird? It is.
Community workshop #3 was held in the old church on the corner of 27th and Broadway. Of the about 200 people there to watch a Power Point presentation, about seven were African American. The presenters distributed Chinese versions of the handout, with interpreting services available for the 25 or so Chinese individuals in attendance.
Almost everyone else was white.
After settling in the planners discussed their proposed three alternatives for each of the two areas, Broadway and Valdez Triangle. The project is described at http://business2oakland.com/brcp/. The presenter spoke highly of downtown Walnut Creek, Bay Street, and San Francisco as models, saying that the proposed shopping would be a “major destination for comparison goods retail.”
The CEDA plan is very detailed and involves developers and big businesses tearing out, or “redeveloping,” the neighborhood and building several larger, multi-story buildings. Each of the three alternatives for Broadway and Valdez contains details for where the hotel will be, and where the "anchor" (big box) will be, etc. The CEDA plans account for pedestrian ways, public squares, and park access. But, what about the other essential public interest areas?
Public bathrooms? Not mentioned. Public safety? Also not mentioned. The plan gets into specifics of where the parking garages will be and how they will look. And, there are several ideas for adequate parking and and photos of inadequate methods for the treatment of the run off water. How do we get so specific on planter boxes when we do not know the business name on the the front door?
However, additional questions come to mind. Wasn't there once a grand plan for Oakland Downtown? Where is that plan, and how is it going? What about Jack London Square? What is happening there? And, what is the status of the Uptown project now that the housing market is bust? What is to become of the residents and businesses that are there now? Oh, and if I’m not mistaken, haven't we been working on a Transit Village at Macarthur BART for about two decades? The project list is long, storied, and incomplete.
Consider the Transit Village in the Fruitvale? Is De La Fuente Street safe at night? We did hear a bit about how the Uptown Project is renting what it wanted to sell and that when the economy picks back up they hope some of that energy will flow over to Broadway / Valdez. Energy? What kind of energy? Do they mean investment? Why don't people invest now? And they plan to not request that the (as yet not named) anchors be obliged to provide mixed use because of the trouble Uptown is having selling all its units. So there is short term housing market influencing planning decisions that will shape our city for a half century at least.
Many questions come to mind along the lines of “who pays for it”? For example, how much CEDA money goes into it, and what do we get out of it during the build? Will the contractors be required to hire a certain number of Oakland residents? What deals are we going to have to offer companies—in terms of tax breaks—to open stores here? And, in order to protect Oakland’s small businesses, will they also be given the same tax breaks that developers and large retailers receive? How much “skin” will the big boxes and other companies have in the game? And, will they be required to reimburse the financial tax and other incentives to Oakland’s citizens if they leave early—or fail to live up to their agreements, such as training and hiring locally?
The pathway seems to be that the city will allow the project to be built through zoning and planning. They also will put in some money, but this was not being detailed at this meeting--and it should. And some property owners will be forced to sell I suppose; but at what price?
Then there is the question of customers. Do we have local citizens able to buy the buildings? Is there even one of these major corporations involved in the planning? Are any of them under contract or even in negotiation? If so, then why don't these companies plan and build their own buildings? Or will the city own this real estate when we are done?
As the CEDA presenter put it, "economists" have told them that they have to build up a certain critical mass to become an attractive destination—but for whom? In addition, some statements were made about how transit is really going to help eliminate severe auto congestion around this project. "There is going to be transit" (no details) "People will prefer to ride downtown on the bus than drive to Walnut Creek" (really? Do they do either right now?)
Not one word was spoken about the current crime and homelessness level in the area.
Somehow this whole thing just gave me pause. The longer I sat there, the more questions I had and the less I received. How much of a real plan and budget do we have for this project, and how much of this is wishful thinking? Is the idea: build it—on the taxpayers back—and they will come? I sure hope that the background thinking has more substance than the explanations I heard at the meeting—but I seriously doubt it.
Since it was a work and school night for me and my family, I cut out during intermission and missed the questions. Having lived in the area for most of 10 years I knew how to cut straight out of the building to Broadway. That surprised the homeless man sleeping in the doorway.
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