Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Transit Villages

[Raines Cohen (coho-L]

fertilezone [at] ebox.oo.net wrote on 4/28/99 7:48 AM:

>Building around a transportation center, where possible? An 
>interesting possibility for the Next Generation of Cohousing 
>Development.

Yes, definitely. One of the key attracting points of Swan's Market is its 
location ( a block from a major transit hub served by 3 subway and nearly 
two dozen bus lines, 12 minutes' ride from downtown SF, downtown 
Berkeley, or Oakland airport. The combination with retail (organic 
veggies, fish shop, etc.), offices, a bakery, and restaurants, plus the 
Museum of Children's Art and affordable housing, means that despite the 
convenience of transit and walking to nearby shops, art galleries, 
restaurants, and entertainment, we may never have to leave: the joke is, 
from certain units, we'll be able to just lower a basket out the window 
on a rope to collect fresh-made, healthy food. We have one parking space 
for each of our 20 units underneath our homes but don't expect to need 
them all (I'll be leasing mine to another member), and we're making sure 
that the wiring doesn't preclude electric-car charging and are looking 
into car-sharing.

There's a lot of new "Smart Growth" development underway regionally given 
pressures to reduce sprawl and land costs, and dense developments near 
transit are one of the most effective ways of reducing auto dependency. 
Mixed-use developments incorporating employment centers as well makes it 
possible for some people to walk to work or not commute at all or use a 
reverse commute... possibly making more-efficient use of space and making 
projects more affordable.

The apartment-within-a-house I currently rent is part of a single-owner 
cluster/compound of buildings right next to the Fruitvale BART (Bay Area 
Rapid Transit = subway) Transit Village under development (and a 1-block 
walk from the local village center), slated to include new residential 
development and a bike station and a multi-story parking lot to replace 
some of the acres of empty blacktop currently surrounding the station.

It seems to me this spot would be, if the owner were willing to 
sell/cooperate, ideal for some kind of coho/co-op project, especially one 
honoring and involving the majority-Hispanic lower-income population in 
the neigborhood. An apt. complex at the other end of the station is 
currently vacant, on the market, and ideally located. As I discovered 
last week while applying for a business license, the area is zoned for 
both residential and light industrial use, so there's a lot of 
flexibility in what you can build here.

Thanks to the local topography and sightlines, this is a rare spot where 
you can actually see a train coming and run and catch it, getting 
door-to-door to downtown SF in about 18 minutes ... this was a major 
factor in selecting it for me (besides cheap rent, as the time and money 
saved and convenience is worth quite a bit. I don't own a car, but rent 
one on rare occasions). It's a mile from the only beach in the Bay 
(Alameda), and a hub for at least a dozen bus lines.

While the "East Bay Cohousing Group" (EBCoHo) in formation that I'm also 
involved in (also known as Berkeley-Oakland Cohousing, or BoCoHo, until 
it comes to consensus on a chosen name) has decided that proximity to 
transit, and especially BART, is an important factor in its site 
selection, many members are concerned about the potential noise, and 
dream of a more idyllic/rural setting, even within this urban corridor.

I have to say that from living 50' from above-ground transit for years, 
you really don't notice the swish of arriving subway trains that much 
after a while... the only thing that occasionally wakes me up at night is 
the horns of freight trains in the middle of the night at a nearby RR 
crossing, a different issue.

Raines

Raines Cohen <coho-L [at] raines.com> <http://www.swansway.com>
Member, Old Oakland [CA] Cohousing at Swan's Market & BoCoHo (new grp)
Support H.R. 1172 for historic tax credits for residential preservation!
Construction progressing nicely; move-in this Fall!