Facts >> Transit-Oriented Housing

Friends of Coyote Hills supports the efforts of housing advocates to promote transit-oriented, more affordable, and city-centered housing in Fremont.

For an example of transit-oriented housing, we can look at Oakland. In the early 1990s, community advocates began working with BART to transform a dozen acres of BART parking lots in the Fruitvale area into a thriving mixed-use development—Fruitvale Transit Village, which includes housing, community services, and retail surrounding a transit hub. Photos of the initial phase are below:

Outskirts of Fruitvale Transit Village	Entrance of Fruitvale Transit Village
Inside Fruitvale Transit Village	Incoming BART Train in Fruitvale Transit Village

Phase II (see photo at right), primarily a residential development adjacent to Phase I, will provide multi-family housing for hundreds of residents. Phase II of the Fruitvale Village extends and enhances the legacy of Phase I. This transit village has been adopted nationally as a model of transit-oriented development, providing realistic and convenient alternatives to auto dependency for residents. For more information: http://www.unitycouncil.org/fruitvale/index.htm

Nearby Union City has begun the similar process by working jointly with BART to model their transit village after Fruitvale’s.

Other East Bay cities such as Hayward, Dublin, Concord, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek (see pictures below) have built or also are building a transit village around BART. Instead of planning a vibrant pedestrian-friendly downtown around a transit village, the Fremont city council is focused on expanding urban sprawl. Also, is it sensible to stretch Fremont city services to the limit—street maintenance, police and fire protection—by requiring their services outside the core of the city?

Proposed transit village in Walnut Creek
Walnut Creek transit village entrance at California Blvd. and Ygnacio Valley Rd.
The Contra Costa Centre (see photo) includes the Pleasant Hill BART station, a transit village with hotels, office and commercial space, and housing. Its accessibility to the BART station, Interstate 680, and the county's main bus routes makes Contra Costa Centre convenient and accessible for business and residents.

Planners and environmental groups have advocated this type of development for years, and have cited these transit villages as prime examples of suburban employment/housing centers next to transportation facilities.

Transit-oriented housing will help keep Fremont a special place to live and work by protecting our open spaces like Coyote Hills from massive housing development.