How can balanced development of the Estuary waterfront serve living space, decent transportation, schools, and healthy neighborhoods for all the people, not just shelter for those who can afford an exclusive set of walls?
There is room for housing and the park in the 25 acres comprising the Dutra, Fox/Wright, and Collins properties. The exact proportions can be determined. The inclusion of an active park and the 100 foot walkway along the Estuary can enhance the quality of life for residents there and for all Alamedans.
The park can become a part of the Bay Trails for pedestrians and bicycles. A current study is researching a route to nearby BART stations for bicyclists. A pedestrian/bicycle ferry could transport people back and forth to the walkway on the opposite shore where Oakland will spend 160 million dollars to create a walkway and chain of parks extending from Jack London Square to Hegenberger Road. The Bay Trail and ferry are alternate means of moving people on and off the island that will ameliorate traffic and parking problems.
As an active park, Estuary Park will become a great asset for sports and other healthy outdoor activities. That kind of public works project greatly enhances healthy lifestyles for everyone who takes advantage of it. It’s much easier and cheaper to clean industrial pollution from a site used for a park instead of housing. (See the answer to the question, Why is the Estuary Park site safer to develop as open space than as housing?.) A park cleaned less expensively will likely be a cleaner area and better for everyone.
As E.P.A.C. member, Joe Woodard stated to the Planning Board on April 22, 2002:
...The park is essential.
In itself, it’s wonderful, a healthful focus in a City that works to enhance the capacity of its citizens. As a part of an entire plan for open space you have heard or will hear about tonight which includes the Bay Trail, a possible bicycle ferry link to the opposite side in Oakland, a complement to other open space in the Beltline, and a recreational area for all ages that would be sister to the proposed Golf Course. It could be a destination for kayakers, bicyclers, joggers, ballplayers. It could be an assembly and parade ground for civic display. ...
The park can be a point of relief for those needing refreshment, those needing exercise, those who want to feel that life in Alameda is not a stake in the ground to cling to, but the extension of community that makes life really worth living.
What if the land is rezoned? It can be become dense housing, in an already densely populated area on an island, blocked by thoroughfares jammed with traffic; underserved by modest schools and health care facilities. The residents of that future development may be glad to find a place to put their bags down, but a place in what kind of town?
A neighborhood is more than a collection of housing that may enrich a developer and shelter some. It includes housing along with freedom of movement, schools, churches, health facilities, and a visible sense of purpose. Great cities have that. They develop a character that’s not built by eliminating rusted warehouses and replacing them with commercial hovels. They look like the spirit that imbues them. They provide housing but in a livable, a life-giving space.
Imagine what that park could do for the Island, even a more highly populated one. In the midst of a busy city the park will be a break, a generous opening, a place to take a deep breath, a place to run. It can be a part of all the activities taking place in Alameda, if you plan for them. That can be your legacy, a city worth living in.
Joseph
Woodard
Member of E.P.A.C.
Planning Board Meeting, 22 April 2002
The revenues from the housing development can help the City pay for better social services, including schools. Educators can use the park and Estuary to teach children about the unique island character of their City.
Alternatively, development of that land without Estuary Park can result in a closed community that blocks the rest of us from our own Estuary, a loss aesthetically and physically. It will close off Alameda from alternative transportation and a significant avenue of commercial exchange with Oakland.