SAN JOSE
GROWING WITHIN THE GREENLINE
San Jose uses other proactive means to help developers find potential infill locations and smooth the way for their projects. The city’s Housing Opportunities Study, launched in 2000 and largely completed by 2005, exemplifies its aggressive approach. The study’s goal was to encourage appropriate high-density and mixed-use development along light-rail corridors. After city analysis and thorough public involvement, the city identified vacant or underutilized sites, amended the general plan, and did environmental reviews for the general plan changes. Together, these changes made room for up to over 8,000 new homes. This effort saved developers the time and expense of having to apply for policy changes before being able to build.
Embracing Density
Today, developers need no convincing.
Four of every five homes built in San
Jose are townhomes, apartments, or
condominiums.77 San Jose has embraced
density: development downtown must be
at least 25 homes per acre, and mid-rise
residential buildings over 15 stories are
now on the market. In areas outside the
central downtown, the city is finding that
modest increases in density and height
over large areas can add up to significant
amounts of new homes.
Looking Ahead
An ongoing challenge for San Jose is the
cost of services needed by an increasing
number of residents. San Jose has more
homes than jobs, and is taking steps to
protect commercial and industrial lands
that provide room for jobs and generate
the tax revenue it needs to pay for services.
In October 2007, after completing an
employment study, San Jose adopted a
policy requiring no net loss of industrial
land or overall employment capacity.
While this policy could act to discourage
infill, it is offset by the city’s ongoing commitment
to building new infill housing.
To San Jose, good planning for infill is a
matter of long-term regional competitiveness.
San Jose’s position as a
national hotspot of technology innovation
is not guaranteed forever; maintaining
that position will mean building
many homes, welcoming new jobs, and
creating truly livable neighborhoods. The
entire region can learn from San Jose’s
approach to tackling this challenge.
The Growth Leader From the 1950s to the 1970s, San Jose was the Bay Area’s poster child of sprawl development. Today it is leading the region in infill. According to the Association of Bay Area Governments’ regional housing allocations, in the next six years, San Jose—the region’s largest city—should build more new housing than any other city. Over the last two decades, San Jose has made a concerted effort to encourage infill. Now, a broad range of strategies are transforming the city. To turn from sprawl to infill, San Jose’s first step was to limit outward expansion. In 1970, its City Council defined an urban service area boundary. In 1996, it adopted an urban growth boundary—the Greenline—in its general plan. In 2000, over 70% of the city’s voters locked in the rules governing the growth boundary, which means any changes to these rules now require a vote of the people. The city also created a strong policy framework for infill within the general plan. To focus on strategic locations, eight specific plans lay the groundwork for building almost 28,000 homes. To date, almost 12,000 homes have either been built or approved.. |
“The success of infill isn’t just about bringing the housing, it’s
about creating high-quality neighborhoods with schools, parks,
grocery stores, walkable streets, a good transit system, nearby
employment, and more.”
– Laurel Prevetti, Deputy Director, Department of Planning,
Building, and Code Enforcement,
City of San Jose