tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post9102834035023475522..comments2023-06-16T08:50:11.916-07:00Comments on Stop and Move: Google bets on suburbs for new campusJames Sinclairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00948509061118072998noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post-58468461225284868022013-02-28T14:15:05.857-08:002013-02-28T14:15:05.857-08:00Its a fair point that since so much of the land if...Its a fair point that since so much of the land if parking or low-value buildings, developing a grid can be done. However, none of the campus projects Ive seen have suggested doing so. They all rely on the same model with a giant parcel off a major road with internal roads simply directed at parking spacesJames Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00948509061118072998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post-44476332910426890222013-02-28T09:26:02.763-08:002013-02-28T09:26:02.763-08:00Most of the Silicon Valley officescape is grayfiel...Most of the Silicon Valley officescape is grayfield, which a street grid easier to develop than one might otherwise expect. As well, the high-speed arterials and freeways can be retrofit with BRT of various classes, while VTA certainly has coverage (though awful, awful ridership).<br /><br />The key is to think holistically about the city rather than a Station Area Plan or something. Not everywhere in San Francisco is near BART or Muni Metro, but that doesn't hinder its tight urban fabric. Google could view its current campus as a city in itself and create its own mixed-use development/office space. They could move to Lawrence Caltrain and buy up the whole district north of the tracks and do the same thing. Or, they could redevelop pockets around VTA stops and use it as an inter-office shuttle for those who don't want to bike. Target it so the main HQ is at Tasman or Great America or something.<br /><br />In other words, while Mountain View and Santa Clara County don't have run-down downtowns, they DO have vast fields of underdeveloped acreage currently used as parking, much of which is very near transit with plenty spare capacity. Google ought to build a proper downtown core around the existing infrastructure, rather than sprawl out into greenfield.David Edmondsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09122497078883517920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post-651951374037109762013-02-27T00:08:07.867-08:002013-02-27T00:08:07.867-08:00The Google people are fools! They defend the spra...The Google people are fools! They defend the sprawling growth vigorously. All those young people want to be in downtown and in urban setting, not in suburbs. Downtown SJ and or SF can use all the growth to further revitalize themselves and relieve traffic and congestions on the valley streets. city bluenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post-48689633819766679022013-02-25T22:52:52.523-08:002013-02-25T22:52:52.523-08:00One problem is incredibly difficult to correct: th...One problem is incredibly difficult to correct: the street network. Doesnt matter how dense a campus becomes, the only way in and out is via high speed arterials connecting to a freeway. James Sinclairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00948509061118072998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7280277691673459003.post-59802593833644956942013-02-25T20:24:01.721-08:002013-02-25T20:24:01.721-08:00In Google's case, the Peninsula area is going ...In Google's case, the Peninsula area is going to be forced to get denser and denser and denser and will probably eventually become properly urban, just due to the sheer number of companies clustering and adding more employees. Google is behind the curve rather than ahead of it, however, which is genuinely dumb. And the area is going to end up with the layout from hell, which will make building the necessary public transport as expensive as building the Underground in central London.Nathanaelnoreply@blogger.com