Reso 2001-021 RDA 2001-003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Grid J~'~~~' ~' ~~C~_ ~ ~ ~,~-,R San Leandro, 2020. The grid is renewed. Washington is reconfigured as a traditional street, Joaquin is reconnected to Hays, and infill develajiment animates the streetscape. American cities built in the late 19th century were generally laid out in a regular grid of intersecting streets. A clear grid facilitates access, defines edges, and permits easy navigation. San Leandro's original layout followed this traditional pattern. Subsequent downtown development followed the origi- nal pattern, Filling in the spaces around the grid of streets with buildings for commerce, housing, and industry. The 1983 redevelopment was a departure from the original grid. Points of entry became unclear, merchants reoriented front doors to parking lots, turn- ing their back on the frontages of East Fourteenth and Hays Streets, inad- vertently reducing the retail potential of these streets. While these changes attempted to approximate the success of new shopping malls, they ultimately led to a drop in retail vitality. Today urban designers and planners recognize that the downtown is different from the shopping center, and requires a different urban pattern. The vision of downtown involves the re-assertion of this grid. This is accomplished by two basic actions: moving parking from the center to the boundary streets, and restoring the severed portions of the original plan. Parking. By moving parking from the center of the downtown (the "Safeway plaza") to the adjacent street frontages (Hays, Joaquin, East Four- teenth, and West Juana), the streets become revitalized and the center of the downtown can be reclaimed for shops and other activities. By increasing parking efficiency on these streets, the plan shows a net gain in parking compared to today. Kestaring severed streets. The plan recommends restoring three streets - Washington, Estudillo and Joaquin - to their traditional form and function. Central to the plan is the recommendation to re-create a more traditional street pattern, with sidewalks, street lights, and other site elements on each side of Washington Street. Sites for new, small-scale retail buildings have also been identified to increase economic vitality and pedestrian activity. The plan accepts the closure of West Estudillo to auto traffic, but recom- mends enhancing the pedestrian passage between Washington and Hays to strengthen the connection to the historic area along West Estudillo and BART. Finally, in the long term, the plan recommends that Joaquin be re-connected at Hays when the large anchor tenant structure is ultimately replaced. This series of actions will restore, to a large degree, the city's traditional grid pattern while enhancing economic vitality for current and future use. page 3g October 2000 San Leandro Downtown Plan & Urban Design Guidelines The street characteristics of Wash- ington Avenue are still visible.