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Collge Heights: Community, Mobility, Affordability, Design, Health & Safety, Sustainability

The successful walking neighborhood that characterized cities into the 1920s was killed by the car, its many external costs, and sprawl. College Heights would be a walking neighborhood based on walkable neighborhood systems research to be an affordable, sustainable replacement for suburbia.

College Heights is a proposed walking-oriented community on a quarry owned by the City of Hayward. The project would have over 700 condominiums and townhouses designed to provide healthy, safe, affordable places to live while lowering dependence on privately owned cars. The walkway approach allows substantially more development per acre than typical streets, and is only possible because of the potential for non-auto modes to reach the nearby CSUEB campus, downtown Hayward, and BART for the four markets College Heights will serve. City policy in support is already in place.

College Heights’ residential areas would be largely car-free, with small parks and walkways that lead to a Village Center. The Village Center will include a community center, bus-way, Village Square, small grocery store and cafĂ© with a view of the Bay. The Community Center will offer ATM, HOA business office, meeting rooms, fitness center, and library. Groceries will be within easy walking distance at The Corner Store. The Village Bus provides frequent, fast and free service for Village residents, reaching the CSUEB campus in two minutes and downtown Hayward and BART station in six minutes.