One step towards affordable, sustainable housing in Hayward, California: College Heights at the Quarry Site

One step towards affordable, sustainable housing in Hayward, California: College Heights at the Quarry Site

The City of Hayward has been aiming to develop an abandoned quarry site for 20 years. Within the context of Hayward’s Climate Action Plan and the Housing for All Plan, Hayward Area Planning Association (HAPA) supports a community development (now called College Heights) that is sustainable, affordable, people-centric, walkable, and served by frequent transit. In…

Motivations for College Heights Hayward: A primer to housing affordability, transportation issues, and climate change

Motivations for College Heights Hayward: A primer to housing affordability, transportation issues, and climate change

It’s no secret that we are collectively going through a time of multiple crises – exorbitant housing prices, lack of affordable transportation options, and the dangers of the climate crisis. The way that housing developments have been designed and built have been exacerbating and worsening the impacts of these systemic issues. College Heights is a…

The Fight for Affordable Walkable Neighborhood Systems: Hayward & the Quarry

The Fight for Affordable Walkable Neighborhood Systems: Hayward & the Quarry

In the decades spent fighting for housing development at the quarry, we’ve found that the City of Hayward has generally supported a development that fits the bill for a walkable neighborhood system. However, developers have been risk-averse in adopting new ideas such as unbundled parking, reduced parking, higher cnesity, and project support for its own…

Roadmap to College Heights: A Strategy by Hayward Area Planning Association

Roadmap to College Heights: A Strategy by Hayward Area Planning Association

We see four steps to make a credible pitch to new wealth committed to affordable housing in the Bay Area. Those steps are underground parking platform analysis, updated pro formas, market research and corporate structure.  Underground Parking Platform The location of the platform needs to be optimized. The 2% slope for drainage remains the same,…

The Theory Behind College Heights: A Primer on Walkable Neighborhood Systems

The Theory Behind College Heights: A Primer on Walkable Neighborhood Systems

As the suburbs have dominated huge swaths of land in the United States, different typologies of organizing communities have risen in popularity – 15 minute cities, mixed use neighborhoods, and “live work play” neighborhoods. Walkable Neighborhood Systems is a concept developed as an alternative to harmful suburbia. Defining Walkable Neighborhood Systems Breaking the concept down,…