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Densely-Developed Urban Core For decades, the East Bay’s urban core cities have been a vibrant center of activity for the region. They remain so today. The cities of Richmond, Berkeley, and Oakland cover only 7% of the land area in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, yet they contain 27% of the population and provide more than 30% of the jobs in these counties. Along with San Francisco, these cities are the most densely developed in the region. Tri-Valley: Offices . . and Housing Much development is now occurring outside these core cities. Among the Bay Area’s four subregions, the East Bay shows the most dramatic shift in new development towards outer suburbs. Major office park development in the Tri-Valley communities of San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore resulted in a doubling of employment in the area during the 1980s. Further development continues today. Bishop Ranch, in San Ramon, is about to open 900,000 square feet of office space and will break ground on another 900,000 square feet in 1998. In Pleasanton, between January 1996 and June 1997, building permits were issued for one million square feet of office space and 600,000 square feet of retail/service space. The large amount of office and retail/service development in the Tri-Valley Area is now being accompanied by housing development. Residential building permit activity in San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, and Livermore is among the most vigorous in the region. Permits for over 2,800 units were issued between January 1996 and June 1997. The Lure of an Affordable New Home Residential building is not restricted to the Tri-Valley area, though. Brentwood, in eastern Contra Costa County, has had a burst of new growth. In 1995, the city had 4,500 households. But, in the first six months of 1997 alone, the city issued permits for an additional 300 single-family and 200 multi-family units. Antioch, to the west of Brentwood, issued permits for nearly 400 single-family units during the same period. While in the Tri-Valley, office and light-industrial development preceded housing development, the boom in eastern Contra Costa County has been almost exclusively in residential development. Despite long commutes to Walnut Creek and the Tri-Valley, or longer commutes to San Francisco and the South Bay, buyers are attracted by home prices substantially lower than in other parts of the region. The median sales price of homes in Antioch and Brentwood (new and existing) is approximately half the median price for the region as a whole. Industry in Fremont Homes in eastern Contra Costa County are attractive because they are generally lower priced than in the central part of the county and because the large number of new homes offers buyers greater choice and flexibility. These factors are equally important in other areas and for other types of property. Light-industrial space in southern Alameda County is a perfect example. With a very tight market for space in Santa Clara County, businesses are looking north. As a result, Fremont accounted for one quarter of all recent industrial building permit activity in the Bay Area. The activity in Fremont far exceeds every other area in the East Bay and totals more than two million square feet for 1996 and the first half of 1997. This continues an upward trend in the amount of high technology manufacturing in the region. |
