The city’s future efforts to slow urban sprawl and redirect at least some growth to a revitalized downtown shouldn’t look merely at restoring/tearing down and rebuilding existing structures, Community Development Director Steve Chase said last week.
What about the streets themselves?
“We’ve got a boatload of streets downtown,” Chase told the city’s Climate Action Plan Advisory Committee. “Each one is at least a minor arterial street. Do we really need American Street? Do we really need Stanislaus Street? Do we really need California Street? Do we need all three or can we give one up and the city vacates the street and sidewalks back to the adjoining properties, which then increases the buildable space, allows for increased density and just possibly meets the market lending criteria that’s necessary for redevelopment of properties?
“Think of your city as a real estate commodity,” he said. “Think of your streets as a real estate commodity that may very well be able to be utilized to get a project off the ground.”
