On November 7, the Valley Transportation Authority Board of Directors voted to name the future subway BART station behind the hundred-year-old Five Wounds Portuguese National Church — 28th Street / Little Portugal. The vote was the culmination of years of discussions with VTA, including a 2016 community survey demonstrating overwhelming support for “Little Portugal” to be included in the station name. The November 21 BART Board of Directors vote will be necessary for final approval.
Transforming “Development” into “Community”: Transit Oriented Communities Draft Playbooks are Live
VTA has released three draft Playbooks to help encourage the development of Transit Oriented Communities. These recommendations are meant to help the future Santa Clara, Downtown San José and 28th Street Stations reach their full potential as thriving, vibrant Transit Oriented Communities. VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II extension through Downtown San José and Santa Clara is an opportunity to sustainably organize growth around BART. High demand for housing of all types, a strong job market, and new transit options provide the essential ingredients for … Continue reading →
Creating Livable Communities: What is “Good” Transit Oriented Development?
Good Transit Oriented Development (TOD) goes beyond just developing housing, office, and retail adjacent to transit. Good TOD integrates development into the fabric of a community to create a walkable, lively, mixed-use development that is centered around frequent and reliable transit. The increased transit ridership that results from Good TODs provides benefits to the community such as improved access to jobs and economic opportunities, increased sustainability, reduced dependence on automobiles and decreased greenhouse gas emissions. In general, there are four … Continue reading →
“28th Street/Little Portugal” Passes
Today, the San José City Council unanimously passed the name “28th Street/Little Portugal” for the future BART subway station behind Five Wounds Church. Special thanks to Mayor Liccardo and Councilmembers Peralez and Carrasco for their support for the name and for their support of our community over the years. The VTA and BART Boards are also expected to vote on the name in the coming months. … Continue reading →
City Council to Vote on BART Station Name
City Council to Vote on BART Station Name Tomorrow, Tuesday, February 12, at 1:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall in San José, the city council will be voting on whether it wants to name the future BART subway station behind Five Wounds Church “28th Street/Little Portugal”. If you too think that this is an important recognition of the Portuguese community’s history and contributions in East San José for more than 100 years, please attend the City … Continue reading →
BART Phase II Field Work Has Begun!
What’s happening? In preparation for the construction of the six-mile Phase II Extension, VTA needs to know more about the soil and the location for utilities in the path of the future project. This information helps us advance the design and engineering of the BART tunnel, station, and other facilities and avoid project delays once construction begins. These field investigations started in late September and will continue through the middle of 2019. The subsurface exploration, utility investigations, and geotechnical borings … Continue reading →
$34 Million for the Five Wounds Trail?
Yes, it’s possible! At the urging of Senator Jim Beall, the City of San José has applied for a $34 million California Transportation Commission Grant to complete a significant portion of the Five Wounds Trail from Story Road to Whitton Avenue, including environmental remediation and restoration and design of the trail all the way to the Berryessa BART Station. Grant awards will be announced in late spring 2019. And if we don’t make it this time, we’re confident that Senator … Continue reading →
BART Phase II Draft Relocation Plan Available
VTA has prepared a Draft Relocation Plan to assist residential and non-residential property owners and occupants that may be impacted by any property acquisition in order to construct VTA’s BART Phase II Extension. Outreach to property owners began in June to incorporate their feedback into the draft plan. Now, the public will have an opportunity to comment over a 30 day period starting today, August 17. Four public forums are being held to present the Draft Relocation Plan and receive … Continue reading →
Urban Village Implementation Framework
The Urban Village Implementation Framework (download here) was released by the City in May 2018. It describes the calculations available for determining the amount of Urban Village Amenity (UVA) required and the process for selecting the UVAs. The amount and type of UVAs required of a residential mixed-use project would be a condition of approval in the project’s development permit that would need to be acknowledged and agreed to by the permittee. The type of amenities that could be provided … Continue reading →
Transit-Oriented Development
VTA recently announced the start of a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Strategy / Access Planning Study to identify strategies for developing housing and commercial space near three of the future BART stations (28th Street, Downtown San Jose, and Santa Clara). These studies are being conducted as part of VTA’s BART Silicon Valley Phase II Project. The meetings will be coordinated with the existing BART Phase II Community Working Groups for each of those stations. The themes for the three Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) workshops … Continue reading →