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Charlotte L. Blackmer[_2_]

In article >,
Steve Pope > wrote:
>sf > wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 13 Aug 2010 00:53:01 +0000 (UTC),
>
>>> If you replaced the parking lots at North Berkeley, Ashby, MacArthur,
>>> El Cerrito, etc. with 20-story apartment/condo buildings of
>>> the same footprint as the existing parking lot, all the people
>>> living in those buildings could then ride BART to work. The
>>> system would have the same ridership it does now.
>
>>Huh. I would have bet that you'd be in favor of getting as many
>>riders as possible off the bridges and onto BART.
>
>Yes, and the way to do that is to build high-density housing near
>BART stations. That makes people less dependent on their cars.
>Building parking lots merely enables that depedency.

No, it acknowledges realities on the ground in areas served by most BART
stations in the East Bay: much of the existing housing stock is either
poorly served by public transit or not served at all since the streetcar
lines got ripped up and thrown away. Another reality on the ground is
that a lot of people transport children to/from school or day care. And
getting people to drive to a station and take the train from there gets
them off the damn freeways just the same and reduces the time their
vehicle is operated.

Anything I've seen being redeveloped in the general area of a BART station
is coming in as high-density and mixed-use. It's not just Berkeley; when
I was interviewing out in Deepest Suburbia near the Pleasant Hill station,
there were HD condos being built on an adjacent lot.

I'm just far enough away from a station that I appreciate the "park"
option when it's raining, I'm in formal clothing, or my knee is gimpy. It
also helps to have the car when I'm pretty tightly scheduled. That is,
when my work trip is BART-able; which hasn't been a given. My last 3
jobs were decidedly not.

Charlotte

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