This week, we got another reminder of what most of us already knew- it’s expensive to live in the Bay Area.
Case in point: a new development in San Mateo County.
Locked in the fight between increasing urban development and maintaining a small city feel, San Mateo County is home to one of the newest housing areas: Bay Meadows.
Bay Meadows was a popular racetrack since its opening in the 1930’s. After it closed in 2008, the area has been slowly renovated to suit homes.
“We’ve been unable to build enough housing to make the overall demand,” said Rosanne Foust, the CEO of San Mateo County Economic Development Association. “I look at San Mateo County as Mayberry meets Silicon Valley.”
Silicon Valley experienced a large population increase in the mid to late 90’s. San Francisco got the spillover of that unprecedented growth, turning the city into a business and tech community.
Cities like San Mateo are taking advantage of what has turned into a resurgence of urban growth, but not everyone was on board.
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Foust, who is also a Redwood City Council member, said, “People did not want the court house square, they did not want the downtown cinema in Redwood City, and yet people actually come up now and thank us,” said Foust, who is also a Redwood City Council member. “[If] you want corporations to expand, you want better schools, you want better shopping experiences, so how do you do that?”
Well if you’re a developer, you build more houses.
Bay Meadows is the new urban village, nestled perfectly between San Francisco and San Jose on the Caltrain line.
“It’s got the transit system that rolls right up the front door here,” said Scott Giddens, a Bay Meadows spokesman. “It’s set up as walking community- lots of parks, lots of green space,” and lots of housing units.
If you want the entire urban village experience, a town home here is priced anywhere between $755,000 to $840,000. More housing projects in the county are in the works.
