Overcoming the Political Hurdles
The Real Story: Interviews with Rick Holliday (2 of 5)
The Real Story BLog
When does a neighborhood need less affordable housing? This is one of the questions that faced the City of Oakland and developer Rick Holliday in the planning of Central Station in West Oakland. During the approvals process, two sides brought opposing views about the future of the neighborhood—one which wanted more affordable housing for the neighborhood, in response to worries about gentrification, and the other, which wanted to see more market rate housing. In today’s podcast, Rick Holliday talks about the political hurdles that are a part of life in redeveloping areas—and the 8-0 vote that gave strength to the vision for the area’s revival.
Rick also comments about the popularity, at least in the planning community, for ground floor retail, and talks about the realities “flexible zoning”– letting retail happen when the community it ready for it to happen, but animating the ground floor spaces with ideas that make sense, if not dollars and cents, right from the start.
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