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      CREATING LIVABLE INFRASTRUCTURE: THE CONNECTOAKLAND VISION TO RECONNECT NEIGHBORHOODS AND CONNECT CITIES THROUGH FREEWAY REMOVAL

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          INTRODUCTION

          Throughout the second half of the 20th Century, our nation's cities were marred by the onslaught of unsustainable suburbanization and the expansion of limited access highways that ripped through urban centers and divided communities within them. Paired with systematic disinvestment from redlining and white flight, these forces combined to create lasting physical, social and economic hardships in cities across the US. Over the last 20 years, cities have rebounded in America and new patterns of thought focused on livability, walkability and urban form have started to sprout: from the Big-Dig in Boston to Octavia Boulevard and the Embarcadero in San Francisco, cities are reassessing the value of highways that solely move automobiles through cities, and have started to focus on how these pieces of infrastructure impact the daily lives and economic interests of a their residents and visitors.

          In Oakland, California, through the efforts of ConnectOAKLAND, the city is taking up the mantle of this new pattern of thought and is beginning the planning process to reconnect West Oakland to Downtown by transforming an underutilized freeway (I-980) into a multi-modal transportation corridor that reestablishes the historic urban grid. The project's dual benefit will reconnect two of Oakland's historic neighborhoods while better connecting Oakland along with the entire East Bay to San Francisco, San Jose and Silicon Valley through the incorporation of a second transbay tunnel for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), commuter rail (Caltrain), and high speed rail (HSR). This article will explore the ConnectOAKLAND vision for I-980 as a case study for current and future patterns of highway removal, and as a part of the national movement to rethink the role of urban highways and holistically re-envision the US transportation infrastructure.

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          Author and article information

          Journal
          jgrb
          Journal of Green Building
          College Publishing
          1552-6100
          1943-4618
          1943-4618
          Spring 2016
          : 11
          : 2
          : 1-21
          Author notes

          1. Bay Area designer, urbanist, and advocate, LEED Green Associate at Van Meter Williams Pollack, Andrew@ 123456vmwp.com

          2. Oakland resident, Vice President of Development at SummerHill Housing Group, jfearn@ 123456shapartments.com

          3. Founder of ConnectOakland.org and Urban Designer-Associate at Van Meter Williams Pollack, sensenig@ 123456vmwp.com

          4. Transportation planner and urbanist, Planner at San Francisco Recreation and Parks, brianstokle@ 123456urbanlifesigns.com

          Article
          jgb.11.2.1
          10.3992/jgb.11.2.1.1
          1fe5fe85-65b7-4074-86af-8ae7bd63289c
          ©2016 by College Publishing. All rights reserved.
          History
          Page count
          Pages: 21
          Categories
          INDUSTRY CORNER

          Urban design & Planning,Civil engineering,Environmental management, Policy & Planning,Architecture,Environmental engineering
          freeway removal,transit oriented development,livable infrastructure

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