Name: "15-minute city" concept could sprout in downtown San Jose, other Bay Area cities
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"15-minute city" concept could sprout in downtown San Jose, other Bay Area cities

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By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN JOSE — Downtown San Jose’s new projects are poised to reshape the municipality’s urban core as a “15-minute city” that can flourish in the coronavirus era.The idea is to give people the ability to live, work, play and enjoy leisure time all within a compact area.Development endeavors such as those proposed and being crafted by Google, the Westbank-Gary Dillabough team, Jay Paul Co., and Urban Catalyst could transform downtown San Jose into this kind of cutting-edge city.Now, experts with Lendlease, a developer working with Google on several projects, and with SITELAB urban studio, a major urban design firm, are working on projects in downtown San Jose and other parts of Silicon Valley to make the 15-minute city a local reality.“San Jose is a very interesting city. Like many other cities it has pockets of vibrancy and pockets where not much is happening,” said Rob Deck, a Lendlease executive who is the real estate company’s head of development for Google ventures. “We want to create a 15-minute city in the areas where we are developing.”Downtown West, Google’s transit-oriented neighborhood, is expected to have all the elements of a 15-minute city, according to Laura Crescimano, a principal executive and co-founder with SITELAB urban studio.“The idea is that the things you need are all within 15 minutes of where you live,” Crescimano said. “Your house, your work, shopping, dining, parks, entertainment, playgrounds, you can walk, or take a bike, and be there within 15 minutes.”The 15-minute city, some experts say, originated in 2020 with Carlos Moreno, a France-based professor and a Paris City Hall envoy for smart cities.“The quarter-hour city, contained in a compact area, or the half-hour territory in a semi- or low-density area, has hyper proximity, with accessibility for everyone at all times,” Moreno wrote in his blog.Ideally, the 15-minute distance is accessible by walking, biking or transit, in the view of urban planners.“This is a city where, in less than 15 minutes, dwellers can access their essential living needs,” Moreno wrote.New projects that turn into neighborhoods with all the necessities close to home, as well as plenty of amenities, could become more popular in a world still coping with the coronavirus.After a year, many dwellers in urban cores around the world had to become accustomed to curbing or halting visits to ultra-popular destinations in their downtown districts.Being stuck closer to home has given people the opportunity to frequent small establishments close to where they live since popular sites were often shut down due to coronavirus-linked government mandates.“The 15-minute city predates COVID but all the things we are experiencing have shed more light on that idea,” Crescimano said.Open spaces are crucial to the notion. Lendlease is working on plans with Google that not only are associated with Downtown West in San Jose, but also two neighborhoods the search giant would like to develop in northern Mountain View near the Googleplex headquarters.“You can live in a wonderful part of the city, such as in downtown San Jose, and your commute to work or back to home is to walk through a park, or to a coffee shop,” Deck said. “The idea is to give people choices about living close to work. You won’t always have to take a long commute to get to work.”The 15-minute city is a sharp departure from traditional approaches to planning. Conventional planning created a housing district, an office hub, a retail hub, and a park elsewhere.“The idea now is to mix all of those things together and create them in one neighborhood,” Crescimano said. “You don’t want to live one part of your life in one part of the city and then another part on the other side of town. You want it all in one place.”Google’s Downtown West transit village would sprout next to and near the Diridon train station and SAP entertainment center, and consist of office buildings, homes, restaurants, shops, entertainment hubs, hotel facilities, cultural centers and parks.The Google village on the western edges of downtown San Jose can also breathe life into a sleepy part of the downtown. Deck believes the project can connect the transit station and the SAP Center more firmly to the rest of the downtown.“It’s not a fully utilized part of downtown San Jose,” Deck said. “It is a canvas waiting to benefit from all of the things that create a 15-minute city.”&nbsp;We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. 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By | | Bay Area News GroupSAN JOSE — Downtown San Jose’s new projects are poised to reshape the municipality’s urban core as a “15-minute city” that can flourish in the coronavirus era.The idea is to give people the ability to live, work, play and enjoy leisure time all within a compact area.Development endeavors such as those proposed and being crafted by Google, the Westbank-Gary Dillabough team, Jay Paul Co., and Urban Catalyst could transform downtown San Jose into this kind of cutting-edge city.Now, experts with Lendlease, a developer working with Google on several projects, and with...

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George Avalos

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"15-minute city" concept could sprout in downtown San Jose, other Bay Area cities

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