Complete neighborhoods are the communities where we all want to live, where jobs and leisure activities, work and play, and goods and services are all within walking distance.
The Bay Area lacks many of these complete neighborhoods, often prioritizing housing far away from jobs, creating both mounting housing prices and bumper-to-bumper traffic on our freeways. However, a rare opportunity and a willing partner to create a complete neighborhood is coming to the city of Mountain View.
The proposed plans by Google to create a complete neighborhood in the North Bayshore area — bringing innovation, sustainability, needed housing, and a sense of community — are very exciting to our region. Google’s proposal is our best option to not only fulfill the North Bayshore precise plan that was passed by the Mountain View City Council in 2017, but to bring much-needed housing online and to the community.
With the density of jobs already within North Bayshore, the opportunity to bring appropriately dense housing should not be missed. When the North Bayshore precise plan was approved in 2017, the city committed to and planned for up to 9,850 homes to be built in the area. With Google’s North Bayshore framework proposal, the city’s vision for the area has a chance to come to fruition, including providing a significant amount of new affordable homes. Google’s proposal calls for 20 percent of the homes in the plan to be affordable, with 70 percent rental and 30 percent for sale. This new, high-quality housing would double the amount of affordable housing within the city of Mountain View and again provide the opportunity for the city to be a leader in our region.
Housing at a range of levels ensures that we are housing all of our workforce and creating diverse communities. With housing near jobs, people are getting out of their cars, thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions and and alleviating our worsening traffic. The proposed 200,000 to 300,000 square feet of retail would allow for everything from restaurants and cafes, to a grocery store, to mom-and-pop shops to open up and serve future residents and the surrounding community. There’s currently a lack of services in the area for existing North Bayshore residents, and this proposed framework gives those residents the goods and services they need in their backyard.
Extensive community feedback was given to Google regarding the baylands, trails, and open space in North Bayshore. Google listened, using this opportunity to provide immense community benefit in the form of parks, open protected spaces, and an urban ecology center. These added benefits safeguard the wildlife that is in the area and even give an opportunity to grow the diversity of the wildlife.
Google’s proposed framework for North Bayshore plans not just for today, but for the needs of tomorrow. Economic vitality within both Mountain View and the greater Silicon Valley is dependent on job growth and creation. However, lack of available housing at all levels heavily impedes a business’s ability to acquire and retain talented workers, and ultimately to grow. The plan proposed has the opportunity to be a model for other communities looking to bring jobs and housing together to create complete communities. We urge Mountain View to approve Google’s proposed plan and welcome a complete neighborhood into the North Bayshore area not just for today, but also for tomorrow.
Carl Guardino is CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, a public policy trade association of more than 360 companies. Together, these companies account for nearly one of every three private sector jobs in Silicon Valley. Visit svlg.org for more information.