Location: Oakland, CA
Client: The City of Oakland
Scope: Urban Planning
Project
The West Oakland Specific Plan establishes development and design guidelines for under-utilized and/or vacant properties. The goal is to encourage private reinvestment in new residential, commercial and industrial development projects that generate jobs and services that enhance the area by reducing chronic land use conflicts that historically have plagued this highly mixed use area.
West Oakland is a storied ethnic community known for its unique culture and artistic expression, ranging from musical outpourings of The Blues to the Industrial Arts, while home to a diverse group of people including labor organizer “C. L.” Dellums and architect Julia Morgan. But like so many storied American communities, such as Harlem and the Lower East side in New York, and the Western Addition in San Francisco, West Oakland, evolved to serve the needs of the surrounding region at the expense its own livability.
Assignment
Teamed with the leading Oakland design firm JRDV Architects, Lamphier-Gregory, under the direction of Scott Gregory, President is drafting key elements of the West Oakland Specific Plan. From extensive community participation has emerged the articulation of over-arching goals of the community:
- Achieve physical and economic revitalization of West Oakland
- Provide jobs and services to the West Oakland community
- Determine the highest and best land uses for specific opportunity areas and sites
- Attract private investment in residential, commercial and industrial development
- Support mixed-use and transit-oriented land uses with a high priority on transit-oriented development at the West Oakland BART station, in collaboration with BART
- Resolve and prevent conflicts between residential and non-residential land uses
- Improve connection between West Oakland and the former Oakland Army Base
Lamphier-Gregory’s role includes preparing the Specific Plan and the accompanying EIR. Both documents are currently in the process of undergoing public review.
Image courtesy of JRDV Urban International
