On the city of Alameda’s north shore, an abandoned former shipping terminal sits behind a long chain link fence. Home to a dilapidated dock, a few deteriorating buildings and a large pile of dirt, the 32-acre lot has sat empty for a decade–a small piece of forgotten local history.
Alameda’s housing goals require it to build 5,300 units over the next decade, but new housing proposals are almost always controversial. Residents have concerns about increasing traffic congestion, and the fact that there are only so many lanes on and off the islandcreating anxiety about evacuations in the event of an earthquake. And yet, there was no major local opposition to the Encinal Terminals project.
“When you have infrastructure that’s already there, you often have neighbors who oppose it,” Lane said. “Anything that changes the existing neighborhood is oftentimes met with opposition.”