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About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add...  (More)

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A new concept for neighborhoods in Pleasanton

Uploaded: Mar 31, 2015
Last week, DeNova Homes opened its new neighborhood near the Gateway Shopping Center at Bernal Avenue and Interstate 680.
It's an interesting new concept for Pleasanton. Glancing at the buildings under construction, I had assumed they would be condos or apartments. My error—the two- and three-story buildings are single family residences.
DeNova's advertising cites bringing East Coast brownstone living to Pleasanton. The homes range from 2,844 to 3,662 square feet, so there's plenty of room with up to five bedrooms in some models. There are spaces between each building allowing for yards and patios in the back. The community also will have its own "Club on the Square" with bocce, a swimming pool, a fitness center, kitchen and other rooms.
The easy access to I-680, particularly after upgrades to the interchange are finished, will be inviting for folks commuting to the Silicon Valley. In addition to that location advantage, DeNova also will have most of the Pleasanton new home market to itself. There are a couple of other small projects under construction with single family dwellings priced well into seven figures.
So, for potential buyers, it will come down to choosing very urban densities for single family units in a highly desirable community with excellent schools. Just how walkable the community will be remains to be determined once landscaping and other amenities are finished. It is close to a variety of shopping, banking and a variety of restaurants and fast-food places at Gateway Square.

There was one real irony in the two-bill emergency drought package that the Legislature approved last week and Governor Brown signed. It was about $1 billion for the spending package, which sailed through committees and both houses of the Legislature.
But language in the bill implementing the spending—the so-called trailer bill—found Democrats and Republicans on opposite sides over permanent new authority given to the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife to investigate and fine people illegally diverting water from streams. The department indicated it is primarily targeted at marijuana grows that have drained creeks and streams along the North Coast and harmed endangered species of fish such as salmon and steelhead trout.
The measure passed on a party-line vote with Democrats supporting the increased power to pursue and fine diverters (up to $8,000/day), while Republicans objected because of the lack of due process because all of the authority was given to fish and game. When was the last time you ever saw Republicans standing up for marijuana growers? In fairness, the lack of any sunset for the law and its wide ranging authority could have a wildlife agent citing a rancher for a small channel diverting water to livestock. Prior to this law, it was up to the state water board to determine whether diversions were legal and to assess penalties if they were not.
Nonetheless, such are the strange bedfellows that politics creates.

Community.
What is it worth to you?

Comments

Posted by loansmob, a resident of Canyon Oaks,
on Apr 1, 2015 at 7:53 am

developing and constituting a new concept for a neighbourhood is always going to be a challenging task, given that most of it requires a decent sum of money to get going. however these challenges can be overcome if institutions like Web Link lend a hand in developing the community and contribute to its upliftment, These will definitely provide the impetus for the betterment of society.


Posted by Bill, a resident of Amberwood/Wood Meadows,
on Apr 1, 2015 at 9:23 am

Easy access to i680 as long as you don't try to get on the freeway during morning commute hours. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes to go from Valley/Bernal to the entrance of i680 southbound. Don't see how the work on the on/off ramps is going to help unless CalTrans/the city of Pleasanton/ and MTC work together on staging the southbound metering light so the southbound on-ramp will not get clogged with cars. Once this happens traffic gets gridlocked on the city streets. If this happens then we just have used millions in tax dollars to build a bigger parking lot (like Mission/i880 interchange, although not millions but hundreds of millions).
Remember when the only traffic control to southbound i680 from Bernal was a left turn lane? Valley/Bernal to southbound i680 was 30 seconds. You gotta love progress, especially "planned" progress.


Posted by Terry, a resident of Highland Oaks,
on Apr 3, 2015 at 7:49 pm

Jerry Brown is really funny (LOL), Within Drought spending plan is $600,000,000 for flood control... Also, there is no spending on more water for our State. Maybe, there is money for tearing down the Reservoirs that we do have.


Posted by San Ramon Observer, a resident of San Ramon,
on Apr 5, 2015 at 7:12 pm

San Ramon Observer is a registered user.

The DeNova homes in Pleasanton look a lot like the lot size of most of San Ramon's Dougherty Valley. Nothing new here.

Roz


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