Building More Problems: Thousands of New Housing Developments in Fremont, CA
Every morning on the way to elementary school, I would stare at a massive patch of tall grass that I drove by every day. Throughout the years, I slowly watched the grass change from green to brown to green again as the seasons changed. It looked out of place; a massive plot of empty land amongst the highway rush-hour and the bustling businesses that neighbored it, but I quickly grew accustomed to it. One day in 2009, I saw tractors and construction workers begin breaking ground on the land. I did not realize the importance of that day; it was the day that the quiet suburban town I had known my whole life would begin its slow, but steady, transformation into a more urban space. Over the next decade, I witnessed new construction sites popping up all throughout the city, and now I cannot go anywhere without seeing that bright orange color of the construction sites.
Today, Fremont, California has over 1,200 homes under construction and another 4,000 units approved (Li). David Louie from ABC7 News explains that these new housing developments are a part of city officials’ plans to transform the downtown area of suburban Fremont into an urban sector, as well as creating a more vibrant neighborhood surrounding the newly built Warm Springs Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station (Louie). City officials explain that as the Bay Area’s fourth-largest city, Fremont should have a downtown area where the heart of the city resides (Louie). Joseph Geha from the East Bay Times strengthens this idea by pointing out that new housing in Fremont will bring people closer to their jobs and make public transportation more accessible (Geha). Although I understand the city’s intentions of wanting to create a more lively space, I argue that Fremont’s existing five-district (Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles, and Warm Springs) structure already allows for a vibrant community experience. Each district has its own style; for example, Niles resembles an old and quaint small town, Centerville is home to Central Park and Fremont Hub, a prominent food and shopping plaza, and more. I believe adding a large number of new housing sites will make the space excessively busy, and dilute the uniqueness of the individual districts.
Most of the reactions of Fremont citizens, including me, towards these housing developments have been negative. Although I am now aware of its advantages, upon further research, I am not convinced that they outweigh the negatives as the city claims. Unless the city is able to provide the necessary infrastructure for the population growth, I believe these new housing developments are detrimental to current Fremont citizens.
Two of the biggest complaints that have arisen are concerns about the positive correlation between additional housing, and the existing severe traffic congestion and overcrowded public schools. In a 2016 poll released by the Bay Area Council, 54 percent of people reported that they believed it was harder to get around the Bay Area than it was the year before, which is more than double the percentage than in 2014 (Avalos). Additionally, the Bay Area was ranked seventh in the country for the worst traffic (Avalos). EMC Research explains that the worsening traffic is largely due to economic growth, and senior principal Ruth Bernstein explained, “We definitely are seeing a backlash against the economic boom,” which would continue due to building new houses (Avalos). I extrapolated this data from the Bay Area and applied it to my existing knowledge of Fremont: Fremont is positioned in between the Tri-Valley, where many people live, and the Peninsula, where many people work. Additionally, the intersection of Mission Boulevard and Warm Springs Boulevard area in Fremont is sandwiched between I-680 and I-880, two major highways used for commuting in the Bay Area. I see building new housing as a negative project because it directly results in the increase of thousands of people living in Fremont and therefore would lead to traffic that will be even worse than it is now. Traffic has been worsening throughout the years, and there have been no evident efforts from the City of Fremont to support citizens with this issue.
Additionally, citizens are concerned that Fremont’s public schools do not have the capacity to take in more students. In the 2010–2011 school year, there were about 32,000 students enrolled in Fremont Unified School District, and in the most recent 2020–2021 school year, that number increased by 3,000 students (“Fremont Unified”). According to a study done by Pamela McCauley from the University of Central Florida, overcrowded schools affect students’ school performance (McCauley). Furthermore, enrollment at many Fremont elementary schools is over capacity, so the school district has turned to using a lottery system to determine if students can attend their home schools. I believe that parents living in Fremont have every right to be concerned about their child’s education, especially if it is going to be determined by pure luck, and adding new students will aggravate the issue.
However, in my research, I learned that Lila Bringhurst Elementary School, a new elementary school, is being built in an attempt to alleviate this issue (“Home Sales”). I am in full support of the city wanting to provide students with quality education and modern architecture that reflects the innovation of the Silicon Valley. I believe that, to a certain extent, this offsets the population surge that existing schools would face due to the new construction. However, building an elementary school will not solve the issue of middle school and high school overcrowding. In fact, I believe that it will worsen the issue because of the increase in student population. On top of this, the traffic surrounding the school during drop-off and pick-up times is severe and will add to the existing traffic in the area. Therefore, although I do acknowledge that the city has at least tried to help the issue of overcrowding schools, I don’t think it is enough to counterbalance the student population surge that will result as a result of new housing developments.
Moreover, Roland Li from the San Francisco Business Times highlights that there have already been lawsuits against two separate housing developers (Li). On top of this, a coalition called Stand Up 4 Fremont was formed to oppose the housing construction (Li). I would contend that the two separate lawsuits and the formation of Stand Up 4 Fremont emphasize that many Fremont citizens’ views align with mine: that the drawbacks of building new housing overshadow the benefits. This additionally aligns with EMC research’s findings on Bay Area traffic, as well as Pamela McCauley’s study on overcrowded schools.
One issue that I had not previously considered is that class elements also factor into this topic. According to a report by the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation, the cost of building new apartments, single-family homes, and even affordable housing projects is “absurdly high” (“Editorial: California Housing”). The report specifically mentions that “the Bay Area suburb of Fremont charges fees that add up to $22,000 per apartment and a whopping $35,000 for a single-family house” (“Editorial: California Housing”). The “impact fees” that the city charges the developers means that the cost to rent or buy homes increases, which will increase the gap between socioeconomic classes in Fremont. The addition of this negative strengthens my opinion that city officials have not provided the proper framework for these new housing developments and therefore is overall detrimental to the community.
The lack of infrastructure to account for an increased population in Fremont can be translated to the rapidly increasing population of the world. According to the United Nations, the world’s population “could reach 9.7 billion people by 2050, and over 11 billion by 2100” (Cumming). Even if we build all the proper housing and provide all the resources necessary to account for population growth, there is only so much space on this Earth that humans can inhabit. And of course, there is also only a limited amount of resources such as food, water, and energy on this planet. This brings me to the questions: What can the world learn from Fremont’s inability to alleviate the negative effects of the population surge brought by the construction of new housing in the area? What are some successful implementations made by Fremont city leaders that can be applied to building an infrastructure strong enough to support the world’s increasing population? Is it even possible for the Earth to have sufficient groundwork that will offset the effects of a growing population?
Works Cited
Avalos, George. “IRRITATION OVER TRAFFIC GROWS, NEW POLL FINDS: TRAFFIC DISCOURAGES RESIDENTS OF THE BAY AREA, POLL FINDS.” East Bay Times, Apr 29, 2016. ProQuest, http://libproxy.usc.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.libproxyl.usc.edu/docview/1785487387?accountid=14749.
Cumming, Vivien. “Earth — How Many People Can Our Planet Really Support?” BBC, BBC, 14 Mar. 2016, www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160311-how-many-people-can-our-planet- really-support.
“Editorial: California Housing Prices Are Too Damn High. Cities Can Help Change That If They Want To.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2020, www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-02-28/la-ed-development-fees-state-bills.
“Fremont Unified School District.” Public School Review, 2021, www.publicschoolreview.com/california/fremont-unified-school-district/614400-school-district.
Geha, Joseph. “Fremont: City Council Approves Controversial Walnut Residences Apartment Complex.” East Bay Times, East Bay Times, 28 Nov. 2016, www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/11/26/fremont-city-council-approves-controversial-walnut-residences-apartment-complex/.
“Home Sales Flourishing at New Developments Feeding Future Lila Bringhurst Elementary School.” Fremont Unified School District, 6 June 2016, fusd-ca.schoolloop.com/pf4/cms2/news_themed_display?id=1559811764320.
Li, Roland. “Fremont Has Plans for Thousands of New Homes, but Residents Are Having Second Thoughts.” Bizjournals.com, San Fran, 25 May 2017, www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2017/05/25/fremont-developer-backlash-tmg-partners-spur.html.
Louie, David. “Fremont’s Plans for Growth to Be ‘Strategically Urban’ Leave Some Residents Concerned.” ABC7 San Francisco, KGO-TV, 22 Nov. 2019, abc7news.com/fremont-the-city-of-ca-building-a-better-bay-area/5712170/.
McCauley, Pamela. “The Effect of Overcrowding in the US School System, A Simulation Approach.” Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), vol. 11, 1 Feb. 2017, doi:10.11591/edulearn.v11i1.3541.
