Seaplane Lagoon, Alameda Point

Seaplane Lagoon is planned to be the focal point of Alameda Point redevelopment, with a new ferry terminal and town center proposed just to the right of the buildings on the far shore. Redevelopment has been in limbo for 15 years; Alamedans fear the traffic impacts on the Posey and Webster tubes, which provide the only (non-ferry) access to the island's west end, and some have argued that Measure A -- the decades-old ban on residential buildings bigger than a duplex that would have to be exempted for any development to be walkable and transit-oriented -- is rooted in racist fear of migration from the largely African-American city across the Estuary (or over the moat, as it were). While there are probably few racists among supporters of Measure A, the ultimate impact of banning even moderately dense housing is both less affordable housing for Alamedans and more traffic at the regional scale, and leaving large areas abandoned has nothing to do with preservation of existing homes.

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