http://www.abetteroakland.com/thoughts-on-the-harvest-hall-groundbreaking-in-jack-london-square/2007-10-23 The Continuing Story of a City Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:06:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://www.abetteroakland.com/thoughts-on-the-harvest-hall-groundbreaking-in-jack-london-square/2007-10-23#comment-265 dto510 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:26:09 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/thoughts-on-the-harvest-hall-groundbreaking-in-jack-london-square/2007-10-23#comment-265 It's very true that Jack London Square, despite hosting most of the condo development as a result of the 10k Plan, is not doing as well as Downtown proper. I would say that part of downtown's success is attributable to the revitalization of once-thriving historic retail districts, like Old Oakland and Uptown. There is no historic district with nice facades to restore in the JLS area. Also, JLS is not a mixed-use as downtown, with fewer daytime employees, so that could be part of it too. Hopefully new office space will provide a broader mix of people that can anchor retail during the day. It’s very true that Jack London Square, despite hosting most of the condo development as a result of the 10k Plan, is not doing as well as Downtown proper. I would say that part of downtown’s success is attributable to the revitalization of once-thriving historic retail districts, like Old Oakland and Uptown. There is no historic district with nice facades to restore in the JLS area. Also, JLS is not a mixed-use as downtown, with fewer daytime employees, so that could be part of it too. Hopefully new office space will provide a broader mix of people that can anchor retail during the day.

]]> http://www.abetteroakland.com/thoughts-on-the-harvest-hall-groundbreaking-in-jack-london-square/2007-10-23#comment-264 Moschops Fri, 26 Oct 2007 06:18:02 +0000 http://www.abetteroakland.com/thoughts-on-the-harvest-hall-groundbreaking-in-jack-london-square/2007-10-23#comment-264 The developers have sat on empty retail spaces for years and have no tenants for the spaces lined up - there retail folks are apparently just hopeless. Meanwhile Alameda is booming and Uptown is calling - like Seattle it seems "the other side of the freeway" may be a quiet and underutilized destination for years to come. As ever my greatest wish is to be proved wrong, good luck with that. The developers have sat on empty retail spaces for years and have no tenants for the spaces lined up – there retail folks are apparently just hopeless. Meanwhile Alameda is booming and Uptown is calling – like Seattle it seems “the other side of the freeway” may be a quiet and underutilized destination for years to come. As ever my greatest wish is to be proved wrong, good luck with that.

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