3 ms·

SJC is an outstanding airport. It's very convenient, easy to access, nice and close to the downtown core that it serves. It would be a shame to lose this gem of

by bdamm 8y ago

SJC is an outstanding airport. It's very convenient, easy to access, nice and close to the downtown core that it serves. It would be a shame to lose this gem of an asset. There are policy and technology options to work around the tightness of the city and the airport. This is a city that needs its airport. It's a rare asset to have such a versatile and productive airport so embedded.

01100011 8y ago
Especially as the south end continues to grow. You're going to have a lot more people crammed into SJ in the next few years and making them all commute to SFO/OAK is stupid. +1 about SJC being outstanding. It's so damn easy to get in and out of. I really like flying through there. SAN is also pretty good, if you're on SWA anyway.
Johnny555 8y ago
It's very convenient, easy to access, nice and close to the downtown core that it serves That's why it will ultimately be replaced -- it's too close and is limiting growth of of that same downtown core.
- volkl48 8y ago
  Doesn't seem to have hurt Boston much even with Logan imposing strict height restrictions over large sections of the city. I will also point out that if you develop in a properly dense, urban fashion, you can create a large amount of space with relatively low-rise buildings. I am skeptical of the premise that the airport is limiting downtown development when I can see huge swaths of land devoted to asphalt parking lots and single-story buildings at present. You could redevelop/build new square footage for decades just on that.
  - Johnny555 8y ago
    Because of the orientation of Logan's runways, the main downtown isn't included in the most restrictive airspace: http://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map.pdf http://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map... San Jose airport's runways are aimed right at San Jose's core downtown area (near Diridon station) where all of this new development is taking place. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8294 http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8294
    - bdamm 8y ago
      The airspace restriction is on the order of 200-300' where they want to build (near Diridon station), which is plenty for 10+ story buildings. That's still a 5-6x increase in density, maybe more.
- bdamm 8y ago
  I just don't buy it. If that were true you'd see a nice wedge shaped skyline pointing towards the airport. That's not what San Jose's skyline looks like. Not only that, but the vast majority of San Jose's economy comes from low-rise buildings that are not even remotely close to being limited by even the generous, previous-generation flight paths of today.
  - Johnny555 8y ago
    San Jose apparently discovered that it's hard to serve a spread-out low-rise city with transit, VTA light rail takes forever to go anywhere. Google wants to build near Diridon where Caltrain already goes, and BART will eventually be extended there (or at least to nearby San Jose downtown station) Being transit friendly requireds high density, high-density means tall buildings. San Jose can't continue its low-rise development if it wants effective transit.
    - toast0 8y ago
      VTA light rail takes forever to go places for several reasons: All of the routes have too many turns. Maybe some are unavoidable, but splitting up into a east west route on the North end, a North south route on first Street / downtown, and whatever makes sense in the south of downtown routes would add transfers for many trips, but also reduce slow turns. In the downtown section, it stops at too many intersections. In the downtown section, one direction goes through a paved pedestrian area, which it needs to travel at walking speed while laying on the horn to encourage pedestrians to get out of the way.

by bdamm 8y ago

01100011 8y ago

Especially as the south end continues to grow. You're going to have a lot more people crammed into SJ in the next few years and making them all commute to SFO/OAK is stupid. +1 about SJC being outstanding. It's so damn easy to get in and out of. I really like flying through there. SAN is also pretty good, if you're on SWA anyway.

Johnny555 8y ago

It's very convenient, easy to access, nice and close to the downtown core that it serves That's why it will ultimately be replaced -- it's too close and is limiting growth of of that same downtown core.

volkl48 8y ago
Doesn't seem to have hurt Boston much even with Logan imposing strict height restrictions over large sections of the city. I will also point out that if you develop in a properly dense, urban fashion, you can create a large amount of space with relatively low-rise buildings. I am skeptical of the premise that the airport is limiting downtown development when I can see huge swaths of land devoted to asphalt parking lots and single-story buildings at present. You could redevelop/build new square footage for decades just on that.
- Johnny555 8y ago
  Because of the orientation of Logan's runways, the main downtown isn't included in the most restrictive airspace: http://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map.pdf http://www.massport.com/media/1545/boston-logan-airspace-map... San Jose airport's runways are aimed right at San Jose's core downtown area (near Diridon station) where all of this new development is taking place. http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8294 http://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/8294
  - bdamm 8y ago
    The airspace restriction is on the order of 200-300' where they want to build (near Diridon station), which is plenty for 10+ story buildings. That's still a 5-6x increase in density, maybe more.
bdamm 8y ago
I just don't buy it. If that were true you'd see a nice wedge shaped skyline pointing towards the airport. That's not what San Jose's skyline looks like. Not only that, but the vast majority of San Jose's economy comes from low-rise buildings that are not even remotely close to being limited by even the generous, previous-generation flight paths of today.
- Johnny555 8y ago
  San Jose apparently discovered that it's hard to serve a spread-out low-rise city with transit, VTA light rail takes forever to go anywhere. Google wants to build near Diridon where Caltrain already goes, and BART will eventually be extended there (or at least to nearby San Jose downtown station) Being transit friendly requireds high density, high-density means tall buildings. San Jose can't continue its low-rise development if it wants effective transit.
  - toast0 8y ago
    VTA light rail takes forever to go places for several reasons: All of the routes have too many turns. Maybe some are unavoidable, but splitting up into a east west route on the North end, a North south route on first Street / downtown, and whatever makes sense in the south of downtown routes would add transfers for many trips, but also reduce slow turns. In the downtown section, it stops at too many intersections. In the downtown section, one direction goes through a paved pedestrian area, which it needs to travel at walking speed while laying on the horn to encourage pedestrians to get out of the way.