Longtime resident bemoans loss of orchards with housing

QI grew up in San Jose walking to schools where there were orchards interspersed between neighborhoods.

I can still visualize the carpets of bright, yellow mustard under the orchards of beautiful cherry blossoms. — Elizabeth Johnson, Belmont

AThose were the good old days. But today …

Q

How sad that the powers that be decided to replace our food supply with asphalt parking lots and high-density housing throughout the Santa Clara Valley and San Mateo County. My dad said that the Santa Clara Valley had the best soil probably in the country. So much for wise planning departments and conservationists more concerned about the three-legged, purple-eyed lizard than people. — Elizabeth Johnson

AAnd …

QThe buildings that replaced the orchards now are huge apartment complexes, townhouses and multi-storied office buildings. The result of not preserving those orchards is fewer trees cleaning our air, and more and more people who are a drain on our electricity and water supplies, bringing in more traffic, more stress and less beauty to enjoy. — Elizabeth Johnson

AAnd more traffic. But there are plans to reinvent El Camino Real into a boulevard where residents can live, shop, work and play. It’s called the Grand Boulevard Initiative from Daly City to San Jose. To find out more, go to www.grandboulevard.net.

Anything else?

QWe can put a man on the moon, but try to travel down El Camino Real or any of its feeder streets and you’d be faster walking. Why can’t the signals be timed so that cars going the speed limit can progress smoothly?

Take 19th Avenue in San Francisco. Ever since I was a child, my dad would tell me to just travel the speed limit and you could almost make all the green lights.

Why not do that on El Camino? I drove it from south San Mateo to south Redwood City last week and hit every red light. Ridiculous waste of fuel and stress inducer. — Elizabeth Johnson

ATraffic moves well on 19th Avenue because left turns are not permitted at most intersections. I don’t think many folks would be OK with that on El Camino, but some changes may be ahead. But planners want traffic to slow down to make El Camino more pedestrian friendly.

QACaltrain expects a surge in ridership in the next decade. I’ll tackle San Carlos soon.

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