The Future of Cambrian

This area has been an interest of mine, it was the neighborhood I grew up in and I never thought much of it during that time, the suburban design of the area. We lived off of Hillsdale Avenue, which is essentially an expressway (it is Capitol in the East and San Tomas in the West) so traffic was often at a steady flow through it at all times. The corridor is focused on the automobile as is most of the Cambrian area.

Last year, when I was looking into San Jose's urban villages, I learned that Cambrian is one of the areas identified as an urban village, notably along Hillsdale/Camden from Union Avenue to about Meridian Avenue. Within that area exists the Cambrian Park Plaza, a typical suburban strip center opened in the 1950s, again focused on the automobile. It is up for redevelopment and the developer is submitting proposals to redevelop the property. To me, this project should be phased to serve as an example of how future developments can help shape the area, bring new office, retail and housing within one area and begin to reduce the need to drive along the Hillsdale/Camden corridor, especially as the city looks to the future.