Peninsula Moves!

There is no doubt that the economic corridor between San Francisco and San Jose is thriving. Silicon Valley continues to grow, and San Francisco remains a vital economic hub for the West Coast.

That’s great for the region’s Gross Domestic Product statistics, but it can have an adverse effect on the Bay Area’s numerous commuters. Highway 101 and Interstate 280 are frequently congested with automobile traffic, and parking in busy, downtown areas can be a nightmare.

For those reasons, more Bay Area residents are choosing to live near public transportation hubs. Situating businesses, residential developments and other amenities within close distance of transportation links—a principle dubbed Transit-Oriented Development—is gaining ever more traction in the region, and nowhere is that more evident than at Bay Meadows in San Mateo.

Bay Meadows is a mixed-use development in San Mateo that is pedestrian-focused—its residents can walk to retail stores, parks, and office space that are all situated within the complex. Most importantly, it’s located directly adjacent to the Hillsdale Caltrain Station.

According to the most recent Bay Meadows resident survey, 76 percent of respondents said that proximity to Caltrain was the most important amenity of the housing complex. Nearly 50 percent of the residents said they commuted to work on Caltrain, and some 40 percent said they took the train on a daily basis. That’s a big leap from 2015, when only 28 percent of the residents said they took the train daily.

It’s clear that Caltrain is an integral part of the lives of the Bay Meadows residents. They understand that taking the train is an efficient, hassle-free way of navigating the region’s busy thoroughfares. These positive indicators will only increase the likelihood that more Transit-Oriented Development plans will be popping up next to Caltrain stations in the future.