|
II. THE EVOLVING ECONOMY OF PLEASANTON
<br /> BACKGROUND
<br /> Over the last half-century, Pleasanton has evolved from a small, agricultural town into a bedroom suburb,
<br /> and more recently, into a major employment center in the Bay Area region. At each phase of its economic
<br /> cycle, Pleasanton took strategic steps to ensure that growth and development were managed carefully to
<br /> maintain the city's high quality of life.
<br /> Pleasanton's location, providing easy access to the Silicon Valley and San Francisco markets as well as
<br /> the talented labor force of the East Bay and Central Valley, has been a critical factor in its appeal as a
<br /> residential and business address. The construction of the 1-580 and 1-680 highways in the 1960s was
<br /> transformative, making Pleasanton and the rest of the Tri-Valley much more accessible and attractive for
<br /> new housing development. However, through the 1970s, Pleasanton was still primarily a suburban
<br /> "bedroom" community with a fairly small job base. Pleasanton became ajob center in the 1980s, when
<br /> the city voted to approve the development of Hacienda,the Tri-Valley's first large business park, located
<br /> at the 1-580 and 1-680 interchange. This strategic decision allowed Pleasanton to diversify its land uses
<br /> and grow its economic base through the addition of more than 20,000 jobs(a growth rate of 365 percent).'
<br /> In addition to the 860-acre Hacienda, Pleasanton also saw the development of Stoneridge Shopping
<br /> Center and other commercial development in the 1980s. The types of jobs that were created in Pleasanton
<br /> during this time were generally in back-office occupations like clerical services, data processing, sales,
<br /> and call centers. By the early 1990s, Pleasanton had truly become a mixed community, with a ratio of one
<br /> job to every employed resident 2
<br /> Over the 1990s and 2000s,the city continued to grow its employment base, leveraging the enhanced
<br /> access provided by the addition of BART service, which better connected Pleasanton's residents and
<br /> workers to the regional transit system. While Pleasanton experienced rapid job growth, the city focused
<br /> on maintaining the high quality of its neighborhoods, facilities, schools, and municipal services. Today,
<br /> Pleasanton is an important employment area, with more than two jobs for every employed resident. Over
<br /> the last two decades,the city's industry mix has shown particular strength in the following three areas:
<br /> • Information technology— Many large corporations have moved their IT departments to
<br /> Pleasanton(Kaiser Permanente and Gap), bringing in web designers, computer engineers,and
<br /> sales staff. In addition, other smaller cloud computing and software firms have located in
<br /> Pleasanton, like Workday, Callidus Software and EMC;
<br /> • Corporate headquarters—Pleasanton has attracted the headquarters of multiple companies,
<br /> including Safeway, Workday, and others, adding employment in management and administrative
<br /> occupations.
<br /> • Medical device manufacturing—The city has a growing number of businesses using advanced
<br /> manufacturing and cutting-edge research to produce medical equipment and devices, including
<br /> TriReme Medical, Zeltiq and Thoratec, which require highly skilled researchers, engineers,and
<br /> technicians.
<br /> 1
<br /> Cervero,Robert."Jobs-Housing Balance Revisited."Journal of the American Planning Association,01944363,Autumn 96,Vol.62,
<br /> Issue 4
<br /> 2 Association of Bay Area Governments,Projections, 1998.
<br /> Pleasanton Economic Strategic Plan DRAFT -4-
<br />
|