Planned Progess
After World War II, California experienced a wave of growth fueled largely by high-tech defense spending. The foundation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory brought thousands of educated workers into the Valley, and these were soon joined by thousands more who found it a convenient place from which to commute to other parts of the Bay Area.
Pleasanton’s citizens and government took an active role in shaping this growth. Through zoning laws, planning commissions and annexations the city sought to direct change in ways that would keep it prosperous and, well, pleasant. Their strategies would change over the course of the following half-century, but their long-term goals would remain essentially the same: keeping Pleasanton a desirable place to live.
Pleasanton’s citizens and government took an active role in shaping this growth. Through zoning laws, planning commissions and annexations the city sought to direct change in ways that would keep it prosperous and, well, pleasant. Their strategies would change over the course of the following half-century, but their long-term goals would remain essentially the same: keeping Pleasanton a desirable place to live.
The Atomic Valley
Although Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory was built in Livermore, the nuclear research facility made its mark on the entire Valley as Lab employees also made homes in Pleasanton and Dublin. With the Lab and a military base in the area, the Cold War was a looming presence for residents of the Valley in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Planning Progress
Rapid expansion began in the mid-1960s, after the city annexed nearly 2000 acres in five years, up to the line of what is now Interstate 580. Planners tried to encourage higher-value development than had built up San Ramon and Dublin. Even so, the rate of growth outpaced the ability to provide services, and by the 1970s the pace and shape of development had become a hot political issue.
Bound to the Bay
As the Bay Area boomed, Pleasanton grew and changed with it. The first wave of Lab workers was followed in the 1960s and 70s by people drawn to the region by the growing tech industry: Hewlett Packard, Atari, IBM. They came from across the country and around the world, including Native Americans of various tribal backgrounds as well as immigrants from Asia, Europe and the Americas. Their commutes were eased by interstate freeways built in the mid 1960s.
Business development lagged behind housing, but the late 1970s and early 1980s saw Pleasanton get the Valley’s first indoor mall at Stoneridge, followed soon after by a major business park called Hacienda. By the end of the century Pleasanton’s connections with the rest of the Bay Area were strengthened by the extension of the BART and ACE commuter rail lines into the Valley.
Business development lagged behind housing, but the late 1970s and early 1980s saw Pleasanton get the Valley’s first indoor mall at Stoneridge, followed soon after by a major business park called Hacienda. By the end of the century Pleasanton’s connections with the rest of the Bay Area were strengthened by the extension of the BART and ACE commuter rail lines into the Valley.
The Cost of Development
By the 1970s rapid development in Pleasanton and its neighbors had sparked pushback on multiple fronts. Some residents worried about the loss of open space and natural landscape. Some feared that too many people would overburden basic services such as water and sewage. Others were concerned that higher density would drag down their own homes’ value. Native people fought for the dignity of their ancestors as new projects uncovered old cemeteries. Adapting to these and other concerns has shaped the city’s development strategies since the middle of the 1970s.