Cities are dynamic. If they don’t change or grow they often die or become insignificant. This is not happening on the Peninsula. Take a look at downtown Redwood City, South San Francisco and San Mateo. These cities are bursting with energy and new buildings. San Mateo in five, 10 years will not look like downtown San Mateo today. My guess is there will be extraordinary growth, high rises. Only the neighborhoods will include some single-story homes. But not many. The Builder’s Remedy will allow cities flexibility to go high, very high.
San Mateo Councilmember Lisa Nash showed me the proposed developments for the city. Â They are preliminary applications which have not yet been reviewed by the Planning Department, the Planning Commission or the City Council. Which means they may never be built.
Our first stop was in front of the Anderlini Insurance Company building on 20th Avenue and Pioneer Court, just east of the current San Mateo City Hall, Elks Club and Serra High School. The proposed project at 220 W. 20th Ave. would demolish the existing building and redevelop the site with a new seven-story multifamily 230 rental  units. Â
Second stop: 616 S. B St. The project would require the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of an eight-story mixed-use building with 94 rental units and up to 7,300 square feet of ground floor retail. The site is between Sixth and Seventh avenues.
Then 1Â E. Fourth Ave. The proposed project is generating public concerns because of its location downtown where currently the highest building is eight stories. It would entail the construction of a 14-story mixed-use building with 236 rental residential units, offices, and commercial uses on a .91 acre site located at the northeast corner of El Camino Real and East Fourth Ave. The developer is Mike Field.
The block lot between between Third and Fourth avenues and Delaware and Claremont streets has been empty for years. There is a limit on how long a developer can hold on to property. The San Mateo City Council gave Field a two-year extension almost two years ago so maybe we will see some action soon.  Field’s project was for commercial use, offices and ground floor retail but the demand for commercial space has declined as the demand for housing has increased.
Councilmember Nash says: “it is important that the new buildings in downtown San Mateo blend in with our beautiful downtown historic district. We can be modern while also celebrating our history. That makes San Mateo unique."
The question is how modern? Â Is 14 stories a good fit when the tallest building today is eight stories?
There’s a time to stay and a time to move on. After 20 years of writing a column for the Daily Journal, this will be my last. It’s been a labor of love and not something I give up joyfully. But I am a voice of the past and the Daily Journal needs to stay current.
I started writing a column when I left (termed out) the San Mateo City Council in 2005. By then the newspaper business had changed.
At one time there were five daily newspapers available to San Mateo readers. Two morning papers — the San Francisco Chronicle and the San Francisco Call-Bulletin — and three afternoon papers, the San Francisco News, the San Francisco Examiner and the San Mateo Times.  The afternoon papers were usually delivered by a neighborhood boy on his bike. The morning papers were usually delivered by car or bike.
But printing newspapers became very expensive. The afternoon papers saw circulation plunge as the work habits of families changed. Most women who could afford to work did not but the women’s liberation movement changed that. There were few readers now available for an afternoon paper.
A new type of paper became popular. It was half size. It was free. And you picked it up at downtown locations and the train station. Soon there were newspaper holders throughout downtown carrying the Daily Journal.
Jon Mays was a reporter for Jerry Fuchs’ San Mateo paper. He became editor of the DJ. We became friends when I was on the council. I would often call Mays to give him a hot tip. He felt free to call me. So when I left the council, I asked Mays if I could write a column.
Thank you to my readers. And thank you to my editor Jon Mays for his support, encouragement and copy editing.
(7) comments
Thank you, Sue, for your column and your support of truly local news.
Love you, Sue. From Sunset Terrace to the inauguration, we’ve been comrades. See you soon I hope. Mike A.
we will miss you. Don't stop writing. How about a local history book?
Sue, as I have not lived in San Mateo for nearly 25 years (now in SSF), I've only been an occasional reader. But I almost always liked scanning your column and enjoyed being your constituent before then. As you noted, it was a valuable link to the past. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and especially thank you for your praise of local news. Who would've thought that the discourse, fact-checking ability, and civility of American civilization was being propped up by classified ads to the extent it was? We will miss you.
Thank you Sue! Your column has been a joy to read and will be missed. Your final column is a great coda to your writing career!
Thanks for your last DJ column, Ms. Lempert. Although I may not have agreed with your assertions or much of your content, I enjoyed your columns. It sounds like there’s a back story to you not giving up the column joyfully but regardless, the end result is the same. Or is it? Perhaps you can do as many others have done and start a Substack. I’m assuming you can write whatever you want whenever you want and folks can continue follow your musings.
Perhaps, and forgive me if I’m mistaken, but I recall you saying your son’s home in Pacific Palisades burned down earlier this year. Has he decided to rebuild and been able to obtain permits? I hear Los Angeles is either very stingy with the permits or are slow walking them (or they can’t help but slow walk them). Or has your son decided to take the insurance money and run (assuming he had home insurance)? Regardless, if you do decide to open a Substack or some other method of expanding your column audience, this could be an opening entry. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Thanks for all the great work for SM, Sue. We will miss. your columns!
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.