The Capital of Silicon Valley, San José is the third largest city in California and the tenth largest in the United States. While the City started from humble origins as a farming community and one of the first Spanish colonial settlements in present-day California, the City experienced rapid population growth due to local manufacturing and technology industries and quickly became a regional hub.

Envision San José 2040 is the City’s fourth general plan and a long-term vision for the growth and development of the City. The General Plan focuses on creating more jobs and employment opportunities within the City, but still ensuring a careful balance of housing. In addition, the General Plan establishes Urban Villages throughout the City, which are smaller districts where housing, employment, and commercial uses are located in proximity to transit service.

Principal Project Manager Will Burns worked with the City of San José to shape the final version of the General Plan. The Environmental Impact Report was crafted alongside the preparation of the General Plan itself, and both Nora and Will contributed valuable input into the Plan. With their assistance, the Envision San José 2040 General Plan was ultimately a more comprehensive document in the end, one which ambitiously laid the groundwork for future development in the City of San José while being vigilant in addressing the environmental impacts that would result from growth.

Along with projects like the Diridon Station Master Plan and the Santa Clara General Plan 2035, DJP&A has played an important role in the development of Silicon Valley, and will continue to do so in the coming years.

Images courtesy of: Don DeBold (Flickr), and Anna Fox (Flickr)