Apr 4, 2023•3 min read (inglesidelight.com)
The freeway drastically reshaped the neighborhood.
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Building the I-280 freeway changed the neighborhood, forcing hundreds of residents out of their homes.
The massive project forced some 600 homes to be demolished or moved, displacing families and creating a concrete division between neighborhoods.
If your family was affected, the Sunnyside History Project wants your story.
“I am finally assembling the story, and I’d like to hear from you if you have a story to share,” the project’s founder Amy O’Hair wrote in a call for stories. “I have so far interviewed several people, but I know there are more stories to be told.”
The freeway construction was met by little resistance because it was the first one built. The city would become famous in later years for neighborhood groups staving construction of others in what’s known as the Freeway Revolt.
“Some families took the money they were given for their houses, and moved elsewhere, away from the neighborhood they had chosen,” O’Hair wrote. “Some had their house moved to a vacant lot elsewhere in the city or down the peninsula. For some people the change meant the loss of a cherished first home, a dream move from a congested downtown area to a place with room to breathe.”
Streets where properties were taken for the construction of I-280 freeway:
Arco Way
Badger Street
Calvert Drive (Gone)
Circular Avenue
Colonial Way
Cotter Street
Cuvier Street
Danton Street
Detroit Street
Gorham Street
Havelock Street
Judson Avenue
Lamartine Street
Lyell Street
Marston Avenue
Milton Street
Nantucket Avenue
Niagara Avenue
Ocean Avenue
Paulding Street
Pilgrim Avenue
Rotteck Street
San Jose Avenue
San Miguel Street
Santa Rosa Avenue
Standish Way
Tara Street
Theresa Street
Tingley Street
Contact the Sunnyside History Project online.
