Excerpt:

In nearby Alameda, public reaction has evolved since the former Alameda Naval Air Station shut down in 1997. At first, the community was focused on the 18,000 lost jobs, says Debbie Potter, the city of Alameda’s point person for the redevelopment of the base, now called Alameda Point.

“We were determined to develop a plan that replaced those jobs and rebuilt the vitality of the west end of town,” Potter says.

The following years brought ups and downs, with a couple of failed projects, two flopped master-developer plans, and ultimately a different approach: The city engineered its own master plan, bringing on specialty developers for smaller land parcels. Potter says this created a plan better tailored to the community’s priorities.