Facts >> Do We Need More Retail Near Ardenwood/Forest Park?

Within a mile of Ardenwood/Forest Park, there are hundreds of retail establishments. Some of the national or regional chains are listed below; there are many, many other independent retailers. The Patterson Ranch developer is proposing a strip mall in front of the Coyote Hills park. Do we need more stores, which mean 24-hour operations, creating more traffic, noise, litter, and alcohol sales? Doesn’t it make more sense to develop retail closer to the core of Fremont, for example, at the Hub or Pacific Commons, rather than at the outskirts of the city?

Does Fremont have the kind of stores that attract shoppers, eg, Nordstrom, Crate & Barrel? Tax revenues from Fremont shoppers are going to NewPark Mall in Newark, Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, and Stoneridge Mall in Pleasanton. Yet another strip mall in Fremont won’t solve this problem of lost tax revenues, but only degrade an environmental resource and residents’ quality of life.

Ardenwood Plaza (see photo below, located less than 1 mile from the proposed Patterson Ranch retail) was developed 25 years ago in the center of Ardenwood/Forest Park neighborhood. This strip mall has not thrived and does not have much foot traffic.