Planet Granite, an indoor rock climbing gym, is located in a small commercial/residential area of Sunnyvale, California. On a small scale, the building shares a street with Lowe’s Home Improvement and a few office buildings for various tech-related companies. This strictly commercial section extends a few streets beyond that, which I circled in yellow on the map of the neighborhood located below. As you move outward from the commercial area, the office buildings and stores are soon interspersed with apartment complexes. However, despite the presence of apartment buildings and the relatively suburban appearance of the general neighborhood, there are no individual, single-family homes in the immediate streets surrounding Planet Granite. Once you cross Fair Oaks Avenue, East Duane Avenue, or Lawrence Expressway, however, the streets are lined with condominiums and apartment complexes. Moving farther out beyond that, individual, single-family homes gradually appear more common.
Nearby, there are a few public parks, such as Fair Oaks Park, which is frequently full of skateboarders and groups of students after school hours. Murphy Park and Swegles Park are typically less well used. There are a number of private elementary and high schools in the immediate area, including Rainbow Montessori school and King’s Academy.
Clarence Perry’s description of the effects of the rise of the automobile is illustrated clearly in the physical space of this neighborhood. The area is primarily divided from its surroundings by the presence of highways or expressways. These major dividing roads are Highway 101 to the north, Lawrence Expressway to the East, arguably Central Expressway to the south, and Highway 237 to the west. However, my map extends south beyond Central, all the way to El Camino Real, another major road. I included this section to help illustrate how, similar to much of the Bay Area, Sunnyvale is segmented into smaller sections by these major freeways. Although individual cities seem to be divided by the freeways, there is no notable edge or division between the cities themselves. It is difficult to tell where one city stops and the next begins, as they all appear somewhat similar - a sprawling mixture of overlapping residential and commercial areas.
To the south, a Caltrain line runs along Central and Evelyn Avenue. However, this is the only well-used train line in the area, making Planet Granite somewhat inaccessible by public transportation. Typical to much of the Bay Area, if not Northern California in general, most people rely on individual cars for transportation. By car, the neighborhood is relatively easy to get to, but it is not a destination point for many people. This commercial part of the city does not have many actual stores beyond Lowes, and the buildings are relatively spaced out, making them inaccessible to those who are walking. It is primarily a destination for tech workers who commute to the area from the surrounding residential zones, as a number of tech companies have office buildings here.
Satellite View of Surrounding Streets:
Map of Planet Granite from Assignment 1.2:
