Concord's Long Road from Navy Weapons Station to Walkable Neighborhood

Bay Curious

KQED

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 27 April 2026

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Suzanne Howard was playing around with Google Maps one day and zoomed in on Concord, in the east bay. She noticed a large open space near Concord High School that wasn't labeled, but had some mysterious looking mounds in a grid pattern. What are those things, she wondered? And, what's being done with this space? Could housing be built there? In fact, a massive redevelopment project is in the works in Concord, but it could take decades to materialize. Additional Resources: Why It’s Taken Concord 40 Years to Turn a Bomb Site into a Neighborhood Read the transcript for this episode Why Are There So Many Abandoned Military Bases in the Bay Area? Surprising Ways Former Bay Area Military Bases Are Transforming (And Why It Takes So Long) Sign up for our newsletter Got a question you want answered? Ask! Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcastsThis story was reported by Pauline Bartolone. Bay Curious is made by Katrina Schwartz, Christopher Beale and Olivia Allen-Price. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Ethan Toven-Lindsey and everyone on Team KQED. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:51.2	Hey, everyone. This is Bay Curious, the podcast that answers listener questions about the San Francisco Bay Area. We recently got a question from a woman named Suzanne
0:55.9	Howard. She bought a house with her husband in Walnut Creek two years ago, and she loves the place,
1:01.5	how it feels safe and walkable to lots of shops. They bike everywhere. But one thing gives Suzanne
1:08.2	a little buyer's remorse. It's right next to the 12-lane freeway.
1:12.5	It's super noisy.
1:14.3	Super thankful to have a house, but like quality of life, noise pollution is a little much.
1:19.9	One day, Suzanne was feeling curious, and she started studying online maps,
1:24.6	looking for open space in the East Bay.
1:27.2	Where could more housing be built near her
1:29.0	that might offer a little more peace and quiet? As I zoomed out, I saw east of Concord High School,
	...

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