10 Years on Mallard Road

Like many who live in Belvedere, Judy (not her real name) knew she had found Nirvana when she moved to the Peninsula. During her almost 20 years of living in the area—half of which have been on Mallard Road—she has enjoyed walking to shops and restaurants and reveling in the nature she can find right outside her door. She also marvels at the closeness of her Mallard Road community. “Over the years, we’ve experienced births and deaths, broken bones and celebrations,” she says. “We look in on each other and have shared the peaks and valleys of life.”

The proposed development of her neighborhood would demolish the 22 rental duplexes located there and replace them with a mixture of luxury single-family homes and duplexes and a multistory apartment building. Of the approximately 35–40 residents that live there, many are senior citizens. All will be displaced. The prospect of being forced to leave the community that she loves has left her up in the air and adrift. She asks, “Where else will we be able to find something comparable? You can’t replicate community. You can’t replicate what will be lost.”