Like many cities across the United States, San José has been disproportionately adversely impacted by freeway construction. As part of a joint UCLA and UC Davis research team, I authored “The Implications of Freeway Siting in California,” which among other research questions asked, “was the choice of freeway alignments racially biased?” This thesis expands upon that research, seeking to understand why and how, even when the freeway planning process may not have documented egregious overt racism, the impacts of freeway siting nonetheless result in qualitatively and quantitatively racially unequal outcomes. Through empirical research including comprehensive reviews of historical documents, key informant interviews, and a geospatial analysis of neighborhood housing characteristics in San José between 1950 and 1980, this thesis shows how transportation infrastructure, particularly Interstates 280 and 680, played a role in the continuous social and physical dispossession of communities of color.
To trace the legacy that freeway construction and has had on communities of color in San José, I conducted research on historical planning archives as well as interviews with civic leaders and community members who experienced freeway construction in their neighborhoods, which revealed how the siting of freeways through the lowest-cost land in the city disproportionately impacted predominantly Latino neighborhoods in San José, such as Washington-Guadalupe, Martha Gardens, and Mayfair. Quantitative analysis further found that freeways were constructed in neighborhoods with lower median incomes and higher Black and Latino populations as compared to the rest of the city. Ultimately, I suggest that strategies like collaborative housing and reforming transportation policy to specifically target disadvantaged communities rather than disadvantaged places can better inform attempts at restorative justice, to redress past harms.