Throwback to 1973 and aerial view of Walnut Creek BART Station

Photograph courtesy of Walnut Creek Historical Society

When looking at Walnut Creek’s history, it’s relatively easy to point to the 1973 opening of the Walnut Creek Bart Station as one of the most significant events that shaped the city’s future. Other than the emergence of Broadway Plaza as a regional shopping destination, it was BART that connected Walnut Creek to cities across the Bay and brought with it a new workforce, a new tourism class, and a new interest in business development.

A building boom soon followed in 1975, targeting the areas surrounding BART for major office development and sparring debates about the politics of growth. City leaders responded with a core area plan establishing employment centers closer to home and reducing travel time for commuters. A decade later, the twin ten-story Tishman Office Center and California Plaza buildings opened, forming the so-called “Golden Triangle” for its potential as the financial hub of the East Bay. In 1985, Walnut Creek voters passed Measure A restricting height limits and preventing tall buildings from popping up all over town. Now 33 years later, a proposed multi-use project on the Fuddruckers site will test Measure A for the first time in the city’s history. Source: 150 Years in Pictures: An Illustrated History of Walnut Creek by Brad Rovanpera.