DID YOU KNOW That The Google Barge Doesn't Yet Have a Long-Term Home?

     The Google barge that until just recently was being built at Treasure Island seems to be having some problems finding a long-term home.  Under a threat of heavy fines, last month Stockton laid out all but a red carpet and invited the barge to move there.  Even if Google is just planning to use the barge as a year around Russian style dacha on the SF Bay for either Larry Page and  Sergey Brin to live on; I for one would love to have the barge become the focal point of the Inner Harbor area right here in Redwood City.   However my understanding is that the barge is intended "as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology."   If the Makoko Floating School in Nigeria can be nominated for a design award by the London Design Museum, (http://www.weather.com/home-garden/nle-makoko-floating-school-nominated-design-year-20140328 ); the Google barges (there are currently four known specimens) are definitely also at the forefront of designs and solutions to the problem of sea level rise.

     Google’s headquarters are located in Mountain View and they have a lot of employees who live in San Francisco and commute back and forth down the peninsula.   Back in January, Google was operating a ferry from San Francisco to Redwood City.  Although the Port is within the jurisdiction of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) what Google may not be aware of is that if you follow Redwood Creek up towards the downtown area of Redwood City the BCDC no longer has jurisdiction.  In fact the State of California State Lands Commission back in 1946 actually granted some of the water to the City of Redwood City.  Our floating community, Docktown, consists of about 70 households and a number of floating homes that were actually built right here on site. 

     Interestingly enough the timing is great.  The City of Redwood City is right now in the process of visioning what it is they want to do in what they call the Inner Harbor area, an area essentially bounded by Woodside to the South, 101 to the West and Redwood Creek to the North and East.   The task-force that has been set up is considering solutions to problems such as climate change and rising sea levels.  The vision of the future of this area has included discussions of water based recreation (kayaking and other human powered boats), housing (floating homes) and scientific  endeavors (such as relocating the Marine Science Institute to this area.)   But the reality is that the vision needs a high profile state of the art centerpiece to really come together.

   Is there a better place to put a Google Barge then halfway between the Googleplex and SF, just minutes away from SFO and the world?   What do you think?  Should the City of Redwood City invite a Google Barge to the Redwood City Inner Harbor?