Had some interesting discussions on this in the aviation forum, but I was thinking of all the assorted uses. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and 35 years ago there must have been over a dozen active (non-reserve) military bases here, but I think it's down to just one.
The Presidio of San Francisco was the former HQ of the Sixth US Army. I'd been there many times when it was an active base as their philosophy was that the public should be able to visit and enjoy it. It pretty much had no entrance gate although there were signs everywhere stating that any vehicles or people were subject to involuntary search at any time. That was eventually turned over to the National Park Service, but with an interesting funding scheme where a trust was established to find ways to finance the place by reusing the buildings. There are all sorts of businesses there, as well as nonprofits. One prominent business is Sports Basement, which took over the former commissary building and kept a lot of its features. They also allowed a lot of new businesses, like the former site of the Letterman Hospital, which is now Lucasfilm headquarters. Lots of the housing was turned into rentals, although there are also some museums such as the Walt Disney Family Museum. There's a lot more there too. There was a fictional ice rink there in Pixar's Inside Out, although that didn't really exist.
The former Naval Air Station Alameda has been repurposed for several businesses, although the runways are still there although decommissioned. Mythbusters used to use the runways for various experiments. The old hangars have been reused. One turned into a big sports gym. Hangar One Vodka used to operate out of an old hangar there, although they've since moved out and make their liquor using a contract distiller. I recently had something from Almanac Beer, which operates out of an old building there.
That's just a couple of examples. Some of these have mostly turned into housing. Quite a few has serious remediation going on requiring cleanup of toxics. But I've heard a lot of the more popular places are base gyms that were turned into gyms, especially since they already had hardwood floors.
The Presidio of San Francisco was the former HQ of the Sixth US Army. I'd been there many times when it was an active base as their philosophy was that the public should be able to visit and enjoy it. It pretty much had no entrance gate although there were signs everywhere stating that any vehicles or people were subject to involuntary search at any time. That was eventually turned over to the National Park Service, but with an interesting funding scheme where a trust was established to find ways to finance the place by reusing the buildings. There are all sorts of businesses there, as well as nonprofits. One prominent business is Sports Basement, which took over the former commissary building and kept a lot of its features. They also allowed a lot of new businesses, like the former site of the Letterman Hospital, which is now Lucasfilm headquarters. Lots of the housing was turned into rentals, although there are also some museums such as the Walt Disney Family Museum. There's a lot more there too. There was a fictional ice rink there in Pixar's Inside Out, although that didn't really exist.
The former Naval Air Station Alameda has been repurposed for several businesses, although the runways are still there although decommissioned. Mythbusters used to use the runways for various experiments. The old hangars have been reused. One turned into a big sports gym. Hangar One Vodka used to operate out of an old hangar there, although they've since moved out and make their liquor using a contract distiller. I recently had something from Almanac Beer, which operates out of an old building there.
That's just a couple of examples. Some of these have mostly turned into housing. Quite a few has serious remediation going on requiring cleanup of toxics. But I've heard a lot of the more popular places are base gyms that were turned into gyms, especially since they already had hardwood floors.
