If we told you there are 115 acres of vacant land in the heart of San Jose where the only visitors for 20 years have been cows and goats grazing, would you believe us?

Well, it’s true. The long-closed Pleasant Hills Golf Course in East San Jose is empty. This huge parcel represents an unparalleled opportunity for housing, open space and neighborhood businesses.

Locals Mark Lazzarini and Tony Arreola own Pleasant Hills. They’ve been participating in San Jose’s yearlong community engagement process  and recent community workshops have been thoughtful and creative.

They’ve yielded some great ideas. Others miss the mark. We want to convey the good, the not-so-good and the why.

We’re part of a coalition of not-for-profit organizations working in Silicon Valley. We all agree that on development, one need weighs heaviest: housing.

San Jose’s high cost of housing drives people to cram into homes, leave our community forever or become homeless on our streets. More housing that’s affordable for everyone enables us to raise our families here and achieve the California Dream.

That’s the moral reason for more housing.

Here’s the practical one. California mandates San Jose build 62,000 homes by 2032. If we don’t, we lose out on shaping our neighborhoods.

Our community has another immense need: open space and parkland. There’s an outdated misconception that development and green space conflict.

But the truth is multi-family, taller buildings leave more land for community amenities like parks, trees, open space, restaurants, child care and more. Pleasant Hills is ideal for multi-story buildings: it’s large enough to set taller buildings farther from neighboring single-family homes. To achieve this, Pleasant Hills could focus medium-to-high density on its interior and a public “greenbelt” on its exterior for neighbors’ relaxation and recreation.

Whatever is ultimately designed, our priorities for this development are simple:

1. Abundant housing, especially affordable housing for those most in need surviving on lower incomes.

2. Higher densities. Building low-density housing loses taxpayer money. Think of it this way: a fire department can provide services more efficiently to 10 homes on one acre than one home on 10 acres. More homes on projects — at least 40 to 45 homes per acre — generate positive revenue for San Jose.

3. A complete neighborhood combining jobs, shops and public space, because it creates vibrant neighborhoods with residents near desirable amenities.

4. Accessible transportation options, including walking, biking and frequent public transit, is essential to cut down on traffic and pollution and make streets safer.

5. To replace lost open space and plan for the repercussions of climate change as California gets hotter, this development needs significant amounts of on-site parkland, greenery, native plants and green stormwater infrastructure.

6. An inclusive community engagement process considerate of our entire valley, because a process accessible only to the closest neighbors or frequent participants leaves out underrepresented communities and those who would most benefit from this development.

The current proposal is shaping up for fewer homes than necessary, at most 34 homes per acre — well below what produces positive city revenues. We suggest rezoning the site “Urban Village,” “Transit Residential,” or “Mixed-Use Commercial” to allow greater flexibility and densities.

Our organizations work in communities across the Bay Area. And when new developments are proposed, we hear similar fears: “We need affordable housing, but not next to me. This proposal is fine, but not here.”

Well, let us tell you, this is exactly the place for a major development.

Frequently, developers cave to pressures, even when they know they can — and we must — do more.

So San Jose, the developer and the community have to be bolder now — having 115 acres of open land is extremely rare. Our global warming and housing crises can only be improved if Pleasant Hills becomes special.

The city’s next round of community engagement starts this week. We suggest you participate and urge you to advance our ideas above.

Alex Shoor is co-founder and executive director of Catalyze Silicon Valley. Maritza Maldonado is founder and executive director of Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice and Empowerment. Jordan Grimes is state and regional resilience manager of Greenbelt Alliance. David Lewis is executive director of Save the Bay.