Please join eight former Mayors and over 1000 community members in asking City Council to exercise leadership and address Palo Alto's housing shortage now!
The cost of living in Palo Alto has skyrocketed. As a result, we are seeing long-time neighbors move because they can no longer afford the rent. It is not unusual for Palo Alto workers to commute in from areas as far as Stockton, Gilroy, and Tracy, putting severe strain on our roads and our climate. We are on the path to being a city composed only of long-time landowners and wealthy newcomers.
This situation is the result of city policies that have discouraged new housing while encouraging more office space. As a result, Palo Alto has the nation’s highest median rent and the region’s highest jobs-to-housing ratio. City Council has taken measures to address the jobs side of the equation by limiting office growth. Now, it is time to address the housing side of the equation.
A true fix will require a long-term focus and deep commitment; we believe, though, that we can maintain the character of our community while making changes to alleviate this imbalance. Council can show leadership by crafting policy to achieve the following goals:
1. Encourage construction of more studio apartments and other naturally affordable smaller units.
2. Encourage buildings composed of apartments and condos over ground-floor retail. Current policy requires developers to build office space into any new four-story building in a commercial district.
3. Make it easier for homeowners to build second units on their property, especially to accommodate multiple-generation households and caretakers.
4. Allow car-light and car-free housing in walkable, transit-accessible areas for residents who are able to not own a car.
5. Facilitate the development of new senior housing, including alternative models such as co-housing, home sharing, and mixed-use senior communities with retail and services.
We ask the City Council to plan for more housing so that Palo Alto can be the community of opportunity it has historically been: a family-friendly city that welcomed interesting thinkers and doers of all ages and all incomes. Many of the above ideas were implemented successfully in Palo Alto’s South of Forest (SOFA) plan. We know that this can be done!
To find out more see our blog post.
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Hannah Illathu signed 2016-05-16 11:22:36 -0700
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Julia DeRidder signed 2016-05-16 11:20:58 -0700
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Alicia Bauwens signed 2016-05-16 11:20:00 -0700
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Sarah Pike signed 2016-05-16 11:18:35 -0700
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Melissa Scheve signed 2016-05-16 11:16:11 -0700
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Carla Paniagua signed 2016-05-16 11:03:39 -0700
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Miklos Szentkiralyi signed 2016-05-16 09:00:16 -0700
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Michael Danaher signed 2016-05-16 08:58:41 -0700
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David Huber signed 2016-05-16 08:57:37 -0700
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Trina Wilson signed 2016-05-16 08:56:06 -0700
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Joseph Melena signed 2016-05-16 08:54:56 -0700
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Roy Kornbluh signed 2016-05-16 06:55:54 -0700
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Peter Broadwell signed 2016-05-16 06:51:53 -0700
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Kathy Durham signed 2016-05-16 06:51:03 -0700
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Barak Berkowitz signed 2016-05-16 06:50:08 -0700
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Kieran Maynard signed 2016-05-16 06:49:09 -0700
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Elizabeth McCormick signed 2016-05-16 06:48:09 -0700
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Matthew Munson signed 2016-05-16 06:47:15 -0700
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Anna Gurevich signed 2016-05-16 06:46:12 -0700
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Elizabeth Heilman signed 2016-05-16 06:44:18 -0700
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Shawn Hoffman signed 2016-05-16 06:43:12 -0700
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Sheila Kothari signed 2016-05-16 06:42:10 -0700
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Elliott Wright signed 2016-05-16 06:41:18 -0700
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Susan Amkraut signed 2016-05-16 06:40:23 -0700
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Sophie Harrison signed 2016-05-15 23:20:07 -0700
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Juli Sherry signed 2016-05-15 23:18:15 -0700
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Kara Shafer signed 2016-05-15 23:17:17 -0700
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Kevin Carlson signed 2016-05-15 23:16:28 -0700
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Madison Sites signed 2016-05-15 23:15:01 -0700
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Edward Geise signed 2016-05-15 23:13:30 -0700
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