Something that was really glossed over in this piece that's important to the story is that the builders remedy only applies if the city does not have a Housing plan. That is something the city has control over. They failed to put forward an adequate housing plan, and so they lost control over what gets to be built on this site. As a lot of the cities in the Peninsula are finding out (especially Atherton) not building any new housing whatsoever is not an option. California cities have two choices build the housing they want or be stubborn NIMBYs and get whatever housing a developer wants.
There's a huge issue in the bay area of building mostly above average income "luxury" housing and little else. We don't need more housing. We need more average, below average and low income housing. I'd love to see someone survey the number of vacant "luxury" units open...
Even new “luxury” housing puts pressure on the market to lower the prices. Not building housing because it’s not perfect is only going to increase prices more.
"Size and scale" are what pay for affordable housing if we want developers to sell or rent housing to some below cost. "Not sure if it is the right project or the right location, translation NOT IN MY BACK YARD. They want their home healthcare worker to have housing. They want teachers to have housing. They want service workers to have housing but they don't want to make any sacrifices for it. They are perfectly willing to impose rent control on others but not accommodate new neighbors in their neighborhood.
So tired of this faux progressiveness in many of the most so-called progressive cities of California... Build it! Housing is a right, not a privilege! Hope to see more projects like this, ESPECIALLY, in Palo Alto and Mountain View.
I agree housing is a right, which is why we need legislation to prevent so called housing investors, whether they're individuals, companies, foreign or domestic. The reason why housing is so unaffordable is NOT because of supply and demand economics, it's because of outside investment who pushing rents and prices of property through the roof all to line their investment portfolios. Housing is a right, lets treat it like such, and as a result don't allow people to gouge the pricing on it.
California has so many regulations blockading builders getting permits, however, I like the idea and practice of oversight, to ensure some accountability. We are so in need of affordable housing, both here and around the country. smh
Does anyone think that this plan will address the needs of very low income and homeless folks? We've seen this over and over all over the Bay Area. Just ask Oakland. This will wind up benefitting the developers and the elites. No city approval needed? This is wrong and the people of Menlo Park will wind up with the bill (again). Think again.
Iam in a dilemma. do I support a greedy developer who has the support of crooked and authoritarian Democratic party politicians ike Gov Newsom or do i support people who don't want other people in their neighborhood, kinda people who live by the NIMBY motto. She is worried aboutr traffic. LMAO. She doesn't want to experience any delays in her shopping trip to Stanford Shopping center or wine/dine in NOBU in palo alto.
I mean she wouldn't really be wrong, 1150 apartments at one location, assuming it's more than a single person living in each apartment that would increase the population of Menlo Park 30-50%, and we need to be real about things they don't exactly have big transportation infrastructure either, sure there is a Caltrain station in Menlo Park that is serviced by all of 3 bus routes through the entire city and by "through" I mean mostly down a couple streets and that's it. So I wouldn't be shocked if a vast majority of those people all have cars.
@@Mike__B Might want to check your math. And infrastructure is also classic nimbyism. NIMBYs have valid arguments and ceded the prerogative on them by virtue of saying no to balanced development when they had the chance. They said yes to more and more offices without housing. Now they are getting smacked and told they need housing to match employment. They manufactured the housing crisis with their own policies. This is a self-own. They will just have to figure out the infrastructure.
@@someguy6075 You're right, I thought Menlo was a very low population city, but I was thinking of Atherton Nextdoor which only has around 6k of residents or so. Either way I wasn't saying it isn't NIMBYism, but even at 32k of residents, throwing down thousands of people within an area of a couple city blocks will affect the traffic. The developer is not interested in the everyday man, they only have to make 20% "affordable" they're going for the luxury units and no offense to people who make lots of money but they all typically are driving cars, even if there was transportation infrastructure available.
Yeah, had to move out to the valley to buy my dream home, while everyone else, settled for less to stay in the nice weather. Now they build those same projects here, so, not sure I have much sympathy for the "plight" of Melo/Atherton types anymore and even if I did the tears would dry in the Fresno heat before they fell left my eyes... Build away....
Haven’t heard so far due over populated CA or any major cities and look into where is the cause of housing shortage and high cost of rent, which is to verify the amount of incoming immigrants from all over the world every single day possible?
Many homeowners like the current tax arrangement, especially those who bought or inherited a home purchased decades ago. Unfortunately, others are taxed much higher to make up the difference. Very unfair, but then property tax often is. In my local area, there has been a reassessment in nearly 30 years.
Wow. What a beautiful campus SM had! Affordable housing needs doing. The scale of other parts of the devopment is questionable. Nonetheless, of Menlo Park? I think the word she's looking for is "intolerant," not intolerable.😵
The problem with affordability in housing is that you keep pushing that bar higher and higher because you're no one is making affordable housing, they're making really expensive housing that allows investors to snatch everything up and price people out of living there but hey btw here's a few scraps that we'll call affordable... that you really can't afford anyways. Want to build 1000+ apartments? Make 100% of them affordable, otherwise it's just yet another cash grab by a developer to line his pockets by making unaffordable housing for most in the area.
How do you do that at below cost? In this state there are some developments that are 100% "affordable" housing being developed by nonprofit developers. The problem is that they can cost $450,000-$990,000 per unit to build. Those are largely funded through tax credit schemes that take years to bundle. How do you sell or rent housing below cost? And pay the workers?
@@mwatercress What they do is make a small portion of the units “section 8” so they can call it low cost housing and the rest are for rich people. The section 8 people stay at home all day, sell drugs, break into cars, and shoplift.
Violence will stop the builder if you destroy their offices and let them know how far you are willing to go. I’m not condoning violence, it does work when nothing else will
Ultimate solution is stabilized population size. Otherwise figure on more and denser housing. Eventually, single-family homes in much of California will be only for the rich. With lower income residents relegated to tiny apartments or living on the streets. What many predicted decades ago with unchecked population growth is finally happening. Fortunately, there are still many less developed places one can move to, but comes with costs and tradeoffs.
Something that was really glossed over in this piece that's important to the story is that the builders remedy only applies if the city does not have a Housing plan. That is something the city has control over. They failed to put forward an adequate housing plan, and so they lost control over what gets to be built on this site. As a lot of the cities in the Peninsula are finding out (especially Atherton) not building any new housing whatsoever is not an option. California cities have two choices build the housing they want or be stubborn NIMBYs and get whatever housing a developer wants.
Why is there a housing shortage? NIMBY
Build it, none of the neighbors should have a say. Their homes should’ve never been built with their logic.
It's more "we got ours, now go away".
NIMBY not in my backyard.
There's a huge issue in the bay area of building mostly above average income "luxury" housing and little else. We don't need more housing. We need more average, below average and low income housing. I'd love to see someone survey the number of vacant "luxury" units open...
you do need more though. you really really do
Even new “luxury” housing puts pressure on the market to lower the prices. Not building housing because it’s not perfect is only going to increase prices more.
"Size and scale" are what pay for affordable housing if we want developers to sell or rent housing to some below cost. "Not sure if it is the right project or the right location, translation NOT IN MY BACK YARD. They want their home healthcare worker to have housing. They want teachers to have housing. They want service workers to have housing but they don't want to make any sacrifices for it. They are perfectly willing to impose rent control on others but not accommodate new neighbors in their neighborhood.
Serves these nimbys right
Classic NYMBYsm
Exactly
We need to build it!
So tired of this faux progressiveness in many of the most so-called progressive cities of California... Build it! Housing is a right, not a privilege! Hope to see more projects like this, ESPECIALLY, in Palo Alto and Mountain View.
I agree housing is a right, which is why we need legislation to prevent so called housing investors, whether they're individuals, companies, foreign or domestic. The reason why housing is so unaffordable is NOT because of supply and demand economics, it's because of outside investment who pushing rents and prices of property through the roof all to line their investment portfolios. Housing is a right, lets treat it like such, and as a result don't allow people to gouge the pricing on it.
@@Mike__B Odd coincidence that these places have such an imbalance of jobs vs housing yet it has nothing to do with prices.
Hope it gets built.
California has so many regulations blockading builders getting permits, however, I like the idea and practice of oversight, to ensure some accountability. We are so in need of affordable housing, both here and around the country. smh
Menlo Park is almost completly owned by lawyers and ceo's.
Does anyone think that this plan will address the needs of very low income and homeless folks? We've seen this over and over all over the Bay Area. Just ask Oakland. This will wind up benefitting the developers and the elites. No city approval needed? This is wrong and the people of Menlo Park will wind up with the bill (again). Think again.
Just do it.
Housing crisis, so let's make people homeless.
Iam in a dilemma. do I support a greedy developer who has the support of crooked and authoritarian Democratic party politicians ike Gov Newsom or do i support people who don't want other people in their neighborhood, kinda people who live by the NIMBY motto. She is worried aboutr traffic. LMAO. She doesn't want to experience any delays in her shopping trip to Stanford Shopping center or wine/dine in NOBU in palo alto.
Lol traffic .. classic nimbys
I mean she wouldn't really be wrong, 1150 apartments at one location, assuming it's more than a single person living in each apartment that would increase the population of Menlo Park 30-50%, and we need to be real about things they don't exactly have big transportation infrastructure either, sure there is a Caltrain station in Menlo Park that is serviced by all of 3 bus routes through the entire city and by "through" I mean mostly down a couple streets and that's it. So I wouldn't be shocked if a vast majority of those people all have cars.
@@Mike__B Might want to check your math. And infrastructure is also classic nimbyism.
NIMBYs have valid arguments and ceded the prerogative on them by virtue of saying no to balanced development when they had the chance. They said yes to more and more offices without housing. Now they are getting smacked and told they need housing to match employment. They manufactured the housing crisis with their own policies. This is a self-own.
They will just have to figure out the infrastructure.
@@someguy6075 You're right, I thought Menlo was a very low population city, but I was thinking of Atherton Nextdoor which only has around 6k of residents or so. Either way I wasn't saying it isn't NIMBYism, but even at 32k of residents, throwing down thousands of people within an area of a couple city blocks will affect the traffic. The developer is not interested in the everyday man, they only have to make 20% "affordable" they're going for the luxury units and no offense to people who make lots of money but they all typically are driving cars, even if there was transportation infrastructure available.
Yeah, had to move out to the valley to buy my dream home, while everyone else, settled for less to stay in the nice weather. Now they build those same projects here, so, not sure I have much sympathy for the "plight" of Melo/Atherton types anymore and even if I did the tears would dry in the Fresno heat before they fell left my eyes... Build away....
You gotta love liberals when it’s in their own backyard, they sure lawyer up fast
Good, the local neighbors have no say.
So instead of fixing the roads, just deny good homes and keep out the riffraff.
Haven’t heard so far due over populated CA or any major cities and look into where is the cause of housing shortage and high cost of rent, which is to verify the amount of incoming immigrants from all over the world every single day possible?
Lower state property tax and houses become more affordable. I can't afford to pay 26k on the base mortgage plus 20k more to state tax
Many homeowners like the current tax arrangement, especially those who bought or inherited a home purchased decades ago. Unfortunately, others are taxed much higher to make up the difference. Very unfair, but then property tax often is. In my local area, there has been a reassessment in nearly 30 years.
Wow. What a beautiful campus SM had! Affordable housing needs doing. The scale of other parts of the devopment is questionable. Nonetheless, of Menlo Park? I think the word she's looking for is "intolerant," not intolerable.😵
Traffic problems in Calif? I thought their high-speed rail system and Musk's system of underground tunnels had taken care of that.
Yikes.
need to start building blocks like in mega city one... move along.
The problem with affordability in housing is that you keep pushing that bar higher and higher because you're no one is making affordable housing, they're making really expensive housing that allows investors to snatch everything up and price people out of living there but hey btw here's a few scraps that we'll call affordable... that you really can't afford anyways. Want to build 1000+ apartments? Make 100% of them affordable, otherwise it's just yet another cash grab by a developer to line his pockets by making unaffordable housing for most in the area.
Exactly
Absolutely.
How do you do that at below cost? In this state there are some developments that are 100% "affordable" housing being developed by nonprofit developers. The problem is that they can cost $450,000-$990,000 per unit to build. Those are largely funded through tax credit schemes that take years to bundle. How do you sell or rent housing below cost? And pay the workers?
@@mwatercress What they do is make a small portion of the units “section 8” so they can call it low cost housing and the rest are for rich people. The section 8 people stay at home all day, sell drugs, break into cars, and shoplift.
@@mmaranta785 Does Section 8 have a work or job training requirement? If not, it should.
She is absolutely right I grew up in the area and I know the very traffic she's talking about! It would be an absolutely horrible idea!
Violence will stop the builder if you destroy their offices and let them know how far you are willing to go. I’m not condoning violence, it does work when nothing else will
im pretty sure the housing crisis isn't because of a lack of housing....
Ultimate solution is stabilized population size. Otherwise figure on more and denser housing. Eventually, single-family homes in much of California will be only for the rich. With lower income residents relegated to tiny apartments or living on the streets. What many predicted decades ago with unchecked population growth is finally happening. Fortunately, there are still many less developed places one can move to, but comes with costs and tradeoffs.
What about starting by abolishing immigration!