Posted by Menlo Renter, a resident of the Menlo Park: Menlo Oaks neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2011 at 2:12 pm

Yeah, congratulations to the hotel industry for their windfall, but us lowly housing renters in Menlo Park are not really enjoying the 40% increase in rents since same time last year, and almost no vacancy/availability thanks to 9400 employees moving into the neighborhood. Thankfully we have their spectacular demise to look forward to in the (hopefully) not too distant future (can you say Friendster? or MySpace?).

Posted by Charlotte Willner, a resident of the Menlo Park: Central Menlo Park neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2011 at 2:41 pm

As a Menlo Park native and a Facebook employee, I couldn't be happier at the Book's choice of hometown. Despite a few snags with street parking at the old Palo Alto digs, we loved our neighbors and our neighborhood, and I hope that will be even more true at the new MPK campus. And don't worry, Local Renter: most Facebookers seem to consider themselves too hip to live locally, preferring to clog the Mission and the Marina. We locals are fairly few and far-between!

Posted by Faceplant, a resident of the Menlo Park: Felton Gables neighborhood, on Dec 6, 2011 at 9:41 pm

Facebook hired a "consulting firm" to put together a glowing report showing all the positive results of having Facebook move to Menlo Park. Why did they spend the money, you ask? Well, because the real, impartial report, the EIR, will be released in a few days. Facebook hoped that residents would find their report so beguiling that they would be oblivious to the realities presented in the EIR.

Make no mistake, folks. The EIR is going to include some pretty negative impacts. (No, I haven't seen it, but I can guess. And if you commute on 101, or use Willow or Marsh during peak hours, you can intuit what the #1 negative impact will be.)

Facebook's presence may ultimately prove to be an asset. But our planning commission and council are going to have to put some constraints on their use of the property. If Facebook is betting that releasing a puff piece will motivate residents to attend city meetings and protest on behalf of Facebook, they may soon realize their promotional investment was misspent.

No knocks against Facebook. They're only doing what they think they need to do. But Almanac, you could have done a better job of reporting this "report" for what it is rather than falling under the spell of whatever muppet bought you lunch and charmed you over the creme brulee and espresso.

Posted by patience, a resident of the Menlo Park: Allied Arts/Stanford Park neighborhood, on Dec 9, 2011 at 4:01 pm

The secondary revenue must be scrutinized carefully so it's not double counted by the Bohannon project (hotel tax and restaurant usage for example) or by the El Camino plan (restaurant and retail patronage). I'll bet it is duplicative. A good investigative reporter with some financial knowledge could ferret out this.

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of another community, on Dec 9, 2011 at 4:19 pm

Thank you, Faceplant. You took the post right off of my keyboard! Well, except your post was more cogent than mine.

I am glad for the city & county revenue, but I know the EIR has the real info & it's not all "likes". Here in EPA, many will also be negatively impacted by Facebook traffic. Let's hope that there's some balance w/the give & take.

Posted by Peter Carpenter, a resident of the Atherton: Lindenwood neighborhood, on Dec 9, 2011 at 4:25 pm

Hmmmm states"Here in EPA, many will also be negatively impacted by Facebook traffic. Let's hope that there's some balance w/the give & take."

Read the Draft EIR and you will find almost no mention of East Palo Alto - or any other impacted entity except CalTrans.

Menlo Park is a corrupt Lead Agency which refuses to even acknowledge the impacts on other entities.

Posted by Hmmm, a resident of another community, on Dec 9, 2011 at 4:34 pm

Thanks, Peter, I shall. Fwiw, I don't need a report to tell me something that of course I saw before when Sun was there. This reminds me of the saying "The more things change, the more they stay the same,".

Posted by Amina, a resident of the Menlo Park: The Willows neighborhood, on Apr 1, 2012 at 3:31 pm

First of all, the construction jobs are temporary. Second, it's not the Menlo Park & East Menlo Park residents who will be working there. Third, FBs' young workers will head straight to SF for their nightlife. Fourth, FB provides food and many other services on campus, so don't look for lunch time trade.

Meanwhile, we will have to deal with the traffic congestion, which is already bad. I seriously doubt that Facebook will bring the mega dollars that Menlo Park hopes for.