Please note that the "operative" word in Mueller's statement ("I want to make clear to the community and also to those small business owners is that what's not on the table today is sort of driving them out of business") is TODAY! It will be on the table TOMORROW!

Our Progressive leaders will not stop until all Zip Codes in CA are equal in all ways! California is hemorrhaging middle-class & affluent residents that are leaving for opportunity and freedom. Office & Retail space is empty all over the Peninsular. Have you looked at Middlefield Road or the downtown areas? They are near transportation & could be converted to multiple housing units! And we are building much more expensive housing units by "up zoning" residential areas? Our leaders have no vision or creativity. Change them or live in a commune-like community!

It’s good to see the county considering West Menlo for affordable housing. These are areas with greater access to amenities, with public schools that receive more money per student, with better access to public transportation, with far more open space and far more money spent on keeping the infrastructure updated and pristine than most neighborhoods in Menlo Park…not just Belle Haven.

However, it’s concerning that the county is only considering empty lots and that these potential development sites may be protected from the sort of heavy-handed rezoning currently in use, or being considered in less affluent middle and working class areas of the city.

Menlo Park's latest housing element already has an irresponsible target for new housing, a 50% increase in housing units over 8 years! The last thing we need is the County targeting MP, they already siphon away too much of our property tax revenue.

We need to end the madness and replace Gavin Newsom. Urbanizing Menlo Park is not going to reduce homelessness. It will just result in a wealth transfer from current residents to future transient residents.

We should build housing that is reserved exclusively for employees of Menlo Park's schools, police department, fire department, and city (and not just first right of refusal as with the Suburban Park debacle).

@CyberVoter Au contrere, they do have a vision. It's dense, affordable housing in every corner. Did you miss their stands in the last election? Siding with the YIMBY coalition?

I'm all for more housing in Menlo Park, but calling "West Menlo a high-resource area, primed for accessibility to [...] public transit stops" is misleading.

In actuality, SamTrans has two buses in the area: 87 and 86. Both are school school oriented services that come like once or twice a day in each direction.

If we're to build high density housing (regardless of income eligiblity), we need reliable and frequent public transit first.

Menlo Park has acres of parking lots. Allow housing on the parking lots with underground parking or first-floor parking and housing above up to 3-4 stories. With this alone, the city will achieve some of its housing goals, be close to public transportation, be pedestrian-friendly, and finally have a thriving, lively downtown to support local businesses. Has this been presented on any agenda?
Before anyone says, "We need public parking downtown" No parking will be lost if the proposal includes underground (expensive) and first-floor parking (more cost-effective)
There will be a few years of construction that will disrupt the downtown area but for the long term, it's better than trying to squeeze housing into areas that don't want it or are not accessible to transportation.
I would expect that many developers will jump at the opportunity to build multi-family housing in downtown Menlo Park with a city requirement to have 10% or 20% (what is the % that pencils out) with affordable housing?

here is an interesting article:
Web Link

a summary:
For 60 years, researchers have found that the economic segregation of students. which is driven by housing policy, shapes educational opportunity even more powerfully than spending per pupil. In Montgomery County, Md., for example, county officials pursued two strategies for raising the achievement of low-income students. In a program that started in 2000, the school board spent an extra $2,000 per pupil in high-poverty schools. In another program begun decades earlier, the county council enacted an “inclusionary zoning” law that requires builders to set aside a portion of new developments for low-income families. Over time, as Heather Schwartz of RAND found in a 2010 study, the housing authority’s plan cut the math achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students in half, while the school board’s program had much less impact.

MP Father
If there are more affordable housing options it's possible to reserve housing for teachers, firefighters, police, etc.
First, the housing needs to be built.

Mountain View is doing this! 123 units for teachers.
Why can't MP do this? and it qualifies as affordable housing which satisfies the state's housing requirements.

Web Link

Why is this reporter devoting two paragraphs to someone from Greenbelt Alliance?

I thought their focus was climate change.

I think West Menlo Park should be commended on the high density housing it already has established: Menlo Commons, Condos in Sharon Heights, Apartments on Sharon Rd and Harkins. It might make sense use open land near the Sharon Heights golf course, Stanford Hills, and around SLAC, and near the Rosewood hotel.

What should not be lost are two important components of living:
1) transportation -- SamTrans has canceled bus routes in the area, they should add frequent service and more routes so that one doesn't have to wait for hours to catch a ride.

2) with Housing should also be a requirement for adding of green space, places for kids to play, including field sports. We need to not only preserve what park and green space we currently have (totally inadequate!), we need to greatly expand these types of areas to keep up with all of the new population that need them for health, sanity, and connection with nature.

I think most agree that it is not just affordable housing -- we need to expand parks and natural green areas and not just push for buildings and yet more cars. A growing population requires the infrastructure too. I don't hear a voice for green space, play grounds, or open areas for field sports/games/play, yet we already have a serous deficit of such greenery and space for locals.