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At the last open house session to garner feedback on StanfordNext, the university’s long-term expansion project, the tone was a little different.
Unlike their neighbors in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto residents didn’t offer too many critiques of the possible consequences of Stanford University’s planned expansion. Instead, they came with proposals for greater connections as the institution continues to evolve.
That’s because East Palo Alto anticipates some major changes of its own, with hopes for increased transit resources and event programming. Local residents believe Stanford could help kickstart those goals.
East Palo Alto leaders and residents offered feedback on Stanford’s growth plan at a Thursday evening listening session, marking the end of a community engagement period before the university submits its general use permit application in August. If approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, the document will set the parameters and conditions for additions to the university’s campus, allowing Stanford to increase student enrollment and open new academic facilities.
More than 40 residents, as well as East Palo Alto council members Carlos Romero, Mark Dinan and San Mateo County Supervisor Lisa Gauthier, provided feedback on housing, transportation and sustainability measures. A key theme was maintaining community partnership that benefit both Stanford and East Palo Alto.
“Based on the size of the turnout and the richness of the conversations we had, it’s clear that Stanford and East Palo Alto have a long history together and care deeply about each other,” Whitney McNair, senior associate vice president and StanfordNext project executive, wrote in a message after the meeting. “Stanford’s success and our neighbors’ success are genuinely intertwined.”
StanfordNext marks the university’s second attempt at major expansion, after it dropped in 2019 its application to build 2.275 million square feet of new academic space, 2,600 student beds and 550 housing units for faculty and staff. At the time, the university couldn’t agree with Santa Clara County Supervisors over how to mitigate its massive growth.
This time around, the institution is attempting to get ahead of the game by enlisting feedback from hundreds of local stakeholders and residents before taking plans to the county.
Over a series of listening sessions that began in December 2025, Palo Alto residents asked Stanford to prioritize affordable housing production, so as not to overcrowd general housing with an influx of students and staff. In Palo Alto, residents have historically tried to shield the city from the traffic impacts and housing challenges that Stanford’s growth could bring. By contrast, East Palo Alto residents, who live approximately a mile from the university, called for greater connectivity.
When residents envisioned Stanford as an ideal institution, they saw greater opportunities for East Palo Alto children to attend Stanford; diaspora studies on low-income Latino and Tongan populations; programs that encouraged youth to further their education; and greater access to university facilities.
Locals noted that when youth have the opportunity to work at Stanford, their commutes via public transportation often took up to 45 minutes, which underscored another popular request for improved transit connections from East Palo Alto.
As of now, Stanford’s complimentary transit options do not stop in East Palo Alto. The Marguerite Shuttle line AE-F, which starts in Fremont and travels to the University oval, passes through East Palo Alto but does not stop in it.
Many locals called East Palo Alto a “cut-through” city, where traffic build-up often stems from non-residents passing through University Avenue and up to downtown Palo Alto or Stanford. In order to mitigate the increased traffic, residents said the university should provide a transit fee to the city or more shuttle services. Increased transit options would not only assist local youth traveling to the campus, but seniors en route to the hospital, residents wrote on feedback slips.
While many locals were welcoming to Stanford students and health staff staying in the city, they also asked for greater bike connectivity and protected bike lanes from East Palo Alto to the campus, in order to reduce congestion.
Residents also asked for affordable workforce housing and priority access to Stanford events such as concerts, given that their city bears the burden of cut-through traffic.
In one of the few opportunities East Palo Alto residents got to give direct feedback to its closest university, attendees also expressed a desire for Stanford officials to directly engage with the city. As East Palo Alto aims to boost cultural and arts programming in new facilities like the EPACENTER, they saw opportunities for Stanford to host educational events.
Whether it be presentations on Black and Latino regional history or on general health tips, they hoped the university would take their expansion plans as an opportunity to break down barriers accentuated by the U.S. 101.
Officials will remain available to meet with community groups, who can fill out a form to request a speaker from the university, Mcnair wrote. Stanford will also host information booths at several summer events, including the Palo Alto Art & Wine Festival.
Is it possible that the EPA city council could convince Stanford to build some housing, but also some retail (Trader Joe’s, pharmacy, restaurants) in our city? That would be great for all parties! Along with the housing/retail they could build a dedicated bus line to make it possible to go from EPA (probably from the massive vacant lot along University and Bay roads) to the Stanford/Palo Alto Caltrain line. That would be a huge benefit to all parties involved!