Regarding builder's remedy generally I say tough luck. Obviously not every place is the same but many cities have maliciously ignored statewide housing mandates and I don't mind bulldozing the local zoning restrictions (many of which should be opened up considerably anyway). Now with respect to this particular development I don't know. Traffic on Willow sucks and there's no good way to get to downtown MP from 101, which we can't really do much about at this point. Shouldn't there be more mixed commercial/residential redevelopment on El Camino near Caltrain? It seems like a big missed opportunity.
“Tough luck”? Builders remedy haphazard development will lead to productive residents leaving the state, hurting everyone. Like many ill-considered statewide policies. Enjoy several fewer congressional seats after the next census, and thank Sacramento for its leadership in hastening the emigration. I’ve pointed to several localized examples where better leadership would have brought in thousands of new homes. The solution is better local leadership — not statewide mandates for chaos.
Interestingly enough, the cities that have blown off the housing element for years -- like Atherton -- haven't been hit by any builders remedy projects. We can speculate on why that is. In the case of many peninsula cities, housing elements were submitted before the deadline, but then the approval department spent months reviewing them, often before sending them back for minor changes. Even if the final approved HE was identical or almost identical to the original one, dozens of BR projects could have been submitted, as in Saratoga. That's why I call it a loophole. The cities were trying to do the right thing but were deemed out of compliance while they awaited approval. (A BR supporter/spec developer suggested the cities could avoid BR by submitting HE a year in advance! Nothing like changing the rules after it's too late.) Lots of new housing has been built along El Camino in Menlo Park in the last ten years -- though few people can take Caltrain and the buses are empty except for school kids. One of the developments belongs to Stanford and they're keeping the property for Stanford people; the other is Springline. Check out the rents: https://www.apartments.com/springline-menlo-park-ca/zhrjxwy/ Even with BMR units available at 10% under the going price, affordable housing is a joke. Maybe San Jose will choose to build high density housing in the stadium parking lots. Sure would be convenient for fans!
Again, as I said, everyone’s a YIMBY until it’s actually their own backyard. If you put your life savings into a small rise condo or SFH, how would like it if a 12-story low-income housing project went in next to your condo and the value of your property just dropped by 50%. I am pro denser more urban city planning. I’ve always had a hankering to live somewhere where I didn’t need a car. But it’s not so simple a problem like “why can’t everyone just be OK with big housing developments cutting their property values in half”!!?
Has such a property value drop happened in the Bay Area in this century? Only macroeconomic shocks have negatively affected property values in this area for as long as I can remember. White flight, blockbusting, fleeing to the suburbs, redlining...are very mid-20th century phenomena.
Yes if you have a single family home or small rise condo and a 12-story high rise goes up and blocks your view and they widen your street to 4 lanes your property value will go down a lot. Do you have a SFH? How would you like it if that happened to you? You used to be able to see the foothills. Now you see a parking lot and a 12-story building and it's not safe for your kids to play out in front because of the traffic. I'm not arguing in favor of NIMBYism. I'm saying that everyone's a YIMBY until it's actually *their* backyard. And then, maybe not so much... When push comes to shove, when it's actually *your* property, most YIMBY's would prove to be YIYBY - Yes In *Your* Backyard. "Wait I thought we were talking about *your* backyard, not mine!"
In other words, it has never happened, but it might if certain things that have not happened in generations do happen. I rent. Multi-floor 100% affordable developments are newly finished or under construction near my place. Single family prices nearby, even adjacent, continue to skyrocket.
Fact is that rising prices of sfh/condos don't benefit most homeowners, who just want a place to live. If I sold my house, which I'm not planning to do, the taxes would be so high that my purchasing power would be halved. When I was a kid, people moved when they outgrew their houses. You rarely see that around here any more because people can't afford it and instead add on to existing homes. Thus, exogenous economic forces that don't benefit most of us also serve to constipate the housing market. Access to public transit is a red herring. Setting aside whether most commuters can use it (they don't), it doesn't work for families. Our kids are not taking (non-existent) transit to soccer practice on the other side of town, to their friends' house, to violin lessons. As traffic gets more snarled, bicycle and pedestrian safety more impaired (we just had an adult cyclist killed on Middlefield), and every bit of open space turned over to development -- well, a lot of us are questioning whether we made the right choice to invest in a community that used to offer a decent quality of life for people who lived in it.
No one is really a NIMBY when they're renting because they don't own property. If some day you decide you want to own a small SFH with a little backyard for your kids and a dog, and it's your life's savings, you won't like it when the 12-story low-income housing goes in next door. Again, I'm pro-urban style development where it makes sense. But I think the whole "YIMBY" thing would generally ultimately prove hypocritical if there are occasions for the YIMBY's to actually have to deal with something in their *own* backyard, and not someone else's backyard.
I did not subscribe to the MLS season pass this season so I have not watched a Quakes game, just highlights on the MLS site or on YouTube. Happen to be watching tonights Bay FC vs LA match on TV. Looks like Bay FC home games have pretty good attendance. On average who is pulling in more fans to home games, Quakes or Bay FC? (I guess the Miami game the other night might skew the numbers in favor of the Quakes).
To me, the two sets of games have different vibes, but both are enjoyable. We have Bay ST because that's very important to my daughter, so I go to a lot of Bay games, but I've had an equally fun time at both.
Tailgates would certainly be epic! On second thought, it would lower the value of moat hot tub, so I will have to vote against this.
Or the moat itself could become housing! Kind of like the plan to use high schools to house prisoners at night. I mean, why not, the building is otherwise empty?
The 1500 apartments at the far end of Coleman Highline are open if you're looking for an easy commute to games.
Who's going to be the first Quakes fan to do this? It'll show em we need a roof: https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1kq91qs/brazil_next_level_haircut/
Parking Lot Updates 📢 ⤵️ #Quakes74 have broken ground on a new training field and starting today, the Ford Tailgate Lot will remain open for tailgating but will be reduced in size, as the new field is being built next to the current training field. To accommodate additional… pic.twitter.com/IqH1z5McMU— San Jose Earthquakes (@SJEarthquakes) May 20, 2025 GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
I always knew that it wasn’t impossible, but simply needed the willingness to coordinate carefully with the airport across the street which the front office didn’t seem to want to bother with until now (same with the front office’s recent decision to finally pursue holding up to 15 concerts per year at PayPal Park). “NEWS: Earthquakes Announce First Ever Postgame Fireworks Show at PayPal Park for July 5 Match vs. New York Red Bulls” (SJEarthquakes.com - Friday, 5/30/25) GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Does this mean we are getting fireworks 2 games in a row, or have they cancelled the Stanford fireworks?
From what I understand, the Stanford game will instead be followed by “the biggest Drone Show in MLS history”. GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Wait…. Wasn’t it Nancy Thomas who protested about fireworks displays and concerts at the Quakes Stadium and that they would never have such shows?