Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 08-11-2016, 11:11 AM
 
24 posts, read 37,979 times
Reputation: 27

Advertisements

https://shift.newco.co/letter-of-res...4f5#.i0q79lw90
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 08-11-2016, 11:50 AM
 
Location: Eureka CA
9,519 posts, read 14,666,853 times
Reputation: 15067
I feel her pain.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 07:09 PM
 
Location: Planet Earth
1,963 posts, read 3,025,467 times
Reputation: 2429
This is 110% politically motivated - she has an agenda and is pushing it. She can't afford to buy the $2.7M house she is currently renting? You said you are currently sharing that house with another family : you don't need to buy one that big!

How about :
- continuing to rent your current home - you can obviously afford that
- buying a different home? zillow lists LOTS of 3+ BDRM homes in Palo Alto < $2M, and many around $1.5M (or less)!
- living 5-7 miles south? Mountain View has cheaper homes, it would be a 5 minute commute. Are Cupertino and Sunnyvale not snobby enough for you? Houses are even cheaper there - most under $1.5M (and 3 BRM townhomes are even less). Of course you'd have to put up with that *horrible* 10 minute commute every morning!

You "can't afford" to buy in the city where you work (which isn't true - you just can't buy the extremely rich, overpriced house you are *currently renting*), so you are moving 20-30 miles away? Talk about over-reaction! Gee, do you firebomb the Safeway when the steaks are over $10/lb? (Oops, I forgot - you probably only shop at Andronico's and Whole Paycheck.)

I am living in a 1400 sq ft house, and raised two kids there (for much of their lives). I was the only bread earner, and didn't pull in even close to what your lawyer husband is earning (even if he works for the city) - not even COUNTING what you earn. Get off the soapbox lady - your pouty complaint isn't convincing me.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 07:24 PM
 
10,920 posts, read 6,866,670 times
Reputation: 4942
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcopolo666 View Post
This is 110% politically motivated - she has an agenda and is pushing it. She can't afford to buy the $2.7M house she is currently renting? You said you are currently sharing that house with another family : you don't need to buy one that big!

How about :
- continuing to rent your current home - you can obviously afford that
- buying a different home? zillow lists LOTS of 3+ BDRM homes in Palo Alto < $2M, and many around $1.5M (or less)!
- living 5-7 miles south? Mountain View has cheaper homes, it would be a 5 minute commute. Are Cupertino and Sunnyvale not snobby enough for you? Houses are even cheaper there - most under $1.5M (and 3 BRM townhomes are even less). Of course you'd have to put up with that *horrible* 10 minute commute every morning!

You "can't afford" to buy in the city where you work (which isn't true - you just can't buy the extremely rich, overpriced house you are *currently renting*), so you are moving 20-30 miles away? Talk about over-reaction! Gee, do you firebomb the Safeway when the steaks are over $10/lb? (Oops, I forgot - you probably only shop at Andronico's and Whole Paycheck.)

I am living in a 1400 sq ft house, and raised two kids there (for much of their lives). I was the only bread earner, and didn't pull in even close to what your lawyer husband is earning (even if he works for the city) - not even COUNTING what you earn. Get off the soapbox lady - your pouty complaint isn't convincing me.

Sure, there's some selfish motivation at play, but there's also this point:
Quote:
It’s clear that if professionals like me cannot raise a family here, then all of our teachers, first responders, and service workers are in dire straits. We already see openings at our police department that we can’t fill and numerous teacher contracts that we can’t renew because the cost of housing is astronomical not just in Palo Alto but many miles in each direction.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 08:59 PM
 
Location: Planet Earth
1,963 posts, read 3,025,467 times
Reputation: 2429
She CAN raise her family there - just not in a mansion. And if she is willing to move a few miles south, 5-10 minutes away from work (much less time than most) then she can get a pretty nice home for $1.6M or so.

She's just pissed they aren't doing what she wants and she quit in a huff.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 09:19 PM
 
24 posts, read 37,979 times
Reputation: 27
There are some interesting discussions in the comments to that letter. She decided to move to Santa Cruz and someone suggested that she instead can buy a house in EPA for 600-700K and have nice commute to her City of PA job. To which she responded that would mean she would be part of gentrification that affects and displaces current EPA residents, their network of friends and neighbors and their community. Which is a complete hypocrisy because almost anywhere she goes, she will be gentrifying that area as someone coming from more expensive area. And yes it would mean gentrifying Santa Cruz as well (displacing the surfer dudes??). So she feels that she is "different" from current PA resident, but will fit right in Santa Cruz.

So if you move to EPA, you will be displacing existing communities because you are "different" (whiter?) and will never be part of their community, but if you move to Santa Cruz, you are one of their own so be part of the community right away?

What is "gentrification" to you?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 09:24 PM
 
24 posts, read 37,979 times
Reputation: 27
One of the solutions that City of PA is considering is micro units and dense housing. But how will it solve the housing problem if people like Kate Downing are gunning for SFH in their early 30s with no kids yet? And yet she is part of Palo Alto Planning and Transportation commission
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 10:00 PM
 
Location: Bay Area
402 posts, read 535,804 times
Reputation: 334
Only crazy people could voluntary pay $6200 for half-a-house rent so an opinion of this woman is irrelevant.

I agree this article is politically motivated.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 10:50 PM
 
Location: Oakland, CA
702 posts, read 949,279 times
Reputation: 1498
marcopolo666 doesn't know anything about the housing market in Palo Alto, it's beyond bonkers. Palo Alto needs 20+ story towers built, now.

This Palo Alto home wants almost $2 million - Curbed SF

http://sf.curbed.com/2016/6/20/11979...o-home-million

http://sf.curbed.com/2016/4/29/11541...low-10-million
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-11-2016, 11:27 PM
 
Location: San Francisco, CA
15,088 posts, read 13,397,911 times
Reputation: 14266
Palo Alto is particularly wicked. She should look at Redwood City, Mountain View, Sunnyvale even. There is cheaper housing out there...by which I mean like $1.3M instead of 2 :-)

But yeah, this place is the Manhattan of the west, and nothing's going to change. It's just how it is here, and you have to acclimate or leave. There is nothing that can or will be done to change it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > California > San Jose

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top