Palo Alto

Palo Alto Expands Church ‘Safe Parking’ Program
The city is considering adding commercial lots to the program, which provides safe parking and amenities for people living in cars.

State Regulators Reject Palo Alto’s Housing Element a Second Time
More analysis and more equity will be required for Palo Alto to finally adopt a Housing Element that complies with state laws.

New Plans for Palo Alto: Updated Zoning and 6,000 Housing Units
The city of Palo Alto, a city central to the geographic and economic might of Silicon Valley, is planning a significant overhaul to its plans for the future, making space for over 6,000 new housing units in the next eight years.

The Challenges of Aging in Place
Seniors in one Bay Area community want to stay in their communities, but many find the cost of living and maintaining older homes prohibitive.

101 Freeway in California Slower Than Ever After Widening, Locals Say
Induced demand strikes again.

Palo Alto E-Bike Ban Faces Local Backlash
Local cyclists are resisting a plan to prohibit e-bikes in all of the city’s open space preserves.

Palo Alto Includes Industrial Rezonings in its State-Mandated Housing Element
Palo Alto, a Silicon Valley city with a history of exclusionary zoning tactics, has produced a new Housing Element that calls for more than 6,000 housing units to be built in the city by 2031.

Disaster Averted!
The California power grid withstood its biggest test ever on Tuesday and passed—barely. The only rolling blackouts that occurred during the Stage Three Energy Emergency alert were results of miscommunication.

How Rent Control Helped Create East Palo Alto
The story of East Palo Alto’s incorporation is one marked by great contention among local stakeholders, but also provides valuable lessons for organizers in forging and mobilizing local coalitions.

Another Silicon Valley Town Tries To Sidestep State Density Law
Palo Alto could designate more than one hundred properties as historic in an attempt to prevent lot splitting permitted under a new state law designed to lightly increase residential density.

Opinion: Build Density in Palo Alto–and Lots of It
To keep up with demand and slow the astronomical rise in housing costs, Palo Alto and other Silicon Valley cities must overcome local opposition to density and high-rises.

From 60 Affordable Senior Apartments to 16 $5 Million Homes
A long development saga has finally concluded in the South Bay Area city of Palo Alto, following a common narrative in the development resistant city.

Another Bay Area City Considers Urban Tolling
East Palo Alto has long suffered the toll that transbay traffic has imposed on this gateway to Silicon Valley from the East Bay in the form of air pollution and traffic congestion. Now the city is considering tolling the traffic.

California's Upzoning Bill, SB 50, Would Allow Apartment Construction in Wealthy Communities
The proposed legislation would open up cities like Palo Alto to higher-density housing.

Electric Vehicles See Progress at Local Level but Setbacks in Washington
The new IPCC report calls for decarbonization of transportation. While many cities are attempting to do their part, two recent federal developments in trade policy and tax legislation threaten to will make progress more difficult.

A Vacant Lot in Palo Alto is Asking $5.4 Million—And Will Probably Get It
In an unsettling distillation of the broader housing market, the lot's price rose by $2.3 million in under two years.

Is CEQA the Main Impediment to Housing Construction in California?
According to a new study by UC Berkeley and Columbia University, local land use processes, specifically the approval process, rather than the California Environmental Quality Act, is the main impediment to housing production in California.

Drivers: Beware Following GPS Navigation Instructions Too Closely
For the second time at the same railroad crossing in Atherton, California, a motorist followed his GPS navigation onto Caltrain tracks. In both cases, the motorists fled their vehicles before being hit by an oncoming train.

How Overly Restrictive Land Use Regulations Hurt the Nation's Economy
Two economics professors from the University of Chicago and the University of California, Berkeley argue that the housing crisis doesn't just affect booming coastal cities. It's a national problem.

Apple's New Headquarters: Sprawling and Sprawl-Inducing
Apple's new campus contains thousands of parking spaces, but neither transit options nor daycare.
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