Dear City Council,
We are relatively new to Menlo Park, having lived here for just under a year. We and our three children love where we live, and we know we're very lucky to be able to afford to rent here, especially with young children. Still, we find ourselves constantly wondering: How long are we going to stay here? So many of our friends—families with young children—have already left because housing is simply so unaffordable. Is it only a matter of time before we leave, too?
For this reason, we're excited about Menlo Park's Housing Element Update, and would like to express our support for the initiative, especially for high-density housing with a variety of unit sizes—and especially units for growing families. We're looking forward to seeing more housing at the SRI and USGS sites, especially because residents would be able to enjoy such a walkable neighborhood.
Thank you for the work that has been done thus far. We are very hopeful that the city of Menlo Park will continue to take more concrete steps to become more diverse, multi-generational, affordable, and environmentally sustainable.
Sincerely,
Hannah and Connor Gilbert
Central Menlo
