Dear Menlo Park City Council,
I am a resident of Menlo Park, and I am writing to ask you to move forward with the development of affordable housing on publicly owned land downtown. Building housing on land currently used as parking lots would be an ideal use of space that is close to shopping, restaurants, and public transportation. Building parking structures would be a much more efficient use of space than the blocks and blocks of street level parking that currently exist. Right now Menlo Parks downtown has so much potential, but this new development could make our community so much more bustling and vibrant. I can imagine the young professionssionals, young families, and seniors who might live in these future apartments, they will shop at the stores and eat at the restaurants that currently exist and attract new businesses to our town. While it is important to replace street level parking with parking structures, I also know that this development can be part of a vision for the future of Menlo Park that is public transit, biking, and walking centered--that will reduce the overall need for parking. This is the sort of community that I want to live in and what I want for my family. Add to that the immense benefit of increasing the availability of affordable housing so people who play such an important role in our community can have a hope of living in our community. This is exactly the sort of development we need in order to address our housing crisis. This housing development would benefit everyone in Menlo Park, both the people living in the housing and the rest of us benefiting from a revitalized downtown.
Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Lesley Feldman
