Dear City Council,
I am afraid of what putting that much affordable housing and taking away parking will do to the character of downtown Menlo Park. People avoid areas around the train station because it feels unsafe. Parking is already difficult at times so to take some away without replacing it while adding many more bodies could be a disaster.
Have we identified the people who need housing in Menlo Park? Who are the people who will rent the affordable housing that is proposed? Do they already live in Menlo Park? Do they have regular incomes, jobs, and or families? Do they want to live in this type of housing? Do their existing incomes support the planed rental amount? Are these being built to house unhoused people? If so, what percentage of that population will stay in the home and build a life? What percent of that population is able to stay in the home and build a life? In short, who are these places for and do the proposed rental amounts match what the targeted tenants can afford realistically? And is the number proposed appropriate to a confirmed need? I think there may be a disconnect between what people can spend and what the apartments will rent for. Teachers may not want to pay X to live in Y located at Z. Has anyone asked them if they would even want to live in what is being proposed? And we should not build housing that is so affordable that it attracts people from all up and down the peninsula. We should house our Menlo Park residents.
Once we know what Menlo Park specifically needs and the people are Identified we should ask if the proposed rental rates match the identified peoples ability and willingness to pay. These specifics SHOULD be the driver as to how much is built. I question the demand. The current housing demand I see daily as a Realtor is by professionals who are struggling to buy a starter home, but they are NEVER going to live in the developments described in this project. They want a proper home with a yard - the American dream. So who are the proposed affordable housing units being built for and who will maintain them to match Menlo Park’s existing look and feel?
After the right number of units and the users are identified and cross checked, then spread the developments around rather than building them all in one place. The most affordable housing should go closer to the existing most affordable housing not in the high rent districts. It should be located in appropriate locations like off El Camino Real, Middlefield and close to the 101. This is natural and will cause less harm to Menlo Parks existing fabric.
Downtown IS a critical part of the community because it brings revenue. If the downtown character is altered or lost Menlo Park will loose inhabitants, which will hurt MPCSD, real estate values and more.
I am not an expert in this, but I suspect that the types of developments being discussed will not solve Menlo Park’s flavor of affordable housing needs. It would be nice to see a specific analysis done about Menlo Park’s needs because they are likely very different than that of CA at large. We need to make sure the target users are willing and able to pay what will be needed for the slated developments.
People don’t always want the housing that they are able to afford and they don’t always want to live the lifestyle that enables them to afford it. As an example, the RV dwelling issues in PA and Mountain View may not be solved by more affordable housing. I think someone should actually survey the RV dwellers and ask them if they would pay $X amount each month to live in Y located at Z. I suspect people choose to live in a certain way to maintain freedom and that particular lifestyle that comes with the benefit of limited responsibilities. This needs to be considered. Hopefully we are not assuming that they (people living on the street, in RVs or on friend’s couches and in hotels) all want a home. I don’t think they do.
Who will live in it and do they want to live in what is being proposed?
No réponse needed unless there are answers to my questions that are the results of specific studies that include interactions with the target populations.
Thank you,
Darcy
Darcy
Menlo Park
PS. I live east of the train station on Laurel.
