Dear Menlo Park city councilmembers,
California is burning, and were burning at our wildlife-urban interface. We need more homes in downtowns, by transit. Menlo Park needs to do its part for sustainability by building as much housing as possible downtown.
Please proceed with the process of developing the citys downtown parking lots into homes (as promised in your housing element) without further delay. I also ask that you dedicate as much land as possible to these new homes. The city owns acres of land downtown, and this public good should be used to support our service workers, and downtown employees, in the form of affordable homes.
We all benefit when local employees, young families, & teachers can afford to live here. Affordable homes help our community stay housed, reducing local homelessness and allowing more of our children, working families, and seniors to stay here. Local businesses thrive when they have customers and employees living nearby. Older residents living in large homes can downsize, opening new housing options for larger families and allowing the elderly to live in a walkable, disability-accessible location.
Menlo Park can be part of a bigger solution to ensure everyone has a safe, stable place to call home by promoting housing on our downtown parking lots.
Sincerely,
Sarah Bell
