Dear Mayor Ohtaki, Mayor Pro Tem Mueller, Councilmember Keith, Councilmember Carlton and Councilmember Cline:
Thank you for your service to the City of Menlo Park.
I am reaching out to you as an architect and a citizen.As you move forward with the Menlo Park Main Library remodel process, I
urge you to incorporate affordable housing as a component of the project.
Having raised two children in the area, I've spent many hours over the years at the Menlo Park Main Library and surrounds. It's a
fantastic location, close to shopping, schools and transportation of many modes. The site can gracefully handle increased density
and is an obvious location to incorporate high-quality affordable housing to the benefit of the community at large. I don't need
to highlight the affordability crisis we find ourselves in, we are all acutely aware of it.The library project is an excellent
opportunity to show leadership around addressing the affordable housing crisis in a rich and meaningful way.
San Franciso already boasts two examples of this model. Chicago has one underway, and New York City one in the development
pipeline. While these are dense, urban locations, the model can easily be adapted to the scale and character of Menlo Park.I urge
you to be on the forefront of this vanguard. Please work to incorporate high-quality affordable housing into the Menlo Park Main
Library remodel project.
Respectfully,
Patricia McBrayer, Architect
PMArchitect
patricia@PMArchitect.net [patricia@PMArchitect.net]
