Dear Menlo Park City Council & Mayor Combs -
I read with great interest the article in today's Almanac regarding the proposed Park Preservation Measure that Councilman Mueller requested be on the next Council agenda. I empathize with the task you have of finding opportunities to build 2,946 new homes in our city by 2031. Based on the data I could find this is an almost 24% increase in housing! You of course will need to address infrastructure to address this influx of population into our lovely city. As we look to this future, we would be remiss if we did not think about how the increase in housing density will impact resident's ability to get exercise or fresh air, or simply a mental health break. As a psychologist, I can not emphasize enough the importance of having safe spaces for people to unwind and appreciate their beautiful surroundings.
While Sharon Park has always been a well-used park, in the past 1.5 years it has literally been flooded with people from all around the Bay Area looking for a safe place to relax and experience some joy in a time of great stress. I suspect Burgess Park, and all the parks in the area, have experienced this increase in usage as well. It has been an absolute delight to watch the Red Shouldered Hawks nesting in the trees in Sharon Park and giving birth to new hawks - year after year. Every day I walk around the park in my neighborhood where I get joy from watching the children play or the families taking photos in the more rustic parts of the park. I can see that the parks do bring people happiness.
As you work on the future of our city, I implore you to protect our parks and open spaces. While finding the most appropriate places for new housing will indeed be a challenge, cannibalizing our parks is the wrong solution. We need more green spaces, not fewer.
Thank you for your consideration.
P.S. I do support Councilman Mueller's idea of allowing for mixed-use housing and commercial development in the Sharon Heights Shopping Center. That entire complex is in need of an overhaul, and this just might be the incentive the owner/developer needs to make a change.
Edie L. Goldberg, Ph.D.
President, E. L. Goldberg & Associates
950 Siskiyou Dr.
Menlo Park, CA 94025
650-854-0854 (office)
510-908-0494 (mobile)
www.elgoldberg.com
Co-Author of The Inside Gig. Order your copy today!
https://tinyurl.com/yx3hrsvb
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