Unaffordable Housing Prompts Palo Alto Planning Commissioner To Resign
PALO ALTO (CBS SF) – A member of Palo Alto's planning and transportation commission resigned this week, citing the city's increasingly unaffordable housing, but not before criticizing city leaders over their handling of the housing crisis.
In a resignation letter posted on Medium, Kate Vershov Downing of the commission said she and her husband can't find a way to stay in Palo Alto and raise a family. Their family plans to relocate to Santa Cruz.
Downing, an intellectual property attorney, said they currently rent their home and split the $6,200 a month rent with another couple.
"It's clear that if professionals like me cannot raise a family here, then all of our teachers, first responders, and service workers are in dire straits," Downing said.
Downing went on to accuse the council for not listening to recommendations to expand the city's housing supply.
"This Council has ignored the majority of residents and has chartered a course for the next 15 years of this city's development which substantially continues the same job-housing imbalance this community has been suffering from for some time now," Downing said.
Downing warned that if changes aren't made, Palo Alto would become a "hollowed out museum."
"I struggle to think what Palo Alto will become and what it will represent when young families have no hope of ever putting down roots here, and meanwhile the community is engulfed with middle-aged jet-setting executives and investors who are hardly the sort to be personally volunteering for neighborhood block parties, earthquake preparedness responsibilities, or neighborhood watch," she said.
A Coldwell Banker report last year found Palo Alto is the second most expensive city to buy a home in the United States. The real estate company found the average price of a four-bedroom, two-bath home was $2,066,600, second only to Newport Beach.
Other Silicon Valley cities, such as Saratoga, Cupertino and Los Gatos, also topped Coldwell Banker's list.
Examples of Palo Alto's pricey housing abound, including a decaying fixer upper that was put on the market for $5 million in June. The MLS listing of the home showed a sale was pending.
Earlier this year, the City Council unanimously approved raises for city workers, including police and firefighters. While the city and unions agreed higher pay would help, they also acknowledged that it would not dramatically change workers' ability to buy homes in Palo Alto.
Tim Fang is a digital producer for CBS San Francisco and a native of the Bay Area. Follow him on Twitter @fangtj.
