Quick, name something for which the cities of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills both deserve A+ grades. Spraying raw sewage into people's living rooms? How about their creeks? Racist and illegal ordinances that cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars? Embarrassing public debates about "the gay agenda" or the overly diverse nature of local high schools (both of which also wound up costing taxpayers thousands of dollars)?
If you guessed helping address housing affordability, you would be right, according to the Bay Area Council. In a laughable report issued two weeks ago, LA and LAH received A+ grades for their commitment to helping the Bay Area achieve a sustainable balance between housing and jobs. Mountain View, with far greater residential density in its existing neighborhoods and 3,000 new units planned for vacant industrial areas near transit lines, received an F.
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Maybe it's just me, but did anyone at the Crier actually read the report? I don't see LA or LAH getting an A+ for meeting "affordable" housing production targets. In fact, it looks as though they both got a "n/a." Sure, they got an A+ for meeting regular (but still mega-pricey) housing production target. Am I off here? What gives?
Jon,
Can you please let me know who I can purchase one of these $200,000 homes in Los Altos? How do you get into the lottery?
-Erik
Anon,
You're right. They didn't get good grades specifically for building affordable units but for helping the region achieve affordability generally. I edited the post to reflect that.
A good Patty Fisher column in today's Merc has more on this report. A spokesman for the Bay Area Council basically tells her that bedroom communities don't need to do anything in terms of building housing because they have no jobs. Also, she points out that only about 15% of Mountain View jobs are held by Mountain View residents.
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15205846.htm
As for you Erik, I'll talk to my parents about selling you some space in their garage. Perhaps my old bedroom. Sports wallpaper and high school trophies free.
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