In a short amount of time, the former suburb known as Palo Alto has gone from a sleepy Peninsula town that bred the likes of Teri Hatcher and James Franco to giving birth to some of the world’s most noteworthy tech outfits. Just to name two, Google and Facebook (then known as TheFacebook) got their starts here.
While the town has welcomed both new business and a jarring influx of commuters, it has gone out of its way to castrate housing growth and public transit. But what it lacks in livability and much-needed housing, it more than makes up for in bonkers asking prices.
Here now are several reasons why people are leaving Palo Alto for more affordable grounds.
Also, be sure to read Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commissioner Kate Vershov Downing'a now famous letter of resignation and recent interview with Stanford Political Journal. This should help provide some perspective.
"If things keep going as they are," warns Downing, "Palo Alto’s streets will look just as they did decades ago, but its inhabitants, spirit, and sense of community will be unrecognizable."
- Palo Alto's Prices are so Crazy, a $250K Salary Needs Subsidies [Curbed SF]
- The Shame of Palo Alto: an Interview with Kate Downing on Affordable Housing [Stanford Political Journal]
- Palo Alto planning commissioner resigns because she can no longer afford Palo Alto [Curbed SF]
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