Author: Carly Wipf (Carly Wipf)

San Jose halts plans to put electronic billboards on private property

After being whittled down by fierce community opposition, San Jose lawmakers have officially paused a plan to erect digital billboards on private property. Before lawmakers stopped it, Phase 2 of the city’s signage plan involved placing electronic billboards on public buildings downtown and up to 75 digital signs on private property along freeways. The proposal...

Conference tackles Silicon Valley’s woes post COVID-19, starting with workplace diversity

Community leaders gathered at Joint Venture’s 17th State of the Valley conference Tuesday to discuss strategies for helping Silicon Valley address inequities. Each year Joint Venture Silicon Valley, a local nonprofit, hosts the event to discuss the findings of its Silicon Valley Index report: a 100+ page gold mine of data detailing just how the South...

San Jose seeks to squeeze more affordable housing out of developers

San Jose lawmakers Tuesday unanimously approved updates to a housing policy that requires developers to integrate affordable housing into new projects — but the plan had some South Bay builders riled up. “The city of San Jose’s ability to produce housing is clearly broken and the costs are too high,” Silicon Valley development company KT...

San Jose considers rate hike for garbage service

San Jose residents may be facing another unexpected consequence of the pandemic: Higher garbage bills. The city is working double time to collect weekly trash, which has only increased since people became more confined to their homes. As a result, residential garbage and recycling rates could increase up to $8.21 per month or $98.52 per...

Could canceled homeless count in Santa Clara County affect funding?

A biennial count of Silicon Valley’s unhoused population —- critical for understanding if the homeless crisis is getting worse — won’t happen this year because of COVID-19. Some advocates worry that could mean a loss in federal funding for homeless services. Santa Clara County’s “Point-in-Time” count, which involves volunteers scouring streets, tents and underpasses to...